Happy Twenty-Eighth Sunday!

All the warm weather we enjoyed through September and early October finally broke this week into the crisp, cool 60s. For me, this is the glorious and nostalgic window of weather I wait for all year — my absolute favorite. Something I love about Michigan is the way we celebrate our seasons and how we’re always anticipating the excitement of the next one around the corner. But I’ve always had a soft spot for autumn. In the words of my old high school kiddos, “It just has all the vibes. And we love the vibes.”

So, if I hadn’t been born in April (best birthday month?), my second choice would probably be September or October. Cheers to all of you out there who are so blessed!

I want to mention this week how proud I am of our school principal, Sarah, our admin staff, and our teachers for their recent and successful completion of the bulk of the St. Robert accreditation process. Every five years, all our Catholic schools undergo this audit to ensure that we are on mission — that we’re administratively, financially, and spiritually healthy, and that we’re planning for the current and future needs of our community.

I’ve been observing this process, especially through Sarah’s hard work and her hundreds of hours of preparation since this past spring. As you can imagine, I’m quite glad we’re moving into the debriefing and next-steps phase of accreditation. Sarah, our staff, and I are very encouraged by the vision we’re continuing to hone, communicate, and build up for our St. Robert students and families. It’s never a bad time to thank our school leaders when you see them at church or around the community.

Thank you all for listening to my somewhat raw and unpolished homily last weekend — one that was hard to give and, really, hard to know how to give. In my nine years of preaching, it was up there with the least enjoyable. I’m sorry for any particular words or directives that may have been imperfect, imprudent, or confusing to hear from a priest, especially for our young ones. I felt it was important, in light of the Grand Blanc tragedy, to speak frankly about church safety — because I love you and want to make sure we’re safe.

We recognize together that this topic is a near-zero, but non-zero, probability. As mentioned in my homily, there are many aspects of safety planning I didn’t have time to speak on publicly but am nonetheless continuing to work on behind the scenes for us. You know I value transparency, and I’ll continue to communicate verbally or in writing anything further on this issue that’s helpful for the public domain. Let’s keep loving and praying for each other and for the good people of Grand Blanc.

Like many places in God’s Word, our Scriptures this week meet us again at the dramatic cliff’s edge of human need on one side and divine assistance on the other. The key that bridges that gulf is the union of God’s free gift with man’s free response. God offers to each person the gift of salvific faith in Him and His good promises, while each of us must accept that faith into our soul by surrendering our life into God’s hands with loving and grateful obedience. The end result is always the glory of God revealed!

Let’s hear and heed again the words of St. Paul: Jesus empowers us never to be without Him, whether in life or in death; therefore, let us persevere in faith and so one day reign with Him.

Yes and amen — I’m with you on that journey together.

Fr. Brian

We are in need of volunteers to work Bingo.  You would only need to work once per month or you can volunteer to be a substitute to fill in as needed.

Bingo is an important fund raiser for our parish.  Please consider helping out.

Please call the parish office at 810.639.7600 for more information or to volunteer.

Thank you!

You can help save lives when you give blood. A blood drive will be held 12:00 p.m. – 5:45 p.m. Wednesday, October 29 at Good Shepherd Church in the Knights of Columbus Hall.

The event is co-sponsored by the Good Shepherd Knights of Columbus Council 8669. For more information or appointment, visit redcrossblood.org (sponsor code: Montrose) or call 1-800-RED-CROSS (1-800-733-2767).  Give the perfect gift.  Give Blood.

Streamline your donation experience and save up to 15 minutes by visiting RedCrossBlood.org/RapidPass to complete your pre-donation reading and health history questions on the day of your appointment.

Give Something that Means Something

Entry Two: New Beginnings

It has been almost three months here in Flushing, and I can already say these have been the best months of my life. Why? Because I finally get to live the life God intended for me—as His priest. After thirty-three years, I am living in a brand-new way, relying on God in everything I do.

When I first arrived at St. Robert, I felt such relief—like I could finally live as a father in the way God had planned. At the same time, I was nervous. I had never done anything like this before. For the past six years, I lived in a gated community in the heart of Detroit with my nose in a book for eight hours a day. I honestly didn’t know if I would be any good as a priest. Would I succeed? Or would it be a struggle for the first couple of years, full of trial and error? I still don’t know if I’m a “good priest,” but I do know I’m trying. I’m learning a great deal from Fr. Brian, and I am discovering that being a priest is absolutely amazing. God provides where we lack.

“Therefore, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and constraints, for the sake of Christ; for when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor 12:10). I have a new appreciation for this verse from St. Paul. Time and again, I walk away from situations saying, “I didn’t know I could do that.” It’s incredible to see how God works when we give the Holy Spirit permission. There have been moments when I’ve gone in afraid—because I’ve never done something like it before, or because I don’t like being the center of attention. I’d much rather be hidden in the corner where no one notices me. But God works in our weaknesses. He never abandons us when He asks us to do something.

God has asked me to be His priest, to serve Him and His people, so I can take great confidence in knowing He will show up when I trust Him. It is precisely in my weaknesses that God shines the brightest. I was never naturally gifted at some things a priest must do, but when I lean on the Lord, His love shines through. Yes, it can still feel scary leading up to a moment, but when it comes, I have never felt more alive. Those moments reveal God’s merciful love, His presence among us, and the truth that with Him all things are possible.

We have such an intimate and loving God who desires to work through each of us here at this parish. The question is: will we give Him permission? It can feel frightening—I know the feeling—but God will never abandon us. If He asks you, as He asked St. Peter, to go out into the deep, what will your response be? Are we allowing God the chance to work in us, or do we stay in the safety of our own strengths, where there is no risk?

Our patron, St. Robert, had no desire to be a bishop or a cardinal. He longed for a quiet life of study, prayer, and teaching. Yet when he surrendered to God’s will, he became one of the greatest theologians and leaders of our Church. God works through our weaknesses, and it is in those very moments that He can make the greatest difference in people’s lives—because then, we are no longer in the way 🙂