Memorial of Saint Monica

Saint Monica (322?-387) was a honorable and loving mother of Saint Augustine of Hippo. I do not want to go into a complete biography of her for you, but you can certainly learn more about this amazing woman by clicking here. 

Saint Augustine with his mother Saint Monica

I would like to point out that Saint Monica was wonderful in that she was patient and resolute in her desire to help her family members come to know God. Eventually after many years of offering prayers, sacrifices and fasts, her hearts desire was fulfilled when her son Augustine, her husband Patricius and her mother-in-law all came to the faith in baptism. It is interesting to note how her humble example of Christian charity helped to win over those that she loved. I enjoyed learning about her persistence with her son Augustine after he had fallen into the Manichean heresy and an immoral lifestyle. She followed him to Rome and upon reaching her destination, she learned that he was in Milan. Finally, after arriving in Milan, Saint Monica sought spiritual direction with Bishop Ambrose of Milan who helped with bringing her son Augustine to the faith. He was baptized in 387 and this was what she had prayed so fervently for throughout her life.

Saint Monica is the patron saint for mothers. I would say also that she could be considered the patron saint of patience. I want to thank my mother Laurie for raising me so well, and for all mothers out there. You all have embraced a vocation that is not only sacrificial, but inspiring as well. I am going to pray in a special way today for all mothers, expectant mothers and mothers who are considering abortion. May God the giver of all life help mothers to fulfill His plan for them and for their children. Saint Monica, pray for us!

Fr. J

Carmel Serra Club

Here below is a letter of invitation I shared with the members of my parish's Knights of Columbus Council. I hope some of them are able to attend tonight. I will work harder on getting the word out earlier. :)

Blessed Junipero Serra (1713-1784)

Dear Knights,

Father Joshua Janko here... how are you all doing?  Anyway, at the last Knights meeting, I talked to you briefly about the Vocation of the Permanent Diaconate. I know that there has been a permanent deacon at this parish in the past (Dcn. Pat Gallagher). I was blessed to work in my last parish assignment with another incredible deacon - Deacon Steve Miller. Maybe, just maybe, God is calling one or two of YOU to the permanent diaconate. God knows WHO! :)

Anyway, tonight (and I apologize for such short notice) the Carmel Serra Club has a monthly meeting that I want to invite you to attend. The meeting will begin at 6:30pm with dinner and then Deacon Steve Miller will talk to us at 7:00pm about the Permanent Diaconate. He is always inspiring in his talks and homilies. Please consider coming out for the meeting. Your wives are invited as well as the Serra Club is for men and women.

The meeting will be at the MCL Cafeteria in Carmel. The address is 

1390 Keystone Way

Carmel, IN 46032-3235

I am the chaplain for the Carmel Serra Club and firmly believe in its purpose: 

Serra International is a global organization of Catholic laymen and laywomen. Our mission and ministry is to foster and promote vocations through prayer, awareness, affirmation and support.

Also, if you would like to learn a little more about the Serra Club, please visit our website: http://www.serracarmel.org/

God bless you and thank you for all that you do for our parish family...

Fr. Joshua Janko

Have You Been Saved?

This past weekend, in the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time, the Church looked at the Gospel passage from Saint Luke chapter 13:22-30. 


The passage is wonderful for reflection...


"Jesus passed through towns and villages,
teaching as he went and making his way to Jerusalem. 
Someone asked him,
“Lord, will only a few people be saved?” 
He answered them,
“Strive to enter through the narrow gate,
for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter
but will not be strong enough. 
After the master of the house has arisen and locked the door,
then will you stand outside knocking and saying,
‘Lord, open the door for us.’
He will say to you in reply,
‘I do not know where you are from.
And you will say,
‘We ate and drank in your company and you taught in our streets.’
Then he will say to you,
‘I do not know where you are from. 
Depart from me, all you evildoers!’
And there will be wailing and grinding of teeth
when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
and all the prophets in the kingdom of God
and you yourselves cast out.
And people will come from the east and the west
and from the north and the south
and will recline at table in the kingdom of God. 
For behold, some are last who will be first,
and some are first who will be last.”

The question posed to Jesus, "Lord, will only a few people be saved?" may seem familiar. Sometimes, Catholic Christians and others are confronted by individuals with the question: "Have you been saved?" From a Catholic Christian perspective, I would answer with a positive yes - absolutely yes. However, some explanation is necessary to understand further the YES from a Catholic. So, without further adieu, I will include part of my homily from this past weekend with the hopes to give better insight into the fact that, yes, a Catholic Christian has indeed been "saved." Here is part of the homily:

I grew up in Carmel, Indiana pretty sheltered and was raised by my mother in the Catholic Faith. For so many years, I did not know anything but Catholicism. It was not until I was a junior in high school that I began to really practice the faith where I can say I wanted to work on my prayer life each day and I wanted to attend Mass each week. Others did not challenge me in my Catholic Faith until I began my undergraduate studies at Anderson University; a Church of God sponsored university in Anderson, Indiana. The question, “Have you been saved?”, which many of you have heard in your lives as well, was asked at least a few times during my first semester in 1994. I did not hide from the other students that I was a Catholic. But, soon I was asked that question: “Have you been saved?” I had never been asked that before, so my response was probably not satisfactory.

Now, many years later in my life, I can share the response if someone asks me if I am saved. As Catholic Christians, our response would include three levels or stages, having to do with the past, the present and the future. We can respond that we have been saved – past tense. Jesus Christ, our Savior, by whose act of salvation over 2000 years ago we were objectively saved--He died, He rose from the dead, He saved us from sin. We hear from Saint Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians: “So whoever is in Christ is a new creation” (5:17). 

We can also share that we are being saved – present tense. We are because in our present experience, God's power is delivering us constantly from the bondage of sin. We experience this in the Sacraments of the Church, especially in the Eucharist and in Reconciliation. We hear again from Saint Paul in his First Letter to the Corinthians “Through it (the gospel) you are also being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you, unless you believed in vain” (15:2). 

Finally, we can share that we will be saved – future tense, because we have hope and confidence that God will give us the grace of perseverance; that we will respond to it; and accept His gift of salvation until our time here on earth is finished. Remember that the future deliverance of believers will be at the Second Coming of Christ. In Saint Paul’s Letter to the Romans, he says, “How much more then, since we are now justified by His blood, will we be saved through Him from the wrath” (5:9). I also have read the verse from Saint Paul in his letter to the Philippians 2:12 "So then, my beloved, obedient as you have always been, not only when I am present but all the more now when I am absent, work out your salvation with fear and trembling." 

It is important for us to be able to respond to questions that other people have for us about what we believe and adhere to as Catholic Christians. In this case, if you are asked: “Are you saved?”, you can respond in the affirmative – absolutely YES. We have been saved, we are being saved and we will be saved.

God bless you this week and continue to thank God for the wonderful gift of salvation... Fr. Joshua

 

We Have a New Bishop - Timothy L. Doherty

VATICAN CITY, 12 MAY 2010 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed Msgr. Timothy L. Doherty of the clergy of the diocese of Lafayette in Indiana, U.S.A., pastor of St. Catherine church in Dundee, and of St. Mary Mission church in Gilberts, as bishop of Lafayette in Indiana (area 25,455, population 1,296,384, Catholics 108,000, priests 98, permanent deacons 17, religious 81). The bishop-elect was born in Rockford, U.S.A. in 1950 and ordained a priest in 1976. He succeeds Bishop William L. Higi, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit. 

NER:RE/VIS 20100512 (110)

(http://press.catholica.va/news_services/press/vis/dinamiche/a3_en.htm)

Bishop Elect Timothy L. Doherty was ordained and installed as the Sixth Bishop of the Diocese of Lafayette-in-Indiana on 15 July 2010 at 2:00PM. The ceremony took place at Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Lafayette, IN. 

Please pray for Bishop Timothy Doherty and for Bishop William Higi, who served the Diocese of Lafayette-in-Indiana faithfully for over 25 years.

Pilgrimage and Prayer

This past summer was wonderful. God has continued to bless me in my life. I have been encouraged too as the Year for Priests concluded last month. What a great year during which we could pray for all of our priests and pray that more would respond to this wonderful vocation. Many wonder if Pope Benedict XVI will dedicate this coming year to focus on something else. Two years ago, the focus was on Saint Paul. Time will tell.

Icon of Christ the Great High Priest
by Marek Czarnecki of Seraphic Restorations

In June, I was blessed to help lead a pilgrimage to Italy from June 14-24. Helping 17 people on pilgrimage to grow in their faith was a humbling experience. Some of the highlights from our spiritual journey included attending a Papal Audience with Pope Benedict XVI on June 16th.

As well, we had a chance to say Mass underneath Saint Peter’s Basilica near the very bones of our first Pope. We also went on the Scavi Tour where we got an amazing explanation about the excavations that have gone on underneath Saint Peter’s Basilica over the years. Eventually, the results of this led to discovering the very place where Saint Peter was buried. We actually looked upon the bones of the fisherman from Bethsaida who Jesus called to be a “Fisher of men” and “The Rock” in which He would build His Church (Matthew 16:18). Another highlight was celebrating a Mass in the Catacombs of Callistus. The catacombs in Rome and surrounding cities were where the early Christians sought refuge in times of persecution. We were very fortunate to run into another priest there from the Diocese of Lafayette-in-Indiana - Father Paul Cochran who serves in Alexandria and Elwood. Speaking of a small world, we also ran into Father Kevin Haines and his pilgrimage group from Saint Maria Goretti in Westfield, IN. They were staying in the same hotel as my group in Rome at the Hotel Alimandi near the Vatican Museum. The five days spent in Rome were enjoyable and I grew in appreciation of the vocation God has called me to as a priest. It was the first time I had travelled to Rome as a priest. Wow!

We also journeyed by bus to the medieval town of Assisi in Italy. The spirituality of Saint Francis and Saint Clare was alive and well. The peace we found there was amazing. 

Needless to say, we were all very blessed. We celebrated Mass twice in the Basilica of Saint Francis, where he is buried. There we bumped into three more priests for our diocese - Fathers Andrew, Ted and Brian Dudzinski. Talk about a small world. Another Mass was celebrated at Saint Damiano where Saint Clare of Assisi spent many of her days. Needless to say, our pilgrimage was life giving and a huge blessing for us all. If you would like to look at more picture from the pilgrimage, please check out the photo album I put together. Click here and enjoy!

On another note, this weekend in the 17th Sunday of Ordinary Time, we heard from the Gospel of Saint Luke some wonderful words from Jesus, especially: “And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” (Luke 11: 9-10).

I shared in my homily this weekend about the fact that sometimes we will pray and pray and pray for something, but our prayer does not seem to get answered. Well, like a good parent, God knows what is best for His Children. Sometimes, it might be the case that we are not praying for what is truly in His plan for us. As well, there are some prayers that we need to play a more active part in getting answered. What do I mean? Well, I explained in the homily that some of our prayers are linked to concrete charitable actions within our community. According to Father Jerome Murphy-O’Connor, O.P., a scripture scholar, “Hence to pray truly for someone involves also reaching out concretely to help that person. To pray truly for justice and peace involves working actively for justice and peace. When we pray “through Christ” we pray not just through the resurrected Christ in heaven but also through the “body of Christ” on earth, ourselves. We need to be involved in helping answer our own prayers. Thus when our prayer doesn’t seem to be answered it might mean that we, Christ’s body on earth, have not been enough involved in trying to answer our own prayer, that we haven’t in fact prayed “through Christ”. The point really is that we need to be part of the prayers that we offer to Almighty God.

That is all for this blog entry. It was longer than normal because I have not blogged for awhile. I will try to blog more frequently so the individual entries won’t be so long. Anyway, may you have a wonderful summer and enjoy the blessings God extends to you and to those you love. And don’t forget the wonderful words from Jesus: ““And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” (Luke 11: 9-10).

In His Priesthood,

Father Joshua

FATHER JOSHUA’S BLOG - God is Near - Reflections of a Diocesan Priest

January 29, 2010 was a good day in the life of this diocesan priest. It was that very day that I carried through with the encouragement of Pope Benedict XVI. He had shared in an address he made at the 43rd World Communications Day for priests to utilize the resources that are available to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. His words were right to the point: "To my dear brother priests, then, I renew the invitation to make astute use of the unique possibilities offered by modern communications. May the Lord make all of you enthusiastic heralds of the Gospel in the new “agorà” which the current media are opening up."

I had some experience with websites in my college years at Anderson University (1994-1998). But, how would I make time to get this type of project done and work at keeping things on it current? Well, I made time and I have done my best to keep things relevant and hopeful. The great hope I do have in this project is the truth that "God is Near." 

The decision to create a website (www.fatherjoshua.com) was difficult enough, but then I have attempted to create a blog which really is another entire project. I have made attempts to blog at least on a monthly basis, but think it necessary to be more consistent and regular. So, I recently created the Blog entitled: God is Near - Reflections of a Diocesan Priest. I am pretty excited for this blog to share reflections, homilies, talks and other things to keep the truth out there in cyberspace and to remind people of the fact that "God is Near" to His people. There is enough garbage on the world wide web as it is, and some encouraging words will hopefully bring more people to again realize that "God is Near" when they are on their computers, which seems to be most people nowadays. 

Please visit God is Near - Reflections of a Diocesan Priest when you have time, and I will do my very best to keep things interesting and hopeful for you and those you love. I will also post some blog entries from my former blog that I had originally had through my website www.fatherjoshua.com

God bless you and keep you...

Father Joshua