Dear Brothers and Sisters,

"I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" She said to him, "Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world."

This passage from the 11th chapter of the Gospel of St. John is from the 5th Sunday of Lent. As we began this year 2020, St. Bernadette and St. John XXIII were making plenty of plans. In the parish, we were anticipating the parish beautification project. Our various ministries were in full swing. Church attendance was increasing, Bible study groups were meeting, children were attending school, parish life was vibrant, and life seemed good. And then … the coronavirus happened seemingly overnight.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Would God allow the COVID-19 virus to upend our lives? As I write this column on Tuesday morning, I should be hearing confessions and preparing to offer morning Mass which surely would be a good thing according to God, right? Instead I sit in my office trying to make sense of things.

It would be great if I could come up with a thoughtful response that would put things in perspective for people. But I have come to realize that the cross is not so easily and swiftly explained and managed. Jesus' walk to Calvary that we reflect upon during lent, was just that, a walk… a process… that was not understood until Easter Sunday.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I want to give you an update on our Charity and Development Appeal and the Together Let Us Go Forth Campaign.

First, the Charity and Development Appeal. Throughout our diocese, Catholics are being invited to participate in the holy work of transforming people's lives and people's circumstances through this Annual Diocesan Appeal. As of today, 84 generous donors have contributed for a total of nearly $ 45,428 towards our goal of $105,000.00.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The foundational call of Christians to charity is a frequent theme of the Gospels. During Lent, we are asked to focus more intently on "almsgiving," which means donating money or goods to the poor and performing other acts of charity. As one of the three pillars of Lenten practice, almsgiving is "a witness to fraternal charity" and "a work of justice pleasing to God." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2462).

Our Lord gives us three essential occasions for spiritual growth during the Lenten Season--prayer, fasting and almsgiving. I have already addressed the importance of prayer and fasting in previous bulletins. Today I want to focus on the third of the three pillars: Almsgiving.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I want to address the practical notion of how we are called to make use of the Communion rail. Currently, the people of God approach the priest, deacon or extraordinary minister of Holy Communion to receive Our Lord. The problem is that once someone receives Holy Communion, the person is forced to make way for the person coming up next in line. The danger is that this way of encountering Our Lord in this intimate moment can be lost because the person may feel hurried, if not obligated, to move along so the next person in line can step up to receive Holy Communion. The feeling that you have to "move along" or "make way" for the next person in line can be problematic for several reasons. A feeling of being rushed may cause a person who is receiving Holy Communion to miss out on a chance to express a proper devotion to Our Lord. A person may rush by the décor, i.e., the nativity scene, flowers, the candles, the vestments, the statues located in the sanctuary. There is also the danger that Holy Communion becomes too individualistic and people forget the communal part of Holy Communion.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The season of Lent gives us a chance to strengthen our relationship with Our Lord. Through daily prayer, intentional fasting, and selfless almsgiving, our relationship with God and others can help us to grow in love. God is love and the two greatest commandments emphasize the love we are called to have as a disciple of Our Lord Jesus. These two commandments are: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:30-31}

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The celebration of Holy Mass harkens back to the Jewish worship described in the Old Testament. It is good to remember that Christianity has its roots in the Jewish traditions. Christ, as a Jew, even said: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (Matthew 5:17). The Catholic Church, in her Sacred Liturgy, reaches back into the traditions of the past with great awareness of all that God has revealed throughout history. We don’t have to make up our own Mass, rather we are blessed to draw from the history of worshipping God as revealed in Sacred Scripture in connection with our Jewish brothers and sisters.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

In his book, "Nothing Superfluous" Fr. James W. Jackson, FSSP, takes a deep dive into everything that has to do with the Holy Mass. This book is for those who want to know the meaning, depth, and beauty of Sacred Liturgy. If you ever wondered why a church building has stained glass windows, high ceilings, or a tabernacle, Fr. Jackson does a great job of answering these questions and many more. I highly recommend this book.

For the next few issues of my pastor's notes, I want to focus on the function and purpose of a Communion rail. As you know, our beautiful church was built with a traditional Communion rail. The Communion rail (also called the altar rail) separates the sanctuary area from the rest of the church area. This rail is called the Communion rail because this is the place where faithful are able to kneel or stand while receiving Holy Communion.

This Tuesday the Church observes the World Day of the Sick. We invite those who are suffering with any sickness, their caregivers and any medical workers to attend the 8:30am mass which will include special prayers and the celebration of the Anointing of the Sick.

Pope John Paul II initiated this day of prayer in 1993 to encourage people to pray for those who suffer from chronic illness/disease, for their caregivers and for medical personnel who assist the sick. If you are old enough to recall it, the Pope himself had been diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease a year before and many believe that it was his own experience of chronic illness that led him to inaugurate this day of prayer.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

This Sunday we celebrate a special feast day called the "Presentation of the Lord". The presentation took place 40 days after Our Lord's birth which is February 2nd. This special feast day is also the day the Church blesses candles that are to be used in your home throughout the coming year. Also recognized as Candlemas, this event invites us to reflect on the recent celebration of Christmas and the birth of Christ. We should also turn our minds to the approaching season of Easter. The feast of Candlemas, which we celebrate today, can be traced to the year 543 where we first hear of the "Feast of the Lighted Candles."

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The Wall Street Journal published an article in June of 2018 named, "The Catholic School Difference." It included the findings of a study by scholars at the University of California-Santa Barbara regarding the success of Catholic schools. Students in Catholic schools, "are more likely to control their temper, respect others' property, accept their fellow students' ideas, and handle peer pressure." In other words, Catholic School students exhibit more self-discipline and have a more productive environment in which to learn and academically and spiritually excel.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Sadly, the unwillingness to offer real sacrifices and the lack of true love has led many people to believe that life is disposable. This tragic way of thinking has impacted our world in many negative ways i.e., marriages, families, workplaces, government, the economy, communities and even the Church.

It is so easy to become puffed up with pride and a false sense of self-reliance; many selfishly choose their own path; many seek to maximize personal pleasure and avoid giving of themselves in sacrificial love to others and therefore miss the beauty of God's creation all together.

Our Lord is the answer. His response to all the selfishness and hatred in our world can be found on the cross. He showed us how to love and how to see others as God sees them. Love always involves sacrifice. For example:

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Last year, the New York state legislature voted to allow the so called "fundamental right" to abortion in their state law and eliminate protections for preborn babies until birth. The bill asserts that "Every individual who becomes pregnant has the fundamental right to choose to carry the pregnancy to term, to give birth to a child, or to have an abortion." The bill also erases the state's recognition of preborn babies older than 24 weeks as potential homicide victims, removes abortion from the penal code entirely, and allows licensed health practitioners other than full doctors to commit abortions.

As Catholics we celebrate the Right to Life. We are Pro Life. Our Lord reminds us of the sacredness of every human life… born and unborn. Catholics have always held, and will always preach, the value of human life. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that:

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

In today's Gospel, we hear a strange conversation between Our Lord and John the Baptist. It is strange because John called people to repentance, to turn away from sin and turn to God. Jesus had no sins. Jesus is the Savior. Jesus doesn't need to repent, and therefore He has no need to be baptized. And yet, Our Lord shows up by the river and gets in line anyway. John sees him and objects, but Jesus insists on taking His place right beside those who need Him most.

This is exactly what Our Lord does for us at every Mass. Whenever we receive Holy Communion, we are receiving God himself as our nourishment. Our Lord could not be any closer to us than He is in Holy Communion. He desires to take His place right with us!