"Happy 15th Sunday of Ordinary Time!" by Father Mark Tracy

Happy 29th Sunday of Ordinary Time! Jesus speaks in today’s Gospel of the importance of persistence in prayer. Persistence in prayer is not so much about changing God’s mind, but about us persistently seeking communion with God in prayer. As St. John of Damascus said prayer is lifting up of our heart and mind to God. From that encounter and communion with God, prayer changes us. Prayer transforms our thoughts, feelings, desires, and choices over time as we seek communion with God. Due to the federal government shutdown, I will be here this weekend. My military drill was rescheduled for a later date. My next weekend with the Reserves will be in November I will be away next weekend for the Good News Conference in Florida. If you are interested in signing up for a Mass ministry, sign-up sheets are available in the back and the Parish Office will reach out for training. Before you know it our Patron Feast Day and Advent will be here. Our Patron Feast Day, Christ the King Sunday, falls on Nov. 22-23. We will continue the Parish Breakfast on Nov. 23 after the 8am and 10am Masses to celebrate our Parish Feast Day! This year, we will do new things for Advent. On Nov. 9 and 10 at 6:30pm, we will have a Pre-Advent Mission on Advent Journey with Mary our Blessed Mother and St. Joseph. This Pre-Advent Mission will consist of a talk each night to prepare us for our Advent Journey to Christmas. On Nov. 9, Dennis Trickey will offer a talk on Mary, our Blessed Mother and help us apply lessons from her life that can assist us with Advent. Following his talk, we will have Candlelight Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament for an hour with confessions available. One Nov. 10, I will offer a talk on St. Joseph and glean lessons from his life to assist us with Advent. Following this talk, we will have a social fellowship opportunity in the Parish Center with drinks and snacks. Anyone is welcome to attend this Mission as we prepare for our Advent journeys. Also, during Advent this year, we will have a special Daily Mass on Wednesdays called Rorate Caeli Mass. It is a Mass honoring Mary’s role in salvation done by Candlelight only, since during we are Advent awaiting the light of Christ at Christmas. We will offer this special Mass on December 3, 10, and 17 at 5:30pm. We will have a few lights in the Church to provide light to get to the pews and Holy Communion. In the sanctuary, there will only be Candlelight as we await the light of Christ at Christmas. Military Drill Nov. 15-16, no Dec drill

Happy 28th Sunday of Ordinary Time! Last Weekend, I gave the State of the Parish Homily to give us a snapshot of parish life at Christ the King. Below are some numbers that I mentioned in my homily. I also mentioned some next steps including recruiting more Mass ministers, discerning our Parish Vision/Mission and goals, discerning more fellowship and formation opportunities and campus map of projects upcoming. Those will all come in due time. If you are interested in signing up for a Mass ministry, sign-up sheets are available in the back and the Parish Office will reach out for training. I will be away Oct. 17-19 for military drill with Army Reserves. I also will be away Oct. 24-25, for the Good News Conference. I scheduled this conference before I received my new military schedule. My apologies for being away two straight weekends. Parish Life Numbers (approximate yearly averages) Offertory: $1.2 Million Parish Subsidy to School from offertory: $500,000 Mass attendance total: 1,100 to 1,200 each weekend Baptisms: 25 Funerals: 25 Sacraments of confirmation/Holy Communion: 50 Sacramental marriages: 3 New Catholics: 5 to 7 people coming into the Church each year PSR: 10 to 15 kids a year Grade School total: 472 (93 Pre-K) Mass Ministry numbers: Lectors: 27 Rosary Leaders: 7 Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion: 45 Greeters: 29 Sacristans: 14 Ushers: 15 Servers: 20 Military Drill Oct. 17-19, Nov. 15-16, no Dec drill

Happy 27th Sunday of Ordinary Time! Thank you to everyone for our donations to Guatemala water project. We raised over $6,500! Thank you to all the volunteers who made the St Carlo Eucharistic Display possible. From setting up, opening parish center and locking, plus cleaning up, I am deeply thankful to everyone for helping display the Eucharistic Miracles. As you saw, there have been many Eucharistic miracles through history, and each one has an amazing story with it. This weekend, Oct. 4-5, I will be preaching at all the Masses and giving what I call the State of the Parish Homily. I offer this homily just once a year annually. In the bulletin, you will find our financial report from the 2024-2025 fiscal year. Next week, I will include in the bulletin some key numbers and information outside of the fiscal report. I will be away Oct. 17-19 for military drill with Army Reserves. I also will be away Oct. 24-25 for the Good News Conference. I scheduled this conference before I received my new military schedule. My apologies for being away two straight weekends.

Happy 26th Sunday of Ordinary Time! Thank you to everyone for our donations to Missionary Co-op, KC tootsie roll drive and Guatemala water project. The missionary appeal will help to provide a well of clean water for them. FYI, this is the last weekend, for our collection for Eco-Filters for Guatemala. If you would like to donate, please use the envelopes in back and deposit them in the box. Each filter is $20. I stayed in Guatemala for 3 months back in 2013 and I can attest for the need especially in the small villages for clean water! These Eco-Filters are a great gift to so many. More information in the bulletin as well. This weekend, Sept 27-28, the Parish Center will be displaying the Eucharistic Miracle Display created by St. Carlo Acutis. More info on the website below. I encourage you to stop by after Mass and see them. They are poster boards with pictures and information on each Eucharistic Miracle throughout Church History. It is an impressive and informative display created by St. Carlo himself in 2006. https://www.miracolieucaristici.org/galleria/en/galleria.html Next Weekend, Oct. 4-5, I will be preaching at all the Masses and giving what I call the State of the Parish homily. I offer this homily just once a year annually. In the homily, I review the financial numbers from the previous fiscal year, discuss some future projects, and review parish numbers like baptisms, marriages, funerals, adult faith formation, youth formation, etc. Typically, it is a little longer homily, around 10-12 minutes due to the amount of information. Military Drill Nov. 15-16, no Dec drill

Happy 24th Sunday of Ordinary Time! A warm welcome to the CTK Class reunion of 1982. They will be joining us for Mass on Saturday. This weekend, we also welcome Fr. Linus Umoren. He is currently the Pastor of SS. Peter and Paul down in Waterloo, IL and serves as Mission Superior of Vincentians USA. He will be sharing about the Vincentians mission in his homily. His visit is part of the Missionary Cooperative Partnership that the Diocese does every summer. You will be seeing a couple items in the back of Church very soon. The following weekends of Sept. 20-21 and Sept 27-28, we are bringing the Eco-Filters for the Guatemala project back to CTK. Our last collection was in 2019 and we collected over $25,000 to purchase 782 water purifiers. If you would like to donate, please use the forms in back and deposit them in the box. Each filter is $20. I stayed in Guatemala for 3 months back in 2013 and I can attest for the need especially in the small villages for clean water! These Eco-Filters are a great gift to so many. More information in a bulletin insert coming up in future bulletins. Also on the weekend of Sept. 20-21, our local Knights of Columbus with have their annual Tootsie Roll Drive. They will be present in back of Church if you would like to donate. Proceeds from the drive assist local agencies who assist those with special needs. Finally, this week the Priests will be away for annual Convocation, September 16th through 18th. Deacon Scott Keen will offer Communion service those days at 7am. Military Drill Oct. 17-19, Nov. 15-16, no Dec drill 

Happy 23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time! This Sunday is one of great joy for the Church! We as Catholics celebrate two new saints! I personally have a great devotion to both Blessed Carlo and Blessed Pier Giorgio for several reasons that I will share in upcoming homilies and bulletins. Below is some great biographical information on them. Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati / EWTN News By Courtney Mares Carlo Acutis: the first millennial saint Acutis, an Italian computer-coding teenager who died of cancer in 2006, is known for his great devotion to the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. He became the first millennial to be beatified by the Catholic Church 2020 and is widely popular among Catholics, particularly youth. Known for his deep faith and digital savvy, he used his computer-coding skills to draw attention to Eucharistic miracles around the world. His miracles’ exhibit, featuring more than 100 documented miracles involving the Eucharist throughout history, has since traveled to thousands of parishes across five continents. The Vatican formally recognized a second miracle attributed to Acutis’ intercession on May 23, 2024. The case involved the healing of 21-year-old Valeria Valverde of Costa Rica, who sustained a serious brain injury in a bicycle accident while studying in Florence in 2022. She was not expected to survive but recovered after her mother prayed for Acutis’ intercession at his tomb in Assisi. Born in London in 1991 and raised in Milan, Acutis attended daily Mass from a young age and was passionate about the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. Shortly after his first Communion at the age of 7, Carlo told his mother: “To always be united to Jesus: This is my life plan.” Carlo called the Eucharist “my highway to heaven,” and he did all in his power to make the real presence known. His witness inspired his parents to return to practicing the Catholic faith and his Hindu au pair to convert and be baptized. Many of Carlo’s classmates, friends, and family members testified to the Vatican how he brought them closer to God. He is remembered for saying, “People who place themselves before the sun get a tan; people who place themselves before the Eucharist become saints.” Shortly before his death, Acutis offered his suffering from cancer “for the pope and for the Church” and expressed a desire to go “straight to heaven.” Known as a cheerful and kind child with a love for animals, video games, and technology, Acutis’ life has inspired documentaries, digital evangelization projects, and the founding of schools in his name. His legacy continues to resonate strongly with a new generation of Catholics. Pier Giorgio Frassati: ‘To the heights’ of holiness Frassati, who died at the age of 24 in 1925, is also beloved by many today for his enthusiastic witness to holiness that reaches “to the heights.” The young man from the northern Italian city of Turin was an avid mountaineer and Third Order Dominican known for his charitable outreach. Born on Holy Saturday, April 6, 1901, Frassati was the son of the founder and director of the Italian newspaper La Stampa. At the age of 17, he joined the St. Vincent de Paul Society and dedicated much of his spare time to taking care of the poor, the homeless, and the sick as well as demobilized servicemen returning from World War I. Frassati was also involved in the Apostleship of Prayer and Catholic Action. He obtained permission to receive daily Communion. On a photograph of what would be his last climb, Frassati wrote the phrase “Verso L’Alto,” which means “to the heights.” This phrase has become a motto for Catholics inspired by Frassati to strive for the summit of eternal life with Christ. Frassati died of polio on July 4, 1925. His doctors later speculated that the young man had caught polio while serving the sick. John Paul II, who beatified Frassati in 1990, called him a “man of the eight beatitudes,” describing him as “entirely immersed in the mystery of God and totally dedicated to the constant service of his neighbor.” The canonization Mass for Acutis and Frassati is expected to take place in St. Peter’s Square. Military Drill Oct. 17-19, Nov. 15-16, no Dec drill

Happy 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time! I pray that you have a blessed Labor Day Weekend with family and friends. Some folks have asked when I start with the Army Reserves. I officially received word this week of my unit. I start with my unit in Oct. My usual practice is to put my drill dates at the bottom of my column so that you know when I am away for military duty. In the bulletin, you see a message about Church security. It is common practice that most Catholic Parishes have a Church security of some sorts. We will have a short meeting on Sept 4 for anyone interested in joining the Church security team. Current members plus Ushers and Greeters are welcome to attend the meeting on Sept. 4. Next weekend, our local Knights of Columbus #364 is hosting their annual Oktoberfest on Sept. 6 from 12pm to 9pm. The festival features German bands, food, and games. The event benefits various charities in the community. Oktoberfest will be held on the Council grounds located at 2200 South Meadowbrook Road at Iles in Springfield. Christ the King Fall Bible Study is coming up on Sept. 11. See bulletin for details if you would like to join. The Bible Study will be using the Great Adventure Series from Ascension Press to explore the Gospel of St. Luke. Military Drill Oct. 17-19, Nov. 15-16, no Dec drill

Happy 21 st Sunday of Ordinary Time! Thank you again for the warm welcome to CTK. I am enjoying being here and getting more settled in each passing week. My apologies if I ask for your name again. I am working hard at getting names down, but it takes time. Over the next few weeks on Wednesdays, Dcn. Scott will be showing the Search Series by Chris Stefanick. I have personally watched the series and it is a great series that leads to wonder and awe of God. Anyone is welcome to join the series and if you know anyone interested in becoming Catholic invite them to join. Also, a warm welcome to the CTK Class of 1980. They are celebrating their 45 year reunion and joining us for Mass at 4:30pm this Saturday, touring the campus and gathering in the hall. Welcome home! Below are 5 biblical Values that I preached about last Sunday. These 5 Biblical Values allow us to be transformed by the Divine Love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus: Worship Sunday Mass Daily Mass Personal Prayer Sacrament of Confession/Reconciliation Formation Form our minds according to the mind of Christ through good Catholic books, podcasts, videos, etc. Strengthen our wills through Christ by fasting on Wednesdays and Fridays and feasting on Sundays and other Solemnities and Feast days. Fellowship Devotion to the saints who are our brothers and sisters in Christ who inspire, encourage, and intercede for us. Good Christian friendships that inspire and encourage us to grow in our faith life with Jesus. Stewardship Living out our vocations in Christ and using our unique God-given gifts for God’s glory. Seeking to make a gift of my life to God through time, talent, and treasure. Evangelization Through my words and actions inviting others to friendship with Christ and His Church.

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.