This morning, we were blessed to have three of our shepherds here to celebrate Mass with us: Archbishop Carlson from the Archdiocese of St. Louis, Bishop Rice from the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau, and Bishop Kemme from the Diocese of Wichita.

Archbishop Carlson began his homily by reminding us that the God who has invited us here for the Eucharist is the same God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and all the saints. That same God most likely touched many of our hearts and souls this weekend. He also placed prayers and goals on our hearts, but we are not able to achieve those goals alone. We need each other. We need to be bold and inspire hope in one another by how we live our lives because none of us need to walk alone.

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This afternoon, Lisa Cotter reminded up that we live in a time when dating is really confusing. It is extremely difficult to navigate the dating world: there are no norms to dating anymore, and because of technology, as we scroll through our phones, we feel as if we’re connecting with someone, but in reality, we’re not. In order to connect with someone, you need that face to face interaction and we cannot get that through a screen. While texting is a wonderful and convenient thing, unfortunately it doesn’t let us see another’s emotion. We find it difficult to interpret what the other is saying and it can get confusing, so Lisa reminded us that “texting is for information, not emotion.”

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This morning as we gathered for Mass, Fr. Chris Martin shared with us times in his life where he did not feel like he belonged. Many of his stories took place outside of the country. Being 6’4 he often stands out, but one story in particular was when he traveled to Calcutta, India to teach with the Missionaries of Charity. Fr. Martin likened the Sisters to the Marine Corp. of the Catholic Church. Every morning, the Sisters would go to the trash dump down the street and pick up the children that had been thrown away and would bring them back to their house to care for them. He was amazed by their amount of charity and love and he did not feel as if he belonged.

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Today’s Mass was celebrated by Archbishop Peter Wells who serves as the Apostolic Nuncio to Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, and Swaziland. Bishop Kemme from the Diocese of Wichita was also with us. Additionally, dozens of priests from all over the United States concelebrated.

We all have a desire to be chosen. Whether that be for a sports team, a club, a play, getting into college or attaining a job. There is something deep about the human heart that desires to be chosen. In his homily this morning, Fr. Dave Pivonka, TOR, reminded us that we are all chosen to be holy.

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Fr. Dave began his talk this afternoon by reminding us that God has a plan for our lives, our lives are not random and that every individual matters.

You are more than your body

Fr. Dave reminded us that you are more than just a body. Your body is only a part of you. You are flesh and soul, and that’s what makes you human. They are important because your body and soul make you who you are. You have a body and a soul and Jesus Christ delights in that. He referenced Chris Pratt’s recent MTV awards speech last month when Pratt said “you have a soul, take care of it.”

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