Welcome to fall! Do you feel like the first weekend after Labor Day means summer is officially over? It feels like that for me; we are in the full rhythm of life again here at our parish.

This weekend we are beginning some connected messages on the theme of “Quiet Courage.”  Whether we are young or old, big or small, life has moments that intimidate us. Fear can hold us back from keeping the commitments and making the choices we value most. Jesus can give us the quiet courage to live life well.

In the last two weeks since school has started I’ve had the joy of talking with our children in school. They ask some great questions, ones that make me think and ones that help me remember how good God is and how marvelous it is that in Jesus Christ, the mysterious and powerful God who made the whole universe has become your and my personal friend. Our children have some great questions; here’s one I heard this week that was fun to discuss: “How can God see everything?” How would you answer that? To get us thinking and growing, the right questions are sometimes even more helpful than the right answers.

Last fall I took questions from the parish and then spent some time answering them in my pastor column. That was fun and started some good conversations, so I though we’d give it a try again. I’d love to hear your questions about our parish life, or —even better — your questions about the Bible and the Catholic faith.     Send them to [email protected], or put them in the collection basket.

Finally, I have a bit of good news. Another seminarian will be joining us for the year ahead. Koby Nguyen is from the Diocese of Wichita, Kan., and is in Configuration III (3rd year of major seminary, right before the diaconate). He’ll be joining us at our Masses as often as he can, beginning this weekend.

God bless you!