His Goodness Remains

Dear Parishioners,

As we sit in the glow of Christmas and approach the new year, let us reflect on our lives. The worst health crisis in a century continues to plague us with its invisible and invasive presence. The expiration date for Covid-19 however is in the works. We may not get back to normalcy for quite a while, but its tragic consequences may become significantly less. Hopefully at this writing, the election drama is over. Some political stability for me would be welcomed. I teach a class at Catholic University of America, and my grades are in and responsibilities fulfilled. 

I have experienced a different Christmas this year. Yes, there were gifts for the grandkids and new stuff for my wife. But as I write this, I am overcome by awareness of the true value of my family, friends, and church community. Simply put, God has been good! Our time has not been without great pain and difficulty. But God continues to be present and announces with the baby in the manger, the Eucharistic celebration, and the sacramental reminders that His goodness remains. His mercy continues to be offered. His love is still available. 

The truths of God have survived the near-death experience that was 2020! Our woes linger in our minds and hearts and touch our lives still. But God is bigger than all of these. He is a prayer away, and that is a prayer of thanksgiving for His glory. I pray for those I love, and those I know, and even those I don’t. And if I close my eyes, I can feel the warm love of God wrap me up. Like a warm bed on a cold night, God is there for us, eager to hold us in our fear, and anxiety, and doubt. He is there, present to us in our dark moments with His light of love and care. 

For me, I am sustained by the support of God who has walked with us most evidently, with that little baby and the manger, with the beautiful and sacrificing Mother Mary, full of Grace, and the great witnessing of Joseph. Let us fall into the arms of God who longs to hold us in his caring grasp.

Blessings,
Deacon Steve

A Change In Plans

Dear Parishioners,

There’s an old saying that “if you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.” God sometimes has other plans for us, and they take precedence. This we see with David and Mary in today’s readings. David’s kingdom is at peace (2 Samuel 7:1-5, 8B-12, 14A, 16). He has subdued all his enemies on every side. So he thought he would do something nice for God. Certainly, it was a noble idea to try to please God, and we all should. However, if we really want to please Him, we should ask God what He wants. It’s like getting a present from someone who thinks they know what will please us. Only it doesn’t. In fact, it can be annoying as I have discovered; I am sure you have as well. What God wanted was to establish his kingdom through the House of David (the Church).

Mary, on the other hand, planned to live a quiet married life with her husband, Joseph (Luke 1:26-38). However, God had other plans for Mary as well. He wanted her, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to have a son to inherit the throne of David and rule forever. Fortunately, Mary said yes, “I am the maidservant of the Lord. Let it be done to me as you say.”

On a personal note, when I retired from the U.S. Navy at the Marine Corps Base in Hawaii, my plans were to return to Baltimore, serve in one parish until age 70, retire, move back to Hawaii, and help the church there. That didn’t happen as St. Jane’s is my third parish, and I turned 70 seven years ago. Even though my plan didn’t work as I thought, I couldn’t be happier. God’s plan allowed me to meet and serve so many wonderful people along the way. So if God changes our plans, it will work not only to God’s advantage but ours as well.

God bless & stay safe.
Fr. Carl

Trust In God

Dear Parishioners,

Today is the Third week of Advent when the priest wears light red vestments to signify the need to rejoice, to be glad, to be uplifting and joyous. But how can we be joyous under the circumstances of our lives? The economy, the virus, the politics? I know, the times are very difficult. We do have vaccines on the way that will protect us and hopefully provide some stability to our society. But I think the question is a more fundamental one. Can we find joy, those of us who follow Christ, even if things look like they are falling apart?

No doubt we can and we must. Our faith tells us that we believe in a power stronger than this pandemic, stronger than our economy, stronger than our political beliefs. Our faith leads us to trust in the one who loves us, the one whose word created us, and the one who gave his life for us. God’s love and mercy go beyond our suffering and difficulty. Are we lost because of the pandemic? Are we lost because of our struggles? It is under these circumstances that we need to look to God for guidance and consolation. Christ represents a power of love that is constant and touches all of us. As Isaiah says, the Lord “has sent me to bring good news to the poor, to bind up hearts that are broken” (Isaiah 61). Let us offer our brokenness to God and do so with every piece of joy we can muster. He is our hope. He is the surety that goodness still exists. His is the comforting hands that hold us in troubles. Let us look at the bright vestments and know that we are not abandoned but held in love and mercy by a God who is ever present and wishes for us to trust in his goodness and salvation.

Blessings,
Deacon Steve

2nd Sunday of Advent: Repentence

 Dear Parishioners,

When things aren’t going well for us and life is a series of miseries, we need some TLC (tender loving care). With the effects of the pandemic, loss of income, employment, socialization etc, many around the world are suffering and could use some comfort. In the first reading from Isaiah (Is 40:1-5, 9-11), the people of Israel also have been suffering—for 50 years having been exiled to Babylonia. But now God is offering comfort to his people, for her slavery is coming to an end. Her guilt of infidelity in worshipping pagan gods has been expiated (forgiven) through 50 years of forced labor and exile. What a great sense of relief that must have been to the people. God will now come back to his people and lead them home over a highway built by leveling the mountains of their pride and filling in the valleys of their indifference. In short, they must repent.

We hear St. Peter says something similar in the second reading (2 Pt 3:8-14) as he urges the people to be patient with God, for God shows them “generous patience, since he wants none to perish but all to come to repentance.”

Finally, the gospel shows John the Baptist bringing many to God through baptism after repenting and confessing their sins (Mk 1:1-8). So it would appear on this second Sunday of Advent that God is encouraging us to prepare for our Lord’s birthday by repenting and going to confession. That will make it easy for Jesus to come into our hearts.

Fr. Carl

Thank God

Dear Parishioners,

At Mass we sometimes pray that we have an “attitude of gratitude” for God’s plentiful gifts. I am feeling that attitude as we close out Thanksgiving week and begin Advent. 

Our faith is like an anchor that helps to stabilize us when the ship of our life is rocked to and fro. I am thankful for my faith that I can rest my fear upon, that can hold my sadness, that counteracts my worry. When I am tossed about by insecurity, by loss, and by tragedy, God’s word leads me to the warmth of His light. God’s peace gives me reassurance that his presence in my life is the real truth I should attend to. His love offers a quiet repose from the hectic and unstable movements of the world. The love of Christ tells me that I am not alone nor am I drifting aimlessly, but that I have a strong relationship with the King of the Universe who will not allow me to be lost. 

I am grateful for the people that God has put in my path, good people, caring people, honest and supportive people. They create a strong fabric that holds me against the rips and frayed ends that naturally occur in this life. God has been a gift in the churches I have attended, within whose walls exist a shared beauty, a lived faith, and a powerful history of service, witness, and sacrament. I am grateful to my God who has offered hope when it was not readily felt. My God has come through with love and support when it was not expected. My God has given me the wonderful example of His Son, whose suffering and pain are lessons but whose salvation releases me from my own weakness. I thank God for the strength to continue on in the face of adversity and doubt, for the knowledge of His goodness, and for the blessings He offers in family and friends, in work and in joy. I thank God in gratitude for all that I have been given.

May you feel God’s care and blessing,
Deacon Steve

Sheep and Goats

Dear Parishioners,

What a nice surprise I had this morning. Joe DelSignore, the Grand Knight of our local council of the Knights of Columbus, met with me and presented a $5,000.00 check to pay for an upgrade to our live streaming video service. The sound and picture quality is vastly improved over what we had at the beginning of the pandemic. It should benefit St. Jane Frances for many years to come. Thank you Knights so much.

This past week, you should have received a letter from me with a summary of our annual report. Thanks ever so much for your financial contributions during the past year. So many of you mailed your envelopes in, and many others signed up for the online giving. Both helped us to do better than expected. Still our income was down 8%, and we had an extraordinary expense when we spent $338,618 to replace our 60-year old Church roof. We are recouping some of that thanks to donations to our monthly roof collection.
This Fall, the Church needed some masonry work. Some of the mortar around the bricks required replacement, and the limestone around the windows, doors, and railings had to be power washed because it was so filthy. Just see the before and after pictures on our website at stjane.org. Furthermore, the rectory roof was leaking and needed to be replaced. These additional costs are in the vicinity of $130,000. Fortunately, your past generosity provided the necessary funds for these expenses, but our bank balance is a matter for concern, especially with the pandemic still unsettled.

This weekend’s gospel (Mt 25:31-46) describes the final judgement where Jesus separates the sheep (those going to heaven) from the goats (those going elsewhere). The determining factor is generosity to those in need. Our parish is in need of more financial support. If you are able, I ask you to prayerfully consider increasing your support to the parish.

May God bless you and keep you safe.

Fr. Carl

Striving For Higher Things

Dear Parishioners,

I was hoping that after the election, things would settle down. However, the political convulsions continue, and normalcy is still far away. Both in the church and without, there is tension and agitation. In my morning prayer, what does provide relief from the pangs of the world is God’s steadiness. God’s creation in the form of a beautiful sun, warm temperatures, bright, colorful trees, and a constant of love and grace continue to signal to us that while human agitation is still present (and probably always has been), we are loved. Even in the thick of it, God wishes to enter our hearts with his steady and joy-filled presence. As Philippians 4 tells us, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice!” God has not abandoned us or left us to fend for ourselves. Will he ever? We can easily think so and convince ourselves that we are in charge, and it is all up to us. But no, God’s guiding and steady hand is on our shoulders. His law of love is written on our hearts, and no matter the problems of the day, His will urges us to continue to walk in goodness. Can we fail and succumb to the dark powers of the day? Can we give in to our base desires for control, power, and selfish fulfillment? Of course we can, and we will be the less as a result.

We must strive for the higher things of God, those things that are promised by the Holy Spirit. The clouds of human expectations can blind us to believe so strongly in our own plans that God’s light cannot be seen, and we are left lost and wandering. Now is the time to pray for guidance. Now is the time to pray for God’s divine inspiration. Now is the time to call forth from our hearts that we need God’s presence and guidance. We need God’s steady hand on the tiller of our lives. Our impulses, agitated by the politics of our day, lead us to seek some human recourse, when what we need is the great wisdom of God, guiding us in a great arc of love and peace.

Blessings,
Deacon Steve