Fr. Hien's Weekly Letter 09/19/21

My Dear Parishioners,
     How are you doing?  I hope that you and your family are well and COVID free.  I am doing well.  Thanks be to God.  God is the one who is in charge of every one of us, including our life and salvation.  Let us love God, trust in God, and always give thanks to God. 
     Autumn is coming  and I am excited for the cooler weather with less allergies and bugs.  The saddest part of cold weather is to see our garden, flowers, and plants dying and winterizing.  Let everything that is about to happen in nature be a reminder to us that we too will be eventually suffer and die; therefore, we must live for God today for us to have the perfect eternal life of heaven tomorrow.
     Thousands of people and I, including people in our diocese and throughout the country, especially those who served in the military, are very excited to welcome the remains of Fr. Emil Kapaun as he comes home to us with his funeral procession and Mass on Wednesday, September 29th at Hartman Arena.  I will attend the funeral Mass while many of you can watch it online.  Father is our true hero through his service to God and neighbor.  He is my brother priest and the diocese's hero.  I have learned a lot from him by reading his story.  I also lived in his parish for 7 years, 2005-2012.  We need heroes like him among us.  We all can be like him if we would put our faith into practice, "Love one another as I have loved you, said Jesus."  That  was what Fr. Kapaun did.  He practiced what he preached and believed.  Fr. Kapaun, pray for us.  Last Sunday, I was in Marion and Pilsen to celebrate Holy Masses for them.  The pastor of the parish has been sick, and they had to cancel their Masses the weekend before.  Since I was their pastor for seven years, 2005-2012, I volunteered to come down and celebrate Masses for them.  I left Marion County to serve in McPherson County for six years before coming to All Saints.  It has been so long since I was in Marion County; so it was good for me to see the parishioner again.  Thank you to Fr. Hung Pham, who celebrated our Masses here on Sunday in English and Vietnamese.  Fr. Pham is a retired priest of the diocese.   May God help all priests to be like Fr. Kapaun-- with love, Fr. Hien