BAPTISM & TOGETHERNESS A couple of weeks ago, Fr. Steve’s homily noted that “Liturgy holds us together.” Indeed! I saw a lot of togetherness at last Sunday’s 10:15 Mass, when our community witnessed the baptism of Isaac Adrian Czaia, son of Zach and Cristina. In addition to our regular 10:15 Mass goers, many of Zach […]

UNITY, LIBERTY, LOVE In a recent homily, Fr. Steve quoted St. Augustine: “In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; and in all things, love.” That quote really caught my attention. It’s memorable. I first saw it many years ago. My daughter Bea was playing in a piano recital at a Moravian church, where the quote was […]

RECAPPING THE LATEST STAFF NEWS . . . (1) Cristina Czaia has been hired as our new Director of Music & Liturgy, effective September 5. She’s replacing Jill Kilzer, who’s retiring October 2. (2) Youth Minister We continue to search for a youth minister to serve our parish and St. Stan’s. (Interviews have begun.) In […]

WELCOME, CRISTINA! In last week’s bulletin, we announced the October retirement of Jill Kilzer, our long-time director of music and liturgy. Thank you, Jill, for your many years of service! This week, I’m happy to announce that we are hiring Cristina Czaia as our new director of music and liturgy. She’ll begin work in September, […]

THANK YOU, JILL! Jill Kilzer, our music and liturgy director since 2007, is retiring October 2. Many thanks, Jill, for your years of dedicated service to St. Matt’s. And congratulations on your retirement! All the best to you and Bill! Ever since I began work at St. Matt’s in 2021, I’ve been grateful to Jill […]

FAMILY REUNION Thank you to all who made last weekend’s Mass in the Park a success. I was sorry to miss it, but I had a good reason: I was in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, with more than a hundred of my second cousins and other relatives. Family history: I grew up in Mitchell, South […]

NATIONAL NIGHT OUT (NNO) On Tuesday, August 1, St. Matt’s hosted its second annual neighborhood get-together. Over the course of a couple of hours, many friends and neighbors stopped by to greet, meet and eat. Thank you to everyone who helped make the evening such a success! (I’m thinking especially of bubbles and sidewalk chalk […]

PACE & PRISM (P&P) Well, it’s in. Last Tuesday, I submitted our annual P&P application to Catholic Mutual, the insurance company that insures all Catholic entities in the Archdiocese. We entered the P&P program a year ago, and it led to our receiving a $4,400 rebate on our annual insurance costs. Not a bad return […]

Patience I enjoyed Fr. Rodger Baumann’s homily on patience last weekend. I certainly need patience in my work, as some facilities projects can take a long time to plan and execute. Case in point: we began the school roof replacement project over a year ago. After such a long process, I was pleased to hear […]

WELCOMING THE STRANGER I recently invited a stranger to Mass. That was after she stopped by the Parish Center early one morning, and we talked a bit. First, I mentioned Loaves & Fishes suppers, Mondays through Fridays from 5:00 – 6:00 p.m. Then I gave her the address for Neighborhood House. These are among our […]

FACILITIES UPDATE • One of our goals this summer is to reduce, reuse or recycle items stored in our various storage rooms. We’re currently focused on the school building, which still has things left over from St. Matt’s School and the previous charter school tenant. (I’m offering tours to alumni and other interested parties. There […]

SECURITY Our ad hoc task force on security met recently. The purpose was to review progress to date. We’ve learned a lot. We have more to learn, before we buy any equipment. Our starter thinking last fall was to install some cameras. Cameras are one component of a comprehensive security plan. After talking to several […]

I was out of the office the week of June 19, attending Danebod Family Camp in Tyler, Minnesota. I’ve enjoyed this camp for many years, as it features many of my favorite things: friends, food, conversation, singing, dancing, games and crafts. (Check out the sampler in my office, if you get a chance.) While at […]

LOCAL LISTENING – SESSION 2 On Tuesday, June 13, St. Matt’s hosted a second West Side listening session. You might recall that our first listening session was on May 2. At the May 2 meeting, we focused on needs of the West Side. Two main themes emerged: needs of Youth, and the need for Community […]

SYNODALITY “The only authority in the Church is the authority of service.” So said Pope Francis in 2015, marking the 50th anniversary of the re-establishment of the Synod of Bishops. That re-establishment was one of the fruits of the Second Vatican Council. The idea is that bishops aren’t merely branch officers of the Vatican. Rather, […]

LISTENING & SYNODALITY I’ve been reading Rafael Luciani’s 2022 book Synodality: A New Way of Proceeding in the Church. One of his main themes is the importance of listening. The very first page of the Foreward refers to Pope Francis’s teaching that “the bishops are obliged to listen carefully to the people of God, just […]

CAPITAL NEEDS UPDATE Here’s very good news: we’ve raised $55,065 thus far this fiscal year (July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023). By far, the majority of contributions came since the beginning of Lent. Many thanks to all contributors! That $55K is just what we needed for the 50% deposit on replacing our main electric […]

“I WISH I COULD BE A MEMBER OF YOUR PARISH.” I recently heard that compliment from a volunteer medical professional, as she was leaving St. Mary’s Health Clinic. She’s among the many who volunteer here every Wednesday. She went on, “You’re always helping people.” She was referring not only to St. Mary’s free clinic, but […]

PARISH COLLABORATION MEETING On Thursday, May 11, parishioners from St. Matt’s hosted counterparts from St. Stan’s. The purpose was to get to know one another. We did. It was a good meeting! Details: I’m grateful to our Council members who came, including Kathy Goldenstein, Becky Montgomery, Janelle Rohr, and Ellen Schneider. Also present were our […]

SYNODALITY Have you ever noticed that when you learn a new word, you suddenly see it everywhere? I recall this happening to me a lot when I was in school. It’s happening again, with the word “synodality”. I first started reading about it a year or two ago, in the pages of Commonweal. (A great […]

FACILITIES NEWS Technicians from All City Elevator began repair work on the school elevator this past week. Recall that a combination of an aging school roof and bad weather contributed to a major leak in the school elevator shaft, back in February. Total cost to repair is about $29,000. All but $1,000 is covered by […]

MAY 2 MEETING – WEST SIDE COMMUNITY COLLABORATION PROJECT I wrote last week about a collaborative public meeting for all interested West Siders, to be hosted by St. Matt’s. We’re inviting many people and organizations from our West Side community. In this respect, we’re following St. Matt’s rich history as a Catholic community visibly expressing […]

MAY 2 MEETING – WEST SIDE COMMUNITY COLLABORATION PROJECT In last week’s bulletin insert, I briefly mentioned a May 2 meeting we’re hosting at St. Matt’s. Here’s additional information. For several months, Fr. Steve, Karen Thompson, John Del Vecchio, Becky Montgomery, Ralph Brown and I have been meeting for talks about the West Side. We’re […]

HAPPY EASTER! Alleluia! He is risen! I wish you, your family and your friends a joyful Easter season. I want to add my thanks to Fr. Steve’s and Mary Leibl’s: We had wonderful celebrations during Holy Week and the Triduum, because people stepped up. Thank you to all who contributed their time, knowledge and skill […]

HAPPY EASTER! Alleluia! He is risen! I wish you, your family and your friends a joyful Easter Day and Easter season. It’s time to celebrate! ACTS OF THE APOSTLES AND US Now that we’re in the Easter season, we’re going to hear significant readings from the Acts of the Apostles. I expect I’ll be among […]

SCHOOL ELEVATOR UPDATE Because of a roof leak, the elevator in the school building was damaged by water in February. It’s been shut down ever since. I recently met with the St. Paul City Elevator Inspector, a maintenance supervisor from All City Elevator, and our insurance liaison, John Peterson. (John works for Catholic Mutual, our […]

A VOLUNTEER PARISH I feel blessed to be at St. Matt’s. We have a great community! A big reason: our many volunteers. To take last weekend, for example: we had volunteers running a Fish Fry and Ham Bingo; setting up for Fr. Steve’s talk, counting money, assisting in various liturgical ministries—it’s marvelous! (See also Volunteer […]

FACILITIES FUNDRAISING I’m pleased to report that we’ve received more than $20,000 in cash and pledges to support our current capital needs projects: the main electric panel and the school’s flat roof. Thank you to everyone who’s contributed so far! While 20K is a lot of money, we need around $350-400K to for the panel […]

FUNDING OUR FACILITIES—PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE Next month, I’ll complete my second year here at St. Matt’s. I’ve learned a lot about this great community since I began. As a former history teacher, it’s been fascinating to dig into the history. The other day, for example, I saw a copy of a 2003 letter from Fr. […]

FUNDING OUR FACILITIES At our most recent Parish Finance Council meeting on February 23, we discussed how our fiscal year 2023 expenses (7.1.22 – 6.30.23) compare to what we budgeted. We noticed that we’re over budget when it comes to maintenance and repairs. I asked our accountant for details. Here are the major items in […]

MINISTRY OF LECTOR Earlier this month, we offered a lector workshop, led by Moya McGinn-Matthews of Christ the King parish in Minneapolis. The workshop was for all lectors, as well as for those interested in becoming a lector. The workshop went well. The 14 participants reflected on what it means to be “Proclaimers of the […]

CHURCH What comes to mind when you hear the word, “church”? When I was a child, I’d think of the Catholic church building where I attended Mass. Years later, with the benefit of theology courses at St. Thomas, I learned the word church could refer to more than a building. Indeed, church can refer to […]

ISAIAH’S WORDS FOR ST. MATT’S Who else noticed how the Prophet Isaiah’s words last weekend (58:7-10) were a remarkable survey of our parish missions? I mean, c’mon: • Share your bread with the hungry (Loaves & Fishes; Food Shelf) • Shelter the oppressed and the homeless (Casa Guadalupana) • Clothe the naked (Isaac’s Blessing Bags) […]

PARISH COUNCIL At our January 26 Parish Council meeting, someone suggested we start putting Capital Needs donation envelopes in the back of the church. I think that’s a good idea. (Not everyone receives the bi-monthly envelope packet, which includes Capital Needs envelopes.) We’re planning some major capital projects this year, such as replacement of the […]

“I BELIEVE IN WHAT YOU’RE DOING HERE” Pop quiz: what comes to mind when I say, “What is St. Matt’s about?” Take a moment. I’ll wait. Ready? OK, for me, several things come to mind. First, we have a strong emphasis on social justice. That’s apparent when you start naming our ministries, such as Loaves […]