April 21, 2024

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Last Sunday a few people asked about the lack of water in the lower part of our baptismal font. We had the water drained in order to prepare for a 3:00 p.m. Mass I celebrated for JSerra High School. Through the wonderful ministry of the sisters, staff, faculty, and students, more than 35 students went through RCIA and received the sacraments of baptism, confirmation and Eucharist and one additional student who had been baptized in another faith became Catholic and received her sacraments. This is a model for Catholic High schools everywhere; the joy and beauty of the faith permeate the culture and are helping many to receive their sacraments.

Yesterday, we also celebrated the sacrament of confirmation for 79 of our young men and women. I am grateful for all those who have helped these students at their Sunday sessions, the retreat, the service projects as well as those who have been praying for our youth. Fr. Aristotle and Mason have been working on our high school youth nights and I am delighted that the number of young people attending has increased 5-fold since October.

This weekend is also Good Shepherd Sunday in which we pray for vocations to the priesthood. Please ask the Lord to give those He is calling to this wonderful life the courage to respond and follow Him.

Lastly, you should have received a few postcards to give to friends or neighbors inviting them to join you for Mass here at St. Edward’s. Your personal invitation may be just what a person is waiting for to rebuild their relationship with the Lord.

In Christ,

Bishop Tim Freyer

April 14, 2024

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

During this Easter season, my prayer has been one of remembering with gratitude the many blessings received during Lent and Holy Week. I am grateful for all the liturgical minsters, music ministries, our clergy and staff as well as all who helped with the Soup and Stations, our English and Spanish Lenten mission experiences, our morning of enrichment, all the celebrations of Holy Week and Easter. Countless people spent hours and hours preparing such inspiring celebrations for us. Please know of my deep gratitude.

I am also grateful to all who invited a friend, family member or neighbor to our celebrations. I had the privilege of meeting many newcomers as well as a few that had been away from our parish, and I was edified by the desire of a good number who plan to continue to join us each week at Mass.

I was touched by the number of children and youth that attended the Holy Week services. Seeing some of the kids falling asleep on the floor of Knight Hall on Holy Thursday during adoration reminded me of the Lord’s injunction, “Let the children come to me” and I imagine he was delighted that they were in His presence. By the way, I don’t notice any noise from the kids at Mass, so always bring your children to Mass! You are all very good at taking your children outside or walking them in the back if they get fussy. I would much rather have a church filled with children than a parish that is not showing signs of new life!

Our Easter season continues through Pentecost (May 19th), and I pray that the Lord continues to fill you with Easter joy.

In Christ,

Bishop Tim Freyer

April 7, 2024

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

On this Divine Mercy Sunday, I offer for your mediation an excerpt from St. John Paul II’s encyclical, Rich in Mercy (#13): “It is precisely because sin exists in the world, which ‘God so loved...that he gave his only Son,’ (John 3:16) that God, who ‘is love,’ cannot reveal Himself otherwise than as mercy. This corresponds not only to the most profound truth of that love which God is, but also to the whole interior truth of man and of the world which is man's temporary homeland.

“Mercy in itself, as a perfection of the infinite God, is also infinite. Also infinite therefore and inexhaustible is the Father's readiness to receive the prodigal children who return to His home. Infinite are the readiness and power of forgiveness which flow continually from the marvelous value of the sacrifice of the Son. No human sin can prevail over this power or even limit it. On the part of man only a lack of good will can limit it, a lack of readiness to be converted and to repent, in other words persistence in obstinacy, opposing grace and truth, especially in the face of the witness of the cross and resurrection of Christ.

“Therefore, the Church professes and proclaims conversion. Conversion to God always consists in discovering His mercy, that is, in discovering that love which is patient and kind (Cf. 1 Cor. 13:4) as only the Creator and Father can be; the love to which the "God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Cor. 1:3) is faithful to the uttermost consequences in the history of His covenant with man; even to the cross and to the death and resurrection of the Son. Conversion to God is always the fruit of the ‘rediscovery’ of this Father, who is rich in mercy.”

In Christ,

Bishop Tim Freyer