Fr. Todd 8/31/25

Dear Sacred Heart and St. Mary on the Lake,

Have a safe and blessed Labor Day weekend.  This Saturday is the final 6:00 evening vigil Mass of the year at St. Mary on the Lake until Memorial Day of 2026.  It was great seeing all of our summer families and I look forward to seeing you again next year! 

            Being Catholic together.  I have been more and more struck by the necessity of community.  We really can’t be lone wolf Christians.  When a burning coal is removed from a bed of coals it quickly grows dim, then cold, and then goes out.  Or another image I like is from running.  (Being rather athletically challenged running is one of the few things I can do!)  It is much easier to run consistently and faster when you run with someone else. 

In a few of the longer races I have been in there are actually pace runners.  They play an amazing role.  They are not racing; they are there to run at a consistent pace holding a sign (say for example 8:15 minute mile) so that those who are racing can know roughly what pace they are going at.  It helps those who are running to accurately know their speed.  Invariably you can run faster on a race day and those pacers help keep you going, when by yourself and unknowing of your speed you would drop back.  They also keep you humble and from running at a pace that is entirely too fast for your own capabilities – without them it is easy to start out much too fast and promptly burn yourself out.  

            As Christians those races provide a helpful image of the importance of the necessity of community.  Jesus sent out the disciples in groups for this very reason.  We need to have a community of people that we are in where we are simply being Catholic together (a great phrase I heard from someone recently). 

            I am aware that within that community at times I will play different roles.  Sometimes I will be the pace runner for the others, just simply helping them to keep their heads in the game and persevering.  My presence and encouragement helps keep them on track and on pace when otherwise they would drop off.  Other times I will be the one racing and others in my community will be the pacers for me. They encourage me, helping me keep my head and heart in the game, and my eyes fixed on Jesus when otherwise I would be tempted to get caught up in the storms of life and sink like Peter beneath the waves.  In any small intentional group, the community will work this way with everyone playing one role or another at different times.

            As a priest I have a small group of brother priests I meet with roughly once a month and a senior priest I check in with for spiritual direction.  I am blessed to have Fr. Paul in the rectory.  Then I have other friends with whom our friendship has that level of depth of shared life. 

            I really want to encourage seeking this out and helping make it happen.  Find a couple of families and be Catholic together.  Run this race of faith together.  Be Mass Buddies.  Have a gathering now and again where you meet, have a shared meal, some sharing of faith, and then hang.  It’s amazing how strengthening those are for us.  I have loved the fact that a few families at St. Mary on the Lake have been getting together for a Rosary and hanging out every few weeks.  Very low key and yet a great time to be Catholic together.  Fight for that community!

God Bless,

Fr. Todd