Category: From our Pastor:

Our parish church ceiling has caused our parish family some trouble. As many of you know, a piece of plaster fell on Sunday, October 30. Unfortunately, it struck an 8-year-old boy in the arm. He required some stitches, and of course, it frightened him and all of us. Thankfully, he received the medical attention that…

John 17:20-21 – “I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me”. As…

The feast day of our patron, Saint Willebrord (common spelling in Europe is “Willibrord”), gives us cause to reflect upon his influence for us today. Biographies tell us that his father Wilgils (we do not know his mother’s name) gave him a helpful start by being a fine example of the Christian life. Thus, Willebrord…

We will be voting again in early November. There is a complexity to voting. We must be thoughtful and respectful as we choose and vote. Then, after officials are elected, our responsibility as citizens is not finished. We are to live by the teachings of Christ on a daily basis, not just when we vote.…

In the coming weeks the parish will invite you to remember your deceased loved ones and others from the parish and beyond. Each year we surround ourselves with the names of our beloved ones who died. You are given a chance to write the names of those who have died on an envelope, perhaps make…

Our worship and prayer are full of gestures, postures, and ritual movements. Dipping our fingers in the holy water font, blessing ourselves as we remember our baptism “in the name of the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit,” and genuflecting or bowing as we enter our pew or pass the Sanctuary, altar and tabernacle –…

October is both Domestic Violence Awareness Month and Respect Life Month. In both areas, which are very deeply connected, we have much work to do. We must come to deeper awareness of the damage done by our failures to respect life. We also must learn to end family violence and to seek peace. God has…

Sam Wainright offers George Bailey an opportunity to get in on the “ground floor” of plastics in the classic movie “It’s a Wonderful Life,” from 1946. “The future is plastics!” is a famous part of the script from the movie “The Graduate,” 1967. A group of somewhat shallow teenagers who worried about appearances and superficial…

On Friday, September 16, I attended the First Annual International Day Festival at the Kroc Center – The Salvation Army Community Center. I recommend this event to you if it is offered again next year. The event featured people, games, activities, art, educational programs, resources, and information about the many, many cultures represented in our…

Every year that I have been at St. Willebrord, I have seen and heard the birds called Chimney Swifts. They fly above the house and church with a distinctly stiff wing, communicating with a high-toned chatter. Apparently, they live on flying insects like mosquitos. Hooray! And they live in the chimneys at the Rectory and…