Video Gallery

26th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Go to Video Gallery Added Oct 01, 2018 •

Copy this URL:
Embed code:	<iframe class="edlio-embed-player" type="text/html" width="640" height="360" src="//www.allsaintschurch.com/apps/embed/?v=194281" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Change dimensions

Go HD

Fr. Tom Wilson w/Liz & Robb Sandwick September 30, 2018

Show Transcript

Years ago in my first assignment as a priest I was assigned by my pastor to work with a number of couples in the parish who did work in our pre-marriage program for couples coming in for marriage preparation and to have their weddings at our Parish. I got to know several of these couples very well including one who was asked to do essentially the testimony of their own discernment and call to marriage and their living it out in their family life at one of the first gatherings of the of the engaged couples that I was at. And I had known them reasonably well at the time as a couple that was very, very generous with their family; very generous with the community; very active, engaged in their faith and just a very, very good couple; good model of marriage and family. But I learned in that testimony that wasn't necessarily always that way, particularly with their children and it surprised me a lot as they were talking about their own growth and their own discernment of marriage and family life that in their engaged days, in the early married days, they seriously wondered whether they should have children or not. They seriously wondered whether they should have children and the kinds of things that might go up immediately in our minds when we hear about people who might choose to not have children; things like health reasons or career management or finances are all those sorts of things that might immediately come to mind had nothing to do with it. Had nothing to do with it. They were very honest. It had everything to do with a short piece of our Gospel reading today about that millstone going around the neck of people who lead who lead children into sin and they recognized their own inadequacies and frankly were afraid. They were afraid that they wouldn't be good parents. They understood that their first responsibility as parents was to guide and lead their kids to Jesus and give them the opportunity to choose Him to go to heaven and they were afraid they couldn't do that. 
They both came from families that were culturally Catholic but not very deep in the faith and so they lived in fear but obviously it didn't last and the one thing that they talked about especially in their ability to say yes to what God was really calling them to in their family life was their engagement with the community in the parish that they were in. They went in as a newly married couple, they began to see family life and marriage lived out in other couples and families in the parish. Those families were good examples and good mentors to them in how to do it until they were able to overcome their fear of not being good parents. They saw discipleship and family life lived out very well, certainly not perfectly but very well and they were able to follow that and then overcome their fears. Overcome their fears of being parents, good parents leading their kids to God.
And as we as we go through our readings today, we've got we got the readings that remind us of gifts and how we are called to use them. And James reminds us, James reminds us that the material gifts frankly which an awful lot of us focus on probably too much, probably too much, are actually pretty low on the list of valuable gifts. They're pretty low and he says very, very directly they rot away. Your riches and your wealth rot away. In numbers we are reminded of the outpouring of spiritual gifts and even the community wanting to sort of hoard them to themselves. They know God wants everybody to have these great spiritual gifts. God wants everybody to be bestowed these gifts and to use them for the glory of God and bringing people to Him. And the truth is the one spiritual gift absolutely that everyone of us have is our faith. It's our faith. The gift of faith is exactly that, it is a gift. It is a supernatural gift. It is not natural. It is given to us. It is given to us with the intent that it be shared, that it would be shared with other people. But the truth is that sharing of the gift is not necessarily natural. It's not. That's the kind of thing that we actually have to learn, that we have to have examples. We have to be taught. We actually have to practice. We actually have to do it and that is precisely why God brings us together, as the body of Christ, as a people of faith, in this particular community of All Saints. 
Just like my friends learned within the context of their parish how to be a good family, how to be good parents, how to work through the difficulties of family life that inevitably come up, so that they could bring their kids to Christ. So too it's in our situation as well. God brings us together so that we can help each other be the best faithful disciples that we can possibly be. That's really one of the primary reasons we are brought together as the body of Christ. It's one of the things that we do as a community. We help each other to do that because none of us does it perfectly, but people who have been there before or can be good witnesses to those who are in it now and preparing to be in it no matter what our particular call and vocation is. And in just a minute or so we're going to have an opportunity to listen to one family in our parish describe their life in discipleship especially here at All Saints. Robin Lisandwich will  get up and share some of their experiences. But the truth is that God calls , God calls us to take that supernatural gift that we have been given, not just to avoid sin but to bring people to Jesus. To bring people to Jesus in our own life of faith and in discipleship and take that ultimate spiritual gift and to be able to share it with others in our own life of discipleship.
Now I'd like to invite Rob and Liz to come forward and share their family story.
Thank you Father. Good morning, I'm Rob Sandwich and this is my wife Liz. We have been married for 14 years and have 3 children. Carolina is 10, Cooper is 8 and Max is 6. We've been parishioners at All Saints since 2013, when we relocated from Duluth due to a new job. Carolyn was about to start kindergarten at that time and it was essential for us to find a good Catholic school for her to attend. We did our research and All Saints was definitely the right choice for us. We felt at home right away and still feel very welcome every time we walk through the door. We have built some wonderful friendships through our involvement at All Saints. 
All Saints Catholic School was the first place I volunteered or became what's now called a mission partner. As new parents to the school, new parishioners in the church and a new family in the area I wanted to get to know other people and other families in the community. As our kids became involved in activities we did too. Parade planning for All Saints, presents in the pan o prog parade, baptism prep where we meet with new parents who are seeking baptism for their children, Mom's, Emmaus, Arm Full of Love, teams of Our Lady, which is a marriage enrichment small group and I attended and recently graduated from The catechetical Institute. I took the two-year program with other All Saints parishioners on the four pillars of the catechism of the Catholic Church to grow and learn in faith and to be better able to teach the faith to our kids. It's important to us to surround our children with the tools that they need to be able to build a strong lifelong faith. Rob and I have been intentional about forming relationships and connections that root us in Parish life at All Saints. 
As you may or may not know I am not Catholic. I am a Lutheran. Liz has always been Catholic and when we were married I was told we were going to raise our children Catholic. I attend Mass every Sunday with Liz and the children, not only because it's important for my personal growth in faith, but also vital to the spiritual leadership of our children. In our baptism prep we learned of a study that shows if a father takes an active role in his faith, his children are far more likely to remain in the faith as they grow older. That really hit home for me because growing up I had a father who did not regularly attend church. All Saints for me is not just a big beautiful Church on top of the hill, it's a vibrant community that I'm happy to be actively involved in. Like many of you, one of the challenges we have battled with is time. The family has so many commitments, we really do have to be intentional with where we choose to spend our time. All Saints is definitely a worthy and rewarding commitment. In the coming week you'll be receiving a commitment card in the mail. Liz and I invite you to challenge your faith commitments so you can grow in your own discipleship through sharing of your time and faith, sacrifice of resources and service to others using your gifts and talents. We make an annual commitment as a response of God's love and mercy and we invite you to do so to. We are pulled more deeply into the community of God's people and share in His mission through giving of ourselves. 
By giving we are able to express our gratitude to God for all he has shared and blessed us with. Rob and I purposely choose to make weekly financial contributions to the church as well as to choose to share our time and talents, especially during this crisis. Rob and I trust All Saints and we are invested in All Saints. We, the people of All Saints, are the church. We each need to worship every weekend at mass. At Mass we are able to stand mystically at the foot of the cross. Here we can offer ourselves to God and ask Him to heal us, heal our family, heal the church, build our faith; we can love Him and thank Him for everything. One way we can thank Him is by filling out the commitment cards. By doing so we will serve through our sacrificial efforts to bring people to God. We will serve through our efforts to the truth in word and deed and use our talents to advance the kingdom of God. And we can do so many of these wonderful things here at All Saints. What would you like to do? How would you like to participate? By sacrificing and performing service not only are we impacting our friends and neighbors by building community, we are investing in the future, investing in our children. In the third letter of John verse 4, it reads “No Greater Joy can I have than this, to hear that my children follow the truth.” Rob and I live for this in everything we do and we do it All Saints. Please pray about what God may be calling you to do and then fill out the commitment cards and turn them in. Thank you.

Listed in LITURGY

Video Gallery

26th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Popular Videos