Now that we’ve survived the excitement of the parish anniversary, I can turn my attention to the next thing up, which in our case is Confirmation.  This place just doesn’t stop.  Now, I get excited about the sacrament of Confirmation for, primarily, nerdy, academic reasons.  This is what my thesis was on; I like being able to talk about the historical development of the sacrament in a variety of contexts, and I have a few strong opinions on the sacrament.   But I also get excited about it from a pastoral standpoint, too; it is, after all, a rather important moment in the faith life of our young people, and as such it should be celebrated.  And, for that matter, they need to be well-prepared to celebrate the sacrament well.

To that end, we make them write a lot.  Among other things, they need to write a letter to the pastor, talking about why they want to be confirmed and what they hope to get from it; there are also essays on Confirmation, conversations they need to have with their sponsors, and finally, an essay on whom they’re choosing as their Confirmation saint, and why.

This year, out of the 93 (or so) people getting confirmed, we have about 13 taking the name of Sebastian.  All boys.  And I get it, having been a 14-year-old boy myself: Sebastian is the patron saint of athletes, and all these guys think that they’re going to be the next big thing.  That’s fine.  I just hope they remember that Sebastian was a martyr who was shot with multiple arrows as well as hung, and had his body thrown into the sewers.  If you’re ready for all that, ok…but that’s a lot.

Then again, my Confirmation saint is St. Stephen, the first martyr; the account of his death by stoning is in the Acts of the Apostles.  So I’ve no room to talk.

The whole endeavor has me thinking.  Would I choose Stephen again?  (Well, yes.)  But who are my other favorite saints?

Michael, Patrick, or Stephen, my patrons?

Norbert?  I grew up in a parish dedicated to him.

Elizabeth Ann Seton, John the Baptist de la Salle, Ignatius of Loyola, or Dominic?  All of them founded orders that were critical to my education.

Richard?  My first priestly assignment was in a parish dedicated to him.

John Paul II?  He showed the world how to be a priest.

Irenaeus?  I was ordained on his feast day.

So you see what a dilemma this question has become.

And I’ll tell you, as I keep working at this holiness thing, I am becoming more and more convinced of this truth: I need ALL of the saints.  I need every single one of them.  Because holiness is hard work.

Let’s start by being clear about holiness.  Holiness does NOT mean living a life entirely free of sin.  (Although, to be clear, if you can live a life entirely free of sin, you should do that.  For the rest of us, there’s always confession.  What a great sacrament.)  Anyway, holiness does not normally mean a life entirely free of sin; what it does mean is a lifelong struggle to do the will of God.

And make no mistake, it IS a struggle.  It is hard to do the will of God, especially because we would all much rather do our own will.  To subordinate my will to that of another takes a level of humility that is not easily come by.  And God’s will is often radically different than our own, and we can find Him to be really challenging.  But none of us get a free pass.

The Second Vatican Council, in the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium, reminds us that

The Lord Jesus, the divine Teacher and Model of all perfection, preached holiness of life to each and every one of His disciples of every condition. Indeed He sent the Holy Spirit upon all men that He might move them inwardly to love God with their whole heart and their whole soul, with all their mind and all their strength and that they might love each other as Christ loves them. The followers of Christ are called by God, not because of their works, but according to His own purpose and grace.

Hard work, but it can be done.  Which leads us to the saints.  When the Church declares someone to be a saint, it’s not really because we want to give that person extra honor or glory.  They’re already in heaven and receiving their eternal reward from our Heavenly Father.  There’s nothing that we can do down here that’s going to add to that – I mean, are you really going to out-do God?  Let me know how that works out for you.

Instead, the Church declares folks saints so that WE might have them as intercessors, but also as examples.  The saints are folks who won the struggle and managed to do the will of God, and if they can do it, then so can we.  This morning, I want to briefly reflect on 4 saints, from different places and times, and different states of life, to see how they inspire us.

Saint Lawrence the Deacon: born in Spain, in the year 225, died in Rome in 258.  He served Pope Sixtus as the archdeacon of Rome, meaning that among his other duties, he was charged with distributed alms to the poor and taking care of the temporal goods of the Church.  After the emperor arrested and killed Pope Sixtus, Lawrence spent the next three days selling as much Church property as he could and giving the proceeds to the poor so the Empire would not get it.  When he was arrested, it was demanded that he turn over the treasury to the Empire; he responded by presenting the poor, crippled, and suffering, calling them the “true treasure” of the Church, declaring that the Church is far far richer than your emperor.  He suffered a martyr’s death.

Saint Thomas More: born in London, 1478; died in London, 1535.  An educated man and a lawyer, he was deeply devoted to his family.  He was also deeply devoted to his country, rising to the post of Lord Chancellor.  And while he was loyal to king and country, he was not afraid to speak out against the changing tides of public opinion and defended the truth as he understood it, and would not compromise his values even when given an easy out.  It lead him to the headsman’s block and an unmarked grave in the Tower of London.

Saint Damian of Molokai: born in Belgium, 1840; died in Hawaii, 1889.  He badly wanted to be a missionary, and was excited to be sent to Hawaii.  While there, and knowing the risks, he volunteered to be the priest for the leper colony.  Despite the health risk, he insisted that the natives be treated with dignity and respect, and served not only as their priest, but as a nurse, a carpenter, a furniture maker, a coffin maker, and a grave digger.  When no other Europeans would land on his island, he would stand on the docks and yell his confession in Latin to the priest on board so that he could receive absolution.  He would eventually catch leprosy himself, but he kept working until he was completely bed-ridden; he died less than a month later.

Saint Maria Goretti: born in Italy, 1890; died in Italy, 1902.  Her family owned a farm, but it failed, forcing them to go to work for other farmers.  Shortly thereafter, her father contracted malaria and passed away.  While her family worked in the fields, she was a domestic servant for the family that took her in.  They were not kind to Maria; one of the sons of that family sexually harassed her often.  One day, he confronted her with a knife and attempted to rape her.  She fought him off, screaming, “It is a sin! God does not want it!”  In his frustration, he stabbed her 14 times.  She would die of her wounds the next day, but not before forgiving her attacker and saying, “I want him in heaven with me.”  He would attend Maria’s canonization Mass; he stood next to her mother.  Saint Maria was 11 years old when she died.

4 different saints, from 4 different times, different places, and different walks of life.  Yet they all shared a deep love of the Lord, and each sought to do His will daily.  Although their lives were very different from each other, each one of them, and indeed all of the saints, point us towards Jesus Christ, and Him alone.

Our job, as Church, is to do the same – to point everyone we encounter towards Jesus, and Him alone.  Pope John Paul II wrote,

The Church has its center in Christ Himself, who is to be known, loved, and imitated, so that in him we might live the life of the Trinity, and with him transform history until its fulfillment in the heavenly Jerusalem.  This is a program which does not change with the shifts of times and cultures…it is for all times and for the Third Millenium.

Who will the saints of the 21^st century be?  Who will be the next generation of heroes to point others to Christ?  Pray God that they are sitting in front of me.

One last bonus saint, and I’m done.  Actually, he’s not even a saint yet – he’s “just” a Blessed – one step shy of being a saint. His name is Rupert Mayer, and he was a German priest.  He was born in 1876, and ordained in 1899.  During the first world war, he volunteered as a military chaplain, and requested to go to the front.  He would crawl through the trenches where the fighting was fiercest, administering the sacraments as needed.  He won the Iron Cross for valor in 1915; in 1916, he was badly wounded and lost his left leg in a grenade attack.  After the war, he was a retreat master, but found himself in trouble as the Nazis came to power.  He spoke out against them time and time again, even after being arrested and jailed.  He spent time in a concentration camp and under house arrest until the Americans liberated him.

Father Mayer died in 1945, on November 1^st, the feast of All Saints.  He had a massive stroke while celebrating Mass.  As he faced his congregation, his last words were simply, “The Lord, the Lord, the Lord.”

It is the Lord that we need to be about.  Let us beg Him for the graces we need to point others towards Him, until the day we come to be at home in the halls of heaven with Him and all the saints in glory.

“Cry out with joy to the Lord, all the earth!  Serve the Lord with gladness.  Come before him, singing for joy.  Know that He, the Lord, is God.  He made us; we belong to Him; we are His people, the sheep of His flock.  Go within his gates, giving thanks.  Enter His courts with songs of praise.  Give thanks to Him and bless His name.  Indeed, how good is the Lord; eternal His merciful love.  He is faithful from age to age.” – Psalm 100

The Church often incorporates Psalm 100 into her liturgical prayer, most especially in the Liturgy of the Hours.  Today was no exception, as psalm 100 was part of Morning Prayer.  As I sat in the church this morning, in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, my thoughts first ran to the latter part of the psalm: Enter His courts with songs of praise/Give thanks to Him and bless His name.  This weekend, plenty of people will be entering into this house of the Lord with the express purpose of giving Him thanks for the gift that this parish community is, and to praise, bless, and glorify His holy name through what will be beautiful liturgical celebrations.  My prayer was that everyone who joins us – and I hope that number is not insignificant – has a profound encounter with Jesus Christ that hastens them along their path of conversion.

As I continued to pray over this psalm, I started to reflect on how it begins.  “Cry out with joy to the Lord, all the earth!”  This is less of a reflection on the weekend but more of a general question: how often do we cry out with joy to the Lord?  How often do we allow our joy to be evident?  Pope Francis spoke very bluntly about this at a daily Mass homily in 2014, saying, “A Christian without joy is either not a Christian or he is sick!  There’s no other type…joy is like the seal of a Christian.  Even in pain, tribulations, even in persecutions.”  The Holy Father also reflected that the surest way to encounter joy was to take seriously Jesus’ admonition to “remain in my love” – and that the surest way to do that was to keep the Commandments.  Let us, then, be joyful people by following the Lord more closely in all facets of our life, until we reach the true joy of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Some news and notes:

PRAYERS: Pray for Brianna Cerny and Ryan Tappe, who are getting married here tomorrow.

ANNIVERSARY:  It’s finally here!  This weekend is our Silver Jubilee celebration!  Things kick-off tonight at 5:30 PM with Solemn Evening Prayer.  Fr. Ken Oldenski will be the celebrant and homilist.  After prayer, all are invited downstairs for a potluck dinner where we will recognize the founding families of the parish.  Tomorrow night, there will be a Festival of Praise in the church at 7 PM.  Fr. Tom Sparacino will preside and preach.  Sunday, the Most Reverend William Winter, auxiliary bishop-emeritus of Pittsburgh will be the celebrant and homilist at the 10 AM Mass; following Mass, all are welcome to the church hall for a celebratory brunch.  PLEASE NOTE THERE WILL BE NO NOON MASS THIS WEEKEND.  We hope to see you this weekend!

ALL SAINTS DAY:  A friendly reminder that this Wednesday, November 1, is the Feast of All Saints and is a HOLY DAY OF OBLIGATION.  Masses will be offered at St. Richard at 9 AM and 7 PM, and also at St. Barnabas Retirement Home at 11 AM.  The parish office will be closed on Wednesday.

ALL SOULS DAY:  Thursday, November 2, is the Commemoration of all the Faithful Departed, or All Souls Day.  Mass will be offered at 9 AM and 7 PM.  At the 7 PM Mass, we will acknowledge all those from our parish family who have passed away in the last year.  Following Mass, there will be a light social and a time of fellowship.

FAITH FORMATION:  No Faith Formation this week, BUT THERE IS UPPER ROOM on Wednesday evening.

TINY SAINTS AND T-SHIRTS:  Last call to order anniversary t-shirts or Tiny Saints key chains.  See the bulletin for more information.

I think that’s all…I hope so, anyway.  It’s going to be a great weekend and I look forward to celebrating with you!  Know you’re loved, and I’ll see you at Mass!

Peace,

Fr. Mike

 

There’s a lot going on and only so much space to fill, so let me just jump right to it.  First, some notes about the entire On Mission for the Church Alive! process.  As you are most likely aware, the On Mission Commission formally made their recommendations regarding future parish groupings to the bishop last month.  He will continue to consult with his primary advisory bodies – the diocesan pastoral and finance councils, as well as priest council – regarding those recommendations.  Even now, no decisions have been made – in fact, several of the groupings are still the subject of intense debate.

Concurrent with that process, the clergy personnel board has been interviewing all the priests on active assignment, basically asking them how they envision their ministry moving forward.  What role do they feel they can play; where would they like to exercise that ministry; and who can they best work with.  Mercifully (I’m on the board, hence I’ve been involved with this process), we finish the interviews this week.  Our next task is to start discussions about future assignments so that we can make good recommendations to the bishop.

While all that is happening, the parish services department of diocesan central administration is working to put together so-called “blueprints” of how to implement the new parish groupings and to ease the transition for everyone involved.

As announced to the priests last Monday, the Bishop plans to reveal the new parish groupings and clergy assignments on Thursday, April 26, 2018.  That begins the transition period, during which, among other things, a new Mass schedule will be developed for the new group.  The new parish groupings, new clergy assignments, and new Mass schedules, will all become effective on Monday, October 15, 2018.  Stay tuned for more information, and, as always, if you have questions about the process, please ask me.  Don’t listen to rumors.  If I don’t know the answer, I’ll do my best to get you one.

But that’s all still the far-off future.  We have more immediate concerns.  We’re having a party.

Our Silver Jubilee celebration is this weekend.  Friday night, join us for solemn evening prayer; Fr. Ken will be our presider and homilist.  Afterwards, join us for a pot luck dinner in the hall.  Saturday evening, join us for a festival of praise; Fr. Tom will be our presider.  And Sunday morning, join us for the 10:00 Mass, where Bishop Winter will be our celebrant and homilist.  After the Mass, all are invited to brunch in the church hall.  Please note there will be NO noon Mass next Sunday.

For more information or to register for any of these events (they’re all free, of course), please call the parish office or visit our website.

It’s going to be a very busy week, but it’s going to be a very good one.  Looking forward to celebrating with everyone!

Oremus pro invicem!

Somehow I forgot to post this yesterday.  It was a chaotic morning.  Anyway, here it is…

“Do not be afraid.  You are worth more than many sparrows.”

As far as affirmations go, that’s probably one of the more lackluster ones you’ve ever received.  Of course you’re worth more than many sparrows.  Sparrows are hardly worth noticing; even bird-watchers don’t get that excited to see them.  Had Jesus used a more impressive animal in this Gospel discourse, I might feel a little better.  You are worth more than many horses – at least horses are useful for doing work.  You are worth more than many cows – they at least provide food for people.  You are worth more than many lions – they’re pretty impressive in their own right.  But sparrows?

Perhaps we look at this passage the wrong way.  It’s not so much about us and our sense of self-worth as it is about God and His care for creation.  There is nothing that God doesn’t notice.  There is nothing that He does not care for.  Nothing is insignificant to Him.  That should be a source of great consolation to us.  We all have times when we feel completely overwhelmed, or woefully under-qualified, or just lost and alone.  We can feel like no one understands, or worse, like no one cares.  But that’s just not true.  God doesn’t abandon His creatures.  Not His sparrows.  And certainly not you.

As you contemplate how much God loves you on this brisk fall morning, here are a few other things to contemplate…

ADORATION:  Looks like we have all the hours covered for today.  Nevertheless, don’t let that stop you from making a visit to the Blessed Sacrament and spending some quiet time with Our Lord.  And consider making a regular commitment to Adoration.

PRAYERS: Keep in your prayers Nina Isabelle Zanin, who will be baptized tomorrow.  Also, please pray for the young men and women of Immaculate Conception, who received the Sacrament of Confirmation last night, and keep our young men and women who will be Confirmed on November 11^th in your prayers as well.

TRUNK OR TREAT:  This Sunday, 6PM-8 PM in the parking lot.  For more information call the parish office.

25^TH ANNIVERSARY:   It’s almost here!  We hope you’ll join us for all – or at least some – of the great events we have planned.  If you are planning on coming, PLEASE help us plan properly by RSVP-ing; call Sharon at the parish office or using the form on our website: http://www.saintrichardparish.org/25th-anniversary.html

SHIRTS:  Commemorate our anniversary and show some parish pride by ordering your St. Richard Parish t-shirt.  See the flyer in this week’s bulletin or stop by the display after Mass this weekend.

Enjoy yet another beautiful fall weekend, and know you’re loved.

See you at Mass!

Peace,

Fr. Mike

SHOOT THE PUCK!   Sorry…but with hockey season right around the corner, I’m trying to get ready.  Truth be told, I can’t stand those people that are always screaming that at games, but I must be honest: I’ve been that guy on more than one occasion.  As I imagine all hockey fans have.  When you think about it, it’s ludicrous.  I can’t even ice skate; so what makes me think I know more about how to play hockey than the guys who do it professionally?  Especially when they’re the guys that just won back-to-back Stanley Cups?  It would be like Sidney Crosby sitting in the front pew at Mass, yelling “Consecrate that host!”  (Part of me thinks that would actually be cool.)

Well, if it’s ridiculous at a hockey game, then is it ridiculous in prayer?  In today’s responsorial psalm, we pray, “Remember your mercies, O God.”  Did we really think that He forgot?  Are we really going to tell God what to do?  That’s not what the psalms intend, of course.  Thus psalm, and others like it, was intended for a time of crisis, be it personal or communal.  At a time when God doesn’t seem to be active in the world, this psalm would remind the one praying it of everything that God has done for them, and affirm their belief that God is indeed present in that moment of crisis.

God doesn’t need to remember His mercies.  He knows them quite well.  But we do.  We need to remember everything He has done for us.  We need to remember that He has never abandoned us.  And we need to live like people who have been guided and taught in His ways.

—

Just a programming note: I will be gone from October 4^th to the 12^th.  Months ago, Fr. Will Wuenschel and I agreed to lead a pilgrimage to Rome for people from St. Benedict and Immaculate Conception parishes, since there was no chance we were going to be moving…and then we both got transferred.  Please pray for us while we’re away; I will be praying for you all while I’m gone.  I’ll only have limited access to email, so check with the Hardest Working Parish Staff in the Diocese if you need anything while I’m away.  No promises, but I’ll try to update my blog periodically while I’m there, too.

Oremus pro invicem!

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the devil.  May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the other evil spirits who prowl about the world for the ruin of souls.  Amen.

I love the fact that we conclude every Mass at the parish with the prayer to Saint Michael.  (It took me a couple times to remember to say it, but I think I adjusted quickly.)  On this, his feast day, it’s worth saying that prayer a few extra times, imploring his intercession to defend us as we continue to fight our own spiritual battles.  But it is also the feast of the archangels Gabriel and Raphael; God’s messenger and God’s healing, respectively, and they are also powerful intercessors that we should take care not to overlook.

The celebration of any saint always ends up directing us back to God, but I think the angels do so in a more particular way.  We don’t know much about the angels; in fact, we can’t know much about them, because of their very nature.  We do know they have the distinct privilege of being able to see God face-to-face and to serve Him and praise Him day and night.  Yet they are tasked with defending and protecting us; they are tasked with making God’s will known to us; they are tasked with healing us so we can serve God as we ought.  And it is to us, not them, that the Eucharist is given.  As St. Maximilian Kolbe said, “If angels could be jealous of men, they would be so for one reason: Holy Communion.”

God loves us more than we know.  The angels are proof of that.

—

News and Notes (and there are a lot of them):

PRAYERS: Are needed for Michael Barnes and Jody Deems, who will be married tomorrow; Theodore Grumski, and Rachel and Riley Enright, who will be baptized on Sunday; and my Mom, who is having eye surgery on Monday.

ADORATION:  We need a lot of coverage this week.  We’re looking for help covering 11 AM, 2 PM, 3 PM. 7 PM, 2 AM, 4 AM, and 6 AM.  Please contact Mary at the parish office if you can help.  Can I be blunt?  I am continually surprised – and a little disappointed – that in a parish this size, with such an active prayer life, it is continually a problem finding people to spend time in Adoration.

FOOTBALL:  Come watch the Steelers-Ravens game this Sunday with your parish family in the Church Hall.  We’ll provide hot dogs and chips; you provide everything else.

LIFE CHAIN:  Join with other parishioners and friends from St. Catherine’s to pray for an end to abortion.  We will pray in front of the Richland Mall on Sunday, October 1, from 2-3 PM.

PARISH ANNIVERSARY:  It’s getting close…are you getting excited?  Check the anniversary website for more information – including how to get your anniversary t-shirt!  http://www.saintrichardparish.org/25th-anniversary.html

DRIVEWAYS:  Just a reminder that the driveway going to the church hall entrance is, in fact, a one-way road.  There is also a speed limit (I’m guilty of ignoring it, too).  Please be careful, especially during faith formation drop-off and pick-up times.  If you hurt one of our kids, your penance is going to be a lot more than just a couple of Hail Mary’s.

ROME:  I will be away from October 4-12; months ago I agreed to lead a pilgrimage to Rome with parishioners from Washington County.  Please pray that it all goes smoothly; after I get back, perhaps we can start looking at pilgrimages for this parish.  If you need anything while I’m gone, contact the office, and they’ll take good care of you.  I’ll only have limited access to my email while I’m away.

MISCELLANIA: I’m sure I’m forgetting to mention something important.  At my age, the memory goes.  Read your bulletin and check the website.

Enjoy what should be a beautiful fall weekend, and know that you’re loved!

See you at Mass!

Peace,

Fr. Mike

I often find myself preaching primarily on the Gospels at Sunday Mass, sometimes to the detriment of the other readings that are given us that day.  At the time of writing this column, I haven’t prepared my homily yet, but considering what the Gospel is, I’m sure this week will be more of the same.  At the same time, however, the second reading, from Saint Paul to the Philippians, is very rich fare indeed, and we would be remiss not to say something about it.  So I’m bringing in my favorite guest speaker today…Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.

“Today’s liturgy began with the Reading from St Paul’s Letter to the Philippians, namely to the members of the community that the Apostle himself founded in the city of Philippi, an important Roman colony in Macedonia, today northern Greece. Paul reached Philippi on his second missionary voyage, sailing across the Aegean Sea from Anatolia. This was the first time the Gospel arrived in Europe. It was in about the year 50, hence 20 years after Jesus’ death and Resurrection. Yet, the Letter to the Philippians contains a hymn to Christ which presents a complete synthesis of his mystery: incarnation, kenosis, that is, self-emptying to the point of death on the cross, and glorification.

This same mystery became one with the life of the Apostle Paul, who wrote this Letter while he was in prison, awaiting a sentence of life or death. He declared: “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Phil 1:21). This is a new meaning for life and of human existence, which consists in communion with the living Jesus Christ; not only with a historical figure, a teacher of wisdom, a religious leader, but with a man in whom God himself dwells. His death and Resurrection is the Good News, which, starting from Jerusalem, is destined to reach all men and all peoples, and to transform from within all cultures, opening them to the fundamental truth: God is love. He was made man in Jesus and with his sacrifice redeemed humanity from the slavery of evil, giving people a hope in which they could trust.

St Paul was a man who summed up three worlds in himself: the Jewish, the Greek, and the Roman. Not by chance did God entrust to him the mission to take the Gospel to Asia Minor, to Greece and later to Rome, building a bridge that would take Christianity to the very ends of the earth. Today we live in an era of new evangelization. Vast horizons are opening to the proclamation of the Gospel while regions with an ancient Christian tradition are called to rediscover the beauty of faith.

The leaders of this mission are men and women who, like St Paul, can say: “For me to live is Christ”. People, families, and communities who agree to work in the Lord’s vineyard, according to the image in this Sunday’s Gospel (cf. Mt 20:1-16). Humble and gentle workers, who ask for no remuneration other than to share in the mission of Jesus and of his Church.

“If it is to be life in the flesh”, St Paul writes further, “that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell” (Phil 1:22): full union with Christ beyond death, or service to his mystical body on this earth.

Dear friends, the Gospel has transformed the world and is still transforming it, like a river that irrigates a vast field. Let us turn in prayer to the Virgin Mary, that priestly, religious and lay vocations may develop throughout the Church for the service of the new evangelization.”

“But you, man of God, avoid all this.  Instead, pursue righteousness, devotion, faith, love, patience, and gentleness.  Compete well for the faith.  Lay hold of eternal life, to which you were called when you made the noble confession, in the presence of many witnesses.” – 1 Tim 6:11-12

Saint Paul wrote his epistles to Saint Timothy with three audiences in mind, it seems.  The first was, most obviously, to Timothy himself; the letters were intended to be advice on how to effectively be the bishop of Ephesus as well as being a spiritual exhortation.  The second audience would be the Church of Ephesus, which Paul knew well and loved.  Knowing that Timothy would share those letters with the faithful, Paul inserts some commentary into the letter that is clearly meant for them to hear, and isn’t so much directed to Timothy personally.  Finally, the Holy Spirit was working through Saint Paul as he wrote this.  God’s plan was, unsurprisingly, even greater than Paul’s; it turns out that this letter is addressed to all of us.

So we find ourselves this morning being directed towards righteousness, devotion, faith, love, patience, and gentleness.  Perhaps more importantly is what we are being directed away from: envy, rivalry, insults, evil suspicions, a love of money, and a morbid disposition for arguments and verbal disputes.  We’ve seen what those things do: they lead to division and they drive communities apart.  One could certainly make the argument that it’s happened to us politically; now it seems to be happening even to the Church.  This is not what we’re called to.  This is not what we’re made for.  This is not what God wants.  Avoid all that.  Instead, pursue righteousness, devotion, faith, love, patience, and gentleness.

–

Some news and notes:

*Pray for Karah Peters and Ronnie Wilson, who will be getting married tomorrow down at Immaculate Conception.  It’ll be the last time I have to do a wedding down there for a few months.  Also, please pray for the repose of the soul of Deacon Al McKelvey, who was buried from our parish this week.

*If you’re not making the long drive down to Bethel Park tonight to watch the Rams beat the Blackhawks, then consider joining us here for family movie night!  We’ll be watching Disney’s Moana starting at 7 PM in the social hall.  There will plenty of snacks available, just bring a comfy chair.

*On Mission Update:  The bishop is continuing to consult with various diocesan bodies (e.g., the diocesan pastoral and finance councils) about the final groupings for parishes.  Concurrently, work is beginning on planning out new clergy assignments.  Every priest in active ministry in the diocese is being interviewed by members of the clergy personnel board so that we can make good, informed recommendations to the Bishop.  I’m on that board, which means I’m going to be a little busier than usual; so if I’m not around or seem more distracted than usual, it’s probably related to this.  Pray for us.

*25^th Anniversary update:  Plans continue to be made; plans continue to change.  Bishop Winter will now be our celebrant and homilist for Mass on Sunday, October 29.  Also, Fr. Tom has agreed to come back and preside at the family Festival of Praise we’re having on Saturday, October 28.

I’m sure I’m forgetting something important, but for the life of me, I can’t think of what.  I’m sure I’ll remember right after I hit send.  In the meantime, remember that you’re loved, and have a great weekend.  See you at Mass!

Peace,

Fr. Mike

Last Sunday was my two-month anniversary at Saint Richard’s.  I didn’t really notice, because who notices something as ridiculous as a two-month anniversary?  Moreover, it doesn’t feel like it’s been two months…as they say, time flies when you’re having fun.  And I’m having a lot of it.  And I’m learning a lot, too – about what it means to be a pastor, but also about all of you.  So before I become fully assimilated (and it will happen; resistance is futile), let me share with you an outsider’s perspective on the people of this parish…

*This place is a zoo, figuratively and almost literally.  We have a bear, we have geese, we have deer, we have crows, various other small critters, and there’s a story about a goat coming to Christmas Mass.  It’s a zoo.  But on the other hand, it speaks to the peace and the beauty of this place, which we take for granted as we zip up the driveway at 40 miles an hour and go the wrong way against the one-way signs.  It reminds us that, as the English poet Gerard Manley Hopkins, SJ, wrote, “The world is charged with the grandeur of God.”

*This place is busy, and I mean busy.  It seemed like there was a fair bot of things going on in July.  Who was I kidding?  I’m writing this on a Monday, a day you might think would be slow, but we’ve got back-to-back-to-back events lined up till about 9 PM or so.  How the Hardest Working Parish Staff in the Diocese (that’s their unofficial title) manages to keep the schedule straight, I’ll never know.  But our busy-ness is a sign of our vitality and of how alive we are in Christ. So, “let us not grow tired of doing good.  For in due time we shall reap our harvest, if we do not give up.”  (Gal. 6:9)

*This place communicates well.  We have the website, the bulletin, the parish app, the Facebook page, twitter, Instagram, the video board in the narthex, the weekly email and the occasional mass mailing.  And it’s not a one-way street; we get plenty of emails, notes, and calls from all of you that help us to serve you better.  Let’s keep communicating, not only with one another, but with the rest of the world.  “Proclaim the word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient; convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching.”  (2 Tim 4:2)

*This place prays well.  Maybe that seems like it should be a given, but in some places it’s not.  But our Masses are generally well-attended; the lines for confession are generally long; and we baptize a lot of babies.  We sing at Mass, we have no shortage of volunteers…the only thing we need to work on is making sure we have folks for Eucharistic Adoration.  It’s not a bad position to be in.  But we can never grow slack.  “Rejoice always! Pray without ceasing!” (1 Thess 5:16-17)

I’ve learned quite a bit in 2 months.  Hopefully we have a lot more time together.  Let’s keep listening to the Lord, to see what He wants to teach us next.

 

I am not known for my musical abilities, nor am I known for my prowess with the Latin language, and I’ve always regretted that both are the case.  Today and yesterday both highlight that feeling, as both feasts have beautiful Latin hymns traditionally associated with them.  Today, as the Church celebrates the Blessed Virgin Mary under her title of Our Lady of Sorrows, we sing the 13^th century hymn Stabat Mater – you may know it under the English title At the Cross Her Station Keeping.  The Latin is written in trochaic tetrameter, which I’m told I studied in English class.  In but a few words, it powerfully captures what this feast is all about: Quis est homo qui non fleret / matrem Christi si videret / in tanto supplico? // Quis non posset contristari / Christi matrem contemplari / dolentum cum Filio?  A non-literal translation would read something like: Is there one who would not weep, / ’whelmed in miseries so deep / Christ’s dear mother to behold? // Can the human heart refrain / from partaking in her pain / in that Mother’s pain untold?

Vexilla Regis, the hymn for yesterday’s feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, is even older, dating to perhaps the year 569.  A vexilla was the military standard that an army would march behind; it signified the king or prince they were fighting for.  In this case, it reminds us that everything we do, we should do for Christ, who for our sake was handed over to death so as to win us eternal life.  Vexilla regis prodeunt / Fulget crucis mysterium / Quo carne carnis conditor / qua vita mortem pertulit / et morte vitam protulit.  The Royal Banner forward goes / the mystic Cross refulgent glows. / Upon it Life did Death endure / and yet by death did life procure.

The hymns are both great treasures of the Church, but what they reflect on are even greater treasures: A Mother who, even in her anguish, never ceases to pray for her children; and a Savior who would hand over even life itself so that we might be saved.

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Some news and notes:

No weddings or funerals, but you can keep in your prayers the two little ones to be baptized this weekend: Bennet James Hoffman and Ellie Marie Bernini.  And if you’re not sure when or here to pray, consider doing it at Adoration – we need coverage today at 10 AM, 11 AM, 2 AM, and 4 AM.

As you’ll read in the Pittsburgh Catholic this weekend, and in a special insert in the bulleting, the On Mission Commission has formally sent to Bishop Zubik their recommendations for what they consider to be the most effective groupings of parishes to be.  The recommended grouping for us is to be grouped with St. Catherine, which should come as no surprise.  You should know, however, that there was significant debate about possibly expanding our grouping to include St. Ursula and St. Mary of the Assumption.  Ultimately, the Commission decided against that.  At this point, still no decisions have been made; the Bishop will now be consulting with the Priest Council as well as the diocesan Pastoral and Finance Councils.  Final decisions will be announced in April.  In the meantime, if you have questions, please ask!  Rumors and gossip are not your friends.  Send me an email, and I’ll do my best to get back to you with as much information as I have.

It’s a fun weekend around here – EDGE kicks the year off Saturday night at 6:00; Life teen starts back up this Sunday night at 6:00, and this Sunday (after the 10:00 Mass only) is once again Donut Sunday, this time sponsored by the Ladies of Charity.

Be sure to check the bulletin this week for a couple of opportunities to help some really great charitable organizations:  The St. Vincent DePaul Society’s annual Friends of the Poor Walk is coming up on September 24^th; 40 Days for Life needs folks to pray, fast, and hold vigil throughout October; and St. Ferdinand Parish is hosting the first annual Ananias Mission Gala next week, to help displaced Syrian refugees.  All great causes.

Did you know our parish turns 25 years old on November 1?  (I’m going to keep reminding you of this.)  BY now you should have received a “save-the-date” card.  Plans are starting to firm up quite nicely.  For example, on Friday, October 27, we plan to have a solemn celebration of Evening Prayer in the church; our celebrant and homilist that evening will be our very own Fr. Ken Oldenski.  Following evening prayer, everyone is invited to a pot-luck dinner in the hall, where we hope to have a very nice display of photos and other historical pieces from the earliest days of the parish.  More details will be forthcoming on the rest of the weekend; stay tuned.

If this isn’t the longest email I’ve sent you, it’s certainly close.  Definitely has the most Latin in it.  Either way, have a great weekend and know that you’re loved!

See you at Mass!

Peace,

Fr. Mike