Welcome to our New Administrator!

Welcome to our new Administrator! Fr. Francois Babulu officially begins his ministry to us here at St. Elizabeth tomorrow, July 1st, though he has already officiated at the funeral of our parishioner, Doris Taylor. This evening, he also celebrated our Wednesday Mass for us.

There will be a reception to welcome Fr. Francois into our parish family after Mass on Sunday, July 11th in the parish hall. We hope you will join us that day to introduce yourselves to our new priest and help him to feel at home with our usual St. Elizabeth's welcome.

Forward Ever, Backward Never! ~ by Ronnie Archer

Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time







In today's readings, we hear of Elijah being told by the Lord to anoint Elisha... but Elisha first wanted to say his good-byes to his family. Elisha's act of slaughtering his oxen, boiling them and giving it to the people to eat, was a sort of "good-bye" and an act of breaking ties, so as to follow Elijah.

The second reading from St. Paul to the Galatians, speaks about our freedom in Jesus to live and to be guided by the Spirit to love and serve one another. We were not set free to fall back into our old ways of living by the flesh - anything that keeps us from a life of following Jesus' way - but we are free to live in the Spirit of Christ.

In Luke's Gospel, Jesus was rejected in the Samaritan village because of His determination to journey to Jerusalem. The disciples, James and John, were angry that Jesus was rejected, so they wanted to destroy the town. They wanted "revenge", asking the Lord if He wanted them to call down fire from heaven to consume them. Jesus rebuked them. He did not allow that incident to deter Him from carrying out His plan to go to Jerusalem. Jesus knows that we cannot force anyone to accept us. If we are rejected, we cannot keep looking back and dwelling on the past. Rejection should not make us think that we are less worthy than others.

Sometimes a disappointment will bring us to a Divine appointment; we have to "pull ourselves together and take control of our destiny." We only should want to look back to see how far we have progressed - and to cherish the journey we have made.

Later, another told Jesus that he "would follow Him wherever He went." Jesus told him that "the Son of Man has nowhere to rest His head"... meaning that the person did not really know what he would be asking to "get himself into." Then another who Jesus told to "follow Me," replied: "let me go say farewell to my family at home." Jesus said to him that "No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the Kingdom of God."

Jesus does not mean for us to abandon family, but Jesus doesn't want us to use excuses or to put people or things before worshipping and following Him.

If we want to follow Jesus, then we have to break ties with whatever it is in our past that would keep us from really following Jesus. IF we look back, we should look back without regrets, remembering the lessons of life that we have learned.

We should set goals for ourselves - thinking of something that will continuously motivate us to keep pressing forward. There might be others who will take pleasure in remembering something that happened in our past; but we cannot focus our attention on that. We have to keep going forward. No one can take away from us what is ours by Divine right.

A few Mother's Day Photos ~ Pics by Ethel Cooley

Ethel gave me a huge selection of photos that she took on Mothers' Day, May 16, 2010. Unfortunately I do not have time to set up a slide show right now but I wanted to share some of the photos with you. Enjoy!

Denying oneself for the greater good

Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Father's Day

"If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." These are the words we hear today in Luke's Gospel. What did Jesus mean by these words?

We are all aware that Jesus became fully human in all things but sin and was born into our world. He came among us not as a King, but denied himself even this right. Instead he came as the foster child of a humble carpenter; to parents who were travelling and who could find no place to stay except the stable where Jesus was born.

He denied himself a comfortable life and accepted his destiny of suffering and dying for a greater good: our salvation.

Jesus reminds us that in order to succeed in anything, we have to be willing to deny ourselves in lesser things in order to achieve a higher goal. We are to follow his example. Just as Jesus was able to overcome by his complete trust and reliance on his Heavenly Father, so we are also assured of divine help and assistance when we need it the most.

As the psalmist acknowledges: "You are my help........My soul clings fast to you; your right hand upholds me." (Ps. 81)

Think Well of Yourself! ~ by Phyllis Booth

Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time









The message in today's homily can be applied to each of the three readings. "Think well of yourself." This is important because Jesus came to save sinners and lead us to salvation.

In 2nd Samuel, Nathan's scolding of David was brought about because David had lost self-respect and love of self. He had become arrogant. He put his desires and love of power first. He no longer believed his Kingship was due to God's love and belief in him. But God's love for man forgave David and allowed him to live.

In Paul's message to the Galatians, he emphasized being true to one's self and not by works of the law. The laws of society can be deceiving and cause one to believe his/her actions are worthy of God's salvation. While in reality, he/she is self-centered and believes he/she is justified and perfect in God's eyes; but God's judgment is not the same as men's. God looks at our hearts, not our works.

The characters in Luke's Gospel today illustrated how our thoughts of self can impact our lives. Simon invites Jesus to his home and becomes disturbed when a woman he considered a sinner joined the occasion. Simon considered himself above the woman. The law condemned HER LIFESTYLE. Simon's guests had the same impression of her: that she was a sinner and Jesus couldn't be a prophet because he allowed her to touch him.

Jesus used a parable to teach Simon and his guests about forgiveness. Then he told Simon about his fault of not being hospitable according to the customs of that day. (Providing water so guests could wash their feet.) The woman, on the other hand, had followed the custom because she wanted forgiveness of her sins. She used this opportunity to seek Jesus' forgiveness. Deep down in her heart, she respected herself. Jesus granted her wish.

We must think well of ourselves even when certain circumstances, lifestyles and laws of society condemn us. We must cling to our aspirations and dreams. We must not succumb to the feelings of being unworthy of the good things of life. Christ came so we could have life in abundance. We are meant to have the best of life; not be the victims of abuse, alcoholism, health problems and homelessness. We must break free of these habits. Stop associating with those who have no aspirations or dreams. We must forgive ourselves and look back over our lives and ask God for wisdom and divine assistance.

Train our minds to love and accept God's forgiveness through prayer. Accept help from others. Learn to follow Jesus' example for living. We have only one life; live it well through family, friends and love of self and others. Strive for the best and greatest things of life: Love of God and self.

Everything is possible with God ~ Our Farewell to Fr. Andrew

It was with great sadness that the People of God at St. Elizabeth's said farewell to our beloved pastor and friend, Fr. Andrew Sagayam. However, despite our sorrow, we celebrated Fr. Andrew's ministry and service to his parish family with a beautiful Mass of Thanksgiving on his last Sunday with us, June 6, 2010. The church was packed!

Our parishioners will keenly feel the loss of our Fr. Andrew, whom we had come to know and love as a fine priest whose reverence and spirituality was as natural as the air he breathes. His continuing trust in God's providence even in discouraging circumstances (remember when our church ceiling fell into the sanctuary?) is the legacy he leaves his parish family. "Everything is possible with God!" is what he continually reminded us whenever another problem or challenge faced us.

We presented Fr. Andrew with several cards and gifts; and a reception was held in the parish hall after Mass.

Several important additions that enhanced the spiritual life of our parish community took place during Fr. Andrew's years with us. We now have a Wednesday evening Mass dedicated to the sick of our parish and our families. We also celebrate Benediction on the first Sunday of the month, a practice that had not been seen in our parish in more than twenty years. Several parishioners asked Father if they could say the Rosary together before Mass on Sundays - another practice that he was pleased to agree to. As you can see, Fr. Andrew was always open and sensitive to the desires and needs of his people. This blog was another addition begun during his time as our pastor/administrator. He always encouraged people to contribute to the blog and for us to place pictures of our major celebrations on it and on the parish website.

After a trip home to visit his family in India, Fr. Andrew will be moving to the Diocese of Houma in Louisiana to begin a new chapter in his life of ministry and service to God's People. We pray that God will bless and keep him; and that the Holy Spirit will guide him wherever he goes and in all that he undertakes. Amen!

The Promise of Eternal Life

Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

The Church today invites us to celebrate the feast of God's gift to us, our taste of eternal life.

There is a longing in each of us for eternal life with our God. But God has hidden this life from us because He desires that we search for it. The key to our search is to understand that eternal life is hidden in God Himself.

However, a taste of that eternal life is given to us in the form of the Eucharist. This banquet is prefigured for us in the Old Testament reading from Genesis, by the bread and wine that was offered by Melchizedek, King of Salem. Another instance appears in today's Gospel reading from Luke, where Jesus feeds the crowd of hungry people by blessing and breaking the five loaves and two fish and having his disciples distribute them to the people.

In today's second reading from First Corinthians, Paul relates what had been handed down to him concerning another King, Our Lord Jesus, who used those same elements of bread and wine to offer Himself as High Priest of a new covenant. This bread which Jesus blest and broke is His Body; the wine, His Blood. "Do this in remembrance of me," Jesus said.

Paul reminds us: "For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes."

This Bread and Wine, this Body and Blood brings us life; not like the manna that God gave the Israelites in the desert. The manna in the desert did not keep the Israelites from eventually dying. Indeed, we believe that Jesus' Body and Blood conquers death and brings us to the eternal life that we seek. We celebrate the Sacrifice of Jesus our High Priest today... and every day that the bread and wine are consecrated.