Greetings and blessings to all of you. In a few days, we celebrate Ash Wednesday, and begin a season in which you and I are called to repentance and conversion.

How a person goes about the journey of conversion may be different for each of us. Lent is not meant to be a solemn and gloomy season, but a season of grace. It should be a season we take seriously, but a joyful season, because it does lead to new life in Christ Jesus.

Can you believe Christmas is only one week away? Today, we light the last purple candle on our Advent wreaths. It’s known as the “Angel’s Candle,” and it symbolizes peace, reminding us of the message of the angels: “Peace on Earth, Good Will Toward Men.”  

What a beautiful promise these angels revealed to the shepherds on that first Christmas night. Peace on earth! Are you feeling this peace in your heart right now? Or are you experiencing some form of fear, or frustration, or boredom or worry or anxiety? It is important to recognize what you are experiencing in your heart at this moment, or any moment for that matter.

The will of God for you is deep interior peace in your heart that can be experienced even when life isn’t going so well. Why is this so difficult to live with such a great gift?

What causes us to become agitated, disturbed, worried or irritated, etc.?  Us – we cause it – by trying to control everything (even things out of our control), by trying to resolve everything by ourselves; by going life alone.

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you” (John 14:26–27).  This peace does not depend on circumstances. The peace of Christ is the interior feeling that comes from acknowledging Christ Jesus as your highest joy, and then trusting that He will do everything necessary to bring you even more of His joy.

A lack of peace comes from a lack of trust in God. The condition for peace is the desire to love God above all else and to trust him even in the smallest things.  In other words, the peace of Christ is given to us when we trust — not our circumstances — but all that God promises us in Christ Jesus.

So how do we experience and even maintain this peace in our everyday lives? 

Let me offer some suggestions for this season of Advent.

1.         First of all, ask the Lord Jesus to deepen His gift of peace in our hearts. Yearn for it and seek it from him.

2.         So often we live in the past with our regrets. You can’t take the past back and redo it. Place your past in God’s mercy through forgiveness. So often we live in the future – with all our great plans, worrying if they will come true. Place your future in Divine Providence through surrender.

What does this tell us? We don’t live in the present. Living only for today. The Lord is not in the past. The Lord is not in the future. The Lord is in the here and now, in the present. This is where he deeply desires to love us, to heal us, to console us, to be with us.  Union with the Lord Jesus ONLY happens in the now, in the present moment.  

During this season of Advent, what is Jesus asking you to surrender in your life right now so that you can live the present in His Peace?

The Lord’s peace often comes through his faithful instruments. To whom is He asking you to bring His Peace?   

Perhaps even as you are listening to this message, the Holy Spirit has brought someone to your mind.  Bring this gift of Advent to them. 

And, don’t forgot to pray each day this week for the gift of Christ’s peace to come alive in you.

May God bless you!

Advent blessings to you! This week we light the pink candle on our Advent wreath.

Did you know this candle, also known as “the Shepherd’s Candle” symbolizes joy? It represents the joy of the shepherds, who were often the lowest class of people in society, and yet it was to them that the angels first announced the Good News, revealing that a Savior was born for them. 

This third Sunday of Advent is also known as Gaudete Sunday. Gaudete is a Latin word derived from the word GAUDERE, meaning “to rejoice, to feel joy, or to be glad.”  

Have you ever been around people who seem grumpy all the time; or people who are negative or cynical; people who always see the glass half empty; people who never smile and always seem mad at the world; and they look sad all the time? 

I think we all have run into people like this. And I think to myself, “Do they really know the love of Jesus?  Do they not know how much God loves them?  Do they really know how they look to others?”

The human heart desires joy. We all want joy – every family, every people aspires to happiness. But the joy this world offers is always fleeting. It seems to come and go as positive life experiences come and go.

But Christian joy money can’t buy, comfort can’t produce, and material security can’t create. Our society has succeeded in multiplying the opportunities for pleasure, but it has great difficulty in generating this type of joy. Why? Why is that? 

Because it is spiritual. True joy or Christian joy only comes from the Lord. And we don’t have to wait for it until heaven. Christian joy is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. It is the joy that comes solely from the experience of God’s presence and it cannot be simulated or created by any other source or thing.  

At the very heart of Christian joy is the deep and profound love of God for us, which naturally leads to a love for others. It is a joy deeply rooted in an intimate relationship with Jesus and sustained by his Holy Spirit. It is the light that can never be extinguished that burns within us because God is with us.

The closer the Lord is to us, the more joy we feel; the farther away he is, the more sadness we feel, any joy we have will be fleeting, often leading to sadness or some sort of unhappiness. 

So how do we experience and even maintain this joy in our everyday lives?
 
Let me offer some suggestions for this season of Advent.

1.    First of all, we all want to experience the joy which Jesus had in his heart, even in the midst of suffering, don’t we?  Our joy is Jesus – his faithful love is inexhaustible!  “Where there is great joy, there is the presence of the Holy Spirit.” Ask the Holy Spirit for a deepening of this gift. 

2.    There are many things in Advent and Christmas that can lead us to joy. The only true path to joy is in seeking the real presence of God, not in the manger, but in a lived relationship with Jesus – to connect each day with the God who “is rejoicing over us with gladness.” Take time daily in earnest prayer with the Lord.  

3.    At the root of Christian joy is a life of charity. The Christian life is meant to serve God and our neighbor joyfully. The reason charity is at the root of Christian joy is because it mirrors God’s love for us.  Take the time to live the virtue of generosity with others.

During this season of Advent, who is Jesus asking you to share your faith with through acts of charity?  Who do you know who could use a helping hand? Take the time to bring your joy to someone else.

Perhaps even as you are listening to this message, the Holy Spirit has brought someone to your mind.  Bring the gift of Advent to them. 

And, don’t forgot to pray each day this week for the gift of joy to come alive in you.

May God bless you!

B

A blessed Advent to you all. We begin week two by lighting Bethlehem’s Candle, which symbolizes faith. Micah foretold that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem, so this candle puts the focus on the journey of Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem in anticipation of the birth of the Christ child.

Many people in our culture today live as if “this” is all there is, nothing more beyond this life. Others live as if faith is just a theory or a philosophy.

Frederick Nietzsche said that “faith is the path of least resistance.”  Even Christians are challenged when it comes to living a life of faith. How many of us have doubts at times? How many of us lack in trusting the Lord with our lives?

Don’t we sometimes try to manage our lives on our own?

So how do we move beyond ourselves and truly surrender our lives to the Lord?

I offer a couple of suggestions for this season of Advent.

1. First of all, faith is an encounter with the person of Jesus Christ. Faith is what unites us with the living God who has revealed himself to us in his son Jesus.
   
   In the words of our Holy Father, “Faith is to touch Jesus and to draw from him the grace which saves.” When we fix our gaze upon the loving eyes of Jesus, then our faith, as well as our hope, remain firmly rooted.
   
   Faith is only deepened through a daily, prayerful relationship with Jesus.  Take time daily in earnest prayer with the Lord. Ask Him for the grace of surrender.
    
2. St. James writes, “Faith without works is dead.” A faith without works, a faith that doesn’t engage us, that doesn’t lead us to witness, isn’t faith.  As our faith in God grows and deepens, we cannot help ourselves from doing ‘good works’.  It’s impossible!
   
   Loving God and our neighbor is the Great commandment. When we are in love with the Lord, we will be in love with his people, and when we love someone, we want to help them.

During this season of Advent, who is Jesus asking you to share your faith with through acts of charity? Do you know anyone who is lonely and needs a helping hand? Take the time to share your faith with others. Many do not have faith and may never have faith for this simple reason: no one has been ready and willing to share their faith with them.

Perhaps even as you are listening to this message, the Holy Spirit has brought someone to your mind. Bring the gift of Advent to them.

And, don’t forgot to pray each day this week for the virtue of faith to come alive in you.

May God bless you!

Bishop Robert Gruss

“Be on guard, stand firm for the faith, be courageous, be strong. Your every act should be done with love.” (1 Cor. 16:13-14)

Friends, it is hard to believe that the Season of Advent is upon us. Speaking of Advent, did you know that each candle on the Advent wreath has a special meaning?

Ancient tradition reveals that the candles often represent hope, faith, joy and peace.  How many of us could use a little more hope, faith, joy and peace in our lives?

That is my prayer for all of you this Advent season.

This week, we’ll begin by lighting the Prophet’s candle symbolizing hope. The Prophet Isaiah brought a message of hope in anticipation of the coming of the Messiah.

In our world today, it can be easy to get discouraged or overwhelmed. Sickness, death, division, violence … these are all difficult parts of the human experience.

So, what can we do to overcome the feelings that can so easily bring us down into the dumps and keep us from living the life we are called to?

I will suggest two things.

1. First, ask the Lord to increase in you the Virtue of Hope. Christian hope is not magic; it is not wishful thinking. It is not simply optimism.  It is a gift of God that can preserve us in the midst of those challenges in life that bring us down. It is rooted in the new life we have received in Jesus Christ. St. Paul tells us that hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love was poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit at our baptism (cf. Romans 5:5). Therefore, the virtue of hope is already in you. Ask the Holy Spirit to make it come alive.

This hope enables us to trust in Christ’s promises, to trust in the power of his love, to trust in his forgiveness, his friendship. This love opens the door to new life.

1. The second thing to do is turn to your friends in your vulnerability. Allow them to accompany you in those moments. The grace of friendship envelops and sustains us, leaving us open to the gift of God’s hope. So, don’t be afraid to ask for help and support in life’s journey!

Pope Francis tells us that hope involves going forward with others in solidarity. During this season of Advent, this season of hopeful expectation, is Jesus asking you to extend friendship and love to anyone in particular? Do you know anyone who is lonely and needs someone to talk to? How can you reach out and help generate hope in other people? Perhaps even as you are listening to this message, the Holy Spirit has brought someone to your mind. Bring the gift of Advent to them.

And, don’t forgot to pray each day this week for the virtue of hope to come alive in you.

God bless you all!

God desires an encounter with you. He longs for you and is waiting for you. You can grow in a relationship with Him and fall in love with Him. 

Bishop Robert Gruss spoke about this during his presentation on First Friday at the Cathedral on Friday, Oct. 7.

Speaking about being open and present while encountering the Lord at Mass, Bishop Gruss said, "Week after week, time and again, our hearts will be transformed and we will fall in love with Him in ways we can’t imagine, said Bishop Gruss."

Bishop Gruss' talk focused on the gift of the Mass. He used an analogy to explain how each of us can grow closer to God similar to how spouses grow closer to one another.

Addressing married couples in the room, Bishop Gruss described how relationships usually develop. Bishop Gruss said, "What happened over time was, through these series of encounters where you were present to the other (mind and heart), communication took place in these encounters over time, and something changed in your heart so deeply that you thought 'wow, I think I'm falling in love!' Right? And, you continue to have these encounters because you acknowledge that there's something in my heart that's changed about this person."

Bishop Gruss then shared how our relationship with the Lord can develop similarly at Mass. 

Seeking an encounter with the Lord

Bishop Gruss said, "We come to Mass seeking an encounter with the Lord and He desires us to be there, (He’s already present – He’s waiting for us) and we’re present to Him, in both our mind and in our heart. In the Mass (in this prayer of thanksgiving), our communication to Him takes place through our participation." 

Throughout his presentation, Bishop Gruss stressed the importance of making effort to remain present at Mass similar to how people are present to one another in daily life. 

"So what happens [at Mass]? Week after week, time and again, our hearts will be transformed and we will fall in love with Him in ways we can’t imagine. And not only that, we will experience His love in the Eucharist and in our own personal relationship outside of the Mass [in ways] that we can’t imagine.

The Mass

Bishop Gruss went on to share, "The Mass is the epitome of this dynamic of an encounter because it’s Jesus Himself (through the Father) giving Himself to us completely, His body, blood, soul and divinity.

"Don’t we think it’s important to be engaged and present to Him in mind and heart, time and time again so that we’ll fall more deeply in love with Him than we already are, so that we will experience His love more than we already have? He has so much more to give to us. But we have to be open to receive it."

"Bishop was putting words to what’s in my heart," said Rosemary Urban, a parishioner from St. Brigid of Kildare Parish in Midland. "He was able to describe what I’ve experienced at Mass."

"Today was confirmation of my thinking that Church is a gift from God," said Joe Urban, Rosemary's husband and also a parishioner from St. Brigid of Kildare Parish in Midland. "That’s why we come to these First Fridays, I’m trying to grow closer to the God of my understanding."

Save your spot and register now for First Friday on Nov. 4.

See Bishop Gruss' list of recommended books about the Eucharist

Learn more about the National Eucharistic Revival here.

The Evil One and spiritual warfare: Bishop Gruss speaks about how to protect yourself and your family

On Thursday, September 15, members of the faith community from across the Diocese of Saginaw gathered in Bay City for the Bishop's Banquet for seminarian education and vocations.

During his address, Bishop Gruss challenged those in attendance to do two things to help promote vocations. “If everyone does this, I’m convinced the Lord will change things in this diocese,” Bishop Gruss said.  

"In the next month, invite a young man or young woman who is in your circle of influence, whomever they might be, whom you think has qualities you’d like to see in a priest or religious. Take the time to speak with them and share that you see these qualities in them. Then ask them if they’ve ever thought about the priesthood or religious life.”  

Bishop Gruss went on to suggest that in this invitation a seed is being planted. After confirming that there were approximately 250 people in the room, Bishop Gruss asked those present to think about what the Lord could do with 250 invitations. He then shared he believes the Lord will be astounding in his generosity.  

The second challenge Bishop Gruss presented to the faithful was to pray with him during Holy Hours for vocations which take place twice every month at different parishes across the Diocese. 

“Vocations come about through diligent prayer, through fasting [take one day a week and fast for vocations] or through our sacrifices offered for this intention."

Bishop Gruss encouraged the faithful to make a sacrifice and go on pilgrimage with him around the Diocese to make these various Holy Hours.  

"There are vocations out there," Bishop Gruss said. "We only have to be a bit more diligent in working together in our vocation ministry and then ask your pastors how you can help in this endeavor in your own parishes.”  

VIEW SCHEDULE AND LOCATIONS FOR UPCOMING HOLY HOURS FOR VOCATIONS