One week from today the whole Church will celebrate the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  This feast acknowledges that Mary was taken up into heaven body and soul.  Notice the word assumption.  Forty days after Easter we celebrate the Solemnity of the Ascension, where our Lord ascends by his own power as God into the heavens.  Mary, however, is assumed.  While she is not divine, she certainly is marked out with special favors as the Mother of God (one of the earliest titles of Mary in the early Church, Theotokos, Greek for God-bearer).  And so her assumption is the work of God.  The Assumption of Mary was celebrated long before it was solemnly defined by the Church in 1950 by Pope Pius XII.  It had been a part of the Sacred Tradition of the Church from her earliest days that God did not allow any decay to touch the body of the Mother of God, but that she was taken up into heaven body and soul.  The only thing that really happened in 1950 was that Pope Pius XII defined something that had been the ancient belief of the Church.  Mary is often called the first disciple.  In fact, the large chapel at the Spiritual Life Center in Wichita is called the Chapel of Mary, the First Disciple.  Mary’s willingness to accept the Divine plan, her willingness to say yes is something that we should always look to for strength in our own lives of discerning God’s plan for us.  Her last recorded words in Sacred Scripture are found in the second chapter of St. John’s Gospel at the occasion of the Wedding Feast of Cana: “Do whatever he tells you.”  Mary, Queen of the Universe, Pray for us!

In Christ’s Love,

Fr. John N. Hay

Slowly I have been sifting through some of the historical information from the beginnings of a simple Newman club on the WSU campus in 1949 to the establishment of our parish in 1970 and everything in between.  In the near future we would like to create a historical wall in the hallway by the parish office.  If you would be interested in helping put this together or if you have any information or pictures please let Janet, JP or I know.   Many parishioners and students have told me that one reason they love to be a part of St. Paul’s/Newman Center is because there is such a friendly and communal atmosphere.  I will say that this has been my experience too.  And so, we need to honor and celebrate the 40 years that our parish has been around.  So many lives have been touched throughout these 40 years.  We are planning a parish dinner on the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, which is on January 25, 2011.  So please mark your calendars!!!  Dinner will be at 6:30 p.m. and I will ask some of the Newmanites to wait tables and serve so that the parishioners can meet some of the students (and this will hopefully be an annual event!)

We have been busy this summer, but the summer updating is winding down.  You will notice the image of the Pious Pelican that adorns the Altar in the adoration chapel.  There are several images and symbols that emerged in the early Church to communicate different aspects of Christian life and worship.  This particular image, where the mother pelican pecks her flesh to feed her young with her own blood became a symbol to acknowledge the self-sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross and His giving of His flesh and blood to us in the Eucharist, the Sacrifice of the Mass.  And the two quotes from the Book of Psalms surrounding the Chapel of Divine Mercy calls to mind the loving care that God has for each of us and that all our hope and trust is in Him.

In Christ’s Love,

Fr. John N. Hay

It was February 10, 1970 when Bishop David M. Maloney canonically established our parish of St. Paul’s.  We are in the 40th anniversary year of the establishment of our parish!  Last summer, Fr. Eric Weldon began to update that recreation area of the basement which turned out great.  And so, we are going ahead with some additional updating, such as: fresh coat of paint in the Christopher room and the basement, reorganizing storage space and moving furniture around to change it up a bit, and painting the stair-well.  You’ll notice the stenciling in the Christopher Room and the large chapel.  All of these things are ways we can give our parish facility a cost-effective updating.  And in honor of the 40th Anniversary of the establishment of St. Paul’s Parish, as you walk in the front doors you will see a new picture of St. Paul.  It is only appropriate that St. Paul would be front and center in his own church.  To the left of St. Paul a picture I found in the basement of the Blessed Virgin Mary and to the right our pictures of the Pope and Bishop.  This depiction of St. Paul displayed in the center of the entryway is quite famous.  It is a picture of an icon written (they refer to the making of icons as “writing” because it is a spiritual process) by Andrei Rublev, a famous Russian iconographer.  This image of St. Paul is around 6 centuries old.  We have a wonderful parish, and it is not the building that is most important but the people that will use it.  This is a great time in the history of our parish and we have to work hard to maintain the beauty and purpose of this place.  The actual amount that we need each week to do that (without the diocesan subsidy) is $4,058.38.  As I said last week, we have a lot of work to do, but we will do it together.  God bless you.

In Christ’s love,

Fr. John N. Hay

Dear Parishioners and Students,

First, I just want to thank everyone in the parish for making me feel welcome and at home.  I already feel like this is my new home!  A couple of weeks ago we celebrated the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, which is the Patronal feast day of our parish.  I want to express my gratitude to all the parishioners and students who worked hard to make that day a beautiful celebration.

Also, I want to put a plug in for our recently re-stocked Lighthouse CD menu in the vestibule of the Church.  In the last few months I have listened to several different productions from Lighthouse and I can personally attest to the value and quality of their content.  Lighthouse is committed to putting out excellent materials for on-going faith formation of adults and really for the whole family.  I would encourage you to take a look through the different options available and trade them around among yourselves.  These CDs are great for drives to work and back home or when you’re just driving around running errands.

Consider a few of you trading CD’s around, so you can listen to them all over time.  The parish pays around $2 per CD so if you are able to make a little donation for them, please consider doing so, and if you cannot, don’t worry about it, I think the benefit from these catechetical tools is too important for a price!  We’ll make sure to keep it stocked with fresh titles, here are the most recent acquisitions:

God

When Life Doesn’t Make Sense

Why Go To Mass

The Healing Power of Confession

The Joy of Stewardship

Blessed Pier Giorgio

A Call to Joy

Defeating Satan’s Deadly Weapon Against Men

Seven Deadly Sins, Seven Lively Virtues

15 Things to Do in the Midst of Suffering

God bless you.  In Christ’s Love,

Fr. John N. Hay

Dear Parishioners and Students,

St. Paul writes: “God loves a cheerful giver.” 2 Corinthians 9:7.  This does not just refer to a gift of treasure, but a gift of self--living an other-centered life.  A beautiful quote of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta: “Unless life is lived for others, it is not worthwhile.”  Living a life of stewardship, a life of self-giving, a life of service is really the only thing that can bring true peace and joy into our souls.  Why?  Because it is the path that Jesus walked and when we follow His footsteps of self-donation then we bring His life into our own!  When I travel to other dioceses around the country, people are literally floored by what has been accomplished in the Diocese of Wichita through the stewardship way of life.  They cannot imagine a Catholic education made possible for every Catholic young person--EVEN if they cannot afford it.  The diocese of Wichita is blessed beyond imagining with Catholics who love and live their faith, vocations to the priesthood and religious life, and a vibrant Catholic community.  There is only one explanation for this kind of success: lives lived for others.  Here at our own parish, we will be coming up with stewardship opportunities for parishioners and students in the coming months.  As many other parishes around the diocese operate a school as their apostolate or work of charity, our parish of St. Paul’s operates a Newman Center for college students.  For many of these students, St. Paul’s Parish is a refuge from the stormy world of university life and is a place where these young Catholics can come together in faith and community to support one another.  This ministry that our parish does is so vital today!  It is not easy for young people to live their faith today when it is attacked by everyone on the outside.  I beg you to help me to bring stewardship to our parish in a new and deep way so that we can provide this vital service to the youth of our Church, no doubt they are the future!  Please support our Parish by your gifts of time, talent and treasure, the gift of self.  St. Paul, Pray for us!