Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

                 The unnamed man in today’s Gospel asks one of the two universal questions: (in our parlance) “How do I get to heaven?”, and the other being, “if there is a good God, why is there so much evil in the world?”  These are the inquiries that so perplex the modern person. Assuming that we want to get to heaven we must first realize that Jesus Christ by His Passion, Death and Resurrection has “paved” the way for our being able to enter the heavenly realm.  Our part is to follow the way He has set by cooperating, imitating, and offering our lives to Him.  This began in the waters of Baptism but frequently we smear the eternal light entrusted to us and scurry through the dark, anxious and directionless.  When we invoke the wisdom of God as mentioned in the Book of Wisdom we avail ourselves to the virtues of prudence and humility that set us once again on the right path.  And that right path is exactly where we want to go.

        Travelling on the right path means getting rid of the cumbersome baggage that weighs us down.  That “baggage” becomes evident to us when through prayer and discernment we recognize what impedes our spiritual progress.  Yes, the way to heaven is not easy, but is it God’s fault or our own?  Are we so attached to the sins and preoccupations of this world that we are hindering our progress?  I wonder what the discernment of the questioning man concluded.  I wonder if he took up the challenge of our Lord.  I wonder if we can?

      Remember that October is the month of the Holy Rosary and perhaps only second to the Mass and the Sacraments, it is the most powerful means to bring peace and concord to the world.  Praying the Rosary is an act of charity because we are sacrificing our time and attention for other matters in order to bring about a greater good that may not even directly affect us but certainly bestow grace upon others.  The repetitiveness of the prayers are not meant to twist the will of God or make Mother Mary love us more than She already does. Its tempo is to calm our hearts (studies have shown that praying the rosary lowers blood pressure), and souls that we might  be more disposed to God’s grace and desirous of accomplishing His will.  Do not let this month pass without making the rosary an important spiritual discipline in your life.  A special thanks to all who gathered this past Saturday for the annual rosary rally.  For those  who led it and prepared for it our deepest gratitude.

With Blessings,

Father Langan