Tuesday @ LunchMusings from Deacon Michael Halbrook for your Tuesday lunch time

Welcome back

It’s been a couple of years since I’ve written and sent an email update, but I suppose now is as good a time as any to restart. I’ve archived and deleted most of the recipients from the list, but if you’re receiving this, then I kept you, thinking you’d still be interested, or you recently resubscribed. Either way, thank you! If you’d prefer to not hear from me on a recurring (hopefully weekly) basis, simply unsubscribe below.

I’ve been working on a couple of very fun and invigorating side projects, and look forward to sharing more information about them here in a week or two.

Running: One Foot in Front of the Other

Many of you have been following the running journey that started about a year ago. It’s still not a consistent habit, and we’re working on it. Here I reflect on this and other areas of life where it takes one step at a time..

Interesting Stuff

The Jubilee of Digital Missionaries and Catholic Influencers begins next week at the Vatican, part of the Jubilee Year of Hope. It also coincides with the start of the Jubilee of Youth, during which the coffin of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati will be displayed at Rome’s Basilica of Santa Maria sopra Minerva until August 4.
In the National Catholic Register on July 26, 2025, Deacon Thomas L. McDonald highlighted how our longstanding Catholic tradition gives each day of the week a specific devotion, offering ways for the faithful to bring structure and prayer into daily life. 7 Catholic Devotions to Change Your Week - and Your Life.
In an article in Denver Catholic last month, Father Brian Larkin reflected upon American consumerism and our tendency to “parish shop” - to move around parish to parish, looking for one that suits our preferences (“perpetually looking for something better”), rather than respecting the church’s idea of geographical anchoring. He poses three questions: Am I willing to build, to invest even when things aren’t perfect? Am I building up my community of sojourners? Am I fighting against entropy or have I simply become one more consumer? Roamin’ Catholics.

Liturgy, Feasts, Memorials, & more

Yesterday was the Feast of St. Mary Magdalene. In 2016, during the Jubilee of Mercy, Pope Francis elevated the importance of the day from a Memorial (its former “rank” in the liturgical calendar) to a Feast, stressing her importance in the life of the Church. Although Mary Magdalene is still often referred to by her supposed sinful past, it is almost universally acknowledged by scholars today that there’s no good evidence of that. We do know from Luke’s Gospel, though, that Jesus cast seven demons out of her. We also know that she was the first at the tomb to whom He chose to reveal His resurrection. St. Mary Magdalene, pray for us!
This Friday is the Feast of St. James the Apostle. This one is a big one to our family - I chose James as my Confirmation patron years ago, and we included his patronage in one of our sons’ names. Matthew James bears St. James as his middle name. St. James, pray for us!

This Sunday’s Mass Readings

This Sunday is the Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Here’s a link to the Scripture readings for Holy Mass.

I continue to reflect upon this line, in which one of Jesus’s disciples makes this request of Him, leading Him to teach the Lord’s Prayer: “Lord, teach us to pray.”

If You’re Local

If you’re local to us here in the Granite City or greater metro-east or St. Louis area, and you are a teen or know a teen… I want to share that some of the high schoolers of our parish have been working hard to prepare a year of youth ministry for their peers and those in junior high. They’ve outline a whole year of monthly gatherings for fellowship, prayer, and reflection. They’re inviting 7th graders through high schoolers to join them for a kickoff cookout this Saturday evening More information and signup here.