Dear Parishioners:
I recently received a letter from a parishioner who was reading an article from her Advanced Nursing Degree Program. The article focused on the correlation between church attendance and better health.
The article began by focusing on a study of a town called Roseto, Pennsylvania. Roseto was a tightly knit Italian- American (Fr. Lou highlighted the Italian part!) community organized around family and the Catholic Church. Even though the residents ate a high-fat diet and had high levels of smoking, the incidence of heart disease was low. Researchers attributed this to the tightly-knit family and church orientated life-style. Interestingly enough, when individuals moved away from church and family, the incidence of heart disease rose dramatically.
Numerous other studies have indicated that belonging to a Church (or temple or mosque) was associated with lower blood pressure, less hypertension, and fewer health problems in the future, especially among the elderly. A National Health Interview Survey followed 21,000 people over eight years. The survey concluded that you would live to about 83 years of age if you attended Church more than once a week. On the other hand, if you never attended church or very infrequently, you were estimated to live only 75 years!
Moral of the story: Stay healthy: Go to Church!
In the midst of the quiet, “dog-days” of summer, it might be an opportunity to look at ourselves and our relationship with Christ. The Church has always reminded us that every single one of us has a vocation or a call from God. What is that vocation or call from God; to grow in holiness and, ultimately, to become a saint.
Pope Benedict reminds us: “Holiness does not consist in never making mistakes or never sinning. Holiness grows with a capacity for conversion, repentance and a willingness to begin again.
Saint Pope John Paul II said, “Have the courage and humility to present yourself to the world, determined to be holy since true, full freedom is born from holiness.”
Any important relationship takes time, effort and energy. That is also true with our relationship with God. We need to ask ourselves: “Am I putting in time, effort and energy in my relationship with God.” If not, what can I do to improve that?
Pope Francis also reminds us that we can all become saints: “There are the saints of everyday, the ‘hidden’ saints, a sort of “middle class” of holiness to which we can all belong.” Strive to become the saint God created you to be!
Remember: Together, we can do something beautiful for God. In Christ,
Fr. Brian