God’s Merciful Way

Dear Parishioners,

God’s ways are not man’s ways (Is 55:6-9). They go beyond our wildest imagination. We believe in forgiveness but only up to a point. However, last week’s gospel told us that God’s mercy is without limit, and as long as we are on earth, so too must our mercy be if we want to go to heaven. This week we are told that some people will not have to work as long and hard as we do to get to heaven (Matthew 20:1-16a).

That may not seem fair to us, but that is God’s merciful way. After all, it’s God’s kingdom, it’s his terms, and none of us can do enough to earn it. The Kingdom is God’s reward and pure gift to those who serve as his stewards here on earth by generously sharing their time, talent and treasure.

Fr. Carl

“The commandments of God are the guides which God gives us to show us the road to Heaven; like the names written up at the corners of the streets, to point out the way.”
~ Thoughts of the Cure D’Ars

The Myth of A ”Happy Divorce”

Dear Parishioners,

There is an interesting article I recently read in an edition of Our Sunday Visitor concerning the emotional toll of divorce and the myth of the “happy divorce.” Marriage is not the valued institution it once was, and this is regrettable. The article points out the impact that divorce has on children. Their attitudes and emotions are affected by their parents’ divorce in significant ways as compared to children whose parents have intact and stable marital relationships. Children need stability and clear boundaries in order to develop. A chaotic and unstable home life makes this hard to achieve. Children from divorce grow up without an image of what relationship stability looks like.

My own upbringing points to this as my parents were separated several times and had periods of great acrimony and tension. I stood between my parents once while my father, drunk and in a rage, threatened to kill my mom. Things like that led me to be a psychologist and to seek out solutions for myself and others. The article suggests that one million children experience parental divorce every year. That is a great deal of trauma and emotional pain. And it gets carried over into the children’s relationships.

Our church sees marriage as a sacrament and honors the institution. This gives a much deeper meaning to it than just a nice and convenient way for two adults to share expenses that can be abandoned when things get tough. I have been married for 42 years and often keep in mind my parents struggles and pain. Of course, I married a gentle and beautiful person who has made the time go by in an almost easy manner. I thank God for this and know how blessed I am. I ask that we all pray for those who experience this difficult and challenging situation of divorce. It fractures lives, especially those of vulnerable children.

Blessings,
Deacon Steve

“Our Lord takes pleasure in doing the will of those who love him.”
~ Thoughts of the Cure D’Ars

Love Thy Neighbor

Dear Parishioners,

So very often, natural disasters bring out the very best in the human race. Time and again, Hurricane Harvey brought that out on the television, radio, and other media outlets as we see the outpouring of love and assistance from rescue efforts brought to bear in Texas.

The readings this weekend are all about this love of neighbor. In the Gospel (Matthew 18:15-20), Jesus tells us that one form of that love is privately confronting a neighbor who has wronged us. Done in a loving way, it can cause repentance and a healing of relationships. As I was taught in the Navy, “praise in public, correct in private.” Unfortunately, there is a tendency to hold the wrong in our hearts and then share that wrong with others through gossip. That helps neither party involved as more people are negatively effected.

The first reading (Ezekiel 33:7-9) is similar, as it reminds us of our responsibility of a spiritual work of mercy—“warn the sinner.” Again, it’s not easy, but if we truly love, we want all of our brothers and sisters to go to heaven. Sin leads us in the other direction. As Paul reminds us in the second reading (Romans 13:8-10) quoting Jesus, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Fr. Carl

“Love for our neighbor consists of threes things: To desire the greater good of everyone; to do what good we can when we can; to bear, excuse and hide others’ faults.”
~ Thoughts of the Cure D’Ars

You Need Not Be Alone

Dear Parishioners,

My mother-in-law is transitioning to assisted living. She fears being abandoned by her children. No one should be alone. This is the source of a great deal of anguish and pain, especially for the elderly. We humans are not made like that, we are social creatures who are made to interact and be with others. Everyone should be able to rely on friends and family for support and interaction. When I was young, I worked with a man who had not spoken to his brother in 35 years. My father had a sister who moved to California before I was born and never spoke with him or the family again. I never met or spoke to her. There is something very sad about that. I hope that she found a community of friends or a church of which to be a part.

Church has always been a place where my wife and I felt supported, we were known and knew others. When our kids were young, we had scout friends and band friends and play date friends. But these changed over time. Our church community has always been a more stable source of relationships. We have found wonderful and caring people there, people who share similar attitudes, beliefs, and practices. It is for us a rich fabric of connections. And we have grown greatly within this loving atmosphere of support and care. So much good has come from it. I cannot imagine not having people of faith as friends. As a result, we have been touched by God’s love in real and powerful ways. I pray that for those who do not have this joy of deep friendship in their lives, that God will help them to encounter it. I pray that God will provide all people with supportive relationships, so that no one will be alone. Help us Lord to touch those lonely people we encounter with your love, so that they will feel included and be connected.

Blessings,
Deacon Steve

“We must always act in the way that will give most glory to God.”
~ Thoughts of the Cure D’Ars

Peter The Rock

Dear Parishioners,

Just inside the northern boundary of Israel, King Herod built a city which was rebuilt by his son Philip who renamed it after the Roman Emperor (Caesar) and himself. Hence, the city was known as Caesarea Philippi. A sizeable river issues from a cave there and is one of the main sources of the Jordan River. It was also a pagan shrine. Hence, since pagan worship and worldly power joined forces to dominate people’s lives, Jesus’ commissioning of Peter with the key of the kingdom is a sign of a new kingdom coming into the world eclipsing that of Caesar, Herod, and pagan worship.

Furthermore, there is a huge rock there, and God was referred to as a rock in the Old Testament. In giving Simon a new name, Peter, which means “rock,” Jesus is giving God’s authority to Peter to be exercised for the good of his people, the Church (Matthew 16:13-20). Let us be forever grateful for this great blessing now under the leadership of Pope Francis, the successor of Peter, as we pray for his ministry in the world today.

Fr. Carl

“When I am about to talk to anybody,” said a young
village girl, “I picture to myself Jesus Christ and how
gracious and friendly he was to everyone.”
~ Thoughts of the Cure D’Ars

For a wonderful study on St. Peter being the rock on which Jesus would build His Church, see the Lectio series on St. Peter at Formed.org. It's FREE for St. Jane Frances parishioners!

Where Are We Going?

Dear Parishioners,

For her graduation gift, our daughter took a trip to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. She received a degree in marine biology from the College of Charleston. She had a great time and brought back lots of cool pictures of the wild life, the blue birds, the bright red and blue crabs, and the old tortoises. She enlarged some photos and gave them as gifts. We got a picture she took of the Amazon river. Now it is a 2' by 3' framed picture of the front bow of a boat in dense fog. It is all grey except for the red and brown bow of the boat pointing forward. There is a simple beauty to it. It is also intriguing. You cannot see where you are going. In front of you are only vague shapes and shadows. For me, this is a great metaphor of life. We don’t know where we are going. We have our ideas and our desires and needs. But do we really know where or how we will live tomorrow? Did my wife and I expect to be at St. Jane’s, living in Maryland ten years ago? Was this our master plan? Well, no. But here we are. This is where God has planted us. And it is here where we will grow. A deacon friend of mine says that the best way to get a laugh out of God is to tell him your plans! I believe that God has plans for us, plans of goodness and love and salvation. “For I know well the plans I have in mind for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare, not for woe! Plans to give you a future full of hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11) Let us take our boat into the fogginess of life, but with the reassurance that we go, not alone, but with hope in God, directing us.

Blessings,
Deacon Steve

“Let us live as the Blessed Virgin lived: loving God only, desiring God only, trying to please God only in all that we do.”
~ Thoughts of the Cure D’Ars

Lord, Save Me!

Dear Parishioners,

Our God is one of surprises. He tells Elijah that he should stand outside a cave on Mount Horeb and that he would be passing by (1 Kings 19:9a,11-13a). After all the might and power God has displayed in liberating and leading his people, his passing-by logically would be a great and momentous event like a hurricane, earthquake, or blazing fire. But God surprises us by passing by in a tiny, whispering sound. In a way, it prefigures Jesus, the Son of God, entering Jerusalem on a colt, the foal of an ass, instead of on a beautiful, white horse. It shows, as we read in the Bible, God’s ways are not our ways—nor are God’s ways the ways of the world. In short humility is the virtue that most completely unites us to Jesus and enables us to enter into communion with the Holy Trinity.

In the gospel, God again surprises us with Jesus walking on the water to save the disciples (Matthew 14:22-33). The apostles are so surprised that they don’t even recognize Jesus and think he is a ghost. Of course, he saves them after Peter’s surprising walking on the water as well. But the most important message is that Jesus comes to save us when we need him in the storms of our voyage on the seas of life, if only we call out like Peter, “Lord, save me!”

Fr. Carl

“We can only receive God once a day; a soul enkindled with divine love makes up for this by the desire of receiving him every moment of the day.”
~ Thoughts of the Cure D’Ars