Dear Parishioners,
One of the most famous parables Jesus told his listeners, people like you and me, was about the return of the Prodigal son (Luke 15:1-3, 11-32). The far gaze of God seems to reach all the way to the end of the road where we one day come limping over the horizon. And yes, to be sure the far gaze of God sees you and me at the end of the road. God is waiting for us.
The only condition is that we take the first step toward him. So come to know yourself and where life's journey has taken you. Make your way home. God, our father, is looking down that road waiting for you.
Deacon Robert
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, March 8, 2013
Friday, March 1, 2013
A Shot in the Arm
Dear Parishioners,
We had an excellent mission given by the president of Archbishop Curley, Fr. Joe Benicewicz. A good number of you attended. For those of you unable to attend, there are several excellent opportunities this Lent.
First, on Saturday, March 16 from 8:30am – 4pm, the Archdiocesan Men’s Fellowship will be held at Calvert Hall High in Towson. See the ad in the bulletin for further details. Second, St. John’s in Severna Park will have a mission on March 10, 11, 12 at 7:15pm by a Catholic convert and former Protestant minister, Michael J. Cumbie.
Of course, we still have Stations of the Cross each Friday at 10am and 7pm, as well as daily Mass at 8:30am. However, these other opportunities listed above might give you the shot in the arm you need. Even the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI goes on a retreat each year. (He just got back last week). If the pope does something extra special each Lent, shouldn’t we?
- Father Carl
We had an excellent mission given by the president of Archbishop Curley, Fr. Joe Benicewicz. A good number of you attended. For those of you unable to attend, there are several excellent opportunities this Lent.
First, on Saturday, March 16 from 8:30am – 4pm, the Archdiocesan Men’s Fellowship will be held at Calvert Hall High in Towson. See the ad in the bulletin for further details. Second, St. John’s in Severna Park will have a mission on March 10, 11, 12 at 7:15pm by a Catholic convert and former Protestant minister, Michael J. Cumbie.
Of course, we still have Stations of the Cross each Friday at 10am and 7pm, as well as daily Mass at 8:30am. However, these other opportunities listed above might give you the shot in the arm you need. Even the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI goes on a retreat each year. (He just got back last week). If the pope does something extra special each Lent, shouldn’t we?
- Father Carl
Friday, February 22, 2013
Our Lenten Road to Calvary
Dear Parishioners,
Earlier in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus began telling his disciples clearly, that his journey was headed for a cross in Jerusalem. Golgotha was not an unexpected ambush for Jesus. It was a planned destination to which “he set his face” with focused determination. How did he endure the suffering that was coming, how did he keep choosing the path of obedience in the face of temptations to take an easier road? Jesus lived a perfect life of obedience to a higher call. He would give his life in service to God and as a sacrifice for humankind.
And so for us, pilgrims along the Lenten road to Calvary, our endgame is also to find that higher calling from God, to match our deepest longing with the world’s deepest needs, to find something to live for, big enough to die for, and to live every day with that end in mind.
- Deacon Robert
Earlier in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus began telling his disciples clearly, that his journey was headed for a cross in Jerusalem. Golgotha was not an unexpected ambush for Jesus. It was a planned destination to which “he set his face” with focused determination. How did he endure the suffering that was coming, how did he keep choosing the path of obedience in the face of temptations to take an easier road? Jesus lived a perfect life of obedience to a higher call. He would give his life in service to God and as a sacrifice for humankind.
And so for us, pilgrims along the Lenten road to Calvary, our endgame is also to find that higher calling from God, to match our deepest longing with the world’s deepest needs, to find something to live for, big enough to die for, and to live every day with that end in mind.
- Deacon Robert
Friday, February 15, 2013
Lent: Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving
Dear Parishioners,
The “desert,” that’s where we find Jesus on the first Sunday of Lent (Luke 4:1-13). Each of the 3 synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) show our Lord fasting and then being tempted by Satan. Satan is very clever, for he knows our weaknesses and the best time to exploit our weaknesses. He tempts Jesus when he is physically weak from fasting. Satan knows that we have sensual appetites for food, drink, and sex which are good in moderation and when used properly. He knows that we desire earthly goods like cell phones, automobiles, clothes, etc. And he knows that we want to be independent and self-sufficient. Those are good things to want as long as they don’t get in the way of our relationship with God. St. John describes these temptations when he says, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” (1 John 2:15-16).
Our Lord’s entry into the desert and fasting did not make him weak, but instead strengthened him to stand up against the devil. May our Lenten observances of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving (donations to the poor) enable us to resist temptation when it comes our way.
- Father Carl
The “desert,” that’s where we find Jesus on the first Sunday of Lent (Luke 4:1-13). Each of the 3 synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) show our Lord fasting and then being tempted by Satan. Satan is very clever, for he knows our weaknesses and the best time to exploit our weaknesses. He tempts Jesus when he is physically weak from fasting. Satan knows that we have sensual appetites for food, drink, and sex which are good in moderation and when used properly. He knows that we desire earthly goods like cell phones, automobiles, clothes, etc. And he knows that we want to be independent and self-sufficient. Those are good things to want as long as they don’t get in the way of our relationship with God. St. John describes these temptations when he says, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” (1 John 2:15-16).
Our Lord’s entry into the desert and fasting did not make him weak, but instead strengthened him to stand up against the devil. May our Lenten observances of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving (donations to the poor) enable us to resist temptation when it comes our way.
- Father Carl
Friday, February 8, 2013
We’re looking for a few good men
Dear Parishioners,
“We’re looking for a few good men.” That was an old recruiting slogan for the U.S. Marine Corps. But it’s not just the Marine Corps looking, so, too, is God and the Church. Both are looking for a few good men to serve as priests. Today, in the United States, the need is greater than ever as recruiting is not keeping up with retirements and deaths. Here, in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, half of the priests in active ministry will be eligible for retirement in the next fifteen years. Furthermore, the priests we have in parishes are increasingly being asked to pastor several parishes at the same time. So let us pray for more vocations and encourage suitable candidates to consider following Jesus to be fishers of men, women and children. Let us also pray for the priests we have that they become holier servants of God and their people.
- Father Carl
“We’re looking for a few good men.” That was an old recruiting slogan for the U.S. Marine Corps. But it’s not just the Marine Corps looking, so, too, is God and the Church. Both are looking for a few good men to serve as priests. Today, in the United States, the need is greater than ever as recruiting is not keeping up with retirements and deaths. Here, in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, half of the priests in active ministry will be eligible for retirement in the next fifteen years. Furthermore, the priests we have in parishes are increasingly being asked to pastor several parishes at the same time. So let us pray for more vocations and encourage suitable candidates to consider following Jesus to be fishers of men, women and children. Let us also pray for the priests we have that they become holier servants of God and their people.
- Father Carl
Friday, February 1, 2013
There is a God and I’m not Him
Dear Parishioners,
In a 1993 film, “Rudy,” Father Cavanaugh gives some sterling counsel to young Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger, who wanted to play football for Notre Dame. The wise priest told him, “Son, in 35 years of religious study, I have only come up with two, hard incontrovertible facts: there is a God and I’m not Him.”
Isaiah, Saints Peter and Paul… all these champions of faith met the Lord, and were made acutely aware of their own sinfulness. They never got over the awareness that there was a God, and that they were not Him. They were not perfect when the Lord revealed himself to each of them, and they would not be perfect even afterwards. But God can use those who are not perfect, in fact, it is the only kind of people God has been using through the ages.
So can God use you and me, even though we are imperfect? Oh yes, God is the perfect Lord for people who aren’t. Holy are you, O Lord. Unholy are we. But if you ask who will go for you, like Isaiah and Peter and Paul before us, we will find ourselves saying, “Here I am, send me.”
- Deacon Robert
In a 1993 film, “Rudy,” Father Cavanaugh gives some sterling counsel to young Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger, who wanted to play football for Notre Dame. The wise priest told him, “Son, in 35 years of religious study, I have only come up with two, hard incontrovertible facts: there is a God and I’m not Him.”
Isaiah, Saints Peter and Paul… all these champions of faith met the Lord, and were made acutely aware of their own sinfulness. They never got over the awareness that there was a God, and that they were not Him. They were not perfect when the Lord revealed himself to each of them, and they would not be perfect even afterwards. But God can use those who are not perfect, in fact, it is the only kind of people God has been using through the ages.
So can God use you and me, even though we are imperfect? Oh yes, God is the perfect Lord for people who aren’t. Holy are you, O Lord. Unholy are we. But if you ask who will go for you, like Isaiah and Peter and Paul before us, we will find ourselves saying, “Here I am, send me.”
- Deacon Robert
Friday, January 25, 2013
Christ has no body now on earth… but yours
Dear Parishioners,
Christ has no body now on earth… but yours. Some 25 years after our Lord’s resurrection, Paul wrote to the Corinthians words that still apply to us (1 Corinthians 12:12-30): “Now you are the body of Christ and each of you is a part of it.” Being God’s presence in this world is not the sole responsibility of those who have taken holy orders or had hands laid upon them for ordination. Being God’s presence to the poor, the blind, the lame, the captives and the oppressed is ours… our responsibility, opportunity and yes, even our joy.
- Deacon Robert
Christ has no body now on earth… but yours. Some 25 years after our Lord’s resurrection, Paul wrote to the Corinthians words that still apply to us (1 Corinthians 12:12-30): “Now you are the body of Christ and each of you is a part of it.” Being God’s presence in this world is not the sole responsibility of those who have taken holy orders or had hands laid upon them for ordination. Being God’s presence to the poor, the blind, the lame, the captives and the oppressed is ours… our responsibility, opportunity and yes, even our joy.
- Deacon Robert
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