Divine Mercy

Dear Parishioners,

Today is Divine Mercy Sunday. I have on the wall in my small study, a picture of Jesus with the blue and red waves of light emanating from his sacred heart. Written below is “Jesus I Trust in You.” When I consider His great mercy, his Divine Mercy, I am left speechless. How can we understand this divine mercy? How can we understand something that is divine in nature. How is it that Jesus can forgive so much of what we do? We all engage in things that go against God or turn our backs on God in our selfishness and self centered actions.

It goes so far as the understanding that it was our sins that he carried on the cross in his pain and suffering. We contributed to the crucifixion being as terrible as it was. And yet, he can still forgive us and show us mercy. I think it is probably true that there are things which we do not forgive in those people we know and love. We probably all have something, maybe small, that we haven’t forgiven in others. Yet Christ forgives. It isn’t that he doesn’t know our guilt. Christ understands the affront we have made to him by our sins. He knows the depth and breadth of it. He knows what we deserve. And yet, there it is, if we admit our faults and confess our sins, he responds with His forgiveness and His abundant and divine mercy. I cannot fathom how this happens or why it happens. I do not understand the mind of God. I can do okay with human beings. I can track where they are going most of the time, but God, nope. I do not know how it is that He loves us as He does and why He is so willing to give to us His many gifts. I will be the first to say that there are many things I do not clearly understand about God. This is one of them. But, I have learned that regardless of my ability to understand God and all that He is and stands for, I am to accept Him. I say “yes” to God as much as I can. If God says that this is how it will be, I am a fool to put up resistance! I have been shown by God in my life that His will is so far above mine! So thank you Lord for your forgiveness and your mercy. I will continue to seek Your will for me and admit my mistakes. Help me to be your servant!

Blessings, everyone, 
Happy Easter, 
Deacon Steve

Happy Easter!

Dear Parishioners,

HAPPY EASTER! I hope and pray that you and your families are safe and well. May those who are not well have a speedy recovery.
 
Undoubtedly, this is the most unusual Lent and Holy Week any of us have ever experienced. I have
conducted services with the U.S. Marines in an open field; the Coast Guard in a Quonset hut; and the Navy on the ship’s flight deck, but never have I celebrated Mass behind locked doors in an empty church. How I wished you could have been there is person. Fortunately, some of you were able to be there through the streaming of our Masses and other forms of worship.
 
On the plus side, I am gratified by your loyalty and support to the parish and to me. Weekly/monthly envelopes are regularly coming into the parish office and a good number of you have signed up for on line giving. So while our collections are down, they are not as low as I thought they might be. Thanks so much! Furthermore, the cancellation of meetings has allowed time for additional time in prayer, meditation and spiritual reading. Hopefully you have done the same and engaged in some family activities and games as well. By the way, as I was listening to the radio, a doctor gave some advice on fighting the coronavirus. She said it was important to build up our immune system by: 1 getting enough sleep (7–9 hours daily); 2 eating properly; 3 exercising daily (30 minutes); and 4 prayer and meditation.
 
I look forward and pray for an end to this pandemic so that we can soon gather around God’s altar to praise Him and reconnect with one another. In the meantime, may God bless you and your families and may you have a Blessed Easter.
Fr. Carl  

Praying For Our Heroes

Dear Parishioners,

My first story is that I have a good friend in Indiana whose daughter is an ICU nurse in Washington State. She has been a traveling nurse, staying at a location for a number of months, then going somewhere else. She is smart and dedicated. She is good at her profession. She is in the thick of it. Her father has told me that he has been worried to the point of tears that she will contract the virus. Her name is Natalie, and I ask that you keep her and her many colleagues throughout the nation in your prayers. 

A second story I want to share is that of my brother, Tony. He lives in Nashville, Tennessee. He works at a Home Depot. He has the option to take 2 weeks of paid leave. He is not sure that he wants to return to work later this week. He can wear gloves, but he cannot wear a mask. He is uncertain whom he will come in contact with at the store. It is his livelihood but also a tough decision to make. I ask that you pray for my brother but also for all those who need work to pay their bills but are put in some jeopardy because of it. There are many heroes who are working to provide us with food, water, supplies, medication, and electricity. Many who are working to get us our shipments. Pray for them. 

Finally, I have an aunt, Aunt Artie, who recently died, not from the virus; she was in her late 80s. She was my mom’s favorite cousin. She died in a facility. She was buried in Pennsylvania without a service. There will be a memorial later. Please pray for all those who are sick and dying. Pray for their families who grieve without the opportunity to say goodbye appropriately. I share these stories because there is a great deal of sadness and suffering going on. I do not want us to get lost in that suffering, but for us to know that we must pray. Holy Week is upon us. Let us offer up our lives, our gifts, our love, to all who are in need, knowing that Christ hears our prayers and knows our suffering. My faith tells me that God is present in all the lives I have mentioned. Let us thank Him for His gift of mercy.

Deacon Steve

God Will Not Abandon Us

Dear Parishioners,
 
We are in extraordinary times. My mother just moved to a nursing home, and the place is not accepting visitors. There is a national emergency. And of course, there is a run on toilet paper! I received the following prayer from the Knights of Columbus national office in my email. Let us remember to keep all in prayer as we get through an unprecedented time in our lives. Let us pray fervently that our faith be strengthened, our courage in the face of difficulty made stronger, and our support for one another be made more constant. God will not abandon us but is reason for hope! Let us turn to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God for consolation and help:
 

“O Mary, you always brighten our path as a sign of salvation and of hope. We entrust ourselves to you, Health of the Sick, who, at the Cross, took part in Jesus' pain while remaining steadfast in faith. O loving Mother, you know what we need, and we are confident you will provide for us as at Cana in Galilee. Intercede for us with you Son Jesus, the Divine Physician, for those who have fallen ill, for those who are vulnerable, and for those who have died. Intercede also for those charged with protecting the health and safety of others and for those who are tending to the sick and seeking a cure. Help us, O Mother of Divine Love, to conform to the will of the Father and to do as we are told by Jesus, who took upon himself our sufferings and carried our sorrows, so as to lead us, through the Cross, to the glory of the Resurrection. Amen
 
Under thy protection we seek refuge, O Holy Mother of God. In our needs, despise not our petitions, but deliver us always from all dangers, O glorious and blessed Virgin. Amen.”

Blessings in these troubled times, 
Deacon Steve

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Not As Man Sees Does God See

Dear Parishioners,
 
How strange it was to have Sunday with no Masses. However, we had a vigil Mass on Saturday evening attended by 101 parishioners. How much longer our churches will be closed for Mass is unknown. We can however, watch Mass on EWTN, YouTube, and archbalt.org. Furthermore, the week’s scripture readings are included (Sm 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13a; Eph 5:8-14 ; Jn 9:1-41) so that we can stay in touch with the Lord.
 
This week the readings are about seeing. In the first reading, Samuel is called by God to anoint a king from among Jesse’s 8 sons of lofty stature. The first seven are rejected because he doesn’t see in them what he wants in a king. “Not as man sees does God see.” Samuel finds the 8th son, David, is the one God wants. The gospel of the man born blind shows Jesus healing the man not only from physical blindness but also spiritual blindness. He alone comes to believe in Jesus and worships Him, whereas the Pharisees who can see remain blind to Jesus being the Messiah, the Son of Man.
 
May God help to enlighten us so as to grow in our faith.

Fr. Carl

Thirsting For Faith

Dear Parishioners,
 
I just signed the papers for the warranty on the new church roof which, along with the chapel roof, sacristy roof, and bell tower roof, is costing the parish approximately $300,000. The Archdiocese suggested we conduct a Capital Campaign to pay for the roofs. When I met with the Archbishop last week, I told him I didn’t think that was necessary as our parishioners are very generous. I said that a monthly second collection over the next three years should pay for the roofs. The Archbishop gave his approval and so far we have collected $6,801.70. Thanks for your generosity.

This week finds Jesus traveling south from the mountain of the Transfiguration in Galilee toward Jerusalem (Jn 4:5-42). Along the way, he stops at Samaria in a town called Sychar, where he goes to Jacob’s well which is still there today. By the way, it’s over 100 feet deep. There he meets a notorious woman who, because of having been married five times before and now living with a man outside of marriage, has become an outcast. However, Jesus treats her with respect and dignity. While Jesus asks her for a drink, he isn’t so much thirsting for water as thirsting for her faith. It’s the same thing he wants from us. Our Lord does not care about our past; he cares for us now; and cares for our future. If we are smart, we will turn away from our earthly thirsts and go to Jesus who alone can quench our deepest thirst. As St. Augustine said, “O God, you have made us for yourself. My heart is restless until it rests in you.”


Fr. Carl

Suffering

Dear Parishioners,

Our household was hit by a stomach virus recently. It took all 7 of us, one by one, starting with Natalie, the middle granddaughter. It was ugly! But of course we all survived as our body defenses did what they do. It came at a good time, right before Lent. It was a good time, because Lent is a time of scaling back, reducing, minimizing, fasting, and sacrificing. I lost 5 pounds in a couple of days!

Getting back to our defenses, our psychological defenses tend to minimize the suffering that is an everyday occurrence in our world. Yes, there are fires and murders and serious accidents and illnesses all the time. The corona virus threat focuses us on a particular illness, but really they are with us constantly. My own stomach illness (pretty minor really!) called my attention to my vulnerability and weakness. My mortal body will fail at some point, and I will die. Isn’t that what Ash Wednesday was about? I have been primed to think about those who are suffering. And ultimately, I am thinking about the suffering of Christ. That is what this is all about.

The person of God who was filled with love for others, whose life reflected an openness to the suffering in others, was himself made to suffer. The suffering of Christ is visible, public, naked, and enduring in the sign of the Cross. The Cross is something we venerate and is commonplace around our homes, our churches, and our necks. It joins us with Christ in his suffering and in the suffering of all our fellow human beings. Let that sink in. That beautiful Cross in your bedroom stands for suffering, that wooden Cross at Church stands for suffering, that silver Cross you can wear stands for suffering. The Cross has been earned by the pain and angst of so many beings over the years. Of course, it stands for the agony and passion of Christ as well. But it goes beyond that. It stands not only for the cost in struggle and death, but it also points to the Resurrection! The Cross stands not alone but with the empty tomb! The Cross means that we fall and fail, but it also means that we are raised by God in his mercy and salvific love. The Cross is the key to the world of Heaven! So let suffering occur, and know that it will be transformed into joy through God’s mysterious love!

Blessings,
Deacon Steve