Dear Parishioners:
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow! Last weekend saw the first big snowstorm of the season. A few people called to ask if we were having Mass or would it be cancelled because of the snow? As long as Fr. Barrow and I are in the Rectory there will always be Mass. We don’t have a long commute so the snow doesn’t prevent us from making it to Church. We got a foot of snow on Saturday but a few parishioners still managed to make it to the 4:00pm Mass! Kudos to them!
We are most grateful to Paul Anderson and his crack maintenance
crew who plowed and shoveled the snow last weekend. The walkways and parking lots were cleared of the slippery snow for Masses. We thank them for their hard work in ensuring the snow is removed in a timely fashion. Enough of the white stuff for now! If you’re praying for snow, aim for weekdays not weekends! This week all the beautiful decorations of Christmas were removed as the season officially ended on Monday with the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. The crèche from Church and the one from the front lawn were put away for another year.
We now move back into the Season of Ordinary Time with its green vestments and plain decorations. The US Bishops remind us: “The Sundays and weeks of Ordinary Time take us through the life of Christ. This is the time of conversion. This is living the life of Christ. 
Ordinary Time is a time for growth and maturation, a time in which the mystery of Christ is called to penetrate ever more deeply into history until all things are finally caught up in Christ. The goal, toward which all of history is directed, is represented by the final Sunday of Ordinary Time, the Solemnity of Christ the King of the Universe.”
The Season of Ordinary Time lasts until Ash Wednesday and the beginning of the Season of Lent on March 1st. The great Feast of our Faith, Easter Sunday and the celebration of the Lord’s Resurrection, is on Sunday, April 16th. So we have several weeks of Ordinary Time before we take up the rigors and discipline of the Lenten Fast of Forty Days.
This Friday, January 20th, is Inauguration Day as Donald J. Trump is sworn in as the 45th President of the United States of America. Regardless of which candidate we voted for, which party we belong to or whose personality we like or dislike, as a people of Catholic Faith we must pray for our new President and Vice-President. The future of our nation and the free world are now in the hands of our new president and his administration. So please Pray for President Trump and Vice-President Pence that they might be inspired to lead with justice, truth and love for all human life and a deep respect for human dignity. We must pray for all our elected leaders that they may truly serve the common good of our nation.
We might remember the Prayer for Government composed by Archbishop John Carroll of Baltimore. In 1789 he was named the first bishop in the United States and was the first-cousin of Charles Carroll, the only Catholic to sign the Declaration of Independence. Archbishop Carroll wrote these prayerful words: 
“We pray Thee O God of might, wisdom, and justice! Through whom authority is rightly administered, laws are enacted, and judgment decreed, assist with Thy Holy Spirit of counsel and fortitude the President of these United States, that his administration may be conducted in righteousness, and be eminently useful to Thy people over whom he presides; by encouraging due respect for virtue and religion; by a faithful execution of the laws in justice and mercy; and by restraining vice and immorality. Let the light of Thy divine wisdom direct the deliberations of Congress, and shine forth in all the proceedings and laws framed for our rule and government, so that they may tend to the preservation of peace, the promotion of national happiness, the increase of industry, sobriety, and useful knowledge; and may perpetuate to us the blessing of equal liberty."
On Monday we remember the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King and
his fight for justice. Dr. King reminds us: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Let us pray for an end to all injustice, bigotry, racism and hatred. Happy MLK Day! Be well. Do good. God Bless. Go Pats, Go!!!