Just as God's creature, the sun, is one and the same the world

over, so also does the Church's preaching shine everywhere

to enlighten all men who want to come to the knowledge of the

truth.

St. Irenaeus

May the grace and peace of the Risen Lord Jesus be with you! Since we are beginning our new academic year, both in terms of our religious education programs for our youth as well as our adult education programs, the quote above from St. Irenaeus seemed particularly apropos. You will note that it doesn't say that the Church's preaching shines to enlighten all men, period, but rather, "all men who want to come to the knowledge of the truth." How much do we want to come to the knowledge of the truth? How much will we allow ourselves to be enlightened by the Church's preaching?

Statistically, the sad fact is that the overwhelming majority of adult Catholics have had no formal religious education since they ended their Confirmation classes. It might be worthwhile for each of us to look at our own Catholic training and ask ourselves, how much of a priority are we placing on deepening our understanding of our Faith? Those of us who are parents obviously have an even greater responsibility, for Christian parents have a solemn responsibility before God, not only to know the Faith themselves, but to know it well enough to be able to pass it on to their children. Especially since, as the Church points out over and over, parents are the primary catechists of their children.

There is nothing more critical in our lives than our relationship with the Lord Jesus, and yet so many adults seem to be satisfied with no more truth concerning their Faith than they possessed as eighth graders!?!. This is one of the reasons why we as a Parish place such a high priority on our adult education opportunities. The value of all of us having a current, well-founded, comprehensive knowledge of the teachings of our Church should be self-evident to those who want to continue to take their relationship with the Lord Jesus seriously. We will continue to sponsor different talks as well as other events, like the men's and women's retreats, which will be oriented toward bringing us deeper into the knowledge of the things of God. I hope and pray that folks take these opportunities seriously, so that we may all grow in our Faith together, more deeply knowing and living the Truth that has set us free. I commend you to the care of the Mother of God and the protection of St. Michael.

Fr. Ed