Enter the journey. Come to the song.
By God you are chosen, by name you are called
to follow the vision, carry the cross.
Enter the journey of faith as the family of God.

If you were fortunate enough to join us for Mass at 11:00am last week, then you heard these words sung by the children of St. Anastasia Catholic School. I was struck by the truth and simplicity of the verse. How better in four lines, a mere 34 words, could I summarize our mission here?

Each day we continue our journey of faith.

Our tasks along the way may differ. We may work or look, hope and pray to find work. We may care for children as we care for our parents. We may volunteer in our parish helping others, or we may be at home quietly trying to heal ourselves and those we love. We may even be stuck, overwhelmed and standing still -- waiting for direction.

We know, however, that we are chosen and that we share this journey with our faith community. We acknowledge each others humanity. We recognize their strengths and weakness. We accept that they carry their cross just as we carry ours.

Thankfully, it’s not all about “carrying crosses.” We celebrate along the way too. Joyfully we celebrate births and birthdays. Gratefully we celebrate first steps and parting words, and humbly we celebrate our weekly reunions each Sunday as the family of God.

I thank the student choir of St. Anastasia for sharing this wonderfully simple message. I also thank our students for sharing their journey with us. We are pleased to see you growing into the next leaders of St. Anastasia.

God bless you all

Fr. Aloy

Note: September 26th was the first in a series called “Kids-Empowered Masses” where our children take the lead and perform many key roles in the celebration of the Mass. Look for more such masses on the last Sunday of each month at the 11:00am Mass.

Tags: St. Anastasia | Kids Mass | The Journey

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“Then they came to Capernaum, and on the sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught. The people were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes.”
—Mark 1: 21-22

Mary of us have a vision of Jesus as being meek and mild, courteous an deferential. Our mental image is that of a silent Jesus accepting his fate from Pontius Pilate without complaint.

Tags: Fr. Aloy Funtila | Jesus was not a Wallflower | St. Anastasia

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"Why this commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but asleep." And they ridiculed him.
— Mark 5:39-40

Another one of our less-than endearing qualities is the fact that many people are happy to have something to say just about everything under the sun, often when they do not know really what they are talking about.

Tags: Speaking before Thinking | Fr. Aloy Funtila | St. Anastasia

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“God shows no partiality. Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly is acceptable to him.”

— Acts 10:34-35

In today’s passage from the Acts of the Apostles, St. Peter is recorded as having said that God is impartial. That is taken to mean that although Jesus’ coming was proclaimed in Hebrew scripture, Jesus came to save all humankind from the stain of original sin, the despair of eternal damnation and to proclaim an eternity of heavenly delights for all. In the early Christian church, there was a lengthy discussion as to whether or not Gentiles were to be admitted.

Tags: We Can All Be Saved | Fr. Aloy Funtila | St. Anastasia

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“And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their country by another way.”

— Matthew 2:12

Our Christmas legends, carols and stories all tend to paint the picture of the Baby Jesus being born to Mary and Joseph unnoticed in a stable. The Savior of all humankind seems to have arrived and no one was on hand to welcome Him, we are led to believe.

Tags: The Wise Know Jesus | Fr. Aloy Funtila | St. Anastasia

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"I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock, one shepherd.”
— John 10:16

One of the big points of dissention in the early church was the issue of whether church membership was open only to Jews, or to Gentiles of all manner and form.

Tags: Feed My Sheep | Fr. Aloy Funtila | St. Anastasia

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