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