Dear Parishioners,
In case you haven’t noticed (and there is no reason you should), the gutters around the church have been repaired, relined, and repainted. So we shouldn’t have the leaks into the church we have had in the past. That’s because the $20,000 rebate we received from the Embracing Our Mission capital campaign enabled us to pay for the work. Thank you for your generosity. Our next phase is retiling of the parish hall floor next year.
We also did some landscaping in front of the school to enhance the entrance around the flagpole and flower beds. Since we did some work in front of the church several years ago, it was only fair that we do the same for our school.
Two weeks ago, I talked about the virtue of humility as per the scripture readings. This week, the readings talk about two more difficult virtues: patience and mercy (Exodus 32:7-11, 13-14; 1 Timothy 1:12-17; Luke 15:1-32). We all appreciate God’s mercy and look forward to receiving it. Yet, when we are asked to show mercy after we have been wronged, it’s not so easy for us to dispense it. However, it would help if we never forget our great debt to Jesus and our hope for God’s mercy. As for patience, it only comes from prayer and the remembrance of God’s patience with Israel on Mount Sinai and in the desert, and Jesus’ example in the gospel, as well as regular reflection on the many stupid mistakes we have made in the past. Above all, be more patient with yourself; God hasn’t finished working on you.
- Fr. Carl
Rev. Stephen Hook is Pastor of the Pastorate of the Visitation which includes the Catholic Churches of Pasadena, Maryland: St. Jane Frances de Chantal (Riviera Beach) and Our Lady of the Chesapeake (Lakeshore). He is assisted by Associate Pastor Rev. John Belinki, Deacon Howard Klohr, and Deacon Rick Clemens. To learn more about our pastorate, please visit www.catholicpasadena.org.
Friday, September 13, 2013
Friday, September 6, 2013
Lord, Take Over
Dear Parishioners,
I read this in one of my inspirational booklets and want to share it with you because like the author, one of my favorite prayers is only three words long, and I say it often: “Lord, take over.” In my sometimes longer form I find myself saying, “My plan is not working to well, and I’ve been told you have a better plan for me. Let’s see what you have for me.”
We need God’s guidance in inspiration to help us make good decisions. We need God to take over so we can give to others what they need from us. My experience has taught me that I cannot do this by myself. The insights must come from God.
The good news is that God’s guiding wisdom is within all of us. The bad news is that we’re often unaware of its presence in our minds and hearts. It seems that we can only discover this if we’re willing to spend time silently with God. In silent attentive prayer, we learn how to recognize and accept the guidance that God wants to give.
Lord, may I take the time to know your presence and to pay attention to the wisdom you want to share with me.
- Deacon Robert
I read this in one of my inspirational booklets and want to share it with you because like the author, one of my favorite prayers is only three words long, and I say it often: “Lord, take over.” In my sometimes longer form I find myself saying, “My plan is not working to well, and I’ve been told you have a better plan for me. Let’s see what you have for me.”
We need God’s guidance in inspiration to help us make good decisions. We need God to take over so we can give to others what they need from us. My experience has taught me that I cannot do this by myself. The insights must come from God.
The good news is that God’s guiding wisdom is within all of us. The bad news is that we’re often unaware of its presence in our minds and hearts. It seems that we can only discover this if we’re willing to spend time silently with God. In silent attentive prayer, we learn how to recognize and accept the guidance that God wants to give.
Lord, may I take the time to know your presence and to pay attention to the wisdom you want to share with me.
- Deacon Robert
Friday, August 30, 2013
Who Knows What Is Good Or Evil?
Dear Parishioners,
The great Anglican writer C.S. Lewis once wrote, “There are two kinds of people in the world – the proud who think they are humble and the humble who know they are proud. In other words, we all suffer from the sin of pride. After all, wasn’t that the problem of Satan who said “non servan” – I will not serve. And while Adam and Eve were not so bold as to refuse to serve, they wanted to be like God and so know what was good and bad so as to be like gods. Only God knows what is good or evil, and only by entering into a relationship with Him, can we know what is good or evil. Our modern culture wants to decide for itself what is good or evil without reference to the guidance of God. As a result, the world seems to be spinning more and more out of control. So, too, do our lives when we try to make decisions and act without God’s guidance and wisdom. It is good to be proactive in life, but it is wise to humble ourselves before Christ and the Church for guidance in our plan of life.
- Fr. Carl
The great Anglican writer C.S. Lewis once wrote, “There are two kinds of people in the world – the proud who think they are humble and the humble who know they are proud. In other words, we all suffer from the sin of pride. After all, wasn’t that the problem of Satan who said “non servan” – I will not serve. And while Adam and Eve were not so bold as to refuse to serve, they wanted to be like God and so know what was good and bad so as to be like gods. Only God knows what is good or evil, and only by entering into a relationship with Him, can we know what is good or evil. Our modern culture wants to decide for itself what is good or evil without reference to the guidance of God. As a result, the world seems to be spinning more and more out of control. So, too, do our lives when we try to make decisions and act without God’s guidance and wisdom. It is good to be proactive in life, but it is wise to humble ourselves before Christ and the Church for guidance in our plan of life.
- Fr. Carl
“With Christ, the heart never grows old!”
- Pope Francis
Friday, August 23, 2013
Who Will Be Saved?
Dear Parishioners,
When we ask that question, we face the stark but amazing answer that all of us have an invitation (Lk 13:22-30). Engraved with our name on it, addressed to our heart of hearts, delivered by nail-scarred hands. God says the likes of you and me can be saved if we will simply stop trying to be saved. So stop trying to be saved, walk through the narrow door of simple faith and say “Yes” to God’s invitation to the Kingdom.
- Deacon Robert
When we ask that question, we face the stark but amazing answer that all of us have an invitation (Lk 13:22-30). Engraved with our name on it, addressed to our heart of hearts, delivered by nail-scarred hands. God says the likes of you and me can be saved if we will simply stop trying to be saved. So stop trying to be saved, walk through the narrow door of simple faith and say “Yes” to God’s invitation to the Kingdom.
- Deacon Robert
“Wisdom is like a good wine that improves with age.”
- Pope Francis
Friday, August 16, 2013
The Communion of Saints
Dear Parishioners,
Sometimes people ask about the communion of saints and where the Catholic Church got this notion. This week’s second reading from the letter to the Hebrews gives us a clue—“Since we are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses…” This surrounding cloud of witnesses refers to the heroes of the Old Testament and those of the New Testament, and those holy ones living afterward, i.e. the saints. It’s so fitting that this reading from Hebrews always takes place in August. Of all the months, August celebrates the feasts of more saints than any other.
We have an apostle (Bartholomew), 3 popes (Sixtus II, Pius X, Pontian), 3 doctors of the Church (Alponsus Liguori, Bernard of Clairvaux, and Augustine), 1 king (Stephen of Hungary), 3 martyrs (Lawrence, Teresa Benedicta, and Maxmillian Kolbe), a mystic (Rose of Lima), 2 founders of religious communities (Dominic and our own Jane Frances), a long suffering mother and wife (Monica), and one parish priest (John Vianney). As if that were not enough, we celebrate the Feast of the Transfiguration, the Assumption, the Queenship of Mary, and the Passion of John the Baptist. None of these people had an easy time of it, but they all followed the advice of St. Paul as he likened the road to holiness to a race where perseverance is the key to victory. As St. Paul reminds us at the end of today’s reading, “do not grow despondent or abandon the struggle.”
- Fr. Carl
Sometimes people ask about the communion of saints and where the Catholic Church got this notion. This week’s second reading from the letter to the Hebrews gives us a clue—“Since we are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses…” This surrounding cloud of witnesses refers to the heroes of the Old Testament and those of the New Testament, and those holy ones living afterward, i.e. the saints. It’s so fitting that this reading from Hebrews always takes place in August. Of all the months, August celebrates the feasts of more saints than any other.
We have an apostle (Bartholomew), 3 popes (Sixtus II, Pius X, Pontian), 3 doctors of the Church (Alponsus Liguori, Bernard of Clairvaux, and Augustine), 1 king (Stephen of Hungary), 3 martyrs (Lawrence, Teresa Benedicta, and Maxmillian Kolbe), a mystic (Rose of Lima), 2 founders of religious communities (Dominic and our own Jane Frances), a long suffering mother and wife (Monica), and one parish priest (John Vianney). As if that were not enough, we celebrate the Feast of the Transfiguration, the Assumption, the Queenship of Mary, and the Passion of John the Baptist. None of these people had an easy time of it, but they all followed the advice of St. Paul as he likened the road to holiness to a race where perseverance is the key to victory. As St. Paul reminds us at the end of today’s reading, “do not grow despondent or abandon the struggle.”
- Fr. Carl
Friday, August 9, 2013
Looking Ahead
Dear Parishioners,
The letter to the Hebrews described faith as the willingness to keep looking forward (Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19). That is, Abraham and Sarah did not get bogged down looking around at their circumstances or comparing their lives to others… they looked ahead. They did not get lost in nostalgia, looking backward over their shoulder at an idealized past, those “good old days” gone by, as if the path to happiness and fulfillment was behind them… they looked ahead. They did not get to see the fulfillment of all that they hoped, not during their lifetimes. But even at the end, as they drew their final breaths, they were looking forward, believing that the best was still coming, that God’s goodness was just getting started. And that, the writer of Hebrews said, is what faith is all about.
- Deacon Robert
The letter to the Hebrews described faith as the willingness to keep looking forward (Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19). That is, Abraham and Sarah did not get bogged down looking around at their circumstances or comparing their lives to others… they looked ahead. They did not get lost in nostalgia, looking backward over their shoulder at an idealized past, those “good old days” gone by, as if the path to happiness and fulfillment was behind them… they looked ahead. They did not get to see the fulfillment of all that they hoped, not during their lifetimes. But even at the end, as they drew their final breaths, they were looking forward, believing that the best was still coming, that God’s goodness was just getting started. And that, the writer of Hebrews said, is what faith is all about.
- Deacon Robert
“My child, we must not be afraid of doing good,
even if it costs us something.”
- Thoughts of the Cure D’Ars
Friday, August 2, 2013
Capital Campaign goal reached! Thank you!
Dear Parishioners,
WE DID IT!!! We finally reached our goal for the Archdiocesan/Parish capital campaign, Embracing Our Mission, Shaping Our Future. I am very pleased to announce that we have received pledges of $1,035,557 which is $557 over our goal. The pledges will be collected over the next five years. Thank you all for your support—be it prayers, donations, or both. I am very grateful. Our share is 20% or $207,000 which will be used to repair the church gutters and downspouts, retile the parish/school hall floor, and renovate the kitchen in the school/parish hall. Already we have begun on the church gutters. If you have been observant, you might have seen around the church the big lift to access the high gutters and the men on the sacristy/chapel roofs working on the lower gutters. Hopefully, the rain will hold off until the work is finished. As for the kitchen renovation and new tile for the hall floors, we need to wait for more of the pledges to be paid to the Archdiocese before receiving our rebate. I hope to start the remaining projects next summer.
Again, I thank everyone for their support especially those of you who worked on the campaign committee. It would not have succeeded without you!
God Bless,
Fr. Carl
WE DID IT!!! We finally reached our goal for the Archdiocesan/Parish capital campaign, Embracing Our Mission, Shaping Our Future. I am very pleased to announce that we have received pledges of $1,035,557 which is $557 over our goal. The pledges will be collected over the next five years. Thank you all for your support—be it prayers, donations, or both. I am very grateful. Our share is 20% or $207,000 which will be used to repair the church gutters and downspouts, retile the parish/school hall floor, and renovate the kitchen in the school/parish hall. Already we have begun on the church gutters. If you have been observant, you might have seen around the church the big lift to access the high gutters and the men on the sacristy/chapel roofs working on the lower gutters. Hopefully, the rain will hold off until the work is finished. As for the kitchen renovation and new tile for the hall floors, we need to wait for more of the pledges to be paid to the Archdiocese before receiving our rebate. I hope to start the remaining projects next summer.
Again, I thank everyone for their support especially those of you who worked on the campaign committee. It would not have succeeded without you!
God Bless,
Fr. Carl
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