Dominican: Blessings to you on the Memorial of St. Dominic. Often with a picture or mosaic of St. Dominic is a dog carrying a flaming torch in its mouth. Why the dog? In a Catholic News Agency article today, it describes the why well. “When St. Dominic’s mother, Blessed Jane of Aza, was pregnant, she had a dream of a dog with a torch in its mouth running around the world and setting everything on fire. She went to the monastery of Santo Domingo de Silos and asked a monk what it meant. He replied that the child in her womb would be a great preacher who would set the world ablaze with the fire of his words.” In fact, “Dominican is a play on the Latin, Domini canes, which means ‘dogs of the Lord.”
Conference: I am looking forward to seeing many of you at the Eucharistic Conference this weekend. I am grateful to everyone who has a hand in making this event possible.
The Thief: In the Gospel this weekend, Jesus states: “Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour when the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.” In response, I hope to have the same trusting confidence of St. Theresa of Lisieux when she said…“It is said in the Gospel that God will come like a Thief. He will come to steal me away very gently. Oh, how I’d love to aid the Thief.”
Deacons: We celebrate the Feast of St. Lawrence, one of the primary patrons of deacons, on August 10. We are grateful for the deacons in our diocese.
Visit: So happy to meet today with Fr. John Biju, the provincial of the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate, St. Thomas Province. Of the 11 priests they from their province serving in the U.S., we are blessed to have four of them in our diocese: Fr. Mathew Chacko, Fr. Michael Elanjimattathil, Fr. Vincent John , and Fr. James Thomas.
Practitioners: The diocese is hosting another Creighton Model Practitioner Education Program in October and would appreciate any recommendations of parishioners you feel would be a good fit for the program. In particular, they have need in areas such as: Abilene, Manhattan/Clay Center, Ellsworth, Atwood/Phillipsburg, Stockton/Plainville, and Hays. Those interested can visit https://salinafertilitycare.org/education-program or contact Lindy Meyer for more information.
Raffle: Every day, I check the headlines of Catholic News Agency. The headline “Pennsylvania priest admits to making up winner of $50,000 raffle” recently caught my attention. Unfortunately, the priest made up the name of a winner from Detroit after a nationwide raffle. Eventually, the police found out. They always do.
Good News: I received several letters from inmates and even a mother of an inmate letting me know the impact the Kolbe retreat at the Ellsworth Correctional Facility had on them. Recently, I received word that the Kolbe retreat will be held at the Correctional Facility in Norton this fall. So grateful for this opportunity for our brothers in prison.
104: I have gotten to know Ida Dlabal, a relative of Fr. Norbert, from Wilson over the years. She died at the age of 104 on August 4 and her funeral will be tomorrow at St. Wenceslaus. She had a heart for caring for others. She even made some wonderful kolaches for me!
Some quotes from St. Dominic
“Arm yourself with prayer rather than a sword; wear humility rather than fine clothes.”
“We must sow the seed, not hoard it.”