Pastor’s Message – Church of Saint Benedict

August 14, 2025

Memorial of St. Maximilian Kolbe, Priest & Martyr

Almighty ever-living God, who assumed the Immaculate Virgin Mary, the Mother of your Son, body and soul into heavenly glory, grant, we pray, that, always attentive to the things that are above, we may merit to be sharers of her glory. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever.

Collect for the Mass for the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (August 15)

Brothers and Sisters,

Tomorrow, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is our belief that at the end of her life on earth that Mary, the Mother of Jesus, was taken, body and soul, into the eternal glory. A simplified way of understanding the Assumption is that it is the event of Jesus welcoming His mother into heaven.

More than a reunion between a parent and child, the Assumption, as with all authentic Marian celebrations, points us to Jesus. It also reveals the full meaning of our redemption and salvation in Him.

In our humanity we are both immoral soul and physical body. God has created both, loves both and desires that both will eventually enter eternal glory. For this reason, God the Son, Jesus, is made incarnate (made human flesh) for our salvation. In the on taking of our humanity in all things but sin, Jesus has consecrated our physical bodies.

Through the Incarnation of Jesus, in the Cross and the Resurrection our humanity, soul and body, is perfected. Forty days after the Resurrection, the physical body of Jesus ascends into heaven.

Jesus’ resurrection and ascending into heaven is not limited only to Himself. This is revealed in the Assumption of Mary. Although not divine, she, in the fullness of her humanity, is welcomed into eternal glory.

God desires the same for us. Although we too are not divine, the whole of our humanity, body and soul, are to be included in heaven. What has been accomplished in Mary is now offered to us through Jesus our Savior.

The Solemnity of the Assumption is a Holy Day of Obligation. Our Mass times for the day will be 6:30am and 8:30am, and 7pm. All are welcome. The St. Scholastica Chapel will remain open on August 15. However, the parish office will be closed.

Our Parish

We are blessed with many families seeking to raise their children in the Catholic faith. Congratulations to three such families, the Mossell family who last Sunday presented a child for baptism, as well as the Javier and Le families, who will be doing so this weekend.

Viviana Suarez, our Director of Adult Faith Formation, will give a brief pulpit talk at all Masses this weekend concerning the Becoming Catholic Ministry at St. Benedict. It is open to all who inquire about the Catholic faith, as well as returning to the faith.

Our prayers to all students, parents, teachers, school administrators and staff as school begins. The first day of school for St. Benedict Preschool is Wednesday, August 20

On Sundays in August all young adults in the parish are invited to participate in the Noon Mass and then gather at Hideaway Pizza, 1150 North 9^th Street, for lunch. Guests are welcome.

Information and registration for various children, youth and adult faith formation opportunities are available this weekend in the church commons.

Night of Mercy

In addition to our usual adoration and confession times offered each week, once a quarter we host a Night of Mercy. It a special time as a parish community to gather to adore the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament and to experience God’s mercy in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Our next Night of Mercy will be on Wednesday, August 20. Starting at 6:30pm there will be music in the parish church, followed by the Divine Mercy Chaplet. Adoration and confessions will begin at 7pm, with Benediction at 8pm. Afterwards, there will be light refreshments in the commons. All are welcome.

TMIY – Thy Kingdom Come

That Man Is You (TMIY), our parish-based men’s ministry, will resume regular meetings on Wednesday, September 17. TMIY will meet each Wednesday from 6am to 7:15am in one of the classrooms. The theme of this Fall is “Thy Kingdom Come”. All the men of the parish are welcome to participate. Here is more information on TMIY:

2025 Faith Formation Conference: “Come Holy Spirit” 

The Diocese of Tulsa is hosting the 2025 Faith Formation Conference: “Come Holy Spirit”, August 22-23, 2025, at the Renaissance Tulsa Hotel and Convention Center
6808 South 107th East Ave. in Tulsa. This event is open to all adults.

Rev. Rafael Capo will be our headliner for Friday evening on Mary, the First Disciple, on the Memorial of the Queenship of Mary. Saturday’s schedule is full of speakers unpacking Bishop’s pastoral letter addendum, Come Holy Spirit. Thus, we will begin Saturday with Father Capo and Dr. Timothy O’Malley, both prolific authors and speakers for the National Eucharistic Revival, speaking on the Sacraments as Encounters with Christ. The mainstage and breakout sessions thereafter will focus on the sacraments and family catechesis to strengthen the domestic Church.

The final registration deadline is today August 14, 2025, at https://www.dioceseoftulsa.org/faith-formation-conference-registration-1.

Future Events

Sr. Darlene Presley, GHMS, will be speaking at all Masses for the Annual Mission Appeal the weekend of August 23-24. Her community, the Glenmary Sisters, serve the poor in the Appalachian and southern regions of the U.S.

Dr. Karlo Broussard will be returning to our parish to give two talks on Catholic Evangelization. The first will be on Wednesday, September 3. The topic will be Empowered to Share: Embracing the Call to Evangelize in a Modern World.

The second will be on Thursday, October 2 with the topic of Forming Minds for Mission: How to be Intellectually Prepared to Share the Faith. Please mark your calendars. All are invited and guests are welcome.

Christopher Carstens, the author of A Devotional Journey into the Mass: How the Mass Can Become a Time of Grace, Nourishment and Devotion, will be speaking at our parish on Wednesday, September 17. All are invited and guests are welcome.

Eucharistic Congress, November 5 – 8, 2025

As part the on-going Eucharistic Revival at St. Benedict, we will be hosting a Eucharistic Congress November 5 – 8. Over these dates there will be Mass, Confessions, Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and a series of guest speakers, including Fr. John O’Neil, Fr. Jon Fincher and Fr. Joshua Votruba. There will also be a musical presentation by John Michael Talbot. Children’s activities will be included. Childcare for younger ages will also be provided.

Please mark your calendars to participate in at least one of these days of the Eucharistic Congress. It is open to everyone, and guests are welcome.

God bless and keep you safe.

Fr. Bryan