St. Bartholomew Church

This weekend the Deacons of the Diocese are on retreat. I went over to help with confessions on Friday, and before we started we were talking just outside the chapel.  I leaned against this wall that separated the chapel from the vestibule, and all of the sudden I noticed something was wrong.  I was wet.  And not just a little wet.  I was soaking wet.  Well it turns out that what I was leaning against was not a wall.  It was some sort of bizarre modern art Baptismal Font - with flowing water.  And I was completely saturated from my waste to my shoes.  Lovely. 

          But we are supposed to be saturated in our Baptism, aren’t we?  Not like that exactly.  But how we live is supposed to be reflective of who we are as beloved children of God called to be holy.  And that means that what we do, what we say, the things we ponder are all supposed to be conformed to Jesus Christ. But we need to be renewed in that, I think - cause life can weigh heavy on us, and we can easily lose our center - we can turn our eyes away from Jesus and the fullness of the life He calls us to. 

So next Saturday on our Feast Day we will renew our Baptismal Promises, we will be sprinkled again with Holy Water - we won’t be waste deep in it, but hopefully it will penetrate us as deep as our hearts - to help us fall more deeply in love with Jesus, and to live our lives more fully for Him. 

And that’s why on Friday we started our Novena to Bartholomew - and we beg him in all of our needs to help us become the people, the family, the Parish that Jesus is calling us to be. 

 Because so much in life can happen in unexpected moments to pull us away from that - and we need all the help we can get.  So, in the midst of our messes and crazy this week, may Jesus come to our aid in all the ways we so desperately need Him to, may He help us to keep our eyes fixed on Him.  God help us all. +