For some supernatural reason, unknown to me, I get really excited about 20 June and 21 December each year. We are aware that these are the annual days of the most and least daylight respectively. One of my dreams is to make two trips to Alaska within a 12 month period; once to be there on 20 June, the other to be there on 21 December. I think it would be a curious endeavor to be somewhere as these daylight hours are rather dramatic in contrast. Seems there are really human instincts which continue to direct our rhythms even in our technologically cluttered world. And so, Monday, the first day of summer, has inspired some thoughts about vacations of the past, present and future.

I think the topics of terrorism, violence, homosexuality, bigotry, racism and the like are the fodder for many pastoral articlesand sermons for obvious reasons. At the risk of jumping on the bandwagon with religious leaders across our country andaround the globe, there are some thoughts I’d like to share on the matter. The thoughts harken back to the words of ourChristian shepherd and His two principle laws: LOVE God above all things; LOVE your neighbor as you love yourself. Somehow, the more we think we know about love, the more we seem to drift away from what our Lord intended.

Most of you are already aware that ordination is the final step for a seminarian before he becomes a clergyman for the Roman Catholic Church.  Some of you are aware that Deacon Daniel Sedlacek is going to be ordained to the Holy Priesthood for our diocese on Saturday 25 June 2016.  I think it’s even more likely that even fewer of you are aware that he is the nephew to Junior and Judy Pieper (members at St. Boniface).  I know that Junior and Judy are among a really small number of people in our parish cluster who are blessed to have a priest in their family.  Please pray for Deacon Sedlacek as he awaits these final days before ordination.

We have come to the point in our annual calendar when school is (or almost) finished for the summer. During these days we enjoy idle time spent with family and friends. I do hope you take some time to establish time away from the busyness of life and take a vacation.

With that being said, my family of origin typically vacationed in northern Wisconsin. Since I was raised in a one and a half income household; my father being a factory worker, and mom working part-time; our vacations were always on budget. Perhaps in God's providence, I was placed into that household so that I could be somewhat of a getaway planner for people on a budget. More particularly, providing suggestions for families with children on a budget. My point is we are at a point in history when household income is really close to household expenses. Surviving is getting more expensive with each passing day. Please, use the resources around you to take a money conscious vacation rather than staying around the home and wishing you would have.

Recent celebrations of Easter, Pentecost, Trinity Sunday, and today's celebration of Corpus Christi ought to get us excited about our faith. Our faith, of course, has to do with bringing Jesus deeper into our lives. As a consequence, we choose to deepen our relationship with Him. That ongoing relationship began at our baptism and is enriched each time we pause to pray. While we celebrate Corpus Christi this weekend, we might spend some time pondering the title of this article. Let me explain.

During these days of the Year of Mercy we have ample opportunity to reflect upon mercy: God toward us… ustoward others. Among the countless ways to be agents of mercy, there are two sacraments of the Churchwhich are direct channels of mercy. Those two sacraments include the Sacrament of Penance (Confession)and the Sacrament of the Eucharist (Holy Communion). We are all well aware that the priesthood is thesacrament most closely linked to these two sacraments. However, we are privileged to have a permanentDeacon on our parish Staff. Deacon Wendt’s presence is a constant reminder of one of the many functions ofdeacons, including being an Ordinary Minister of Holy Communion.

Often we move toward and through the Sacraments of the Church with a relatively casual and sometimes passive approach. An attitude toward the sacraments like that can create a lack of awareness of what is really happening during the sacramental celebration. Consequently, we become dull to the power of the Holy Spirit who we grandly celebrate today on Pentecost. Technically speaking in the Church world, we teach the fact that sacraments need to follow a certain form. The Catholic sense of form is worth reflecting on to get a greater sense of the mystical. Additionally, with the recent communication from Pope Francis, even marriage, remarriage and divorce can quickly become misunderstood if we have an incomplete sense of the form of the sacrament of Holy Matrimony.

I hope each and every one of us take some time today and pray for our mothers, whether she is living or deceased. Our mom has chosen to make months, then years, then the rest of her life making sacrifices for us. I continue to admire the moms who can hold a growing child in their arms, often for hours, and not complain about how their back, arms, nor legs get sore. The connection and affection moms have to their children reap great dividends in the lives of those who claim to have good moms.

The obvious topic for this week's article is Holy Communion as we celebrate First Holy Communion for our Second Grade parish members. I hope that sometime today, if you are blessed to have one of the first communicants in your family, that you sit down with them and share the memory of your first communion. Otherwise, there is likely to be a young person in your life today, or this week and it will be beneficial to share your memory of first communion with them. These opportunities to reflect upon significant moments from our Catholic past will indeed remind our young people that holy communion means something to us since we've retained those memories for years. We need to do what we can to maintain our faith, and these seemingly insignificant ways can create a memory for our young people which will last a lifetime.

The recent document from Pope Francis regarding the Joy of Love has created a lot of attention to his remarks, the content of the document and the Catholic Church in general. There are a number of topics in the document which are worth commenting on and some which are creating some puzzling dialogue. In Pope Francis' teachings, and in this document in particular, he continues to remind people about being attentive to their conscience. As a consequence of conscience gaining so much attention from the pope, I thought it good to brush up on our definition of conscience. In order for us to understand what God and the pope expect, we ought to gain a clearer picture of those expectations.

There any number of educators in our region who are delighted in the recent weather and forecasts. Reason being, they do not have to battle with students as much since young people are more content with classroom work when the weather is icky outside. And, as far as work attitude goes, some others of us are also quite comfortable with the weather which allows fewer distractions as we go about our business of getting ready for spring and summer before spring and summer arrive. On the other hand, there are a good many of us who are chomping at the bit to get going outdoors. Those activities may include countless types of recreation. Additionally, those outdoor activities might include some necessary agricultural work. All things considered, we are still in the first half of April and there is potential for harmful weather which could hinder our early growing temptations. So it's our part to calm ourselves down, fight spring fever and do what Divine Mercy commands us… Trust in Jesus!

Happy Easter! He is Risen, Indeed He is Risen! I hope you've had a chance to browse the pages of the most recent issue of Catholic Life. Even if you cracked the cover open, you were able to see Bishop Callahan's article reflecting upon a local to global view of Divine Mercy. The article is not academic; rather it's quite reachable and puts today's Divine Mercy Sunday and the Year of Mercy into common terms. I encourage you to read it, or read it again. Also, on the outside of the back cover of the same issue, you'll find a simple explanation of the Divine Mercy Chaplet. If you are unable to attend the devotions at St. Lawrence this weekend, perhaps you'll take some time to pray the chaplet today. Or, you may consider making the Divine Mercy Chaplet part of your weekly or daily devotions. Then, if you want to get a little deeper into the issue, there is a lengthy article about Divine Mercy near the center of the magazine. Happy reading and happy praying.