Sacred Heart Catholic Church

06/13/2026

(PRACTICING) CATHOLIC - RECOGNIZE GOD IN YOUR ORDINARY MOMENTS

By Colleen Jurkiewicz Dorman

Laborers

“The harvest is abundant, but the laborers are few.”

This excerpt from Matthew’s Gospel has become a catchphrase in the modern Church. We give ourselves vertigo with the amount of head-shaking we do over the much-lamented “decline in numbers.”

Which numbers, you ask? Well, take your pick — numbers of baptized Catholic children who continue to profess their faith in adulthood, numbers of registered parishioners, numbers of priests ordained each year. All are a fraction of what they were generations ago.

That last one — the priests — that’s a particular worry for us, isn’t it? So we pray, “Send us laborers, Lord! Make them holy. Make them earnest.”

And then we add, in the silence of our hearts: “Make them perfect.”

It’s no secret that part of the reason the pews are empty is because we often find it hard to love the Church if we find it hard to love a particular priest, a particular bishop, or a particular human representative of the Church.

Because that’s the thing about priests and bishops and all the laborers in the field: they are human. They are sinners. Just like you and me.

We must consider this: today’s Gospel lists the Apostles whom Jesus sent out in ministry to heal, console, and evangelize, and right at the end — like a record scratch — comes the name of Judas Iscariot, the betrayer. If ever a laborer failed in his work, it was Judas.

And surely, when he did, his fellow laborers were so demoralized and so disenchanted that they considered laying down their tools and leaving the harvest to wither and die.

But they did not, and we must not.

Without cost we have received, and without cost we are called to give.

So we labor on, for the day is drawing to a close, and the threshing time is near.

©LPi

06/13/2026

Saint Anthony of Padua
Saint of the Day for June 13
(1195 – June 13, 1231)

Saint Anthony of Padua’s Story

The gospel call to leave everything and follow Christ was the rule of Saint Anthony of Padua’s life. Over and over again, God called him to something new in his plan. Every time Anthony responded with renewed zeal and self-sacrificing to serve his Lord Jesus more completely.

His journey as the servant of God began as a very young man when he decided to join the Augustinians in Lisbon, giving up a future of wealth and power to be a servant of God. Later when the bodies of the first Franciscan martyrs went through the Portuguese city where he was stationed, he was again filled with an intense longing to be one of those closest to Jesus himself: those who die for the Good News.

So, Saint Anthony of Padua entered the Franciscan Order and set out to preach to the Moors. But an illness prevented him from achieving that goal. He went to Italy and was stationed in a small hermitage where he spent most of his time praying, reading the Scriptures and doing menial tasks.

The call of God came again at an ordination where no one was prepared to speak. The humble and obedient Anthony hesitantly accepted the task. The years of searching for Jesus in prayer, of reading sacred Scripture and of serving him in poverty, chastity, and obedience had prepared Saint Anthony of Padua to allow the Spirit to use his talents. Anthony’s sermon was astounding to those who expected an unprepared speech and knew not the Spirit’s power to give people words.

Recognized as a great man of prayer and a great Scripture and theology scholar, Saint Anthony of Padua became the first friar to teach theology to the other friars. Soon he was called from that post to preach to the Albigensians in France, using his profound knowledge of Scripture and theology to convert and reassure those who had been misled by their denial of Christ’s divinity and of the sacraments.

After he led the friars in northern Italy for three years, he made his headquarters in the city of Padua. He resumed his preaching and began writing sermon notes to help other preachers. In the spring of 1231 Saint Anthony of Padua withdrew to a friary at Camposampiero where he had a sort of treehouse built as a hermitage. There he prayed and prepared for death.

On June 13, he became very ill and asked to be taken back to Padua, where he died after receiving the last sacraments. Saint Anthony of Padua was canonized less than a year later and named a Doctor of the Church in 1946.

© 2026 Franciscan Media

06/11/2026

Saint Barnabas
Saint of the Day for June 11
(c. 75)

Saint Barnabas’ Story

Saint Barnabas, a Jew of Cyprus, comes as close as anyone outside the Twelve to being a full-fledged apostle. He was closely associated with Saint Paul—he introduced Paul to Peter and the other apostles—and served as a kind of mediator between the former persecutor and the still suspicious Jewish Christians.

When a Christian community developed at Antioch, Barnabas was sent as the official representative of the church of Jerusalem to incorporate them into the fold. He and Paul instructed in Antioch for a year, after which they took relief contributions to Jerusalem.

Later Paul and Barnabas, now clearly seen as charismatic leaders, were sent by Antioch officials to preach to the gentiles. Enormous success crowned their efforts. After a miracle at Lystra, the people wanted to offer sacrifice to them as gods—Barnabas being Zeus, and Paul, Hermes—but the two said, “We are of the same nature as you, human beings. We proclaim to you good news that you should turn from these idols to the living God” (see Acts 14:8-18).

But all was not peaceful. They were expelled from one town, they had to go to Jerusalem to clear up the ever-recurring controversy about circumcision, and even the best of friends can have differences. When Paul wanted to revisit the places they had evangelized, Saint Barnabas wanted to take along his cousin John Mark, author of the Gospel, but Paul insisted that since Mark had deserted them once, he was not fit to take along now. The disagreement that followed was so sharp that Barnabas and Paul separated: Barnabas taking Mark to Cyprus, Paul taking Silas to Syria. Later they were reconciled—Paul, Barnabas and Mark.

When Paul stood up to Peter for not eating with gentiles for fear of his Jewish friends, we learn that “even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy” (see Galatians 2:1-13).

© 2026 Franciscan Media

06/11/2026

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06/10/2026

As a church, we can help promote mental well-being. Our Churches can provide a safe space for people to discuss and obtain information about the importance of mental well-being and can share their thoughts and feelings. Would you like to participate in a New Catholic ministry that follows the following core pillars: of education, accompaniment, and advocacy to walk with individuals to foster well-being and wellness and create a faith community free from the stigma and isolation often associated with the discussion of mental health and well-being. If you have questions or would like to participate in this new ministry please contact Maria Stumpf-Ahmed at Catholic Charities, [email protected] or 507-905-8602.

06/09/2026

Saint Ephrem
Saint of the Day for June 9
(c. 306 – June 9, 373)

Saint Ephrem’s Story

Poet, teacher, orator, and defender of the faith, Saint Ephrem is the only Syriac Christian recognized as a doctor of the Church. He took upon himself the special task of opposing the many false doctrines rampant at his time, always remaining a true and forceful defender of the Catholic Church.

Born in Nisibis, Mesopotamia, he was baptized as a young man and became famous as a teacher in his native city. When the Christian emperor had to cede Nisibis to the Persians, Ephrem fled as a refugee to Edessa, along with many other Christians. He is credited with attracting great glory to the biblical school there. He was ordained a deacon but declined becoming a priest. Ephrem was said to have avoided presbyteral consecration by feigning madness!

Saint Ephrem had a prolific pen, and his writings best illumine his holiness. Although he was not a man of great scholarship, his works reflect deep insight and knowledge of the Scriptures. In writing about the mysteries of humanity’s redemption, Ephrem reveals a realistic and humanly sympathetic spirit and a great devotion to the humanity of Jesus. It is said that his poetic account of the Last Judgment inspired Dante.

It is surprising to read that he wrote hymns against the heretics of his day. He would take the popular songs of the heretical groups and using their melodies, compose beautiful hymns embodying orthodox doctrine. Saint Ephrem became one of the first to introduce song into the Church’s public worship as a means of instruction for the faithful. His many hymns have earned him the title “Harp of the Holy Spirit.”

Saint Ephrem preferred a simple, austere life, living in a small cave overlooking the city of Edessa. It was here that he died around 373.

© 2026 Franciscan Media

06/07/2026

The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

John 6:51-58

When I was a young altar server, I once overheard two very different comments about the Eucharist. One person asked, “Is Father distributing the bread or the wine?” Later, another asked, “Can you go get Jesus from the tabernacle?” Same parish, same Mass, but two very different ways of speaking. I pondered: So, is it bread that we pretend is Jesus? Or is Jesus a tiny white thing in a box? I was utterly confused.

This Feast of Corpus Christi is an excellent time to think about how we should speak about the Eucharist. In today’s Gospel, Jesus declares: “My flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.” (John 6:55) His words scandalized his listeners, who feared cannibalism, and even today puzzle many, who reduce them to metaphor. Both miss the truth.

The Church gives us better words that honor Jesus’ words in the Gospel. After the consecration, we do not call it “bread” or “wine.” Nor do we say, “a piece of Jesus” or even “Jesus.” We say: the Eucharist. We say: the Body and Blood of Christ. We say: the Real Presence. We say: the Most Blessed Sacrament. These words safeguard the astonishing reality that Christ himself is truly present, whole and entire, under the appearances of bread and wine.

If we speak well about the Eucharist, we will think more clearly and believe more deeply. And if we believe more deeply, we will adore more truly the One who gives himself to us — not bread, not wine, but Jesus Christ himself, whole and entire.

— Father John Muir

©LPi

06/07/2026

06/07/2026

Corpus Christi Prayer

O Precious Jesus, The gift of your Body and Blood, shared with us, is unfathomable.
Like manna that satiated our hunger, fill us where we lack.
Like the bread given to Elijah in the desert, sustain us.
Grace us with a glimpse into your love for us,
now and forever, present in the Eucharist.
Amen.

©LPi

Oración de Corpus Christi

Oh, precioso Jesús,
El don de tu Cuerpo y Sangre, compartido con nosotros, es insondable.
Como maná que saciaba nuestra hambre, llénanos donde nos falta.
Como el pan dado a Elías en el desierto, sostennos.
Agrácianos con un vistazo de tu amor por nosotros,
ahora y para siempre, presente en la Eucaristía.
Amén.

©LPi

06/06/2026

The Heart of Stewardship

What else is there to give when one has already given away one’s body and one’s life? What more can one say or do to demonstrate love for another when all one had has been given to another? This total giving of self to loved ones cannot be trumped by flowery words or material gifts that are fleeting. This is the ultimate in love. This is the love Jesus had for us on the way to his Passion, at the institution of the Holy Eucharist. This is the love he has for us daily in the celebration of the Mass on altars in every church, in every city, in every nation on earth. No one can give more. No one can ask for more. This is the true heart of Christian stewardship.

If you take the time to gaze upon your God in the simplest of forms and begin to reflect on what has actually taken place with bread and wine becoming the presence of the Divine, then you can begin to understand true humility, sacrifice, and love. And when you have the privilege to take that Real Presence into your body at the meal where you are an honored guest, you become one with the One who is the embodiment of stewardship.

Then, you must ask yourself, “How can I even begin to reflect the love that I have encountered at this feast?” The answer is you can begin with the simple actions of the day: where will you go, whom will you meet, and in what work will you partake? Jesus Christ has shown that the greatest gift ever given can be disguised in this world in a piece of bread. By joining your body to his, he can now transform human hearts, not by grand acts, but by everyday acts, by everyday people, practicing Everyday Stewardship.

— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS

©LPi