Dear Followers of Jesus,

In Luke 10: 25-27, we hear of the Good Samaritan. A neighbor helping a neighbor. A stranger assisting a stranger. Love is at the heart of such service. 

I preach for the last time at Sacred Heart Parish this weekend. Next weekend, Bishop Bill Wack, CSC, and Bishop Golka will preside and preach for our parish centennial. So, I want to take this weekend’s bulletin to say thank you for my nine years as pastor.

Thank you for our years of gathering at the sacred altar, at Sacred Heart, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, and Holy Rosary. Know that every time I raised my arms in prayer at the altar, I lifted the heavy burdens of the people in our parish communities to God. I learned to trust more deeply in God and in your stories of love. 

Thank you for walking down the aisles of our churches on special days of First Communions, Weddings, and Confirmations. I saw in your expressions the joy of God and the hope that your life would continue in God’s grace and mercy. 

Thank you for those quiet days of prayer at Masses during the week. You showed up to God with so much on your minds and hearts. You received in your hands the power of the Eucharist and you always knew that the secret of life is to live just one day at a time.  

Thank you for allowing me to preach at the many funerals we celebrated through the years. Death, no matter how tragic, was a source of deep faith for me as I welcomed grieving people to the consolation of Jesus’ passion, death, and resurrection.

Thank you for the times we journeyed together to a cemetery to bury your loved ones. We walked in the winter cold or summer heat. We gathered members of families who had not always reconciled, or with other families who held each other in shelter from the bitter elements of death.

Thank you for welcoming me into your homes to anoint a severely ill member of the family or the moments you called on behalf of a friend dying in a nursing home. Those moments I carry especially deep in my heart when we all knew that God’s mercy is the only thing we could cling to. 

Thank you for offering your feet to be washed on Holy Thursday. The widows, the catechumens, the new parishioners, the older or younger members of the parish, all offered feet to be washed, to imitate the disciples who learned how to serve from Jesus. Continue to wash feet, for he is still among you offering mercy to those wearied by the journey in life. 

Thank you for processing to the crucifix on Good Friday for the first time in 2014. It was a hot day and the procession lasted one hour. It was a holy moment. On Good Friday of 2019, I stood on the step of the sanctuary and held up my arm blessing all who approached the cross. I wept knowing so many of your stories. My tears understood the reasons why you would approach the cross of Jesus. I will always remember you at the foot of the cross. 

Thank you to those who offered their lives to God on Holy Saturday for Baptism, Confirmation, and sharing Eucharist for the first time. Your commitments during our Easter Vigil still give me great joy. I will remember you in bursts of Alleluias. 

Thank you for moments of trust in the confessional. I hold you in the confines of my heart. 

Thank you for your patience as we worshiped in a gym for nearly a year at Sacred Heart.

Thank you for your commitment toward the ramp and all the renewals of the building Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Thank you for enduring the cold winter at Holy Rosary without the heat from a boiler. I pray renewal is more than buildings. 

Thank you for being patient with me when you did not agree with my decisions. I am sorry I offended and disappointed people with some of my decisions. 

Thank you for being patient with me when you were weary of homilies about God’s beloved poor. We are all poor because we all need God. 

Thank you for the years of preaching the gospel. The center aisle is my home. 

Thank you for serving those many years at the Lord’s Dinner. Thank you for offering nourishment in our food pantry. Thank you for visiting the sick. Thank you for caring for folks around the world with financial help in times of natural disasters. Thank you for providing a space for people to share their stories of recovery from addictions. Thank you for listening to the stranger on the street. 

Thank you for offering your hard-earned money to support the parish and the diocese. Thanks for supporting me with shelter and the necessities of life. 

Thank you for your patience with our priests who have served here along with me, Fr. Drew, Fr. Bob, and Fr. Randy. Thank you for supporting our parish staff. Thank you for supporting our Holy Cross novices. Thanks for making the spirituality of Holy Cross your own. Continue to pray for me at the altar where the first-class relic of Saint André resides. 

Thank you for teaching me to paint and for classes in poetry. Thank you for my first professional art show at Cottonwood Center for the Arts and for my first poetry reading event at The Gallery Below. Creativity is life. 

Thank you for loving your children. Thank you for offering faith to your next generation. Thanks for parish gatherings and picnics and for buying my art. Thanks for all that is parish life. 

Thank you for the tenderness of your prayer for me, the wisdom you offered me, and the love we shared. I appreciate the conversations held in confidence. Thank you for teaching me how to be a pastor. I hold you in my heart, for all the good times and bad, are worth more than gold. 

Thank you for everything. Farewell.

We will celebrate our centennial next weekend with gusto. Come join us. 

“Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to the robbers’ victim?” He answered, “The one who treated him with mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

God give you peace,

Fr. Ron Raab, CSC, Pastor

CLICK HERE to read the article from The Catholic Herald of the Diocese of Colorado Springs. I am so grateful to Grace Donnelly who has researched and written our parish history during these past five years. This newspaper article was written by William Dagendesh.

CLICK here to read my latest article in The Priest Magazine, July 2022. All are welcome to Sacred Heart Church on Saturday July 30 at 10:00am for the First Profession of Vows for this year’s class. Please pray for the Congregation of Holy Cross.

Dear Followers of Jesus, 

This passage, Luke 10:1-12,17-20, commissions the disciples to go forth, to work for the Kingdom of God, clinging lightly to possessions and trusting in the power of God’s commitment toward them.

This Sunday and next are my last Sundays to preach in the parish. So, I thought I would reflect here in the bulletin on one aspect of my nine years as pastor, and add my appreciation to the history of our parish. Please bear with me as I sort through some memories of the restoration of the church building as I honor the commitment of so many people in our parish. 

When I arrived at Sacred Heart on July 12, 2013, I viewed the outside of the buildings and not much had changed since June 1987 when I had left the parish as an associate pastor. I had left many stories here, many ways in which the new Diocese of Colorado Springs had formed me as a young priest. When Fr. LeRoy Clementich, CSC and I served here beginning in 1984, everything was new. A new religious community at Sacred Heart, a new diocese, and new possibilities for becoming church. I had packed up all those memories before coming back here in 2013. I carried many stories and hopes with me to become pastor of a place I had once really loved.  

It wasn’t long until somehow, I realized the expectation to restore the church building. I don’t remember the exact moment, but so many people suggested to me that my task here was to look at our block and sort through the options of renewing the community and the house of prayer that the parish called home. I do remember the first calls to three different architects. They all viewed the project with varying expertise and interests. One architect never called me back. Zach Taylor offered sensible and specific ways in which to think about the project. So, we gathered his insights. 

The restoration of Sacred Heart Church was one of the greatest moments of providence I have ever experienced. I am not exaggerating when I say that everything we needed for the project, every expertise, came around the corner just at the correct timing. The incredible work of Bill Carter, Tony Cichello, Mike Rolla, Ray Walkowski, Chris Cipoletti, and Julie Pliant began the project. Zach was a delight to work with. Many days of conversations, insights, and concerns were brought to the table. I remember the meeting of our committee with Zach Taylor about looking at all the options for the church. We were all insistent that if we were going to do this project, we needed all the information possible. We examined all the issues, including raising the church, building a new one, and even using the old church building as an entry into a new facility. I remember very well the moment when I said, “I don’t want to be the guy to tear down Sacred Heart Church!” So, the decision was made. We would restore the building for the upcoming centennial of the parish. Indeed, how beautiful the experience. 

Then, another great moment of providence was when Geoffrey Keating came to meet with the committee. He gave a presentation to offer his talents to build new pews and all the altar furniture. We accepted his proposal and witnessed such incredible insights and work from his studio. This was his first large project of its kind. I remember he pondered the scale of the altar furniture for six months before committing to the design. He gathered around him many local artists and craftsmen. He and Zach Taylor worked well together for the best interests of the parish community. Geoffrey’s work will stand for hundreds of years on this block. I am forever grateful for his skill, interest, and faith to undergo such intense work. 

Another aspect of providence was hiring Nunn Construction. We could not have chosen a more committed group of people to work on Sacred Heart Church. The subcontractors, painters, electricians, and restorers, all treated the building with reverence and respect. The leadership of Nunn Construction offered their best for this project. 

Chris Cipoletti’s task was fundraising. He was also our consultant for the staff and reforming many areas of the parish at that time. His work was incredible. Another gift of providence as I look back on that project. 

I am very grateful to members of the parish staff during the year of construction and worshipping in the gym from July 2017 until May 2018. I will never forget the day of dedication for the newly restored church. The staff worked hard to pull off the event. We gathered on May 23, 2018, after the dedication had been postponed two different times prior. We gathered on the sidewalk outside the front door and at 5:30 pm, I blessed the new front doors. We opened the doors and people streamed into the newly restored church for the first time. There were no dry eyes at that moment. I witnessed with my own eyes the miracle of such providence. All the work was worth it. People would enjoy this place of worship for years to come. Bishop Sheridan presided at the Eucharist in which the new altar was consecrated. Katherine Cristelli designed and sewed the new altar linens. She and Susan Madjar dressed the altar that evening at the dedication. 

I believe the project of the church was meant to be. I am so grateful that I was able to be part of such an incredible task. I am not saying it wasn’t difficult! The real beauty, of course, is not the building, but the people who made it all possible. 

I write these words as a window into my nine years here. This is simply one story, one moment in which I want to say how grateful I am to have been here as pastor. Please keep the home fires burning. Please witness with your talents and hopes and prayers to the power of the Holy Spirit that blows through this sacred place. For in this place, we know that the very Providence of God resides. 

He said to them, “The harvest is abundant, but the labors are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out labors for his harvest. Go on your way. 

God give you peace,

Fr. Ron Raab, CSC, Pastor

The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Solemnity

Friday June 24, 2022

The devotion of the Sacred Heart of Jesus has formed my life. In high school, an elderly woman handed me a prayer card of the Sacred Heart. She told me to always pray that prayer and I would know my vocation in life. She never spoke to me again after that encounter. I carried that card in my wallet for over forty years, until it completed disintegrated. My love for the Sacred Heart has only grown.

I was ordained a priest at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on the campus of the University of Notre Dame. I was ordained a priest in the Congregation of Holy Cross where the priests are dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. I also served at Sacred Heart in Colorado from 1984-87.  My life has been formed by the devotion to the Sacred Heart and given great joy knowing that I belong to him.  

I also remember beginning a retreat with the Trappists at New Melleray Abbey in Iowa just before professing final vows. Fr. Sam was my director. I asked him simply, “Sam, would you teach me to pray?” He replied, “That is simple, just ask Jesus for an exchange of hearts.”

That prayer has been in my heart for forty years now. I still find my life growing into such a request. On many days, I feel anxiety circling around my heart. It is then, that I must heed the request not only of a monk, but of the Sacred Heart. I must surrender my life. I must ask for an exchange of hearts.

My devotion to the Sacred Heart has formed my ministry as pastor. I see the connections nearly every day. Just recently, we celebrated First Communion at the parish. The very first person to greet me after Mass was a woman requesting money for gasoline. She extended her rough, filthy hand, and I could not help but receive her hand and her request. I had just told folks at Mass that the Eucharist is to be lived in the world.

These moments challenge me. These kinds of encounters happen with great frequency. I am shaped and formed by the ways prayer and life happen. The Eucharist calls us all into a life of service. Most especially, it forms us into becoming the Heart of Christ. This is an exchange that offers life to me.

Some years ago, just before Sunday Mass began, a woman grabbed my chasuble as I started to walk down the aisle. She and her daughter had just moved to town and the daughter was starting school the next day. She requested a place for the daughter to get a shower and some money to get them through a couple of days. The opening hymn was being sung and I straddled the beginning of prayer and the request for service. Bringing the two together is the mission of the Church. Prayer and service lead us to heaven.

Today’s gospel, Luke 15:3-7, offers us an image of the Good Shepherd that chases the lost. I remember a few years ago when a little boy was left in a hot car in our parking lot during Territory Days on Memorial Day weekend. The lost are ever present.

For nine years, I have served as pastor for a church named for the Sacred Heart. Our church’s mission is to continue to offer the Heart of Jesus Christ. In a holy exchange, we come to know the Heart of Jesus is for us who most need him.  

Take my yoke upon you, says the Lord, and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart.

Dear Followers of the Christ,

We listen to Luke 9:51-62 this Sunday in Ordinary Time. We begin a long series of passages this summer that invites us to follow Jesus. In these past months, we have celebrated the foundations of our faith in his passion, death, and resurrection. Now it is time to leave the comfort of our reflections and offer our faith and service to God and to the world.

In this passage, we hear from some of the followers of Jesus excuses not to follow him. I will follow you, Lord, but first, let me bury my father or say goodbye to my family. Jesus claims an immediacy to the call to follow. He wants us all to pull our hands away from the plow and give our very selves to him, completely and with love. 

Perhaps this summer may be a time to evaluate our faith and our own call to follow Jesus. I invite you to find some time to pray, reflect, and sort through your life in a different way. Perhaps a garden or path in the mountains to walk or stroll or to simply enjoy is a good place for you. Perhaps rising earlier in the morning to hear the whispers of birds, to feel the morning air, or simply enjoy the quiet will bring you to prayer. Listening to soft music in a familiar chair or on a different rock in the backyard may slow you down. Whatever it takes, listen to scriptures this summer and open yourself to the beauty of God’s love for you. Ask God to help you know how to follow him.

What is your life about? What is your mission as a Christian? These are just two questions I ask you to reflect upon in the summer days. Perhaps you can write or journal your way into prayer. Perhaps, even when you are genuinely busy, you can pray with the name of Jesus. There are all kinds of excuses not to pray, not to follow Jesus Christ. However, your heart depends on it. Your relationships depend on it. Your family depends on you knowing who you are in the world, and the purpose God has given you. You are part of God’s plan on earth, so begin to pray and act like it.

Here are some other questions to consider: 

Jesus, how are you calling me into a deeper love of life when I feel so alone?

Jesus, how do I serve when I feel so ill-equipped to do so?

Jesus, I really don’t know how to serve you. Will you show me the way to help others?

Jesus, I feel empty when I pray. Will you show me your love and my purpose?

Jesus, how do I follow you in the center of so much suffering in our world?

Jesus, how do I continue to follow you? What are you asking of me?

To him Jesus said, “No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the Kingdom of God.”

God give you peace.

Fr. Ron Raab, CSC, Pastor

Our new sculpture of Mary, Our Lady of Sorrows, begins to draw parishioners as a place of prayer. Here, before Mass, some parishioners gathered to pray the Rosary. I am heartened by the response to this pilgrim place to rest our common needs and sorrows. This is the function of art.

I stumbled upon this quote this morning from John Keats, “Beauty is truth, truth beauty.”