The Visitation

Dear Friends in Christ,

This weekend, we celebrate the Fourth Sunday of Advent. Our Gospel reading this weekend is the account of the Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth. The scriptures tells us that after the angel Gabriel came to Mary and announced that the Lord wished for her to become the Mother of Jesus, she immediately set out to visit her cousin Elizabeth, who was pregnant with John the Baptist. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, John leapt for joy in her womb because even then, he knew that God’s plans for our salvation were to be realized very soon. Both Mary and Elizabeth are pillars of faith, believing that what had been spoken to them would be fulfilled. God’s plan is unfolding before their eyes. The birth of the Messiah was now an impending reality.

This week, we will celebrate liturgically the birth of the Messiah with our Christmas Masses. Our Christmas Eve Mass attendance has been recovering since the days of Covid, so we have added a couple of Masses to our schedule. Here is the schedule of Masses and who will be the celebrant:

CHRISTMAS EVE MASSES – 12/24

Our Lady of the Chesapeake

3:30pm – Church – Bishop Adam Parker
3:30pm – Gathering Place – Fr. Martin Burnham P.S.S.
5:30pm – Church – Fr. Martin Burnham P.S.S.
7:30pm – Church – High School Youth Mass – Fr. Steve
10:00pm – Church – Pastorate Christmas Mass with combined choirs
Christmas carols will being at 9:30pm

St. Jane Frances de Chantal

4:00pm – Church – Fr. Steve
4:00pm – Lower Church – Children’s Mass – Fr. John
6:00pm – Church – Fr. John

CHRISTMAS DAY MASSES – 12/25

9:30am - St. Jane Frances – Fr. Steve
10:30am – Our Lady of the Chesapeake – Fr. John

 

On behalf of Fr. John and all of us at our Pastorate of the Visitation, I would like to wish you and your family a very Blessed and Merry Christmas! May you enjoy your time with family and friends during the Christmas season and have safe travels if you will be visiting with others out of town. Thank you for keeping St. Jane Frances and Our Lady of the Chesapeake—our Pastorate of the Visitation—in your daily prayers!

God Bless,
Father Steve

Rejoice!

Dear Friends in Christ,

REJOICE! “Rejoice” is the message of the third Sunday of Advent, traditionally called Gaudete or ‘Rejoice’ Sunday. Just as the arrival of the long-expected Messiah drew near for Israel, so in the longing and expectation of the Advent season, we draw closer to the arrival of Christ in the flesh, to His arrival moment by moment by His glorious grace.

We also face the reality of business in our preparations for Christmas celebrations and family gatherings—at our churches and in our homes. To prepare and celebrate well, we need our daily bread of the Eucharist and daily prayer so that St Paul’s words that we hear this weekend may be fulfilled in us: Your kindness should be known to all. The Lord is near… the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (2nd reading, Philippians 4:4–7). We need the graces of the baptism we have received, that is, the baptism of the Holy Spirit and of fire (Lk 3:16). Come, Lord Jesus.

On this Gaudete Sunday, there are many occasions for rejoicing in the life of our pastorate. Many of our children have experienced their first Reconciliation in these weeks. How beautiful is the mercy of the Lord! Thank you to our faith formation team and families for preparing them. May the graces of this sacrament reach all the more into our daily life of faith and relationship with God and one another. Thank you to those who joined us in Eucharistic adoration and reconciliation this past Wednesday. These are effective ways to prepare the way of the Lord to enter our hearts!

A heartfelt thanks to Leo Zerheusen from HOPE for All who has spoken over the last two weekends. Their service and labors of love are cause for rejoicing. Please prayerfully consider how you might support this ministry serving the needy in our local community.

On December 14, our Archdiocese gained a new priest with the ordination of Father Ron Howard of Glen Burnie! Please pray for Father Howard. His ordination is a special joy for me, as he and I were ordained deacons together. I am grateful to have him now as a brother priest.

We encourage you to be attentive to our pastorate’s Christmas liturgy schedule in your preparations for Christmas. Let us pray in a special way for one another and for our families and friends who will be with us for these celebrations. May they have a deep, profound experience of the love of God through the sacraments and in the presence of our spiritual family.

The Lord is near. Thank you as always for keeping our Pastorate in your daily prayers!

Father John

P.S. To quote the wisdom of our pastor Father Steve regarding the rose color of the vestments and the third candle on the Advent wreath: “Jesus didn’t PINK from the dead; He ROSE from the dead.”

Advent Invitations

Dear Friends of our Pastorate,

This weekend, we celebrate the Second Sunday of Advent. Our Gospel recalls the early ministry of John the Baptist, who was chosen by the Lord to prepare the way for the coming of Christ (Lk 3:1-6). John preached a message of repentance—for all to acknowledge their sins, seek reconciliation and forgiveness in the waters of baptism, and return to following the Lord every day of their lives. This is the ongoing message of the Church today. We proclaim this good news in Jesus Christ, inviting all to conversion and repentance, and returning to worship and praise God for the gift of forgiveness of sins and new life in Christ. How well have you and your family accepted this gracious invitation? It is freely offered to us but we must accept it, embrace it, and put it into action by the choices we make each and every day.

Our Pastorate and the universal Church are here to assist you with this. It is not meant to be burdensome or seemingly impossible to do, but it does require us to make choices in our lives, including the choice to put God first in everything we do. This season of Advent can help us do this by reminding us of the love, hope, peace, and joy that is ours in Jesus Christ. I invite you and your family to choose Christ this Advent. Prepare the way for Jesus to enter into your home and your hearts and make him a welcomed guest every day. Jesus longs to be invited into our lives… we just need to invite him!

This week, we have several celebrations to bring to your attention. On Monday, Dec. 9th, the Church will celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Mass schedule for this Holy Day will 8:30am at both OLC and St Jane, 12:00pm at OLC, and 5:30pm at St. Jane. Please plan to join us. The Pastorate will also be offering the Sacrament of Reconciliation on Wednesday, Dec. 11th from 6:30pm to 8:30pm at St. Jane. We will also be offering Eucharistic Adoration during this time. And please pray for our pastorate youth who will be celebrating the Sacrament of Reconciliation this week at both parishes for the first time.

Leo Zerhusen from Hope for All will be speaking at all Masses at OLC the weekend of Dec. 7–8 and at St. Jane the weekend of Dec. 14–15. Hope for All is a ministry of outreach and service based in Glen Burnie that our Pastorate has supported over the years through donations and volunteering. We are currently collecting comforters, blankets, bed linens, and bath towels for Hope for All. Items do not need to be new, but in good, clean condition. Thank you for your generosity for those in need in our community.

Thank you for keeping St. Jane Frances and Our Lady of the Chesapeake—our Pastorate of the Visitation—in your daily prayers!

God Bless,
Father Steve

Happy New Year?

Dear Friends,

We pray that everyone had a happy Thanksgiving! With the start of Advent the Church begins the new liturgical year. So, I wish you a happy new year! Are there any new year’s spiritual resolutions on your horizon? To get you thinking…

Advent reminds us of the coming of Christ. There are various ways that we understand Christ’s coming: in our daily life such as when He comes to us in the Eucharist as well as in our neighbor; when He will come at last in His glory; and, of course, as He did in the flesh 2,000 years ago. Advent captures all of these. Where is Christ coming to meet you?

Advent is a very merry Marian season. Mary can show us how to live with an “Advent spirit” that is, how to live with expectant faith in Christ’s coming. Praying the joyful mysteries of the Rosary can help with this as can learning a new Marian prayer. In Advent, the Church prays the “Alma Redemptoris Mater”:

Loving Mother of the Redeemer, gate of heaven, star of the sea, assist your people who have fallen yet strive to rise again. To the wonderment of nature you bore your Creator, yet remained a virgin after as before. You who received Gabriel's joyful greeting, have pity on us poor sinners.

On December 6th at OLC from 4:30-7:30pm, you can drop off toys or other donations in support of the Knights of Columbus St. Nicholas Toy Drive for Hurricane Helene victims.

On December 8th at OLC after 10:45am Mass, there will be breakfast with Santa! Admission is $5 (or free if you make a donation to the above!)

On December 9th, we will celebrate the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. This is a Holy Day of Obligation. Please join us for one of our Masses!

On December 11th at St. Jane Frances, all are invited to the Pastorate’s night of Reconciliation. In Advent we often pray, “Prepare the way of the Lord.” Reconciliation is a beautiful way to prepare the way for Jesus entering into our souls.

On December 14th, a new priest for the Archdiocese! Deacon Ron Howard of Glen Burnie will be ordained to the priesthood at 10am at St. Ignatius in Ijamsville. All are welcome! Let us pray for Dcn. Ron!

Lastly, please take note of our Christmas Mass schedule. We look forward to having you and your families at one of our many celebrations!

Let us pray for one another as we prepare the way of the Lord this Advent season. Happy new year!

Fr. John

What Is Truth?

Brothers and Sisters,

What is truth to you? Is it only whatever we can see and hear and taste and touch? Is truth whatever the world and the media tells us it is? Or do we think truth is only what we can prove scientifically? I think it is not so easy for us today to see the reality of the truth of God’s presence in our lives. I think it is getting harder for the vision of God to break into our lives. It’s so hard for us to hear his voice in the midst of all of the noise of our world. We live today like we are so self-sufficient, like we can do everything for ourselves. We don’t need God to solve our problems or answer our questions. We live today as if this world is all there is. And as we know, this is not true! We have been created to seek truth, but we cannot know all truth in ourselves. We need God to lead us to the truth, otherwise we can easily be led astray by falsehood. 

In this week’s Gospel (Jn 18:33b–37), Jesus tells us “for this I was born and came into the world, to testify to the truth.” And the truth is that Our Lord Jesus Christ is King of the Universe, and that in his kingship alone do we find true freedom. When we declare Christ as our King, we declare to the world and remind ourselves that Jesus is the Lord. He reigns over our heart if we let him, and his truth will lead us to salvation. If we believe in the truth that Jesus speaks to us, this truth will set us free. And we will see the world in a new way. We will see God’s kingdom coming in every act of love we make and in every work of mercy we perform.

God Bless,
Deacon Howard

The Holidays Are Upon Us

Dear Friends of our Pastorate,

This weekend, we celebrate the Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time. We are also approaching the end of the Church’s liturgical year in a couple of weeks. Our readings at this time turn toward the coming of Christ again in glory just as we profess in our creed. That time will be characterized by the fulfillment of God’s divine plan—rewards for those who have remained faithful to the Lamb of God and punishment for those who have turned away from God. Jesus warns his disciples to learn from what they already know about how to read the signs of the times so that they are not caught off guard when that day arrives. Jesus doesn’t want us to be caught off guard either.

This weekend, we will be having someone speaking at all Masses about our Shelter Week program that is hosted at OLC. This year’s Shelter Week will be held Jan. 13–20. Shelter Week is a ministry of service to those who do not have adequate shelter during the winter season. It requires many volunteers to make this ministry a success, so please consider volunteering this year. The Shelter Week planning meeting will be held this Tuesday, Nov. 19th at 7:00pm at OLC. The meeting will be held in the Maryland Suite, OLC’s meeting room that is located in the Church.

Please keep our Pastorate’s Confimandi in your prayers this week. We have 39 youth receiving the
Sacrament of Confirmation this Wednesday, Nov. 20th at 5:30pm at St. Jane Frances. Bishop Adam Parker will be the celebrant. The celebration is open to anyone in the pastorate who wishes to attend. I would like to thank our Pastorate’s youth ministry team—Tim Janiszewski and Carrie Hilmer—and all of our dedicated catechists, volunteers, and families who have assisted with preparing our high school youth for Confirmation.

Our Pastorate’s Thanksgiving Mass this year will be taking place at Our Lady of the Chesapeake on Thursday, Nov. 28th at 8:30am. Each parish has a tradition at the Thanksgiving Mass that we would like to honor. OLC’s tradition is to bring a donation of nonperishable food items for the OLC food pantry that are presented at the offertory. St. Jane’s tradition is to bring your family’s Thanksgiving foods for the blessing of foods at the end of Mass. We will be incorporating both traditions at this year’s Mass, so please bring a food pantry donation AND your family’s Thanksgiving food to be blessed after Mass.

Our parish’s Advent and Christmas schedule is included in this weekend’s bulletin. I hope it will be useful for you as you prepare for the coming holiday season.

Thank you for keeping St. Jane Frances and Our Lady of the Chesapeake—our Pastorate of the Visitation—in your daily prayers!

God Bless,
Father Steve

Trust In God

Dear Friends of our Pastorate,

This weekend, we celebrate the Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time. Our readings remind us once again of our need to have faith and trust in God. The first reading is the encounter of Elijah the prophet and the widow of Zarephath (1 Kgs 17:10-16). This encounter occurs in the midst of severe drought, and she has come to the end of her supplies. Elijah asks her for a cup of water and a bit of bread, which she gives him (the importance of hospitality to a stranger) even though she does not have any to spare. Yet Elijah tells her not to be afraid, because the Lord will bless her and her son with all they need until the drought ends. And she trusts in his words.

Our Gospel today also has an account of a poor widow who places two small coins into the treasury while the rich around her are putting in large sums of money (Mk 12:41-44). Jesus, however, isn’t impressed with the action of the rich. He is more moved by the faith and trust of the widow, who he says is contributing from her poverty while the rich contribute from their excess. She is giving her last two cents, not knowing where her next two cents will come from, which demonstrates her faith that the Lord will take care of her, even in her poverty.

How strong is your faith and trust in the Lord? Would you be willing to share your last cup of water or last piece of bread with a stranger in need, who tells you the Lord will reward you for your kindness, or would you be afraid to part with them because of not knowing when you will have food and water again? This is not a problem that most of us have in our daily lives, but we know there are people within our community (and certainly in our world) who do not know where their next meal is coming from. What do we do to help them?

In Matthew’s Gospel, one of the last teachings that Jesus gives us is a passage called “The Judgment of the Nations” where the Lord separates the sheep from the goats (Matthew 25:31-46). Those who have practiced what the Church calls the Corporal Works of Mercy are separated from everyone else and are welcomed into the kingdom of heaven. This really does embody the call of discipleship for each and every one of us. We are asked to have faith and trust in the Lord and are challenged to demonstrate this by sharing our blessings with others. During the next couple of weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, I would ask of us to reflect upon how we can live out more fully and completely the Corporal Works of Mercy, based on our faith and trust in Jesus our Lord.

Thank you for keeping our Pastorate of the Visitation—St. Jane Frances and Our Lady of the Chesapeake—in your daily prayers!

God Bless,
Father Steve

Faithful Citizenship

Dear Friends in Christ,

We are near the end of the novena (nine days of prayer) for Faithful Citizenship. You can find this novena at https://www.usccb.org/prayers/novena-faithful-citizenship. May these prayers ground us in Christ as we prayerfully prepare for the polls. If you have not already, we are encouraged in these days to have recourse to the document Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship https://www.usccb.org/sjp/forming-consciences-faithful-citizenship.

It is my prayer in these days that the Holy Spirit gives us a special anointing as faithful citizens. May the places where we vote, the lines we stand in, the votes we cast all become places and instances where the Spirit of the Lord can reign as we seek to witness to the Gospel and the Kingdom in this land that we love. “The Lord of hosts is with us” (Ps 46).

Please pray for our high school youth ministry on their retreat this coming weekend. A heartfelt thanks to Mr. Tim, Mrs. Carrie, their team, as well as our teens – for your generosity with the Lord, with one another, and with our pastorate.

Please pray for me and Fr. Steve and the priests of the Archdiocese who are blessed to be able to gather this week for our annual priest convocation. It will be a time of prayer, fellowship, and continued education that we might more and more be priests for you after Christ’s own Sacred Heart.

Let us remain “rooted and grounded in love” this week (Ephesians 3.17).

Father John

The following is the daily concluding prayer of the above-mentioned novena. It is a prayer composed by Pope Saint John Paul II, imploring the intercession and help of Mary for difficult times:

Immaculate Heart of Mary, help us to conquer the menace of evil, which so easily takes root in the hearts of the people of today, and whose immeasurable effects already weigh down upon our modern world and seem to block the paths toward the future. From famine and war, deliver us. From nuclear war, from incalculable self-destruction, from every kind of war, deliver us. From sins against human life from its very beginning, deliver us. From hatred and from the demeaning of the dignity of the children of God, deliver us. From every kind of injustice in the life of society, both national and international, deliver us. From readiness to trample on the commandments of God, deliver us. From attempts to stifle in human hearts the very truth of God, deliver us. From the loss of awareness of good and evil, deliver us. From sins against the Holy Spirit, deliver us. Accept, O Mother of Christ, this cry laden with the sufferings of all individual human beings, laden with the sufferings of whole societies. Help us with the power of the Holy Spirit [to] conquer all sin: individual sin and the “sin of the world,” sin in all its manifestations. Let there be revealed once more in the history of the world the infinite saving power of the Redemption: the power of merciful love. May it put a stop to evil. May it transform consciences. May your Immaculate Heart reveal for all the light of hope. Amen.

Are You Blind?

Brothers and Sisters,

The gospel reading this week (Mk 10:46-52) describes the healing by Jesus of a blind beggar named Bartimaeus. So, what does the story of blind Bartimaeus teach us? While we aren’t told the reasons for Bartimaeus’s blindness, how long he endured in this condition, or even where he is from, there is an important lesson his story can teach us.

His story is made up of just a few short verses, but it contains a very powerful message. The message of the story of blind Bartimaeus is about how desperately we need Jesus. And how we shouldn’t let anything hold us back from getting to Him. Not the opinions or voices of others. Nor our reputations or our limitations. Not even our doubts and fears or our pain and suffering. Nothing should get in our way. We should do whatever we can to get to Jesus. Because it is only in His arms that we can find true and everlasting healing.

When Bartimaeus is called by Jesus, it’s interesting how he responds. He throws off his cloak. That cloak represents all of his security and protection against rain, cold, or whatever. It’s pretty much everything he has. He abandons himself totally to Jesus in order to run to him. That is what faith is: abandonment to God. Faith is leaving behind all the things that we want to keep ourselves self-sufficient, leaving behind all the things we want to control but can’t.

So, as we come near to the Lord today, we recognize that we are beggars totally dependent on the mercy of God to make us whole. May we rise then, leaving our powerlessness behind, and run to Him. Giving ourselves totally to His loving care.

God Bless,
Deacon Howard

Forward In Faith

Dear Friends of our Pastorate,

This weekend we celebrate the Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Our Gospel this weekend is the account of James and John, two of Jesus’ Apostles, asking the Lord for special places of honor once the Lord is enthroned in glory. Jesus asked them if they really understand what they are asking, to which they say ‘Yes.’ But they really don’t know, for those places of honor are meant for everyone who is willing to follow Christ to the cross, for the Lord has come to serve and to be served AND to be willing to surrender our earthly lives in order to do so.

All of us are asked by the Lord to follow him in this way—to be ready and able to serve others instead of sitting back and asking others to serve us. At our pastorate parishes, we always have open invitations and opportunities for every one of us to put this model of discipleship into practice—to serve others by being of service to our parishes. Both parishes could benefit from people helping to serve at our Sunday Masses as greeters, ushers, lectors, extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion, and altar servers. Our ranks have thinned out over the years, so we ask you to consider ways the Holy Spirit is prompting you and your family to serve others by serving at Mass.

Another way we can serve our parishes is through the sharing of our gifts through our fall stewardship program called “Forward in Faith.” In the bulletin this weekend, you will find information about how you can serve your parish by helping us maintain our facilities, expand our programs, and support our staff. Unlike the parish of the 1950s, Fr. John and I are not able to minister to two large and active parishes without the assistance of dedicated pastoral and administrative staff. (Actually we have an opening for a part time Administrative Assistant position at OLC.) Your ongoing financial support helps us to maintain our services to our pastorate community, so I ask you to deepen your stewardship by making a commitment to your level of giving over the next year. Thank you!

If you have not used online giving in the past, please consider doing so in the coming year. Both parishes have programs that can facilitate your giving and help keep your commitment consistent, even when you are away for a weekend. Information on how to set up online giving (or update your current level of giving) can be found on the “Forward in Faith” flyer in this weekend’s bulletin.

Thank you for keeping our Pastorate of the Visitation—St. Jane Frances and Our Lady of the Chesapeake—in your daily prayers!

God Bless,
Father Steve

Have We Forgotten Love?

Dear Friends, Peace in Christ!

The Pastorate of the Visitation celebrates one of our saint-siblings this week! On Wednesday, October 16, we remember St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647–1690). Margaret Mary was a French religious sister of the Visitation Order, making her a saint-sibling of our Pastorate, the name of which honors both the mystery of the Visitation (Lk 1.39-45) as well as the Visitation sisters who for many years generously served the Catholic Church in Pasadena.

There are many treasures we have inherited from St. Margaret Mary such as (rekindled) devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus as well as the extraordinary revelations she received from the Lord Jesus. This devotion and these revelations came in God’s perfect timing. How so? In Margaret Mary’s historic moment, a spiritual sickness spread broadly which essentially rejected God’s universal love for all humanity. Many people despaired of God’s love for them. The truth of the message of the Sacred Heart – God’s steadfast, merciful love for all; so abundantly clear in Salvation History – proved to be a healing balm for generations to come.

I think we face a similar spiritual struggle today. Can we say with St. John, “We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us. God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him,” (1 Jn 4:16)? Do we seek to know Him – Love? Have we forgotten Love? Have we given Love a chance? When we look around us, where or in whom do we see what Mother Teresa described: “Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat”?

In one revelation, St. Margaret Mary saw the heart of Jesus, pierced and aflame, and heard Jesus say: “Behold the Heart which has so loved men that it has spared nothing, even to exhausting and consuming Itself, in order to testify Its love.” We need only look to the Holy Eucharist where Love has chosen to be present for you and me, day in and day out, begging us to give Him our hearts that He might give us His in exchange. From our communion with Christ, we are strengthened and enlightened to persevere in showing others they are wanted, loved, cared for, known. Jesus, make our hearts like yours; help us love like you.

Please remember me in your prayers as I make a retreat this week. I hope to see you at Trunk or Treat on Saturday evening, 10/19. Don’t forget to sign up! Also, be sure to mark 10/24 for Brian Boru to do the cooking for you – benefits go towards Winter Relief. More details in the bulletin. God bless you!

In Christ,
Fr. John

Respect Life Month

Dear Friends, Peace in Christ!

“The husband and wife should be similar to the hand and the eye. When the hand hurts, the eyes should be crying. And when the eyes cry, the hand should wipe away the tears.” This image given to us by St. John Chrysostom (c. 347–407) is poignant in light of this Sunday’s readings which place before us the mystery of marriage and family. May our married couples and their families (as well as those dating and engaged!) continue to grow in love that is selfless, faithful, and merciful.

Every October, the Church in the United States celebrates Respect Life Month. We reflect on the gift of every human life and how to build a culture that defends life from conception to natural death. On a very related note, please be mindful of the guidance given by Archbishop Lori as well as the Maryland Catholic Conference (mdcatholic.org) encouraging Catholics to oppose Question 1 which will appear on our ballots this November. For more information about Respect Life Month, see respectlife.org/celebrate.

October is also devoted to Our Lady of the Rosary. The Rosary is a timeless, simple prayer which helps us meditate on the mysteries of the life of Jesus through the eyes and heart of Mary. The Rosary can be said individually, with family or with friends—whether at the beginning or end of the day, during a car-ride, on a walk; whether it’s a decade or a whole rosary. On the drive from OLC and St. Jane, I can pray one rosary (two if it is between the hours of 4–6pm.) There are many Rosary podcasts available that help me with this beautiful devotion.

For all current and interested altar servers, Saturday October 12 is our Pastorate-wide altar server retreat at Our Lady of the Chesapeake. See the announcement in the bulletin for more information. Please join us!

Please mark October 19 on your calendars for our Pastorate Trunk or Treat event! This is a great event to invite a friend or family to attend, a friend/family who perhaps do not yet have a parish to call home. Ask the Holy Spirit to put that family or friend on your heart whom you can invite. And remember, you’re not inviting them to the dentist, but to fellowship and to joy (fellowship and joy in Jesus and the Church!)

In Christ,
Father John

Are You A Prophet?

Dear Friends of our Pastorate,

This weekend, we celebrate the Twenty-Six Sunday in Ordinary Time. Have you ever considered yourself to be a prophet? I don’t know if that is a word many of us would use to describe ourselves, but we hear it mentioned in our first reading from the Book of Numbers. In response to some people “complaining” to Moses about Eldad and Medad prophesying in the camp… doing something they have never done before… and maybe challenging others with their words. Moses responds by saying if only “all the people of the Lord were prophets. Would that the Lord might bestow his Spirit on them all.”

Well guess what? The Lord has bestowed his Spirit upon all of us! We have all received the Spirit of the Lord beginning with our baptisms, when we were anointed prophets. Therefore we have been entrusted with a participation in the prophetic mission of Christ AND His Church. As Jesus says in the Gospel today, all of us who call ourselves Christians are given the grace to perform mighty deeds in the name of Jesus—to speak his prophetic words and perform his mighty deeds.

The Maryland Catholic Conference has published information concerning Question 1—“The Right to Reproductive Freedom” constitutional amendment that will appear on the November ballot. Catholics are encouraged to vote “No” to this amendment. Information published by the Maryland Catholic Conference which explains the reasons for this decision can be found in this weekend’s bulletin, or by going to www.mdcatholic.org.

As the November election approaches, please take time to review the U.S. Bishops’ teaching document called: “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship.” The purpose of this document is to help all of us understand the Church’s positions on key moral issues. The Church does not endorse one candidate over another, and no candidate embraces 100% of the Church’s teachings; therefore, we are asked to understand what the Church teaches so that we can make informed decisions on election day. A link to the document can be found at www.archbalt.org/faithful-citizenship.

In the coming weeks, our Pastorate will be launching our Fall stewardship program called “Forward in Faith.” Your contributions to our parishes are essential in order for us to maintain our worship, our programs, and our outreach ministries. Thank you in advance for your weekly financial support!

Thank you for keeping our Pastorate of the Visitation—St. Jane Frances and Our Lady of the Chesapeake—in your daily prayers!

God Bless,
Father Steve

Passions

Dear Friends of Pastorate of the Visitation,

“Where do the wars and where do the conflicts among you come from?” This question, raised by St. James in our second reading this Sunday (James 3:16–4:3), strikes a sorrowful chord in our hearts. In our own ways, we are all troubled by fears or doubts or anger related to the world around us; and closer to home, our hearts that suffer from conflict and other difficulties with family, friends, and so on. Where is all this coming from?

St. James counsels that all this comes down to our “passions,” that is, to our fallen humanity that “makes war within [our] members.” It is that simple. But, the call of every disciple is that it no longer be our passions that rule us but the Passion of Jesus. Not just His suffering and death but the entirety of his beautiful, wonderful, truly passionate life! It is the passionate love of Jesus that raises up what is fallen, that makes all things new; that gives hope, light, and wisdom for resolving the “wars,” “conflicts,” “jealousy,” “selfish ambition,” and so on.

Christ’s passionate love proves to us the power of the words “I forgive you,” spoken readily and sincerely. His passionate love impels us to say “I’m sorry” often. His passion teaches us to extend an open hand to help or console rather than a fist; to pray rather than to curse; to become “last of all and servant of all” (Mark 9:35).

And so we pray: Jesus, thank You for all the ways you teach me and strengthen me with Your passionate love through Your words, example, and Your very Body and Blood. Help me to be a vessel and instrument of Your passionate love in my thoughts, words, and actions this week.

The pastorate’s Order of Christian Initiation for Adults (OCIA) program begins this week! Please pray for those taking part as well as the pastorate’s OCIA team. We are delighted to have a good number of people signed up, thanks be to God, but it is not too late if you or someone you know might be interested. Please invite them to reach out to me (john.bilenki@archbalt.org).

Our first meeting this week will give our “inquirers” and our team the chance to get acquainted. As the year goes on, we will advertise some of the sessions that can be more broadly attended by parishioners, so stay tuned for that!

Let us remain united in prayer and in the Eucharist.

Fr. John

Who Are You?

Brothers and Sisters,

How important is it for people to know you? Do you believe people really know who you are? Do you ever ask what kind of person other people think you are? When you answer the question “Who are you?” it will reveal a lot about how you see yourself, your purpose, your relationship with God, and how you see others. We will answer this question either by what the world tells us, or by what God tells us.

But the first question we must answer is “Who is Jesus?” This is the question that Jesus confronts the disciples with and confronts us with (Mk 8:27-35). The way you answer this question reveals a lot about you and determines your eternity, your identity, and your purpose in life. How you answer this question reveals how you make decisions, what is important to you, how you invest your time and money, and why you do or don’t do certain things. Your answer determines who or what authority you submit to. You truly cannot discover who you are until you discover who Jesus is to you. Who is Jesus to you when you are the only believer at work? Who is Jesus to you when you feel like you are one of the few Christians at school? Who is Jesus to you when you are married to an unbeliever? Who is Jesus to you when your family does not follow Jesus? Who is Jesus to you when you live in a city or country that does not honor Jesus? Who is Jesus to you in your everyday life?

If you answer, “You are the Christ” as Peter did, we must believe and follow Jesus in a world where most of the people do not hold your beliefs. But these are also the same people who you must love and share the gospel with. Yes, this will reveal a lot about who you are.

God Bless,
Deacon Howard

Ephphatha! Be Opened!

Dear Friends of our Pastorate,

This weekend, we celebrate the Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time. Our Gospel this weekend (Mk 7:31-37) recalls the healing by Jesus of the man unable to hear and had a speech impediment. By a strange ritual documented in Mark’s Gospel, the man regains his hearing and speech. The Church actually celebrates a similar ritual when we celebrate Baptisms. It is actually called the “Ephphatha Rite” and is prayed over the newly baptized, asking the Lord God to open their ears to hear God’s word and open their lips to profess the faith. Might I suggest that it is a prayer that all of us should consider praying, so that we may be opened to hearing the word of God in our hearts and living out our faith in God in our daily lives.

Ephphetha: that is, be opened,
that you may profess the faith you hear,
to the praise and glory of God.

In this weekend’s bulletin, you will find a Statement of Income and Expenses for our Pastorate parishes. This is for the fiscal year which ran from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024. There are separate columns for St. Jane Frances and Our Lady of the Chesapeake, as well as a “Total” column. I wanted to note that the “Total” column is for illustrative purposes only and is not meant to imply that our parishes have any shared bank accounts, however we do have some shared expenses. Each parish maintains its own separate financial systems and operating bank accounts. Although Total Income was higher at St. Jane Frances, Offertory Collections were slightly higher at OLC. Rental Income from leasing the SJF School and Parish Center drives much of the higher income and expense levels at St. Jane’s. Overall, both parishes are in good financial shape, so THANK YOU for your ongoing support to our Pastorate of the Visitation parishes!

Our faith formation program at St. Jane Frances starts this Sunday. We are grateful for all of our volunteers who assist us with our program. Next Sunday, September 15th, is Catechetical or Good News Sunday. We will be offering a special prayer of blessing upon our teachers/catechists, students, parents and others who support our faith formation programs. The blessing will take base at the 10:00am Mass at St. Jane Frances and at the 10:45am Mass at OLC.

On Sunday, September 22nd, at the 10:00am Mass at St. Jane Frances, we will be celebrating our Pastorate’s Rite of Enrollment for our students who will be receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation this Fall. Our program includes students from both parishes and will be taking place at St. Jane Frances on Wednesday, November 20th at 5:30pm with Bishop Adam Parker presiding. Please keep our confirmandi in your prayers as they complete their preparation.

Thank you for keeping our Pastorate of the Visitation—St. Jane Frances and Our Lady of the Chesapeake—in your daily prayers!

God Bless,
Father Steve

Change Is In The Air!

Dear Friends of our Pastorate,

Welcome to Labor Day weekend… and to the unofficial end of summer! I cannot believe how fast this
summer has gone. We have experienced some changes over this summer as well. We said farewell to Fr. Jim and thanked him for his two years of untiring service to our pastorate. We said goodbye to Melissa Boyle who moved onto a teaching position at Archbishop Spalding. And now we must say farewell to Diana Healy, who is stepping down in order to dedicate more time to family needs.

But we also have welcomed some new additions to our pastorate. First, we welcomed Fr. John Bilenki as our new associate pastor. Fr. John has hit the ground running as he has been getting settled here as well as preparing for our pastorate’s Order of Christian Initiation of Adults program (formerly RCIA), which starts up in a couple of weeks. As we know, Fr. John is also the part time chaplain at Mount St. Joseph High School, which will mean he will be at the school one day a week. We also welcomed Carrie Hilmer as our new Associate Youth Minister, being responsible for our Middle School and High School Youth Ministry programs. Carrie will be working closely with Tim Janiszewski, our Pastoral Associate/Youth Minister from OLC, as we coordinate and share our High School Youth Ministry and Confirmation programs. We also recently hired Marie Griffiths as St. Jane’s Religious Education Coordinator. Marie is well known at St Jane’s as one of our cantors and an active volunteer. She will be overseeing our Pre-K through 5th grade religious education classes as well as the First Reconciliation and First Communion sacramental prep programs and VBS. Her position at St. Jane’s overlaps with Michaela Stanton’s position at OLC—and thankfully Marie and Michaela know each other because their children attend Lake Shore Elementary, so it is my hope that they can be a support for each other during the year. I feel confident that our faith formation programs are moving in a positive direction and are being set up to flourish in the coming years!

Now is the time to sign your kids up for faith formation at both parishes. All of our youth are invited to participate in our programs, even if they attend Catholic Schools. We especially invite all high school kids who have been confirmed to join our programs as peer ministers. Also, anyone who is preparing for a sacrament (First Reconciliation, First Communion, or Confirmation) should be signed up at the parish, even if they attend a Catholic school. This year, our High School Youth Ministry and Confirmation preparation programs are being merged and sessions shared between St. Jane Frances and OLC, and will occur on Sunday evenings. There have been some changes for sure this summer, but I feel certain that the Lord is blessing our pastorate with opportunities for growth and renewal!

Thank you for keeping our Pastorate of the Visitation—St. Jane Frances and Our Lady of the Chesapeake—in your daily prayers!

God Bless,
Father Steve

Master, To Whom Shall We Go?

Peace in Christ!

This weekend, the universal Church concludes five Sundays of meditating on the Bread of Life Discourse from Chapter 6 of St. John’s Gospel. In the closing verses of this epic and eminent chapter, we hear, what I think, is one of the most inspiring professions of faith in all of Sacred Scripture. It comes from the heart of St. Peter.

After many of Jesus’ disciples leave him because of his teaching about eating His flesh and drinking His blood, Jesus turns to his friends, who have become like brothers at this point, and says, “Do you also want to leave?” (My heart sinks when I imagine Jesus asking me this.) And Peter responds, for himself and the others, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.”

Peter’s anointed words should be a memory-verse for us all. I have found these words consoling in times of uncertainty, sorrow, and confusion. When things don’t make sense, when the future seems unclear, when things aren’t going how you thought they should be: “Master, to whom shall we go? You are the Holy One of God.” I would encourage us to keep these words close. Jesus is with us.

I think these words are especially important as our relationship with our Eucharistic Lord deepens. Love always chooses to be present. The Eucharist is the Sacrament of Love. Jesus, our Eucharistic Love, promises to be with us always until the end of time, and He is. No amount of reading, writing, or preaching will ever fully reveal or explain this sacred mystery of the Lord’s Body and Blood to us. It brings us to our knees and leaves us speechless, full of awe, maybe confused sometimes, but also desiring more—all of this is appropriate. Jesus, we want more. You have the words of eternal life; You are eternal life. Thank You, Jesus, for always remaining with us and nourishing us.

Most are back to morning routines, morning traffic, and school starting this week. I am right there with you as I begin my part-time ministry at Mount St. Joe. Solidarity! Young people, please be assured of my prayers for you! The Lord has prepared the path before you this school year. Parents and loved ones of our young people, your generosity and sacrifices are known to the Lord. May His peace be yours. May we all begin this new school year with joyful hope and expectation of all we will learn, with gratitude for friends old and new, and all the many signs of God’s goodness to us along the way. God bless you!

In Christ,
Fr. John

Bread Of Life Discourse

Dear Friends of our Pastorate,

We are continuing our liturgical journey through the 6th Chapter of John’s Gospel – also know as the Bread of Life Discourse. Jesus tells us that He is the “living bread that came down from heaven and whoever eats this bread will live forever” and that “this bread is [His] flesh for the life of the world.” As Catholics, we believe that the Eucharist is the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ—His flesh that He gives us to eat. John’s Gospel tells us that there were quarrels about this, but Jesus continues to reinforce that His flesh is true food and His blood is true drink. From the early days of the Church, this has been the understanding of the Eucharist, and we continue to proclaim this truth to the world AND invite all to join us at this great feast by joining the Catholic Church. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord here at our Pastorate parishes.

Speaking of joining the Catholic Church, our Pastorate is preparing to launch our Order of Christian Initiation of Adults in September. This program has been known as R.C.I.A. (Rite vs. Order) but the terminology has been changed with the release of the new transition of the ritual. This program is open to anyone who wishes to become a member of the Catholic Church, either through being baptized or if already baptized, then being received and confirmed into the faith. If you or a loved one has never been baptized, or been baptized in a non-Catholic faith, or have been baptized Catholic but never received the Sacrament of Confirmation, this is the program for you! Fr. John Bilenki will be overseeing our RCIA program which will be held on Monday evenings at St. Jane Frances School. For more information, or to sign up for RCIA this year, please contact Fr. John at john.bilenki@archbalt.org or call either of the parish offices.

Next weekend we will be offering a blessing of book bags, as our youth prepare to return to school. All of our school aged youth are invited to bring their book bags to Mass next weekend for a special blessing. Please keep our youth, their families, and all teachers in your prayers as we begin another school year.

Our September marriage anniversary blessings will take place on Sunday, September 1st at the 8:30am Mass at OLC and the 10:00am Mass at St Jane Frances. All couples married in the month of September are invited to join us at either Mass and receive a special blessing upon their marriage.

Thanks to everyone who has donated to our roof replacement projects. As of 8/12/24, we have raised over $75,000 each at both OLC and at SJF. Tax-free donations (nothing will go to the Archdiocese) are still being accepted for both projects.

Thank you for keeping our Pastorate of the Visitation—St. Jane Frances and Our Lady of the Chesapeake—in your daily prayers!

God Bless,
Father Steve

Hunger

Brothers and Sisters,

How many of us are facing difficulties, and we feel like we just can’t go on anymore? When we face these feelings, we understand how Elijah felt. We can resonate with his words: “This is enough… take my life.” I’ve had it. I am literally at the end of my rope. I want to run away. Welcome to the world of the prophet Elijah. Better yet, welcome to our world. How many of us have experienced or are experiencing all the feelings that come with “I’ve had enough?”

We need to know that we are not alone in our suffering. We come together each Sunday, not because we have our act together, but just the opposite. We come together each week precisely because we are broken or suffering, anxious, oppressed, in need, or in pain. We come together, because we are human and because all of us carry within ourselves a little bit (or maybe a lot) of Elijah. We come together because life is fragile, and some days we just don’t know how we are going to go from one moment to the next.

The good news today is that Christ draws us to himself every day through the Eucharist to nourish and strengthen us for our journey. He is the Living Bread that satisfies our spiritual hunger. He equally fills us with His Spirit, who directs us on the right path on our journey. So today, God is saying to us as he spoke to Elijah in the desert, “arise, eat, drink,” and continue your journey with a new hope, a new passion, and a new strength. We can go on because our Lord sustains us and cares for us. Jesus offers us life giving food—His body and blood, soul and divinity—for the journey unto eternal life. What is your soul hungering for?

God Bless,
Deacon Howard

God Is A Friend

Christ’s peace be yours!

Just when I thought I was finished with school, the Lord said thus: Not so fast! Because within my first month in the Pastorate, we have finished not one, but two sessions of Vacation Bible School!

So many thanks and prayers of gratitude are due for Melissa Boyle, Michaela Stanton, their teams of so many volunteers, and our outstanding peer leaders for their faith, joyful leadership, and humbling generosity from setup to tear-down, for weeks on end! So many labors of love for Jesus and the Kingdom and the hearts of our children and their families! The faith and generosity on display in the spiritual family of our Pastorate has been the most humbling and inspiring thing for me being here so far, so thank you all for that witness. For those of you who weren’t able to “scuba” and dive deep in friendship with God during VBS, fear not! Here’s my own little synthesis and reflection on the highlights:

1. God is a friend who is real! We know in faith that God is at once the hidden, eternal, awesome God in whom we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28). But He has also revealed Himself in His Incarnate, Beloved Son Jesus. Jesus remains with us in so many ways in the Church, but especially hidden under the veils of the Blessed Sacrament – His Body and Blood given up for us and given to us to be received, to be adored, and to enliven us as true food and true drink.
   
   
2. God is a friend who loves! As we hear in the first reading this Sunday, to the grumbling and utterly spent Israelites in the desert, God is kind and merciful. God provides for and feeds his chosen ones again and again, even when they think that the slavery in Egypt from which God delivered them was better than their seemingly aimless wanderings. God loves us and meets us: in our doubts, in our grumbling, in our sin. Come to Him; let Him love you; let Him save you.
   
   
3. God is a friend we can trust! Just as the Israelites were instructed to collect enough manna to last them for one day, so too the Lord Jesus asks us to do: live in trust one day at a time. God wants you to flourish, to be fully alive in His love. He has come that we may have life and have it abundantly (Jn 10:10). Receiving and living abundant life takes trust as we are taught, fed, and led by Jesus.
   
   
4. God is a friend forever! Contemplating this point and looking to our Eucharistic Lord, our Eucharistic Friend, I’ll share a word from a speaker at the recent Eucharistic Congress that, I think, captures this theme: “No darkness is stronger than the light of the Eucharist… no sin is greater than the merciful love of the Eucharist… no hatred is greater than the charity that burns in the heart of the Eucharist… no violence is greater than the peace that springs from the heart of Our Lord… no deception is greater than the truth that springs from the Eucharist.” (Mother Adela Galindo, SCTJM).
   
   
5. God is a friend for everyone! History is “His story”, that is, God’s story. In His sheer, loving goodness, God created us to know Him, love Him, and serve Him and to reveal His glory. And even when the plan seems foiled, the “Light shines in the darkness and the darkness does not overcome it,” (Jn 1:5). “God is for us,” (Rom 8:31). This is really Good News that everyone must hear. May the Holy Spirit embolden us in this mission lovingly entrusted to us by Jesus to proclaim in word and deed. “Only love that is visible, is love that is credible.” (Mother Adela).

Thanks, God!

Let us pray for one another.
Fr. John

Our Lord’s Generosity

Brothers and Sisters,

In this Sunday’s Gospel from John, a large crowd follows Jesus to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus wonders to Philip about how to feed such a large amount of people. Philip is unsure, but Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, tells Jesus about a boy who is willing to share his five barley loaves and two fish. Jesus then multiplies the five loaves and two fish to feed 5,000 men plus women and children, with 12 wicker baskets left over. The people are amazed and proclaim Jesus to be “the Prophet” for whom they have been waiting. The multiplication of the loaves is the only miracle of Jesus that is recorded in all four gospels.

Our Lord wants us to play a part in His miracle. God has the power of creating something out of nothing, but He asks for human collaboration, even if it is minimal. Here it is no different. The Apostles are utterly poor as they can bring to Jesus only five loaves and two fish from a boy they find in the crowd. Jesus asks us to contribute, because He wants to teach us to be generous, even when we think we have nothing to give. It is when we give from our want that we most please Our Lord. Our insufficiency is never an excuse for lack of generosity in serving and working for Our Lord. This miracle proves to us that Our Lord can never be outdone in generosity. We only need to bring Our Lord whatever we have without reservation, no matter how small that may be and trust that He will use it and multiply it for His purpose.

God Bless,
Deacon Howard

Rest Awhile

Dear Friends of our Pastorate,

Our Gospel for this 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time begins with the apostles meeting up with Jesus after
completing the mission Jesus sent them on in last weekend’s Gospel. They report to him on “all they have done and taught,” and Jesus invites them to rest awhile. Yet the people who had encountered their good works continue to seek them out, so much so that it was difficult for them to take a break. As we know, getting away to be refreshed and renewed is so important, not only during the summer, but also each week. We all should spend one day a week in rest and relaxation, be it Sunday or another day if need be. Also make time to come to Mass each Sunday to receive strength and healing from the Body and Blood of Jesus in the Eucharist… the best medicine for a weary soul!

This weekend is the conclusion of the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis. Tens of thousands of Catholics from throughout the country are gathered there to celebrate the gift that the Eucharist is to us and to pray before the Blessed Sacrament for our Church, our country, and our world. After the attempted assassination of former Pres. Trump, we know how desperately our nation is in need of prayer: prayers for peace, prayers for civility, prayers for God to become a part of our daily lives once again. As the Letter to Ephesians reminds us this weekend, Christ is our peace.

Our Pastorate youth have been working at the Catholic Heart Work Camp in Wilmington, DE this past week. Although it has been a hot week, they have been working hard to serve those in need in the local community and have learned much about how we as Catholics put our faith into action. Please continue to pray for our youth as we grow and expand our pastorate’s youth ministry programs, and invite your kids to participate.

The next opportunity for our youth to serve is Summer Mission. The program is open to middle school youth as participants and high school youth as peers. There are two sets of dates for Summer Mission: Aug. 6–8 based at OLC and Aug 13–15 based at SJF. Sign up for either or both! Contact Diana Healy (dhealy@stjane.org) or Tim Janiszewski (timjolc@verizon.net) for more information.

Thanks to everyone who has donated to our roof replacement projects. We have raised over $50,000 so far at OLC and about $64,000 at SJF. Tax free donations (nothing will go to the Archdiocese) are still being accepted for both projects.

Thank you for keeping our Pastorate of the Visitation—St. Jane Frances and Our Lady of the Chesapeake—in your daily prayers!

God Bless,
Father Steve

Introducing Fr. John Belinki

Peace in Christ.

First, I wish to thank everyone for your very warm welcome thus far! I am moved by your encouragement and assurance of prayers. I look forward to continuing to meet you all, learning your names and stories, and sharing life together as we encounter the Lord Jesus: in His Word, His Body and Blood, and in our pastorate. I am excited to share with you in Christ’s commission to proclaim His Gospel and build up His Kingdom. Here in my first bulletin letter, I’ll offer a few words introducing myself and my journey thus far.

I was born and raised in Catonsville and Woodstock. I attended St. Agnes parish and school and then St. Alphonsus Rodriguez. I attended Mount Saint Joseph High School (2013). I am returning to MSJ as the chaplain in addition to my assignment at the Pastorate of the Visitation. I then attended Mount St. Mary’s University (2017) where I studied theology.

My parents Tony and Mary Ellen are for me the first image and teachers of the faithfulness, selfless love, and generosity at the heart of our Christian life. You will probably see them around from time to time! Just look for my dad; I look just like him. I am blessed with three older brothers—Matt, Brian, and Ben—whom I admire and look up to immensely. I love spending time with my family. We’re a musical bunch, so you may catch me occasionally at the piano or with a guitar. I love to sing as well.

In addition to my upbringing, a great conduit of God’s grace in my life has been Christian friendship and community. As a high school student, my desire to be holy and to take our Faith seriously was enkindled by the witness of friends. I saw that their love of Jesus and their practice of the faith made them happier, healthier, holier people. Thanks to their friendship and witness, Jesus and the Church became more and more the center of my life. As this happened, my heart opened up to the priesthood. As I continued growing in my faith in college, it was the prayerful and joyful exuberance of priests and seminarians I had come to know that resonated with me. I could see myself among them, doing what they did, loving God and the Church like them. And so, I followed the joy!

I entered priestly formation in 2017—one year at St. Mary’s in Baltimore; four years in Rome; one year nearby at St. John in Severna Park. Throughout my formation and various parish assignments and apostolates here in the Archdiocese and beyond, God has worked so generously through community in the Archdiocese and in parishes. So many times, through my ministry and service to others and through the faithful’s gifts and genius at work, the Lord has revealed, confirmed, and strengthened His calling of me to be His priest. I thank you in advance for your patience and prayers during my transition to this role! God reward you.

This Sunday, we get a beautiful passage from Ephesians—a hymn to be more precise. It gladly sings of our purpose: to live for the praise of God’s glory. What a purpose; what a life! Through our life of prayer, our family life, our ministry, our work, our leisure – all of this, with the promised crosses and glories along the way, can be directed to the praise of God. Growing in this spirit of praise is ultimately readying us for our desired eternal life in Heaven where our praise will be unending. So, how is your preparation going? What material things, weaknesses, or attitudes keep you from growing in a spirit of praise?

The Ephesians hymn also sings of the inestimable Gift that God has given us to live out and accomplish so awesome a purpose: God the Holy Spirit himself, the “first installment of our heavenly inheritance.” Jesus says in John 14 that the Holy Spirit will be with you and in you: in our hearts and minds, the deepest center of our souls. The Holy Spirit is in us, loving us and inspiring us so as to show us how to live for God’s glory. What a Gift! And just as any gift is intended to be opened and enjoyed, so too with the Holy Spirit, our Consoler and Sanctifier. There is no better Gift. Have you opened the Gift?

In Christ,
Fr. John

Summer Transitions

Dear Friends of our Pastorate,

This weekend, we celebrate the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Our readings speak to us of the prophetic voices that the Lord has sent among us to encourage us, to challenge us, and to awaken us to the living God in our midst. How often it happens that someone speaks to us words that we do not really want to hear, yet ultimately turn out to be true. Jesus’ words can be challenging at times as well, and sometimes they make us uncomfortable, but we know his are truth. May he also supply us with his sufficient grace to realize this and act upon in words in faith.

I would like to thank everyone for the wonderful turnout for Fr. Jim’s farewell receptions at both parishes. It was a great show of support and love for him and for all he accomplished in his two, short years with us. Please continue to keep him in your thoughts and prayers as he begins his new assignment working for Archbishop Lori as his priest secretary.

On Monday, July 8th, Fr. John will officially begin his ministry with us as our associate pastor. He will be celebrating the 8:30am Mass at St. Jane Frances on the 8th and the 8:30am Mass at OLC on the 9th. His first weekend at OLC will be July 13–14 and at St. Jane the weekend of July 20–21. Please join me in welcoming Fr. John to our pastorate.

Our capital projects are continuing at both parishes. The windows are being replaced at OLC followed by the new siding and shingles being installed on the church. We anticipate beginning the 2nd phase of the roof replacement project at St. Jane School in the coming weeks. Thank you for your financial support for both projects. Donations to both projects are exempt from Archdiocesan taxes so 100% of your monetary gifts will remain at the parishes.

Thank you for keeping our Pastorate of the Visitation in your thoughts and prayers. As we go through some transitions this summer, your prayers are felt and appreciated.

God Bless,
Fr. Steve

You Remain In My Prayers

Dear Friends of our Pastorate,

In my last bulletin letter two weeks ago, I fondly reflected on and gave thanks to God for my priestly assignment here in the Pastorate of the Visitation. I am not really saying “good-bye” because I will continue being a priest in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, and I anticipate seeing you again, most especially if and when Archbishop Lori may visit the pastorate.

For this—my last bulletin letter—I can think of nothing more fitting to say from my heart than what St. Paul wrote to the Ephesians:

“For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power in us who believe.” (Ephesians 1:15-19) 

You remain in my prayers; please keep me in yours.

Gratefully yours in Christ,
Father Jim

Trust In God

Dear Friends of our Pastorate,

Our readings for this 12th Week in Ordinary Time remind us to trust in the Lord to bring calm to the storms of our lives. Although to us, it may seem at times that God is “asleep” or that God is disinterested in our problems or struggles, that is far from the truth. The Lord is present to us when we turn to him in faith and trust, not telling him our plans for how to resolve our problems, but instead asking God for his plans to unfold for us – that his will be done. That’s a lot of Trust! But God’s ways are always going to be better than our ways, so I believe it is worth the risk.

This weekend, our Archdiocese welcomes 6 new priests are to be ordained on Saturday, June 22nd, at 10:00AM at the Cathedral. All are invited to attend. Please join me in welcoming the soon to be Frs. Angel Acuna, Daniel Andrades, Franz Belleza, Mike Misulia, Lenin Suarez, and Zach Watson to the Priesthood of the Archdiocese of Baltimore! Please continue to pray for vocations to the Priesthood and Consecrated Religious Life so that more men and women will respond generously to God’s call to serve the people of God in the Church.

This weekend is Fr. Jim’s final weekend for Masses at St. Jane Frances. He will be celebrating all of the Sunday Masses, and there will be farewell reception for him following the 11:30am Mass in the Parish Hall. His last weekend at OLC will be June 29-30. We wish Fr. Jim well at his new assignment, and we especially thank him for his two years of dedicated service to our Pastorate.

Our Pastorate has a group of teens and adults leaving this Sunday for Appalachia Work Camp. This program has been ongoing for many years. The volunteers will be working on repairing homes in Terra Alta, West Virginia. In the evenings, they will gather for prayer and fellowship—to share their experiences and see how God is working in and through them as they serve others. Fr. Jim and I will also be away this week at the annual Archdiocesan Priests Retreat being held at St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore. Please keep the Appalachia Work Camp participants, as well as Fr. Jim and me, in your prayers this week.

Tax free donations (nothing will go to the Archdiocese) are being accepted for the St. Jane School Roof Replacement project and the OLC Clerestory and Roof project on our online giving platforms. Links to online giving can be found on our websites. This is also a great way to maintain consistent giving to your parish when you traveling this summer, so please consider signing up for online giving at GiveCentral (OLC) or ParishSoft (SJF). Thanks Thank you for keeping our Pastorate of the Visitation—St. Jane Frances and Our Lady of the Chesapeake—in your daily prayers!

God Bless,
Father Steve

Fond Farewell

Dear Friends of Pastorate of the Visitation,

It’s hard to believe that the first two years of my priesthood are coming to a close at my beloved first priestly assignment here at St. Jane Frances and Our Lady of the Chesapeake. Thank you for welcoming me, inviting me into your homes, developing friendships, and just wanting to talk. You have greatly blessed me. I am thankful to God for you, and I will miss you. 

Some of the treasured memories that I will keep in my heart include: first and foremost, the time we have spent together as the Body of Christ listening to His Word, receiving our Lord in Holy Communion, worshipping our mighty and loving God at Mass. Bringing about new life in Baptism. Joining a man and woman as one in Holy Matrimony. Strengthening the sick and those close to death through the Holy Anointing. Celebrating the reception of First Holy Communion, and Confirmation. Celebrating Holy Week, Triduum, Easter and Christmas Masses, and other Solemnities. Visiting the elderly homebound each month and bringing Jesus in the Eucharist to them. Offering funeral Masses for our loved ones who have passed on. Time in the Confessional being forgiven. In Eucharistic Adoration. These are the supernatural joys of being a priest—being a “father” during the most sacred moments in life—a privilege beyond all telling, gifts freely given to us by our loving God.

I am thankful to God that the Body of Christ is alive and well in our pastorate, that the Lord calls so many here to serve Him and each other. I’ve loved spending time with you in our pastorate ministries and events, including men in the Knights of Columbus, women in Walking with Purpose, children in our Religious Education classes, youth in our vibrant middle school and high school ministries, our young adult group, RCIA, liturgical ministers and altar servers, our music ministers, the 7 Sisters, the Scouts, and VBS, to mention just a few. I’ll miss our Lenten Fish Frys and other parish meals and gatherings, Stations of the Cross, St. Patrick’s Day bazaar, Trunk or Treat and Easter egg hunts, Staff lunches, and the many other good ministries and events I did not list, as well as the countless celebrations and other good reasons for gathering together.

I’m also thankful to all who have helped lead, volunteer, or participate in some of our more recent pastorate ministries and events I’ve been honored to be a part of, including the annual Family Axe-Throwing Challenge & Pig Roast, men’s groups, Blessing of the Trucks, 3-in-1 Evangelization initiative, 3-in-1 Apologetics talks, Going Deeper, Seekers, the Lenten Mission on prayer, the St. Dymphna ministry for mental health, the Liturgy Committees, the Garden and Flower Committees, and other ministries that extend the Kingdom of God on the Pasadena Peninsula beyond our familiar boundaries.

You’ve shown me what it means to be a priest of Jesus Christ. You’ve helped form me to be a better priest, and for this I am eternally grateful. Please continue to keep me in your prayers as I move on to my next assignment on July 1, as you remain in mine. I look forward to seeing you at my Farewells.

Gratefully yours in Christ,
Father Jim (Bors)

Transitions

Dear Friends of our Pastorate,

This weekend, we will be celebrating the 10th Sunday in Ordinary Time. This is the first time we will be wearing green on Sunday since early February. But as we know, there is nothing “ordinary” about Ordinary Time. We as a church continue to worship and celebrate our faith in Jesus Christ at our two beautiful parishes.

As we know, there are some transitions occurring at our Pastorate. Fr. Jim will be completing his time with us at the end of this month to begin his new ministry as the Archbishop’s Priest-Secretary. His farewell Masses at St Jane Frances will be June 23rd with a reception following the 11:30am Mass in the Parish Hall. His last weekend at OLC will be June 29-30. We are sad to see him move on, but look forward to welcoming Fr. John Bilenki with us in early July.

We are also seeing some transitions in our Religious Education and Youth Ministry programs with Melissa Boyle leaving at the end of July and Diana Healy transiting into a better work-family balance. Our open positions are posted on the Archdiocese website. We have received several applications for the Youth Ministry position and will begin conducting interviews very soon (if not already). We are still anticipating additional applicants for the part time Religious Education position. This is a great position for someone who wishes to serve the parish but is limited in time. If you are interested in applying or wish to hear more about it, please reach out to me.

We also are planning to complete two major capital projects at both parishes. The remainder of the St. Jane Frances School roof will be replaced over the summer, and the Church Roof and Clerestory project at OLC will begin later this month. The OLC project will require us to vacate the Church for a couple of weekends (I am hoping we will be able to limit it to one weekend), so we will be celebrating Masses in the Gathering Place. We will be sure to let you know when that will take place, but it is looking like it will be at the end of June or early July.

Tax free donations (nothing will go to the Archdiocese) are being accepted for both projects on our online giving platforms. Links to online giving can be found on our websites. This is also a great way to maintain consistent giving to your parish when you are traveling this summer, so please consider signing up for online giving at GiveCentral (OLC) or ParishSoft (SJF). Thanks

Thank you for keeping our Pastorate of the Visitation - St. Jane Frances and Our Lady of the Chesapeake - in your daily prayers!

God Bless,
Father Steve

Corpus Christi: Solemnity Of The Most Holy Body And Blood Of Christ

Dear Friends in Christ,

The Blood of the Covenant and why Jesus “had to” die. On today’s Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi), in order to appreciate the depth of God’s great love for us is in our readings on the “blood of the covenant,” it would be helpful to review the meaning of the ancient covenant.

More than a law, a covenant is a legal means to establish kinship between two previously unrelated parties. The establishment of a covenant in the ancient world was the most significant and sacred agreement that any two parties could make. It was sometimes made between nations or kingdoms, as was the case between Isaac and the pagan king Abimelech (Genesis 26:26-31). It involved each party making an oath to the other under God, the shedding of the blood of an animal, and a meal, often liturgical in nature. An animal’s blood was shed to clearly illustrate to each party that “If I don’t fulfill the oath I’m committing to today, may God slit my throat just as we’re slitting the throat of this animal.” Covenants were not made lightly.

With this background, we see in Exodus 24 (today’s first reading) that the people of Israel under Moses knew exactly what they were committing to in their covenant with Yahweh. In response to Moses receiving the 10 Commandments and the Law on Mount Sinai, they said, “All that the Lord has said, we will heed and do.” Moses ratified the covenant by slaughtering oxen upon an altar and sprinkling their blood on the people, saying, “This is the blood of the covenant.” At this point, the people were committed; if they broke the covenant, they knew they deserved to die. Then, soon after, Israel broke the covenant by worshipping the molten calf, and other occurrences.

But God in his compassion and love for them (and us) decided, “I’m going to be the one to die for them”: he become one of us in the Incarnation and sacrificed his lifeblood on the cross. This is mind-blowing! God fulfilled BOTH ends of the Covenant: He continually poured out his covenantal love for the Israelites for centuries, and when they did not love in return, breaking their covenantal oath, God also paid the price of their death. This is the full import of the Incarnation of God and the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross and the offering of His Body and Blood of the Eucharist (Corpus Christi) at the Last Supper. Recalling Moses’ words from the old covenant at Mount Sinai, Jesus ratifies God’s “new and eternal covenant” at the Last Supper in today’s gospel: "This is my blood of the covenant.” We participate in Jesus’ renewal of the New Covenant in the liturgy of the Mass—a solemn sacrifice, an offering of thanksgiving (literally: “Eucharist”), and a family communal meal. God gives us Himself, even his very Body and Blood, for our salvation in heaven and so that through the grace of the sacraments we may be conformed to His image and transformed by the renewal of our minds on earth (Romans 12:1-2). Thank you, God, for your covenantal love!

Peace in Christ,
Father Jim

Praise The Holy Trinity!

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. In his three years of public ministry, Jesus had made many personal references to his Father, and to the future coming of the Holy Spirit. However, in today’s gospel—the last verses of the gospel of Matthew—Jesus explicitly presents the Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (a plural list of three), as one in name (not names): “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” Why does Jesus make such a strong connection between our salvation, via Baptism, and the Trinity, and why is this so important to us as Christians? 

The power of the Holy Trinity in Baptism. Baptism unleashes a virtually limitless outpouring of the power of the Holy Spirit in the soul (indeed, the entire Trinity dwells in our soul at Baptism) including: 

1. a change to the soul itself—an indelible spiritual mark that no sin can erase, 2) 
2. the forgiveness of Original and personal sin, 
3. the infusion of the theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity into our souls, which become the working material for our spiritual growth, and 
4. a new birth of water and the Spirit—without which no one “can enter the kingdom of God.”

Being “born anew” (or born from above, or born again) in Baptism makes one:

1. “a new creature,” 
2. an adopted son/ daughter of God,
3. a “partaker of the divine nature” (2 Cor 5:17, 2 Pet 2:4, Gal 4:5-7), 
4. a member of Christ and co-heir with him (1 Cor 6:15, 12:27; Rom 8:17), and 
5. a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 12:13).

In Baptism, the Most Holy Trinity gives the baptized person sanctifying grace—the grace of justification—which does 3 things for us: 1) 

1. enables us to believe in God, hope in him, and love him (through the theological virtues of faith, hope and charity), 
2. gives us the power to live and act under the prompting of the Holy Spirit through the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and 
3. allows us to grow in goodness through the moral virtues.

Baptism also:

1. incorporates us into the Church, the body of Christ (1 Cor 12:13), 
2. gives us a share in the common priesthood of all believers (1 Pet 2:9), and 
3. is the bond of unity among Christians.

Thus, a Christian’s entire supernatural life has its roots in Baptism, the sacrament that weds the Holy Trinity to our soul… THIS is why Jesus makes such a strong connection between our salvation, via Baptism, and the Holy Trinity. Praise the Holy Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit!

Peace in Christ,
Father Jim (Bors)

Happy Pentecost!

Dear Friends of our Pastorate of the Visitation,

Today the Church celebrates the Solemnity of Pentecost. This feast day commemorates the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the nascent Church (Acts 2:1-11). That is why it is also sometimes called the “birthday” of the Church. Just as Jesus promised, the Holy Spirit is sent to continue the mission inaugurated by Jesus passion, death, and resurrection. The Holy Spirit continues to be poured into us at every moment of the day, for God’s Spirit is active always and everywhere and is here to assist us with our discipleship, as long as we are receptive. Come Holy Spirit! Fill the hearts of your faithful, and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth Your Spirit and they shall be created, and You shall renew the face of the earth!

What do we know about the Holy Spirit? According to the Glossary in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the Holy Spirit is “the third divine person of the Blessed Trinity, the personal love of Father and Son for each other. Also called the Paraclete (Advocate) and Spirit of Truth, the Holy Spirit is at work with the Father and the Son from the beginning to the completion of the divine plan for our salvation.”

The Church also teaches that there are (1) seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety, and Fear of the Lord; and (2) twelve fruits of the Holy Spirit: charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, and chastity. The gifts of the Spirit help us sustain ourselves in the moral life (CCC 1830). “The fruits of the Spirit are perfections that the Holy Spirit forms in us as the first fruits of eternal glory” (CCC 1832). The Holy Spirit has much to offer us, as long as we are receptive to the Spirit’s actions in our lives.

Please plan to join us for our first Pastorate of the Visitation celebration of the Feast of the Visitation on Friday, May 31st at 8:30am at Our Lady of the Chesapeake. There will be a potluck breakfast to follow the 8:30am Mass in the Gathering Place. Everyone from both parishes is encouraged to attend as we celebrate our pastorate. Also on May 31st is our Pastorate’s Volunteer Appreciation Dinner at St. Jane Frances Hall. Please call the St. Jane Parish Office to RSVP 410-255-4646. Thank you to all of our pastorate volunteers!

Thank you for keeping our Pastorate of the Visitation—St. Jane Frances and Our Lady of the Chesapeake—in your daily prayers!

God Bless,
Father Steve

Feast Of The Ascension

Brothers and Sisters,

We celebrate this Sunday the feast of the Ascension, when we recall how after Our Lord had appeared to His disciples for 40 days after His Resurrection, He ascended into heaven. The reason today’s feast is so important is that we are recalling that all of the recent events in Jesus’ life have not only happened but that they were shown to us, shown to us that we might know about it, believe it, and place our hope in it. Jesus endured these events so that we would walk in His footsteps. By walking in His footsteps, we take up and continue His mission in the world. And Jesus is indeed with us.

In this Sunday’s Gospel reading from Mark (Mk 16:15-20), we learn that our union with Jesus is expressed in practical ways: driving out demons, communicating in new languages, protection from harm (both external and internal), and healing of the sick, by laying on of hands. These things will happen not because of our ingenuity or strength, but because of Jesus’ presence and power. The real point of listing out these practical ways or signs is to communicate to us that with faith in Christ, we can do what is impossible for a person without faith. We who believe deeply now become Jesus’ mouth for preaching, His hands for healing, His eyes for seeing, and His feet for walking. We have been given a mission. We must evangelize with our words and with our deeds, through our sufferings and our complete offering of service to others just as Jesus did. May we always be open to the Lord working in our life and live as though we are on a mission.

God Bless,
Deacon Howard

Happy Mother’s Day!

Dear Friends of our Pastorate of the Visitation,

Happy Mother’s Day to all of our mothers, grandmothers, godmothers, and maternal figures in our lives. You are a blessing to all of us!

I wanted to let everyone know that Melissa Boyle has accepted a new position as a Theology teacher at Archbishop Spalding High School for this upcoming academic year. Melissa’s last day with us at St Jane Frances will be July 31st. I am very grateful for Melissa’s dedication and service to our parish and pastorate over the past five years. She will be missed.

Our pastorate is planning to fill Melissa’s position with a part-time Coordinator of Children’s Faith Formation to oversee our programs for children ages Pre K–5th Grade and a full time Youth Minister to work with our Pastorate’s Middle School, High School, and Young Adults faith formation programs in close collaboration with Tim Janiszewski from OLC. Diana Healy will be making some adjustments to her time commitments due to more constraints with family circumstances, and plans to continue offering her support to our middle school activities as her time allows.

These positions have been posted on the Archdiocesan website. We are hoping to complete the hiring process by the end of June. In the meantime, please keep our parishes and pastorate in your prayers—that the Lord will bless us with lay ministers who can continue to help us serve and evangelize our pastorate community.

God Bless,
Father Steve

Did Jesus Ordain The Apostles As Priests?

“Where in the Bible does Jesus ordain the Apostles as priests?” our non-Catholic Christian friends may ask. In addition to Jesus’ command to the apostles at the Last Supper in Matthew, Mark, and Luke to “Do this in remembrance of me,” John records Jesus ordaining the apostles for priestly service in today’s gospel (Jn 17:11b-19… the gospel optionally transferred from the 7th Sunday of Easter—Ascension). Many biblical scholars submit that, consistent with John’s deep theological insight, John’s recording of Jesus at the Last Supper in the 17th chapter of his gospel mirrors the three-part structure of the institution of the Day of Atonement ritual in Leviticus chapter 16:

1. the glorification of God in John 17:1-5, which corresponds to Yahweh’s glorification on the mercy seat in Lev 16:2;
2. the consecration of the apostles in 17:11-19 (today’s gospel), which corresponds to the whole burnt offering for Aaron the high priest and his priest-sons in Lev 16:3-14; and
3. Jesus’ prayer for all who believe in him 17:20-26, which corresponds to the sin offering for all the people in Lev 16:15-16.

The flow and structure of John 17:11–19 culminates in Jesus imploring the Father to sanctify (v.17) and consecrate (v.19) the apostles in truth so as to share in the priesthood of Jesus Christ (see Hebrews chapters 4–9)—both words coming from the Greek hagiazo (holy: divine setting apart by God for sacred use) where (in the Septuagint Greek Old Testament) Yahweh instructs Moses to consecrate (ordain) Aaron as a priest for sacrifice and worship, and to wear a gold signet inscribed with “Holy to the Lord” (Exodus 28:36; see also 28:41).

John places the priestly ordination of the apostles as the climax of the Last Supper, the Farewell Discourse, and the High Priestly Prayer (John chapters 14–17), simultaneously fulfilling three high Jewish liturgies: Passover, the Day of Atonement, and the priestly ordination of Aaron and his sons.

My July 1 transfer. For my last Associate Pastor bulletin letter that will appear in June, I will reflect with fond thanksgiving on the two years I’ve served as your associate pastor. For now, let me just say that I have been greatly blessed and honored to be with the many wonderful people and staff of St. Jane’s and Our Lady of the Chesapeake. You welcomed me with open arms and have been patient and loving and supportive toward me. They say that a priest’s heart stays with the people of his first priestly assignment, and that will certainly be true for me. For those who have asked or are wondering: No, I did not request to be transferred—I would have been happy serving here until I retire, as I’ve told Fr. Steve and other priests! It’s common in our archdiocese for associate pastors to be transferred after 2 or 3 years. I said yes when Archbishop Lori called me and asked me to serve the archdiocese and assist him in a unique way, and I am honored and greatly humbled to be given this opportunity. But I will miss you greatly! Please pray for me as I will continue keeping you in my prayers.

Peace in Christ,
Father Jim (Bors)

May: The Month Of Mary

Dear Friends of Pastorate of the Visitation,

If you were not here last weekend, then you may have missed the BIG news. Fr. Jim has been asked by Archbishop Lori to become the Archbishop’s Priest-Secretary. This position is like the personal assistant to the Archbishop and is quite an honor. Fr. Jim has already begun his transition by meeting with the Archbishop’s current Priest-Secretary: Fr. Tyler Kline. His new position takes effect on July 1, 2024. I am very grateful for Fr. Jim’s dedication and service to our Pastorate over the past two years and wish him well at his new assignment. Please keep him in your prayers… he will certainly appreciate them. 

Fr. John Bilenki

Archbishop Lori also announced that Fr. John Bilenki will be coming to our Pastorate as our new Associate Pastor. Fr. John was ordained to the priesthood in 2023 and has been in Rome completing his theological studies. According to an article published in the Catholic Review last year, he is the youngest of four sons of Anthony and Mary Ellen Bilenki. He attended Mount St. Joseph High School and Mount St. Mary’s University. He will be returning to the Archdiocese in late June, so he will be starting with us sometime in early July, after he has time to get settled. Please keep him in your prayers as well, as he completes his studies and begins his priestly ministry with us.

This weekend, we are kicking off our Pastorate’s First Communion celebrations. This Sunday, April 28th, we will be celebrating 12 First Communions at St. Jane Frances at the 11:30am Mass. Next weekend, May 4–5, we will be celebrating 25 First Communions at OLC during the 4:00pm Mass on Saturday, and at the 10:45am (and a special 1:00pm) Masses on Sunday. Please keep our First Communicants in your prayers.

As we all know, May is the month of Mary. Both of our parishes celebrate and honor our Blessed Mother with May Crowning ceremonies. The crowning of the Mary statue in the grotto at St. Jane Frances will take place on Sunday, May 5th, immediately following the 10:00am Mass. The crowning of the Mary statue that will be set up in the vestibule of OLC will take place on Sunday, Mary 12th (Mother’s Day) immediately following the 10:45am Mass. Please plan to join us as we honor our Blessed Mother.

Thank you for keeping our Pastorate of the Visitation—St. Jane Frances and Our Lady of the Chesapeake—in your daily prayers!

God Bless,
Father Steve

The Voice of Jesus the Good Shepherd

Dear Parishioners,

Many of the 187 Scripture verses on shepherds or shepherding refer to God as the shepherd of His people, but He also called shepherds and shepherdesses to lead and influence His people, including Abraham, Isaac, Rachel, Jacob, Jacob’s sons, Zipporah, Moses, and David.

Guarding the Sheep. At the end of the day, shepherds lead their flocks from pastures through a gate into a stone-fenced area (sheepfold) for protection from wolves. In the morning, the shepherds lead their respective flocks out by calling them through the gate to go back out into the pastures. The sheep of a flock follow the voice of their shepherd they know, but do not follow the voice of strangers.

Voices of Strangers. Many Catholics—and much of society—have left the sheepfold and gone astray by listening to the empty modern voices of relativism, scientism, rationalism, consumerism, individualism, skepticism, narcissism, genderideologyism, etc. I’m astounded at how rapidly our culture is deteriorating and fractioning, because so many people are following these voices which are alien to true human goodness and dignity, to their (and our) ruin.

The Voice of Jesus the Good Shepherd. In today’s gospel (John 10:11-18), Jesus uses the image of the “Good Shepherd” to make an important point to us today. Since there are strange and even dangerous voices in the air, we need to recognize His voice (John 10:16). Fortunately, the voice of the Good Shepherd continues to speak to His sheep through the magisterium of the Church He founded.

“The Church is, accordingly, a sheepfold, the sole and necessary gateway to which is Christ [John 10:9]. It is also the flock of which God himself foretold that he would be the shepherd, and whose sheep, even though governed by human shepherds, are unfailingly nourished and led by Christ himself, the Good Shepherd and Prince of Shepherds, who gave his life for his sheep.” – Catechism of the Catholic Church, #754

Lost and Found. It’s sad that so many have left the sheepfold of the Catholic Church (some due to no deliberate effort on their part) guarded by Jesus the Good Shepherd. Fortunately, our Pastorate has an Easter Season forum that makes it easy to invite people back (remember “3-in-1”): SEEKERS is for people who feel spiritually disconnected with the Catholic Church who have questions and seek answers in the hope of becoming reconnected with His flock. It’s also for people who are just inquiring about God and/or the Church. At our first of three SEEKERS sessions on April 8, seekers who had been invited by parishioners asked good questions and were given answers that settled their misconceptions about certain Church teachings. I invite you to come and bring other seekers with you to our next two sessions: 

1. April 22 at OLC in the Maryland Suite, and 
2. May 13 at St. Jane’s in the school, Room 111. 

I hope to see many there!

Peace in Christ,
Father Jim