Father Gregory's blog

Brother Matthew Mattingly, O.S.B is a Benedictine Monk of St. Meinrad Archabbey.  His name before he entered the monastery was Todd.  He was a member of St. Benedict Cathedral and was avtive in all kinds of things including the St. Vincent de Paul Society.  Four years ago he entered the Novitiate at St. Meinrad to look into the possibility of becoming a Monk.  The following year he made simple vows , a sort of three year discernment  period, and took the name Matthew.  Now on Sunday he will finalize his decision by Solemn Vows to live his life as a Monk.  Keep Brother Matthew in yhour prayers.  He is a good man and is dedicating himself to the service of the Lord and his church in this way. 

     One day two weeks ago I went to the hospital to visit Toby. an eleven year old boy in my parish here at St. Ben's.  Both of his eyes were injured in a freak accident.  After I visited with him a little bit I gave him the Sacrament of the Sick, anointing him the the Holy Oil of the Sick and I asked the Lord to be with him as he went through this ordeal.  Yesterday, I saw Toby at Mass.  He had a patch over one eye and the other was clear.  He told me the doctor was very surprised at the speed and the extent of his recovery.  The doctor is expecting complete revovery now.  The Lord sure works in mysterious ways!  Please join Toby and me in thanking the Lord for his care and concern.

God gaves Moses the ten commandmentss.  (Notice they are the ten commandments, not the ten suggestions!)  The first three have to do with my relationship with God.  The last seven deal with my relationship with myslef and with my neighbor.  Jesus came along and condensed the ten into two:  Love God with your whole heart and whole soul AMD love your neighbor as yourself.  Pretty simple formula for happiness and holiness.  Why do I tend to complicate it by placing myself first.  It doesen't really make sense but then that's why the Lord gave us the sacraments, especially Eucharist and Reconciliation, to make sense out of nonsense.  Jesus thought of everything.  I need to think more like he does. 

I came across this little piece in an article I was reading about the priesthood the other day:

Come work for the Lord.

The workd is hard, the hours anre long and the pay is low.

But the retirement benefits are out of this world!

I got a kick out of that.  I am looking forward to enjoying those out of this world benefits...but not anytime soon, I hope.

On Sunday, May 2, 2010 I will celebrate the 45th anniversary of my ordination to the priesthood.  Time goes by!  When I was in the High School Seminary at St. Meinrad I remember saying to myself "ten years to go before I willl be ordained.  I'll never make it."  And now, 45 years later, I am wondring where the time went.  I served as a teacher and administrator in St. Meinrd College Seminary for 26 years and have been Pastor of St.

     At the end of the 10:30 Mass last Sunday here at St.

A couple of years ago I came across a web site called The Hunger Site.com so I went there just to see what it was.  I found out it is a way of donating a cup of rice to hungry people without it costing you a penny.  All you do is click and a cup of rice is donated.  Doesn't sound like much but if you get thousands of people clicking every day that adds up to a pile of rice.&

Priests get asked all kinds of questions all the time and sometimes the questions are a little surprising.  The other day a parent asked me when the church changed its teaching about going to Mass on Sunday.  She said she heard that Catholics are no longer obligated to attend Sunday Mass.  She thought that Catholics are simnply encouraged to attend but that it really doesn't

Father Ray Reising served the people of the diocese of Evansville as a priest for almost 65 years.  The Lord called him home and he will be buired on Saturday, Juy 18.  May he rest in peace and reap the rewards of a good and faithful servant of the Lord.  When a priest dies I always think of the many Masses he offerd, the babies he baptized, the weddings he officiated at, the fun

I am a Benedictine Monk as well as being pastor of St. Ben's Cathedral.  I have been pastor here for almost 18 years and have really enjoyed the challenge of it all.  When I entered the monastery at St. Meinrad way back in 1958 I certainly did not expect to here at St.