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Happy 20th Sunday of Ordinary Time! Reminder that this weekend, August 16 and 17 at 4:30pm and 10am Mass, we will have a backpack tag blessing at the end of Mass. Any school children will be invited forward to receive the blessing and backpack tag. I pray as they begin this school year, they grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ and His Church. Bishop Paprocki as you know was here on Aug. 2 for our Pastor Installation and he wanted me to pass along his homily. Below are a couple paragraphs. You can read the full homily at https://dio.org/bishop/homilies-and-speeches/ My dear brothers and sisters in Christ: It is good for us to be here today for this Mass and Rite of Installation of Father Mark Tracy as Pastor of Christ the King Parish here in Springfield. Although Father Tracy officially began his new assignment here as Pastor of Christ the King Parish earlier last month on July 1st, we celebrate this Rite of Installation liturgically today not only to ask God’s blessings on Father Tracy as he begins his ministry as shepherd of this flock, but also because it reminds all of us of an essential part of being a disciple: Disciples do not choose their own path, they follow Christ where He leads them. The word apostle comes from the Greek word Apostolos, which means “one who is sent out as a messenger.” Bishops are successors of the apostles, and priests are collaborators with the bishops. As a successor of the apostles, I was sent here as Bishop of this Diocese in 2010 by then Pope Benedict XVI, himself having been given his authority as Pope after Christ gave it to St. Peter when He founded the Church: “Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 16:19). In a similar way, as a collaborator in the ministry of a successor of the apostles, a priest is sent and entrusted with the pastoral responsibilities of a parish by his bishop, and it is during the rite of installation that we celebrate here this evening that this handing over of the “keys of the kingdom” (albeit only a small part of Christ’s Kingdom) takes place. At the same time, Jesus’ gift of responsibility and authority over His Church as entrusted to Peter, and my giving a part of that to your new pastor today, is not something that happens only to the Pope, or to priests. Every one of us has been entrusted with a small part of Jesus’ Kingdom. For some of you, that is upholding Christ’s reign in your family, as you work, or among the people you are friends with. For all of us, Christ has given us the responsibility, and dignity, of caring for and protecting His Kingdom in our own hearts. One of the ways that we do this happens every Sunday when we profess our faith by praying the Creed. For Saint Peter Himself, it was only after his profession of faith in Jesus as “the Christ, the Son of the Living God” that he was made leader of the Church. Today, in a special way, all of us, with your new pastor, will recite the Creed, professing individually and together our common faith in Christ. By that profession, I officially ask your pastor to take on the responsibilities of this parish with the heart of Christ. But every time we profess the Creed, every time we pray those words that billions of Christians have prayed down through the centuries, we each renew our own commitment to Jesus! Does He reign over our hearts? Is He the Lord of our time? Of our bank accounts? Of those He has entrusted to our care? If Jesus is truly “Christ the King” as the title of this parish proclaims, then He must be the only king of our lives, and that should be evident in the way we live. Father Tracy will serve you now as pastor as we continue forward into this Third Millennium of Christianity, so I think it is fitting to call to mind a theme suggested by our late Holy Father, the Great Pope Saint John Paul II, in his Apostolic Letter, Novo Millennio Ineunte, “On Entering the New Millennium,” which I quote as follows (nos. 30-31): “First of all, I have no hesitation in saying that all pastoral initiatives must be set in relation to holiness.” I always mention that quote in my homily at the Installation Mass for every new Pastor that I have appointed. Even if you have heard it before, it is worth repeating because it is so basic and essential: All pastoral initiatives must be set in relation to holiness. If we forget that, it will not take long to stray off course from what we should be doing in parish ministry and why we are doing it. Holiness consists of following Jesus as His disciples, as people who listen and learn from Him, and who put Him first in our lives. In a real relationship with Christ, we discover that everything we have was first a gift from our Heavenly Father.

Happy 19th Sunday of Ordinary Time! I want to say thank you to everyone for your support at the Pastor Installation last weekend. It is a great joy and honor to serve here at CTK as Pastor. I am deeply thankful to everyone who assisted with the Mass and Reception. It was a celebration for our Parish, and my parents enjoyed their first visit to Christ the King. It is hard to believe that the school year is right around the corner. Next weekend August 16 and 17 at 4:30pm and 10am Mass, we will have a backpack tag blessing at the end of Mass. Any school children will be invited forward to receive the blessing and backpack tag. I pray as they begin this school year, they grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ and His Church. The ladies of the Altar & Rosary Society have graciously offered to host a donut Sunday after the 10am Mass over in the Parish Hall. I am excited to begin the school year here at CTK. The first day of school is August 18. I plan on doing some Q and A sessions with the school in September as a way of getting to know staff and students better. Dennis Trickey will also be teaching a bit in 2nd grade, assisting with the junior high Made for More faith program, and assistant coach for baseball. I am excited for him to be in the school. As Dennis settles in more, we will look for more opportunities for him to be involved in the Parish and School.