Brother Knights,

As a lifelong baseball fan, there’s always a news report that is music to my ears: “pitchers and catchers report to spring training.” In the midst of the cold winter, the occasional snow showers and just some of the wintertime blues that we might feel, these are welcome words. Springtime is coming; they will be playing baseball soon.

Lent by analogy could be compared to spring training. Professional baseball players usually don’t have much of an actual offseason. They are usually training on their own during this time. Oftentimes, they are working with personal coaches.

But, with spring training, they come together as a team, working hard, making sacrifices together for the good of the team. They are willing to go through some hardships for a good result.

It’s good for us to see that the season of Lent is a communal activity—and that should strengthen us. Throughout the year, we should find times to both feast and fast. The Church directs us to offer some kind of sacrifice during every Friday of the year—not just during Lent. Outside of the season of Lent, we can still choose to abstain from meat, or we may choose some other kind of sacrifice. Unless, of course, the Church is celebrating a solemnity—a high feast like the Immaculate Conception, Christmas, or the Feast of the St. Joseph. These feasts should be celebrated with great joy.

The point is that outside of these Friday penances, our sacrifices are up to us individually. In the season of Lent, we do this together. Lent should not make us cringe when we think about it. It’s all about being closer to Jesus, being a better disciple. And being a disciple takes discipline.

Perhaps there are some pitchers and catchers in spring training right now who wish that they had eaten less junk food in the offseason, and went out on a few more jogs. As Christians entering into Lent, maybe we wish we had cracked open our Bible and reflected on the Word of God more often; maybe we have had the intention to pray more often, but haven’t pushed ourselves to find the time. Maybe this Lent is a time where we can show our Gospel demand to love of neighbors in a more concrete way.

But, the greatest thing that keeps us from Jesus is sin. And we are all tempted in some way. Temptation is something that we do battle against every day. It arises from the world, the flesh and the devil (in other words, it comes from the outside and within us)

In the middle of the season, a baseball hitter would probably not think about completely changing his swing, or pitcher his throwing motion, but in spring training he might. Lent is a great time to take a look at what our great temptations are. Which of the seven deadly sins do I struggle with the most? Identify those things, and ask the Holy Spirit to open up your hearts to be healed.

Fr. Kipper

Brother Knights,

A few years ago, I was enrolled in a Master’s program through the Catholic University of America which was focused on teaching business principles for parish life, including: budgeting, accounting, fundraising and crisis management. And one class was in strategic planning and operational management.

In the class we learned about how to conduct a strategic plan for a parish or diocese. I was finishing this class as Lent approached, and it occurred to me that we can make Lent something like a strategic plan for our lives. Strategic plans are used in businesses, schools and churches.

Anyone who has been involved in a strategic planning process knows that the first and most important part of it is the mission statement. This might sound strange for those who read mission statements because they are often terribly boring and saying almost nothing.

But think about how fundamentally important mission is for any organization. A mission distinguishes what an organization is. When an organization knows who they are, then they can start talking about what they do. A strategic plan can, then, lay out objectives for what they will do. They will set goals and measure those goals.

I was taught that an organization should have a new strategic plan about every 3 years.
Well, we are blessed as Catholics to have Lent once a year. And we can start with questions like: Who am I? What’s my mission? How do I live that out? What are my goals in life of discipleship.

I offer you some ideas to think about this plan for your life. We believe that God has called us to an eternal, intimate relationship with him, and that our deepest longings are achieved by God’s love working through me. Our whole lives are about growing in the virtues of faith, hope and charity.

Lent is a perfect time to reflect on this plan that began at our baptism and see what needs to change. The word Lent means “spring.” It’s a fitting description because the Spring is about growth. The grass becomes green again, flowers bloom, things become more beautiful.

This is a good way to direct our Lent. It’s a personal springtime. But, we don’t often think of Lent in this way. We may think of it as a torture chamber, or going on Catholic diet for 40 days, then back to the old ways.

Perhaps this is where it’s helpful for us to think about Lent as a strategic plan for my life. We look at the big picture of our relationships with God. Obviously, we are all in different places. We are at different parts of our journey. And so in this upcoming season of Lent, we ask the Lord to give us a sense of personal mission and the grace to know how we might carry out that mission.

Sincerely in Christ,
Father Kipper

Brother Knights,

We now approach the holy season of advent. The word “advent” literally means, “arrival.”  It is the time where we are preparing for the arrival of our Lord Jesus. 
 
This might seem somewhat strange to prepare for the coming of Jesus when we know he has already come. But this season rekindles something special for us. There is something new and refreshing about Advent every year. We would never want to take for granted the magnitude of God entering into the world, taking on human flesh.
 
It’s also a time during this holy season where we see the plan of God laid out for us. We recall the many prefigurements and types of Christ: the prophecies of old, the patriarchs like Abraham and Moses, and the Jewish kings. In recalling these people and events from the past, we see how God has prepared us for our redemption and salvation in Christ. We should never forget the plan of God, or we are liable to forget our history, from where we have come.
 
Advent is a time, as well, where we think about when we will meet Jesus face to face, when our time on earth has ended. For the faithful disciple, this is not a reflection that begets fear, but rather eager anticipation. If there is something in our life that needs to change, preventing us from being with the Lord forever, now is the perfect time to address it.
 
On behalf of all the priests at St. Teresa, I wish all of you a blessed Advent season in preparation for the great celebration of Christmas, the celebration of the unthinkable: that God would take on human flesh and enter into our little world.
 
Sincerely in Christ,
 
Fr. Kipper

Brother Knights,

In the Church, the month of November is traditionally dedicated to praying for the poor souls in purgatory. On November 1, we celebrate All the Saints who are rejoicing with God in heaven. And on November 2, we pray for All Souls, so that they may be purified and enter heaven. It’s a remarkable teaching of our Catholic faith that God allows us here on earth to help those in purgatory to reach heaven, something they could not do on their own.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states, “All who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven” (CCC 1030). As Catechism notes, the souls in purgatory have passed from this world in the state of sanctifying grace. This means that they died in union with God, and they will one day enter heaven which is the very goal of our lives.

Even though the souls in purgatory will enter eternal glory, they require further purification of their souls. The Book of the Revelation says that nothing unholy can enter the presence of God (Rev 21:27). In the gospels, our Lord himself tells his disciples to “be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt 5:48). The tradition of praying for the dead goes back to our ancestors in the faith, the Jewish people. The 2nd Book of Maccabees tells us “It is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins” (2 Maccabees 12:46).

When we become a member of the Body of Christ at Baptism, we are part of the Communion of Saints. The Communion of Saints consists of three states: the pilgrim church on earth, the souls in purgatory, and the saints in heaven.

The saints in heaven offer the Church the witness of their lives. Their lives demonstrate that holiness is indeed possible, and all, with the grace of God, can be sanctified. And again, the souls in purgatory have passed from this world in the stat of grace but require further purification of their souls. When we, the pilgrim Church on earth, pray and offer sacrifices for these souls that await the full glory of the Lord, they most certainly will never forget us.

Sincerely in Christ,
Father Kipper

Brother Knights,

As I mentioned in a recent homily at Sunday Mass, I had the opportunity to travel in September to the Normandy region of France with my father and a priest friend of mine. I had always been intrigued by the invasion upon the beaches of Normandy during World War II, which is known as D-Day. I’ve admired the courage of the troops going into this battle. It felt something like a pilgrimage to see these beaches and battlefields: places where a moral battle against tyranny was fought.

The Normandy beaches are only a little over an hour from the town of Lisieux, the home of our patron, St. Teresa. And so, we also made a visit to see St. Teresa.

Saint Teresa is, of course, known for her “little way.” The little way is essentially doing little things with great love. In Lisieux, you can visit the Carmelite monastery where Saint Teresa lived and is laid to rest, her childhood home, and a very large basilica dedicated to St. Teresa.

The contrast between this giant basilica and the little way of St. Teresa gave my pause. I wasn’t bothered by the fact of this, but it was a moment of reflection. In the eyes of the world St. Teresa didn’t do much in her life, but the effects of her prayers are very much apparent.

She wanted to be a missionary. She wanted to go to the far corners of the world to preach the gospel. She was obviously never able to do this in this life, but she continues to do it through her prayers. She is now the patron of the missions. One of her great sayings is that she wants to “spend her heaven doing good on earth.”

This giant basilica dedicated to St. Teresa is thus a fitting expression of the power of one saint. In fact, as you walk around this basilica there’s little plaques from different countries throughout the world where St. Teresa has made some kind of impact, evidence of her greatness of soul. Let us remember, too, that like St. Teresa, our little, good deeds can have great, long-lasting effects.

Father Kipper