St. Raphael and St. Rose

You are cordially invited to attend the ordination of Deacons Jeremy Bock, Beau Braun, and Steven Langenbrunner to the priesthood on Friday, June 9, at 4 p.m. at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Rosary in Duluth. If you have never been to an ordination before, please come! I still encounter many lifelong Catholics who have never been to an ordination. It is an extraordinary liturgical experience. Consider this an open invitation to attend.

The evening before the ordination, June 8, 2017, we will be hosting a holy hour for the ordinandi at the Cathedral from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m., to which you are also invited.

Bishop Paul Sirba Fiat Voluntas Tua

By sacred ordination a sacrament is conferred on priests through which, “by the anointing of the Holy Spirit, they are signed with a special character and are so configured to Christ the Priest that they have the power to act in the person of Christ, the Head” (Second Vatican Council, Decree on the Ministry and Life of priests, no. 2).

Thank you for your ongoing prayers for vocations to the priesthood, permanent diaconate, religious life, and holy marriages in our diocese. Please pray for all the priests who are moving to a new assignment and those who are retiring from active ministry as well. We thank them for their service to us and ask God to bless them and the parishioners who, likewise, are experiencing transition at this time.

On the day of Pentecost, when the 50 days of Easter had come to an end, Christ’s promised sending of the Paraclete is manifested. The Holy Spirit is given and communicated as a divine person. The feast of Pentecost reveals the mystery of the Trinity. We believe in one God in three divine persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. “By his coming, which never ceases, the Holy Spirit causes the world to enter into the ‘last days,’ the time of the Church, the Kingdom already inherited though not yet consummated” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 731-732).

As Catholics, we make the transition from the Easter season to what we liturgically describe as Ordinary Time. This season, which lasts until the First Sunday of Advent, Dec. 2, is really anything but ordinary. The quotation from the Catechism which reflects on the Holy Spirit’s activity in the Church during the last days is most certainly not humdrum or boring.

Our daily life in our world should remind us of the passing nature of things. The tumult we experience shouldn’t scare or paralyze us as Catholics but rather open our hearts and minds to the eternal truths of our great faith and to action. Ordinary Time is an opportunity for us to grow in our faith, hope, and charity and to serve our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Liturgically, the Church grounds us in a cycle of spiritual life with the great feasts of the Most Holy Trinity on June 11, the feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ on June 18, and the feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, June 23, on which day the Holy Father asks for a world day for the sanctification of priests.

We are invited by God, the Holy Spirit, to trust in the love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Son, and to receive the merciful love of God the Father, as we begin this new month of June and Ordinary Time. We are loved into action by our mother, the Church, to enter the last days with hope and joyful expectation of the Lord’s return in glory.

Bishop Paul Sirba is ninth bishop of the Diocese of Duluth.

May 2017 is an important month, because it marks the 100th anniversary of Our Lady’s appearance to the three shepherd children in Fatima, Portugal. I had every intention to write on the subject of Our Lady’s appearance this month, but as I sit at my computer writing this column, it is Easter Monday, so the resurrection is vivid in my brain right now, and since Mary appeared in Fatima for six months, I will have other opportunities to explore this important occurrence.

It is not possible to improve upon Christ’s resurrection and his appearances on Easter Sunday and the 40 days that followed, but that does not mean that I wouldn’t have done it differently. What do I mean by that? Well, there are two things I would have wanted to do differently had I been the resurrected Christ. (I know this sounds heretical, but bear with me.)

Father Richard Kunst Apologetics

Had I been Jesus after the resurrection, one of the first things I would have done is to go and knock on Pontius Pilate’s door: “Hey, Pontius, remember me? I am that guy you had crucified last Friday. Look at my hands and feet. What do you think of that?” Then I would have gone to the next gathering of the Jewish Sanhedrin as an uninvited guest to scare the bejeebers out of them, since they were the ones who spearheaded the crucifixion.

Now let’s dissect this a little. How do you suppose Pontius Pilate would have responded, and how do you suppose the Sanhedrin would have responded? What I offer is pure hypothetical speculation, but it is food for thought.

My guess is that the Sanhedrin would have tried to put Jesus to death again. There are clear indications in the Gospels that the Sanhedrin accepted the fact that Jesus was doing some amazing things. For example, they admitted that Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, but they still killed Jesus and even wanted to kill Lazarus too, since many people were believing in Jesus because of him!

So the majority of the Sanhedrin were completely closed-minded when it came to Jesus. In fact, Jesus even hints at that at the end of his parable of the rich man and Lazarus, when he says, from the mouth of Abraham, “If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if one should rise from the dead” (Luke 16:31). That being said, I do not think there would have been any benefit to Jesus showing up at the meeting of the Jewish leadership.

How about Pilate? How would he have responded had Jesus shown up at his door after his crucifixion and resurrection? Again this is pure, hypothetical speculation. I think Pontius Pilate would have been awestruck at the appearance of Jesus and his crucifixion wounds and glorified body, but I do not think his response would have been very good.

Remember, Pilate was a pagan. He believed in a whole host of unbelievable mythical characters as gods. I suspect that Pilate would have tried to get the emperor and the Roman Empire to accept Jesus as one of the many gods of their pantheon, and were he successful, what do you suppose would have happened? Christianity would have died out when the Roman Empire ended. Christianity would have become one of those strange Roman mythologies we studied in school, just like Venus and Minerva.

God had a better plan.

Between the resurrection and the ascension, Jesus appeared only to those who were his disciples in life. While on one hand we may question why that was the case, and we may think that it would have been more effective if Jesus appeared to some of his enemies, the fact is Jesus knew what he was doing.

Suppose the Christian message would have had the backing of the Roman Empire from the very beginning. Then the spread and growth of Christianity would have been attributed to human power. The fact that Christianity spread at a miraculous rate despite the furor of the political power of the day is just that: a miracle. The hand of God, not the hand of man, caused its growth. The very disciples who cowered in fear of the Jewish authorities, the very disciples who ran away and showed themselves to be hopelessly dumb during the life of Jesus, were the ones who were emboldened after his death to spread the Good News.

God’s ways are not our ways, and although I think it might have been pretty cool to watch Jesus appear to Pontius Pilate and the Sanhedrin, it was not of God. By appearing only to those who were his disciples before he ascended to heaven, Jesus shows clearly that God’s plan is perfect.

Father Richard Kunst is pastor of St. John the Evangelist in Duluth and St. Joseph in Gnesen and administrator of St. Michael in Duluth. Reach him at rbkunst@gmail.com.

Question: There is a family member who keeps intruding in my life. I want to love them well, and I don’t want to go against God’s teaching about the duty we owe to family, but their constant interruptions and negative attitude are really affecting me and my family. What can I do?

Answer: This is an important question, both for those who need a reminder that we have an obligation to the people around us and for those who need to remember that our families do not have an absolute claim on our time, energy, or resources.

Father Michael Schmitz Ask Father Mike

We have experienced an unprecedented fracturing of the family in our society and in our age. This is the cause of many of our problems. If you experience great loneliness or overwhelming detachment from the people around you, from your home, or from your place in this world, it is likely a partial result of the breaking apart of the family. For the first time in history, we exist in a society that has reduced human life to the individual. While this movement has a grain of truth and goodness to it (the human person truly does have great intrinsic dignity and goodness), it has also resulted in exalting the individual to an absolute level.

We need to return to the full biblical truth regarding our responsibility to our own families. This includes the relationship that we have with our extended family members and our adult children, siblings, and parents. God is very clear (in the Bible and through the church) about the responsibilities children have to their parents. In his Letter to the Colossians, St. Paul writes, “Children, obey your parents in everything” (Colossians 3:20). This is a command from the Lord.

As children grow and gain more independence from their parents, this command changes in practice but not in essence. The Catechism of the Catholic Church clarifies, “As they grow up, children should continue to respect their parents. They should anticipate their wishes, willingly seek their advice, and accept their just admonitions. Obedience toward parents ceases with the emancipation of the children; not so respect, which is always owed to them” (CCC 2217).

Further, once parents reach the place where they need the assistance of their grown children, they are owed a certain level of care. The Catechism states, “As much as they can, they must give them material and moral support in old age and in times of illness, loneliness, or distress” (CCC 2218). It further reminds us of Christ’s condemnation of those who would forsake the care owed to parents for the sake of an imagined “offering to God” in Matthew 15 and Mark 7.

All of this reminds us of God’s commands to be involved, to the degree that we are able, in the lives of family members. Please note, however, that the exact manner of this care is not specified. There are times when a grown child cannot care for the exact needs of siblings or parents. There are times when someone in need will require the help of those outside of the immediate family. There are times when professional care is required.

And there are times when one will have to set boundaries on the level of involvement one’s family has in one’s life. Jesus makes it clear that we are called to love him above father or mother, spouse, sibling, and child (cf. Matthew 10:37, Luke 9:59). The Catechism states it in this way: “Family ties are important but not absolute. Just as the child grows to maturity and human and spiritual autonomy, so his unique vocation which comes from God asserts itself more clearly and forcefully. Parents should respect this call and encourage their children to follow it. They must be convinced that the first vocation of the Christian is to follow Jesus” (CCC 2232).

Therefore, we are left with the need for love and wisdom. We are commanded to love those people to whom we are related. Yet we also need to be wise in the manner of that love. This “wise love” will necessarily involve creating boundaries.

We don’t often think of boundaries when it comes to love, but they are essential. Consider the following two examples. Imagine that a man’s mother is an addict. He consistently offers to be a part of her life, but she consistently avoids him — until she needs money for rent. One evening, she calls him and tells him that she needs a few thousand dollars for rent. If she can’t pay, she may be homeless. Now, her son has no obligation to enable his mother’s destructive behavior. He could, weighing out the options and the need for his mom to reach a “rock bottom,” allow her to fall.

This would not be done recklessly or without due consideration. It would also not be a final rejection of his mom. It would be temporarily withholding help so as to help her when she is ready to change. He could draw a boundary.

Another example could be a family member who is consistently negative. It might be wise and loving to let them know that you will not tolerate a certain way of acting or speaking. You can politely and kindly draw a boundary around what you will accept and what you will not accept. I have found that we typically continue the kinds of behaviors that others allow us to get away with. The same is true for others: They usually continue the behaviors we allow them to get away with.

Keep this in mind, however. Once you draw a boundary, they may get upset with you. That’s fine. If someone had become used to poisoning your drinking water and you responded by placing a seal around your water, and they became angry with you for that, you wouldn’t remove the seal so they could keep on poisoning you. The same is true for poisonous behavior. If you place a boundary around yourself that keeps out the behavior, they may become upset that you are not allowing them to poison your mood. That is no reason to allow the poisonous words and behavior to continue.

Father Michael Schmitz is director of youth and young adult ministry for the Diocese of Duluth and chaplain of the Newman Center at the University of Minnesota Duluth.

My grocery store trips are never short. You can ask my husband. Even if I just have one or two items to pick up, a five-minute jaunt turns into a half hour or 45-minute excursion.

The reason is that grocery stores are much more than a place to purchase staples. They are opportunities to connect with friends and acquaintances you have not seen for a while. I rarely run into the same people, and the wide array of friends make each grocery run refreshing and worthwhile, even if I come home with nothing.

Betsy Kneepkens Faith and Family

Obviously, the connections vary from person to person, but as I look back over the years, there appear to be timely themes.

In the early years, discussions included questions like, “How many children do you have now? Are they walking yet? Or are you potty training? Do you get to stay home with them, or which daycare do they attend?”

As years pass, the questions change. “Which school are your children attending? What sports or activities are they participating in?” Later you begin hearing things like, “Now how old are your kids? Are they driving? Boy, they are busy. I bet you never get to see them.”

And it is not much after that you begin talking about what your child will be doing after high school. You ask, “Work, college, military?” You tend to connect with people who are in similar situations, and as your family progresses, others seem to go through the same issues at about the same time.

In the not too distant past, the discussions started to evolve further. The most recent encounters have included, “What sort of job does your child have? Are they dating anyone special? Are any of your children married?”

I don’t have a child that is getting married, but if my friend does, I undoubtedly ask how the wedding plans are going.

Interestingly enough I have discovered a typical angst shared by many in my generation that is a result of a rather new phenomenon. I frequently hear moms in the grocery aisles share their frustration or excitement about their son or daughter’s impending wedding based on the location where their adult children choose to get married. Unfortunately, you can no longer assume that a child raised in a faith-first family will ultimately want to get married in a church.

The conversations I have had with mothers vary. For instance, those whose children are getting married in a church have expressed how relieved and overjoyed they are that their children have made that decision. The hope I hear is that faith appeared central enough to their child and future son- or daughter-in-law’s relationship that the place of their wedding reflected that priority. I think this gives the mothers assurances that faith, throughout their son or daughter’s marriage, would be a priority.

On the other hand, moms who have children planning to get married at places like beaches, backyard gazebos, or mountainside resorts often share their disappointment with that sort of arrangement. These mothers seem bewildered that the faith priority they encouraged while raising their child did not appear to resonate enough for their son or daughter to see that the logical place for their wedding would be at the house of worship they grew up in. These moms know this decision is out of their control but are frustrated nonetheless.

I think getting married outside of a church building is a massive cultural shift. Every single wedding I attended just 30 years ago happened inside a church. Now a church wedding seems to be the exception, not the rule. With six children, I can only imagine it won’t be too long before I encounter this same matter.

It seems to me that people entering into enduring relationships think so very differently these days. I have to wonder how the current culture has persuaded people of faith to think that scenery like nature or quaint buildings are much more meaningful than saying your vows at a consecrated altar or a sacred sanctuary.

How has the norm of “it’s your day” been taken so seriously that God the Father, the creator of the union, becomes perhaps a secondary or lesser thought in the wedding day planning process?

I am additionally perplexed by faithful engaged couples who may not see the significance of starting this one-flesh union, the foundation of a new Catholic family, in the spiritual home of Christ. I think the hardest concept to overcome by Catholic parents like me is that we know Catholics are so very blessed to have the true presence of Christ in our parish tabernacle, which is so special because it is not possible at other locations. Therefore, not having your wedding in a Catholic Church can make a parent, in a certain sense, think their child has uninvited Christ to their marriage ceremony.

Fortunately, I have some time to propose what really is an old idea to my children: getting married at their parish. This is such a novel concept these days that I think I can make it sound like a brand new idea before the first one gets engaged.

The significance of starting this new state of life under the best possible conditions, which include the special graces bestowed upon a newly married couple in the sacrament of matrimony, cannot be overstated nor under-appreciated. I can’t help but empathize with friends I visit with in the grocery story who are currently dealing with this situation. God only knows it may not be much time before I may be struggling with the same family faith dilemma. I can’t even imagine how long my grocery store trips will take then, much to my husband’s displeasure.

Betsy Kneepkens is director of the Office of Marriage and Family Life for the Diocese of Duluth and a mother of six.

File photo

Calvary Cemetery sustained significant tree damage during a massive wind storm in July 2016, but officials there say the cleanup process has gone well. Cemetery staff and contractors have removed debris from more than 150 fallen trees. While some stump removal continues, the cemetery will soon begin a tree replacement program. Individuals, families, and organizations will be able to donate toward the purchase of a new tree. Donors will also have the option of honoring a loved one or acknowledging their gift with a memorial plaque. Trees will be priced at $300. Memorialization can be added for $150. Details will be posted soon on the cemetery’s website at www.calvarycemeteryduluth.com.

Memorial Day Mass at Calvary Cemetery has become a tradition for many. This year, Bishop Paul Sirba will celebrate Mass at 10 a.m. Monday, May 29. Please bring your own chair. The event will take place rain or shine. Calvary Cemetery is located at 4820 Howard Gnesen Road, Duluth.

On May 13, 2017, our Holy Father Pope Francis will travel to Fatima, Portugal, to canonize Francisco and Jacinta Marto on the apparition’s centenary. Hopefully, you will be able to follow the glorious events. As a newly ordained priest, I had the privilege of going on a pilgrimage to Fatima.

The message of Fatima, I think, is as important today as it was in 1917. Like all “private” revelations that have been recognized by the authority of the Church, Fatima does not belong to the deposit of faith, but it helps us to live the faith more fully in our own time. The message of Fatima does not somehow improve Christ’s saving message found in Sacred Scripture and Tradition, but it helps us to live it. Check out the Catechism of the Catholic Church, section 67.

Bishop Paul Sirba Fiat Voluntas Tua

It is remarkable in our age such young children will be canonized by Pope Francis. Francisco Marto died at age 10, and his sister Jacinta died at age 9. They became saints at the ages of fourth- and fifth-graders today. Their lives reveal heroic love of Jesus. They willingly embraced lives of prayer and penance for the conversion of sinners. Their example is staggering to a world obsessed with pleasure and selfishness.

It seems we greatly underestimate what our children are capable of. The fact that God chose to show them a vision of Hell — yes we still do believe in Hell as a place of eternal separation from God — and did not spare Sts. Jacinta and Francisco the truth about the possibility of losing one’s soul or the need to pray for sinners should cause us to examine our own consciences. Our Lady stood with them throughout and gave them hope.

Today kids play games, watch videos, or live in countries with violence as hellish as what Francisco and Jacinta saw, yet without hope, meaning, or realization of the help of a loving mother.

Our Lady of Fatima encourages us to pray the rosary every day. She offers us the five First Saturdays and devotion to her Immaculate Heart, so as to lead us to Jesus.

Around our diocese the celebration of the centenary of Fatima will take place in a variety of ways. Please consult your parish and The Northern Cross for events and times. On Saturday, May 13, an image of Our Lady of Fatima will be venerated at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Rosary here in Duluth. We will have exposition of the Blessed Sacrament beginning at 10 a.m., followed by the rosary, confessions, and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament at noon.

Pope Francis has granted a plenary indulgence to be gained under the usual conditions for the centenary of the Fatima apparitions, from Nov. 27, 2016 until Nov. 26, 2017. For those unable to make a pilgrimage to Fatima, the faithful who visit with devotion a statue of Our Lady of Fatima in any church or oratory during the days of the anniversary of the apparitions (the 13th of each month from May to October 2017) and participate in some celebration or prayer in honor of the Virgin Mary obtain the indulgence. In addition, the faithful must pray the Our Father, recite the Creed, and invoke Our Lady of Fatima.

We love our mother, Mary! She always leads us to Jesus. Devotion to her is an essential part of a healthy spiritual life. The month of May and the year’s centenary of Our Lady of Fatima gives us great hope. Sts. Francisco and Jacinta, pray for us.

Bishop Paul Sirba is the ninth bishop of Duluth.

Holy Week is capped with the beautiful liturgies of the Triduum, culminating in the Easter Vigil, but another of its highlights comes earlier, with the Chrism Mass, held this year on April 10.

At the annual Mass, the diocesan bishop blesses the holy oils used in the sacraments, such as the Chrism Mass used in the sacrament of confirmation. Representatives from parishes across the diocese attend the Mass to receive those oils and bring them back to their home parishes. The Mass also signifies unity, bringing many of the diocese’s priests to renew their ordination promises and concelebrate Mass.

Bishop Paul Sirba at the Chrism Mass April 10 blesses one of the holy oils used in the sacraments throughout the year. (Kyle Eller / The Northern Cross)

Duluth Bishop Paul Sirba highlighted many of these themes in his homily.

He began by pointing out the many blessings God had given during Lent, giving a long list that included parishes giving out rosaries and books, the ashes and palms received on Ash Wednesday and Palm Sunday, a dispensation allowing people to eat meat on St. Patrick’s Day, diocesan men’s and women’s conferences, Catholics at the Capitol, parish missions, a new spirituality center at St. Scholastica Monastery, and people receiving the Lord’s mercy in the sacrament of reconciliation.

“I think the Lord is blessing us abundantly this Lent,” he said.

He also cited his connection with the priests of the diocese who were present with him.

“On a night like tonight, I have the privilege of being surrounded by the presbyterate of the Diocese of Duluth, a presbyterate like no other,” he said.

He said the oil blessed during the Mass would soon be used to consecrate the hands of some of the men serving — transitional deacons to be ordained in June.

He said that all of the faithful share an anointing, along with Christians being martyred in places like Egypt, that makes them share in the priestly, prophetic, and kingly roles of Jesus.

For those ordained to priesthood, the “ontological change” of the sacrament calls them to “put flesh” on the meaning of God’s love, he said, urging people to give thanks for the gift of the priesthood.

“Jesus, through the ministry of the priest, speaks to us,” he said. This happens through the sacraments of baptism and confession and “most especially in the Eucharist.”

“Priests should tremble” at the mystery entrusted to them, he added.

“I invite the lay faithful to continue to pray for our priests,” he said, and he urged all to “savor [their] dignity in Jesus.”

— Kyle Eller / The Northern Cross

It seems like every time I want to do something that I think will be fun, the church has a rule against it. Why is the church so against pleasure? What’s wrong with enjoying yourself and the good things in life?

This is a great question. It is connected to how profoundly misunderstood God’s rules and the church’s teachings are. You mention that there seem to be so many “noes” for those who want to follow God that we can be tempted to think that God dislikes pleasure and enjoyment. But is that really the case?

Father Michael Schmitz Ask Father Mike

For example, think of all of the amazing things in this world that we are made to enjoy. Consider that we only emphasize God’s noes because if we tried to emphasize all of the yesses, there would be too many. The great Catholic convert G.K. Chesterton once noted, “The truth is, of course, that the curtness of the Ten Commandments is evidence, not of the gloom and narrowness of a religion, but, on the contrary, of its liberality and humanity.”

God approves of so much joy! He made a good world and then set his beloved humans in the midst of this world and bid us enjoy it!

Our problem is not that God has prohibited joy. Our problem is that we do not know how to enjoy the good things God has given. Every one of us tends towards using good things in the wrong way or at the wrong time. We find something that gives pleasure, and we will binge on that thing until we no longer enjoy ourselves. And then we find that we can’t stop. Isn’t this a common phenomenon in our lives?

Students tell me about the entire season of a television show that they watched over one weekend on Netflix or Hulu. Others will joke about how they started eating some Doritos and didn’t stop until they hit the bottom of the bag. We have all had the experience of enjoying some kind of food or drink so much that, in the middle of eating one piece or drinking one glass, we ordered another, only to find that it was “too much.” Not only did we take in too much, but we found that we were no longer able to enjoy it anymore.

This is a brief description of the rarely- confessed sin of gluttony. We find something that we enjoy. This thing is almost always good in itself. But then we choose to use it in such a way that we a) no longer truly enjoy it and b) become enslaved to it.

Gluttony, or intemperance, afflicts every person who finds it difficult to say “no” to a thing.

Now, you might say, “I don’t struggle with gluttony! I don’t eat too much!” That’s interesting, because we normally associate gluttony with those outward signs of being unable to say no. But things like a lack of fitness or drunkenness are not the only indicators.

When discerning whether gluttony is present, a person could pay attention to four areas: quantity, quality, when, and why. Gluttony is most obvious when it involves a large quantity of a thing — the super-sized meal, the extra large shake, or the entire bottle of wine.

But there is also gluttony less associated with quantity and more associated with quality. C.S. Lewis describes this as the person who needs food to be “just the way I like it.” They might not eat a large amount, but if they are served something that isn’t prepared how they like it, they are unable to rise above that. This is one reason Aristotle called intemperance a “childish fault.” Some children will only eat certain foods or foods presented in a certain way. They will, hopefully, grow out of that through discipline and gratitude, but we all know people who seem stuck in perpetual petulance.

But there is also “when” and “why.” Are you familiar with the term “hangry”? It refers to the fact that some people can’t seem to control their temper when they get hungry. This inability to wait or say “not right now” gets many people in trouble. A famous experiment years ago demonstrated this inability. Researchers placed young children in a room by themselves with one marshmallow on a plate in front of them. They informed the youngsters that they could eat the marshmallow whenever they wanted, but if they waited until the researcher returned, they would get two marshmallows. It was a test of the children’s ability to delay gratification. Some children easily waited for the researcher to return with the second marshmallow. For others, it was (comical) torture. Some covered their eyes (so they couldn’t see the marshmallow), others sat on their own hands and rocked back and forth (trying to distract themselves), and others simply popped the marshmallow into their mouths.

Which of these children were most free? Obviously those who were able to wait. When I cannot wait for a good thing, I am not free. In addition, when I cannot wait for a thing, then I cannot truly enjoy it either. If I must have it now, then I can’t savor it at all.

The same is true for “why.” Many of us eat because …. Well, we don’t know why we are eating. We don’t know what we are hungering for. We don’t know why we are pouring that next drink. We don’t know why we don’t just turn off the device and go to sleep.

Gluttony can be when I consume a good thing, but I am doing it for the wrong “why.” This isn’t freedom, and this isn’t even pleasure. It is merely desperation.

But you are made for freedom. And God has placed you in this world so that you can truly enjoy the good things in life. This is one of the reasons God asks us to say “no” to good things at various times in our lives: Not because he is trying to spoil our fun, but because he wants us to freely and truly live. I invite you to make a regular practice of saying “no” to at least one good thing a day. You will not only find more freedom, you will find more enjoyment of what you say “yes” to.

Father Michael Schmitz is director of youth and young adult ministry for the Diocese of Duluth and chaplain of the Newman Center at the University of Minnesota Duluth.

It is hard to appreciate God’s mercy if we don’t acknowledge that we are sinners. It’s difficult to think good news is good news if we are not in need of it.

Recently, a priest from another diocese called and spoke to me about what he perceives as a falling off in the reception of the sacrament of confession. He is pastor of a large parish, several thousand families, which has a good tradition of participation in this great sacrament of healing. He doesn’t have the numbers yet, but he senses that fewer people have come to confession this Lent. Coming off the Jubilee Year of Mercy, this is distressing to him. He is wondering: Why?

Bishop Paul Sirba Fiat Voluntas Tua

I have asked our pastors, at our clergy study day, about their plans to make the sacrament more available to you during the holy season of Lent. They indicated to me that they have increased their offering of confession times to accommodate your busy schedules. I have encouraged people to go to confession in my homilies, as I know our priests and deacons have done.

I haven’t heard from our priests that there is a falloff in participation of the sacrament, but I offer the encouragement to you regardless: If you have not already done so, please take advantage of this great sacrament of God’s mercy during Holy Week in preparation for your Easter celebrations!

Our Savior Jesus Christ came into the world to save us from our sins. He did not come to affirm us in our sins. He did not die on the cross because I could already say I’m “a good person and haven’t killed anybody” — as I have heard not a few people say in self-justification.

The grace to acknowledge our sins is a gift from Him. The grace to turn away from our sins and be faithful to the Gospel is a gift from Jesus. True compunction for sins and a firm purpose of amendment is a grace from Jesus. The ability to live in freedom is a free gift purchased by the blood of Jesus.

We show our gratitude for what Jesus has done for us by meeting Him in the sacrament of His mercy. The sacrament of penance is a personal encounter with Jesus. He personally listens to us tell our sins after we have examined our consciences, through the ministry of the priest. He understands our weakness. He helps to be humble. He gives us His grace of forgiveness and restores our dignity as sons and daughters of God. He entrusts to us a penance so we can make some amends for the wrongs we have done. He is infinitely merciful.

He sends us forth in blessing, washing away our sins through absolution … ”God the Father of mercies, through the death and resurrection of his Son has reconciled the world to himself and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins; through the ministry of the Church may God give you pardon and peace, and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

Saints are made in the sacrament of penance. If you desire to be the saint you were meant to be, this is the sacrament where you will taste God’s mercy, speak God’s mercy, live God’s mercy.

I hope and pray that the Catholics of the Diocese of Duluth fall in love with this sacrament and counter the trends that seem to be appearing. Lent gives way to Easter through the dying and rising of Jesus to save us from our sins. Thank you, Jesus!

Bishop Paul D. Sirba is the ninth bishop of Duluth.

A general dispensation has been granted from Bishop Sirba from the obligation of abstinence from meat on March 17, 2017, the Commemoration of Saint Patrick.

Those taking advantage of the dispensation are encouraged to undertake a work of charity, an exercise of piety, prayer, or an act of comparable penance on some other occasion during the Second Week of Lent.