Dear St. Raphael family,

Blessed are you who . . . The Gospel for this Sunday is the Beatitudes, some of the most famous words of Christ ever recorded.   There are slightly different versions in both Matthew and in Luke’s gospel.  The version in Matthew can be referred to as “The Sermon on the Mount”, but this Sunday’s version from Luke is described as taking place on a level plain.  These two versions might have been at different times and places, just as the parables Jesus told are written in slightly different forms in Matthew, Mark or Luke.
The Beatitudes are difficult to accept.  Who would choose to be poor, or hungry or hated?  Yet Jesus is only calling his disciples to take one more step beyond what the Old Testament already says.  “Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord”.  “Blessed is the man who follows not the counsel of the wicked”.   God’s people already knew that their hope should be in God, not in wealth or the powers of this world.  Jesus takes this teaching to its logical conclusion.

The Beatitudes are not just nice-sounding words, they describe Jesus’ actual life.  Our Lord lived out his teaching.  He did not pursue wealth, and he was executed by the local leaders with extreme cruelty.   Jesus was willing to give himself completely for his Church.  We cannot equal Christ’s heroic suffering, but each of us is called to share in his sacrifice according to our own ability.  Through the centuries, Christians known as martyrs shared in this sacrifice in a physical sense.  For us, whatever small hardships we have, we endure for our faith.

Annual Catholic Appeal Weekend:  This is the first of three weekends for the Annual Catholic Appeal.  The following week, February 22-23, the Cardinal’s message will be played after the gospel.  The ACA helps support Archdiocesan ministries in lower-income parishes, and various outreach ministries.  Complete information on the ACA and the activities it supports is in the “Together We Bring Hope” booklets available in the lobby.  Please consider supporting this as your means allow.

Generation to Generation Update:  Payments for the G2G pledges are beginning to come in.  When the first $200,000 is collected, our 50% share will be paid to the Archdiocese in exchange for forgiveness of one quarter of the construction debt.  We will follow the progress with great interest and keep parishioners updated!  We hope to report some numbers here very soon.

Back from Vacation:  Thank you to Fr. Halvorson, Fr. Robert Dempsey and Fr. Jelinek who filled in for me while I took a mid-winter break in warmer temperatures. Looks like I returned home just in time for our first big snowstorm of this winter.  But do not fear, the winter days are winding down and warmer temps are coming.  Ash Wednesday is March 5, less than three weeks away.

Blessings in the Lord,
Fr. Matthew 

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