by sjchurchadmin | Aug 8, 2019 | Pastor's Desk
According to an old fable, a man made an unusual agreement with Death. He told the Grim Reaper that he would willingly accompany him when it came time to die, but only on one condition – that Death would send a messenger well in advance to warn him. Weeks turned into...
by sjchurchadmin | Jul 26, 2019 | Pastor's Desk
A colleague asked C.S. Lewis if he really thought he could change God with his prayer for the cure of his wife’s cancer. Lewis replied: “Prayer doesn’t change God; it changes me.” William McGill summed it up this way. “The value of persistent...
by sjchurchadmin | Jul 20, 2019 | Pastor's Desk
A true story is told about an advertising executive at Reader’s Digest, who found her emptiness filled in by prayer, listening to God, as Mary did in today’s Gospel. In spite of her successful career, she had felt emptiness in her life. One morning, during a breakfast...
by sjchurchadmin | Jul 13, 2019 | Pastor's Desk
Niemoeller was a German Lutheran pastor who was arrested by the Gestapo and sent to a concentration camp in Dachau in 1938. Amazingly, he survived the prison camp experience and was set free by the Allied Troops in 1945. Out of that horrible experience, Niemoeller...
by sjchurchadmin | Jun 30, 2019 | Pastor's Desk
One leader in the Old Testament who possessed both expressive and instrumental leadership abilities was Josiah (2 Kings 22-23). King Josiah was a great leader. When he came to the throne of Judah at age eight, the nation was essentially pagan. Heathen altars stood on...
by sjchurchadmin | Jun 22, 2019 | Pastor's Desk
Throughout the history of the Church , God has made the power of the Eucharist clear in many ways. For example, some of the saints have gone for long periods of their lives in which their only food was the Eucharist. I know it sounds hard to believe. If there were...