Dear Brothers and Sisters,

It has been said that Mark Twain saw overly pious Christians as being a bit phony. One of the famous stories that validates his concerns happened at a dinner party where a man cornered Twain and said, “Before I die, I am going to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. When I arrive, I will climb Mount Sinai, and from the very top I will boldly proclaim the Ten Commandments.” Twain replied, “I have a better idea. Why don’t you stay right here at home and obey them.” While the story reveals Twain’s sarcastic side, it also points to today’s readings which invite us to look at the difference between talking and doing. The letter to James reminds us that we are to “be doers of the word, not only hearers.” And Jesus turns to the prophet Isaiah in today’s gospel to make the point that “these people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.”

“As on the day of our Baptism, when our whole life was entrusted to the “standard of teaching”, let us embrace the Creed of our life-giving faith. To say the Credo with faith is to enter into communion with God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and also with the whole Church which transmits the faith to us and in whose midst we believe: This Creed is the spiritual seal, our heart’s meditation and an ever-present guardian; it is, unquestionably, the treasure of our soul” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 197)

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

We hear in today’s Gospel: “Many of His disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied Him.” The reason: They heard His teaching and what it demands of them. Tragically, they could not accept it. The Sacred Scriptures tell us that many of Jesus’ followers walked away because they found His teaching “too difficult”. Jesus then focuses on His closest followers. Looking at Peter, Jesus asks him, “Do you also want to leave?” Peter responds “no”, but then he asks Our Lord this important question: “To whom can we go?” Peter seems to be saying, “When I look at the other possibilities, you are still the best option. Among all the choices out there, you are my first choice.”

Baldachinum of the Altar, a dome-like canopy above our current altar, has a very long and esteemed history in church sanctuaries. These massive structures can be fashioned out of wood, stone, or metal, and are usually erected over the high altar of larger churches. The baldacchino is usually supported on four columns, though sometimes suspended by chains from the roof.

It has been suggested that the name “baldacchino” comes from Baldocco, Italian form of Bagdad where the precious cloth canopies were made as part of the structure. The same structure was previously called ciborium, from the Greek kiborion (the globular seed-pod of the lotus, used as a drinking-cup) because of the similarity of its dome top to an inverted cup.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Today, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary into heaven. The Catholic Church teaches that the Virgin Mary “having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.” This doctrine was dogmatically defined by Pope Pius XII on November 1, 1950, in the Apostolic Constitution Munificentissimus Deus, while exercising papal infallibility. But this feast has long been a belief in the Church.

Each Friday during Lent, many in our parish, and around the world, gather to trace the footsteps of Jesus on his Via Dolorosa (Sorrowful Way), the Way of the Cross, or Via Crucis. I have been deeply moved and inspired at St. Bernadette over the years by all those who have prayed the Stations of the Cross.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Mother Teresa knew that it is in giving that we receive, dying that we are born to eternal life. She was called to live the words of St. Paul: “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” I just wanted to thank you, the extraordinarily generous stewards of our community who remained stalwart supporters of our beloved parish, even when your jobs and livelihoods could have been in pandemic jeopardy. I was so inspired by you. May God bless you for your generosity!

Litany of Loreto: This litany to the Blessed Virgin Mary was composed during the Middle Ages. The place of honor it now holds in the life of the Church is due to its faithful use at the shrine of the Holy House at Loreto. It was definitively approved by Pope Sixtus V in 1587, and all other Marian litanies were suppressed, at least for public use. Since then, several Popes have added titles to the Litany, as only they may do.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

This past week was designated Natural Family Planning Awareness Week because it was fifty-three years ago on this day that Pope Saint Paul VI issued his encyclical Humanae Vitae (On Human Life). In this papal letter, Paul VI provided instruction on the responsible transmission of human life, describing the nature of married love as designed by God and echoing the Church’s unchanging teaching on the immorality of contraceptive behavior.

The south transept of St. Bernadette Church is dedicated to St. Joseph. As part of the beautification project of our Church, a large original oil painting has been commissioned for its south wall. It will be a depiction of the Holy Family in their home in Nazareth.

To say that Nazareth was a humble, back-water place is an overstatement. It was a small hamlet of about 150 families and was founded by descendants of the royal family of King David. It is located in northern Galilee approximately 20 miles west of the Sea of Galilee. We can appreciate a bit of Nazareth’s poor reputation by Nathanael’s comment when Philip tells him of Jesus’ hometown. Nathanael replies, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46). However, Nazareth was just a little over 3 miles from the large, bustling Greco-Roman city of Sepphoris, one of the capital cities of the Galilee district.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

In his recent Apostolic Exhortation Veneremur Cernui – Down in Adoration Falling, Bishop Olmsted offers practical and concrete suggestions for how to pray before Our Eucharistic King in adoration.

Bishop Olmsted writes: “Make a ten-minute visit to the tabernacle in a church or chapel on the way back from work, on the way to a family gathering, or even on the way to a simple daily errand. It’s not about the length of time spent; it is about the faith, hope, and love with which you spend those moments in the Lord’s presence.

Apparitions of Our Blessed Mother Mary to St. Bernadette

As part of the beautification project for St. Bernadette Church, a large original oil painting has been commissioned for the north transept. It will be a depiction of one of the apparitions of Our Blessed Mother Mary to St. Bernadette in the grotto of Massabielle on the outskirts of Lourdes. Lourdes is a small town nestled in the foothills of the Pyrenes Mountains in the southeast corner of France.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

In his recent Apostolic Exhortation Veneremur Cernui – Down in Adoration Falling, Bishop Olmsted explained the importance of “wasting time” with Our Lord in Eucharist Adoration.

Bishop Olmsted writes: “The expression “waste time in front of the Lord” should be understood only through the lens of love, of which the saints are constant reminders. Blessed Charles de Foucauld wrote in the presence of the Eucharist: “What a tremendous delight, my God! To spend over fifteen hours without having anything else to do but look at you and tell you, ‘Lord, I love you.’ Oh, what sweet delight.” True, this impressive duration of time may have been an extraordinary gift to this holy man and hermit. But the faith and love he bore in his heart for the Eucharist is a supernatural gift available to every one of us, poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit to those who ask.”

St. Kateri Tekakwitha
Native American and consecrated virgin

Nicknames are generally silly, entertaining names given to people by affectionate relatives or friends. It’s rare to hear an enviable one. But “Lily of the Mohawks?” Now, that’s an elegant nickname. This is the nickname of St. Kateri Tekakwitha. Orphaned at the age of four, she was raised by her uncle, the chief of the Mohawk village. When priests came to the village, Kateri was drawn by their teachings, and converted at the age of 19, heedless of the anger of her relatives. Because she refused to work on Sundays, she was denied meals that day. Finally, a missionary encouraged her to run away to Montreal, Canada, to practice her faith freely. She followed his advice, and lived a life of extreme prayer and penance, taking a vow of virginity. She was beatified in 1980 and canonized on October 21, 2012.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

In his recent Apostolic Exhortation Veneremur Cernui - Down in Adoration Falling, Bishop Olmsted wrote beautifully about the powerful impact Adoration of Our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament has in a person's life. Our Saints desire for us to fall in love with Our Eucharistic King.

American Saint, Frances Cabrini once said, “I will go anywhere and do anything in order to communicate the love of Jesus to those who do not know Him or have forgotten Him.” This seemed to be the conviction of all our American saints who founded hospitals, grade schools, churches, universities, leper colonies, orphanages, missionary outposts, soup kitchens and more. In order to remind others of the goodness of God and Christ’s redeeming, so many saints, canonized or not, functioned as building blocks of our country. Catholics, in other words, have played a huge part in American history.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

In his recent Apostolic Exhortation Veneremur Cernui – Down in Adoration Falling, Bishop Olmsted wrote so beautifully about the powerful impact Adoration of Our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament can have in a person’s life. I want to share some of his thoughts with you because I want you to fall deeper in love with Our Eucharistic King and to make Him the Lord of your life.