Fr. Todd 8/24/25

Dear Sacred Heart and St. Mary on the Lake,

            I am excited for school starting this week!  It is always too quiet with everyone gone for the summer.  I look forward to seeing everyone again at drop offs.

            Those drop off times are very edifying because of how real they are and the glimpse they give into the goodness of family life – even with its struggles at times.  I know getting everyone up on time, watered and fed, and then to school fully clothed is at times a much more difficult challenge than it sounds on the face of it!  Yet there is so much grace at work there for everyone – parents and children, to have their hearts stretched.  It is always a picture for me of this passage from the third chapter of St. Paul’s letter to the Colossians:

“Put to death, then, the parts of you that are earthly: immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and the greed that is idolatry.  Because of these the wrath of God is coming [upon the disobedient].  By these you too once conducted yourselves, when you lived in that way.  But now you must put them all away: anger, fury, malice, slander, and obscene language out of your mouths.  Stop lying to one another, since you have taken off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed, for knowledge, in the image of its creator.  …

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do.  And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection.  And let the peace of Christ control your hearts, the peace into which you were also called in one body.  And be thankful.”

Parents – those morning preparations, as taxing as they may be at times, are the very fabric God uses for us to grow in Holiness!  For they require putting off all those things St. Paul mentions and putting on a whole different set of virtues.  Know of how encouraging it is for me to see those things being lived out in that short walk from the car to the school.  (Not to mention that it is quite amusing at times as well!)

Our school is such a blessing!  For our teachers and administrators – thank you in advance for all of your work and love that you have already poured into getting ready for this new year.  I am looking forward to all that the Lord has in store for us this year.  During the school year we move our Friday morning Mass to 9am.  These Masses are a great way to experience the school.

Please keep our seminarians in your prayers as they are on retreat getting ready to head back for the beginning of their school year.  And pray for me as I will be giving a series of talks for the college seminarians Wed-Fri of this week.

This year Hudson is again playing my hometown of Fowler in Football.  The season opener is this week so I am looking forward to the mixing of two worlds for me.  I will spend one half of the game with Hudson and the other half with Fowler to keep things fair!

God Bless,

Fr. Todd