Dear Friends of our Pastorate,
Has the world lost its mind? Do you find the changes our country and our culture are undergoing mind-boggling—and not all for the good? Where has “common sense” gone? Does anyone seek wisdom anymore?
That last question contains the key to answering the previous questions: Wisdom—the subject of our 1st Reading (wisdom personified) and the Gospel (the wise virgins). When society stops seeking wisdom, it devolves and disintegrates. The same thing happens to an individual. God made us in His image, with “the capacity to understand and function (make choices) accordingly,” ie, with wisdom. If a person is raised and formed in a good, healthy environment, he or she ought to have this first kind of wisdom: “natural” wisdom.
But there’s a second kind of wisdom, a transcendent wisdom that God imparts to those who are close to Him who is Wisdom itself. This wisdom from God comes through the Church (Ephesians 3:10) and leads to paths of peace. It must be sought. When we seek it and ask for it, we will find it and it will be given (Wisdom 6:12, Matthew 7:8, James 1:5). I’ve heard from many in our pastorate who are taking deliberate steps to learn the wisdom of God through our women and men’s study groups (Walking with Purpose; Into the Breach, and Men of the Word Bible Study), and I, too, know from personal experience: learning God’s wisdom changes our lives for the better. The deeper we go in our relationship with Jesus Christ through learning and understanding Scripture, Church teaching in the Catechism, and the Liturgy of the Mass (these are the topics of my Going Deeper series), the more divine wisdom we gain, and hopefully, with God’s grace, the more loving and merciful we become as missionary disciples of Christ.
A big THANK YOU and congratulations to St. Jane’s parishioner Andrew Bryant who completed his Eagle Scout Project with his Boy Scouts of America Troop 414 on October 28th: a beautiful pollinator and native plant garden sanctuary! It contains flowers that bloom throughout the spring, summer, and fall, beautiful grasses, small flowering trees, and more—all of which promote the local population of bees, butterflies, birds, and other wildlife.
The vision of this project is to help parishioners prayerfully reflect on the beauty of God’s creation, and to educate and inspire us to install pollinator and native plant gardens in our own backyards. An educational kiosk will be installed soon, and berry plants and herbs will be added in the spring, which parishioners are welcome to harvest in season. A special thank you also goes to St. Jane’s parishioner Rich Hergenroeder, an Anne Arundel Watershed Steward, who spearheaded the awarding of a grant from The Chesapeake Bay Trust which expanded this beautiful garden’s footprint.
Peace in Christ,
Father Jim
