Shining Lights For Our Country

Dear Parishioners,

If you watched the Inauguration several weeks ago, you might have caught a glimpse of Statuary Hall in the Capital Building. Then you find statues of prominent people who have made an important contribution to each of the fifty United States. Each state chooses two. Among the 100 statues, there are 13 Catholics. Maryland has one in Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the only Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence. He died in 1832 as the last surviving signer. Five of the other Catholics were priests or nuns: St. Junipero Serra, a Franciscan missionary, represented California; St. Damien de Veuster represents Hawaii; Servant of God Eusebius Kino, a Jesuit, represents Arizona; Rev. Jacques Marquette, another Jesuit, represents Wisconsin; and Mother Mary Margaret Pariseau, a Mother Superior of the Sisters of Charity of Providence, represents the state of Washington. If you want a very short list of their accomplishments, log on to Catholics in Statuary Hall. They were shining lights for our country. While we will never do as much, Jesus still calls us to bring the light of our faith to the world. Isaiah gives us some little ways we can do that—“share your bread with the hungry, shelter the oppressed and the homeless, clothe the naked when you see them and do not turn your back on your own.” (Isaiah 58:7-10)

Fr. Carl

“With God’s help we shall always have power over our emotions.”
~ Thoughts of the Cure D’Ars

The Best Bargain In All Of Education

Dear Parishioners,

As we begin Catholic Schools Week, we celebrate the many contributions our graduates have made to our country and society. But it’s also the best bargain in all of education. In comparing one of the best private schools in the state, I found the following statistics:

Student to Faculty Ratio
Private School = 7:1
St. Jane Frances = 9.1

Average Class Size
Private School = 15
St. Jane Frances = 16.5 
Faculty Average Years of Teaching
Private School = 18
St. Jane Frances = 19
Faculty Average Years of Teaching at That School
Private School = 12
St. Jane Frances = 13
Average Tuition
Private School = $26,000
St. Jane Frances = $7,000

As you can see, the only major difference is the tuition. Of course, the private school has some advantages St. Jane’s lacks such as extensive playing fields, auditoriums, and indoor sports facilities for it’s high school. But who can afford $26,000 a year? St. Jane’s is a bargain even at twice the price. Besides, it has a weekly Mass for the students, regular confession, and the teaching of Christian values. If I had a child, I would choose St. Jane.

God Bless,
Fr. Carl

“There is nothing easier than to pray to God
and nothing more comforting.”
~ Thoughts of the Cure D’Ars

Let Our Mother Be Our Guide

Dear Parishioners,

I have been walking regularly at a local gym, mainly while my wife does a zumba class. But it gives me time to reflect and to pray. While I briskly walk around the track, I will do evening prayer and then a rosary on my phone. I often contemplate the immeasurable influence that Mary has had on our world and especially on Catholicism. I am reminded how, while visiting prisoners, they would often ask if we Catholics thought that Mary was God and worshipped her. It was always important to indicate that she was a mere human being, but what a human being! It is her humanity that contributed to the fully human person of Christ. It was her “yes” that opened the door to God’s incarnation on earth. It was her gentleness that became a part of Christ’s gentle nature. It was her trust and openness that allowed her to give her will for God’s good purpose. It was her honesty that caused her to wonder about the greeting of the Angel. Imagine the depth and breadth of her heart to include all those things she experienced and felt, from the Angel’s visit to the pain at the foot of the cross. The beauty of the Pieta by Michelangelo is partly because you forget that it is carved from stone. But also because the depiction of Christ after the crucifixion is with his tender and distraught mother.

Then as we move forward, Mary’s apparitions given to Juan Diego, at Fatima, Lourdes and others remind us of the preeminent place this woman, this sweet, caring open and blessed woman has in our relationship with God. It is here that her impact is most strongly felt. Mary is our model, our ideal, our view of how one is to respond to God’s calling. She said “yes,” and that yes echoes still today in every person who opens up their Bible to read a verse, in every person who prays, in every person who receives the Eucharist during Mass. That yes is present in all that we do when we desire God. Mary’s yes lives within us as we try to find God in our difficult lives. When we think about what to say to our children that will enlarge their faith, Mary’s is present. When we visit our sick relative and say a quick prayer for healing, we are invoking the Yes that Mary felt. When we face fear of loss or anxiety about what may happen, our resolution to have faith in God and to trust in his presence invokes Mary’s trust and knowledge of God’s good presence in her life. She is the first who experienced the new covenant of God in Christ. She was present at that moment when God touched humanity with his incarnation. Her life and love surrounded the Christ child, and we are the beneficiaries of that protection and nurturance. Let us seek to be better disciples of Christ in all that we do. Let us turn to Mary for support as we struggle with how to best live out our faith. The questions that she faced, the circumstances that she experienced, the pain she endured, the joy she felt, all these are what we ourselves go through from time to time. Let Mary be our guide and reassure us that saying yes is the manner in which to live our faith. Yes to God is the mantra that can lead us to greater faith and greater witness to God.

Blessings,
Deacon Steve

“It is God’s will that on Sundays we should occupy ourselves
only with what has to do with his service and salvation of our
soul. By doing so, we draw down blessing on our work
during the week.”
~ Thoughts of the Cure D’Ars

I am a Disciple of Christ

Dear Parishioners,

Well, Christmas has passed, and we now look forward to getting through winter and on to spring and Easter. As I reflect back on it, Christmas was a special time, made more poignant with little Natalie, my granddaughter, being in the hospital for a couple of weeks. When life is threatened, we come to treasure it more. On the other hand, when we have an abundance of something, we also can take it for granted. However, it is hard to take this little life for granted! It is like the priest shortage that affects the Church all over the US. We took for granted that there would be enough priests to support our parishes and be there for Mass and Baptisms, etc. It hasn't become a crisis, but it is a problem. In Indiana, there was a reorganization movement to streamline parishes and make alignments to more efficiently use the priestly resources that are available. The shortage is due to the general aging and retirement of those priests who are now active in ministry. This is also happening here. I think that what this means to all in the pews is that we all have to step up, become more active in our parish, and not take the Church for granted. Fr. Carl and the staff have an essential and important role to play in our parish. But so do we all. We have to abandon the mindset that it is up to the priest to carry the life of the church. I am sure that you have heard of the New Evangelization. It has been around since Vatican II and was advocated for by St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict. It is a scary word that strikes fear in people’s hearts, well maybe that is an exaggeration! But it is misunderstood. What it means to me is that by virtue of our baptism, we are all children of God asked to be disciples. Perhaps it would be good to say to yourself several times, “I am a disciple of Christ. I am a disciple of Christ.” Let that gently sit with you. The bottom line is that we are all missionaries by being Catholic Christians. This means that our lives are to be used to spread the Good News that Christ’s resurrection saved our lives. Our Christianity is not to be taken for granted but to be actively nurtured. Now, I realize that we do not all make good salesmen and saleswomen. Most of us are uncomfortable standing on a street corner quoting scripture! But if we live out our Catholic values at home, at work, and in the community so that others may see our faith in action, then we are carrying out the New Evangelization!

Simply, our Catholic vocation is to love others. This means that we respect life from womb to tomb. We are life giving and life respecting people, because we ourselves have been given life by Christ. Where there is pain and injustice, we are called to love, to be a soothing balm healing the hurts. If we love, then we are that balm. Where life is diminished, where any person is shown less than respect, where the aged, the unborn, the young, the disabled, the poor are treated as invisible and expendable, we have to speak. Our guiding principle is that we are called to love. Christ showed his divine love by asking for God to forgive his tormentors on the cross. We must live our lives guided by our Christian values. In looking to scripture for guidance, in seeing the Eucharist as God’s presence in our lives, in daily prayer, in respecting marriage, the poor, the imprisoned, the stranger, we are called to a different set of values. We are the Catholic community of St. Jane Frances, set apart by our faith and our church, planted in this part of Maryland to share God’s presence. This is the mission of all of us! If we live this out so that other people, “know we are Christians by our love,” our priest shortage will be short-lived, and our parish will become an even stronger sign to all!

Blessings,
Deacon Steve

“If you really love God, you will not be content with
avoiding big sins. You will regard as hateful anything
which could be even a little displeasing to him.”
~ Thoughts of the Cure D’Ars

Searching For Jesus

Dear Parishioners,

Today, we celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany which means a manifestation, or a showing, or a revealing. On Christmas, Jesus was shown to the poor Jewish shepherds. Now on the Epiphany, he is shown to the Gentile Magi who are led by a star (Matthew 2:1-12). This event shows that God’s kingdom will be open to all—Jew and Gentile alike. For God’s kingdom is not an exclusive club for just a few but an inclusive family open to all, because he came to save everybody. He even came to save King Herod. Sadly, Herod was so focused on himself, he thought Jesus to be a threat to his kingdom and tried to kill him. Instead, he killed any chance he might have found peace and happiness for himself. It goes to show that too much self-absorption can destroy our lives and any chances we might have for joy, peace, and lasting happiness. Let us, like the Magi, continue searching for Jesus in the world around us. He wants us to come and find him.

- Fr. Carl

“Let us adore Jesus Christ as our God; let us follow him
as our King. Let us offer him all we have and all we are.”
~ Thoughts of the Cure D’Ars

Reflecting In Our Hearts

Dear Parishioners,

Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God

I hope you and your family had a wonderful Christmas. It brings a bright light into the darkness of the long winter nights. It gives us hope and joy in the midst of whatever struggles we may be undergoing in life.

I am very grateful to everyone who helped prepare for and took part in our celebrations: the liturgy committee; our decorators; our musicians, cantors, and choirs; our Knights of Columbus who helped arrange the outdoor nativity scene and the church Christmas trees; our lectors, altar servers, and extraordinary ministers of communion. But I am especially thankful for you, our parishioners, who not only attended the Masses but also brought the spirit of Christmas in their hearts.

Today, on the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God, the gospel takes us to Mary and Jesus in Bethlehem (Luke 2:16-21). The people were all amazed when the shepherds reported what they saw. And Mary kept all these things reflecting on them in her heart. May this season awaken in us a spirit of amazement at God’s love. May we regularly reflect on this in our hearts as did Mary. For if we do so, the long dark days of winter and life’s difficulties will be brightened by the sun that the Son of God brings into our hearts, not just at Christmas but throughout the year.

Happy New Year,
Fr. Carl

“We must be like the shepherds in the fields during the
winter. They have a f ire, but from time to time they search
about for sticks to keep it alive. If we knew how to keep up
the f ire of the love of God in our heart by prayers and good
works, it would not go out.”
~ Thoughts of the Cure D’Ars

A Word From Our Deacon

As Christmas approaches and the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ nears, I wish to express my gratitude to all of you for your warm welcome and hospitality. I am grateful for my wife, my children, my diaconal vocation, and this faith community. This beautiful season of the year when we glorify the birth of Christ always grabs me in its simplicity and power. From Mary’s “yes” to the angel chorus, the mystery of Emmanuel, God with us, is a profound moment in history. Our world has never been the same. As we settle in with some time off work or in a moment of quiet from the hustle and bustle of the season, let us reflect on how our lives need the presence of the new born Savior. Be with us Lord! Come into our lives with your grace and love. Caste out from us all sin and weakness and open our hearts to your peaceful being. Now as always, we need the touch of God so that we may have hope, so that our faith may grow, so that we may not despair and so that we may know the peace of God’s love. May the blessing of Almighty God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit be with you and your family this Christmas season. May the little child, dressed in swaddling clothes, lain in a manger, be the light your life needs, the joy our community needs, the wisdom our leaders need, and the peace our world needs.

Many Christmas blessings to all of you!
Deacon Steve