Living the Sacrament of Baptism

Dear Parishioners:

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. The Christmas season officially ends today. We set aside for another year the Christmas carols and put away nativity sets in our homes and churches. Likewise, the Christmas trees and poinsettia plants are removed from Church.   With the Baptism of the Lord, we begin the liturgical season known as Ordinary Time. We again wear green vestments, and the Church's decorations are simpler.

Tradition held that Christmastide ended on February 2nd, Candlemas or the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord. The Presentation is also known as the Purification of Mary. It commemorates the occasion when the Blessed Virgin Mary, in obedience to Jewish law, went to the Temple in Jerusalem to be purified 40 days after the birth of her Son, Jesus, and to present him to God. 

The Baptism of the Lord is the occasion when the Trinity is revealed—the Son makes himself known, the Father speaks, and the Holy Spirit descends. This mystery, the mystery of the Trinity, brings the revelations of the holy season of Christmas to their fulfillment. As Catholics, we do not believe God is merely an idea in our mind or a projection of our best self. God is not for us some unknown and unknowable force in the universe or a feeling in our heart. The one true God has revealed himself in Jesus Christ as the Trinity—the mysterious communion of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a communion of Divine Love "in which we live and move and have our being."

This Divine Love brought all into existence, and because of Christ, it is to this Divine Love that we will all one day return. Since most of us were baptized as infants, today's Feast can be an occasion to recall our Baptism and reflect upon that day when life changed forever. Today, we offer prayers and gratitude for those who led us to the font of Baptism, our parents and godparents.

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI once spoke to the parents of the infants he was about to baptize. He said: "What happens in the Baptism that I shall shortly be administering to your children? Exactly this: they will be deeply united with Jesus forever, immersed in the mystery of his power, of his might, namely, in the mystery of his death which is a source of life so as to share in his resurrection, to be reborn to new life. In receiving Baptism they are reborn as children of God who share in the filial relationship that Jesus has with the Father, in other words, who can address God, calling him with full confidence and trust: 'Abba, Father'."

For most of us, our Baptism happened so long ago when we were infants and we have mostly forgotten about it. In our minds, our Baptism happened once rather than something that defines us now. This thinking is why Pope Francis, a few years ago, asked all Catholics on the Feast of the Lord's Baptism to "ask about the date of your Baptism. That way you can bear in mind that most beautiful day of Baptism. To know the date of our Baptism is to know a blessed day. The danger of not knowing it is losing awareness of what the Lord has done in us, the memory of the gift we have received." 

For all of us who have forgotten the gift we have received at Baptism and find that our lives lack meaning, it is time to rediscover the clarity and purpose of who we became on the day we were baptized.  On the day we were baptized, we received a vocation from God, a unique calling to undertake in life, a special mission to accomplish. In the words of Saint John Henry Newman: "God has created me to do Him some definite service; he has committed some work to me which he has not committed to another. I have my mission."

Indeed every one of us and every baptized person can make these words their own. So that we might accomplish that mission, God has given us a variety of gifts to enrich the life of the Church and the world. As we celebrate this Feast and recall our Baptism, we might ask ourselves how well we live out our vocation as a baptized Catholic.

We thank the Hill Funeral Home for their generous sponsorship of our parish calendar.  They have been left out at the doors of the church, please take one home with you.  Hopefully, 2022 might be a healthier and happier year for the world! Be well. Do good. God Bless. Go Pats! 

Follow the Wise Men to Christ in the New Year

Dear Parishioners:

Happy New Year! The poet, T.S. Eliott, wrote: "For last year's words belong to last year's language and next year's words await another voice. What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning." And thus, we begin the Year 2022!              

Millions of people start a new year with resolutions. Pledging to change a bad habit or strive harder to achieve a goal. Typically these are resolutions to lose weight, quit smoking, go to the gym or Mass more. They center on self-improvement and personal goals. New Year's resolutions usually don't last more than a few weeks. Then, the bad habit starts again, leaving the good intention undone. Mark Twain's words too often ring true: "New Year's Day now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual."

I pray that in the Year of Our Lord, 2022, we may all find the fullness of grace that comes through a living and loving relationship with the One who makes all things new, Jesus Christ. Every human heart has a universal longing to be made new, to begin again, because the Holy Spirit prompts it in every human heart.

In and through Jesus Christ, there is also a way to be made new. That is the heart of the Gospel, the Good News! St. Paul reminds us: "whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come." 

The start of a new year is always full of great expectations. It invites a deeper spiritual reflection, offers hope for change, and calls us to make choices for good. In reality, our choices make us. So let us resolve in 2022 to live our lives in Jesus Christ and find the way to turn resolutions into reality. St. John Henry Newman said: "To live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often."

Today we celebrate the great Feast of the Epiphany. For much of our secular society, Christmas is over for another year. The trees and the lights are down, and decorations put away until next year. However, there is still more to come for Catholics. The Epiphany of the Lord is traditionally on January 6 and in many different cultures known as "Little Christmas," "Three Kings Day," "Twelfth Day of Christmas," or "Twelfth Night." The feast continues the Christmas season by commemorating the visit of the Magi or Wise Men to the Christ Child.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches: "The Epiphany is the manifestation of Jesus as Messiah of Israel, Son of God and Savior of the world and that the Magi's coming to Jerusalem, in order to pay homage to the king of the Jews, shows that they seek in Israel, in the messianic light of the star of David, the one who will be the king of the nations.." 

For Catholics, Christmas does not end on December 25, January 1, or even January 6. No, Christmas begins on the great feast of Christ's birth and continues with the Magi's visit to Bethlehem, with the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River, and with the Wedding Feast of Cana when his miraculous power is first publicly revealed.  The Lord Jesus Christ, born of Mary, adored by the Magi, is the Messiah, the Son of God and Savior of the World. Let the celebration continue on! With the Magi this Sunday of the Epiphany, "Come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!"

I offer my sincere thanks to all those who made the celebration of Christmas Masses so joyful. Celia Franzone and her crew beautifully decorated the Church. Paul Anderson and our maintenance team did excellent work cleaning the Church and setting up all the decorations. Our outstanding Altar Servers served reverently at Masses. Our many Lectors, Ushers, and Ministers were very helpful in assisting at Masses. And we thank Henri St. Louis and our OLM Choir for the beautiful music of the season.

Finally, in the name of Father Mahoney, Father Connors, and myself, I wish to thank the many parishioners who were so kind in offering generous personal gifts, delicious treats, and sincere greetings at Christmas. We are most grateful for the remembrance of your parish priests in this Holy Season and your support of our priestly ministry throughout the year. 

Be well. Do good. God Bless. Go Pats! Abundant Blessings for 2022!  Happy New Year!

Listen to the Bells on Christmas Day!

Dear Parishioners:                    

Merry Christmas! We joyfully celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ! On Christmas, the Word of God became flesh with the incarnation of Jesus Christ. It reveals God's intimate connection to his children. It expresses God's love and compels us to love one another.        

On Christmas day in 1863, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote the poem we now know as the Christmas carol, "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day." Happily, the new bless system is installed and we are ringing the bells once again at OLM to announce the Good News that Christ is born!

On the first Christmas night, the angels announced glad tidings to the poor shepherds in the fields surrounding Bethlehem. They told it with the words: "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests."

The Christmas Season has become known as the time of peace. Because the Son of God came to earth, He shares His peace with all. But if Christ came to bring peace, why is our world still not experiencing this promised universal peace? Only men of goodwill can receive this gift of peace. Peace begins with each individual interiorly and is only accepted by those who are open to it. And then that peace is spread.

Goodwill is: "a kindly feeling of approval and support, a benevolent interest or concern." It is synonymous with compassion, goodness, kindness, charity, friendliness, decency, and thoughtfulness. The spiritual writer, Father Jacques Philippe, writes: "A necessary condition for interior peace, then, is what we might call goodwill. We could also call it purity of heart. It is the stable and constant disposition of a person who is determined more than anything to love God, who desires sincerely to prefer in all circumstances the will of God to his own; who does not wish to consciously refuse anything to God." 

We cannot have peace without preparing our hearts with interior goodwill. We have to cooperate and be receptive to receive God's grace. Goodwill is the habit of saying "Yes" to God in both the little and big matters of life.

In his 1959 Message of Christmas, Saint Pope John XXII spoke of this peace and goodwill. He states: "At Bethlehem all men must find their place. In the first rank should be Catholics. Today especially the Church wishes to see them pledged to an effort to make His message of peace a part of themselves. And the message is an invitation to orient every act in accordance with the dictates of divine law, which demands the unflinching adherence of all, despite sacrifice. Along with such a deepened understanding, must go action. It is utterly intolerable for Catholics to restrict themselves to the position of mere observers. They should feel clothed, as it were, with a mandate from on high."

Silently and without notice, Our Lord came to earth at Bethlehem. He came as the "Prince of Peace" bringing His gift of peace. Peace on earth is a gift from God and not a matter of our merits. This peace is for all those who wish to unite their will to the holy will of God.  

  The Angel speaks of a kind of peace that transcends any earthly peace we seek. It is the peace of Christ within our very hearts and souls and the answer to the longing in our hearts that only Christ can give us. It only comes to the hearts and souls of those who know and seek the goodwill of Christ himself. We are called to serve and also to will the good of others. We do this through love and sacrifice, just as Jesus did and does every day on the Altar at Holy Mass.

Here at Mass is where we find true peace, the peace in our hearts that comes with being a person of goodwill. So let us announce the Good News to the world with not only the joyful ringing of our new Church bells but with true peace and goodwill. In imitation of the shepherds on the First Christmas, let us go "glorifying and praising God" for all we've heard and seen this day. "For today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord!”

In the name of Fr. Mahoney, and Fr. Connors, we wish you a Happy and Holy Christmas and Blessings for he New Year! Please know we will remember you at  Christmas Mass and pray that the Peace of the Christ Child  may be yours today and in the New Year!

Searching for Silence Amid the Hustle & Bustle of Christmas

Dear Parishioners:                                 

We enter into this final week of Advent and anticipate the great feast of Christmas next Saturday. The world tells us we must rush to get ready and finish up all the chores, shopping, cards, and cooking not yet done! In the world around us, people are frantic trying to ensure a perfect celebration of Christmas. Traffic is heavier, lines are longer, and patience runs short! All of this is a missed opportunity to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas.

As Pope Francis teaches: "The Christian knows that Christmas is a decisive event, an eternal fire that God has kindled in the world, and must not be confused with transient things. We mustn't reduce it to a merely sentimental or consumerist festival."

I encourage you to take some time this week to prepare for the authentic celebration of Christmas. And while we might have to wrap gifts, write cards, bake cookies, clean the house, run errands, and visit friends to make merry, let's not get caught up in the mad rush before Christmas. Instead, schedule some time this week for silence and prayer, come to Church and sit before the Lord and contemplate the meaning of Christmas.

The great Catholic Author, G. K Chesterton once wrote: "The great majority of people will go on observing forms that cannot be explained; they will keep Christmas Day with Christmas gifts and Christmas benedictions; they will continue to do it, and someday suddenly wake up and discover why."

Many voices in our contemporary culture suggest that the true meaning of Christmas is being kind to each other, being with our families, or some different warm, sentimental feeling. A kind of Christmas without a real Christ!

On the contrary, the real purpose of Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Its true meaning is that God so loved us that He gave His only begotten Son. God humbled Himself to share our human condition even unto death and to save us from sin and death.  

  There is no better way to celebrate and rejoice at the birth of the Savior than at Holy Mass on Christmas. We have one Vigil Mass on Christmas Eve at 4:00 pm. Then, of course, Midnight Mass is at Midnight and is preceded by a concert of Christmas music at 11:30 pm. On Christmas Day, there are three Masses: 7:30 am, 9:00 am, and 10:30 am. There is no 4:00 pm Mass on Saturday, Christmas Day! 

  When we receive Holy Communion, we welcome Christ into our world—just as Mary and Joseph, the shepherds, and the wise men did so long ago. The same joy and hope that warmed that simple stable in Bethlehem centuries ago should illuminate our hearts every time we welcome Christ here and now in Holy Communion. 

For every Mass is Calvary. But every reception of the Holy Communion is, in a sense, Bethlehem: the "house of bread," the place where God enters into our lives, our history, our hearts, and our bodies. So when we step forward to receive Holy Communion, we should cherish the moment and truly realize what we receive. As God first visited the world and dwelled among us as a tiny infant, so He comes to us now, in a fragile and humble piece of bread.

You will be able to worthily prepare to receive this great gift as there are two hours of Confession with four priests available Monday from 6:00 pm until 8:00 pm. Cleanse your soul of sin and selfishness to truly adore the Christ Child. Put Confession on your Christmas list !

Last Wednesday, Sr.  Lourdes returned home to the Philippines. She is there for a month attending the General Chapter Meeting of her community, the Franciscan Apostolic Sisters. It is an important meeting in which the community elects a superior. Please keep her and her community in your prayers as they gather together. We will miss Sr. Lourdes this Christmas, but Sisters Emma and Soledad are with us to celebrate with their usual joyous faith!

Let's not forget the reason for the season, Jesus Christ!  So stop this week to welcome the Savior. Be more prayerful, patient, joyful, charitable, faithful, and hopeful! Be well. Stay safe. Do good. God Bless. Go Pats! O Come, let us adore Him! We wish you a Happy and Holy Christmas!

Rejoicing and Repenting for Christmas!

Dear Parshioners:

On this third Sunday of Advent, the penitential purple of the season changes to rose, and we celebrate "Gaudete" or "Rejoice!" Sunday. Zephaniah exclaims: "Shout for joy, daughter of Sion," And St. Paul teaches us to: "Rejoice in the Lord always." St. John the Baptist preaches in the Gospel: "His winnowing fan is in his hand to clear his threshing floor  and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire!" 

Why is this stark message of St. John the Baptist appearing on "Rejoice Sunday"? His stern call to repentance does not seem to fit the joy we are anticipating in Christ. However, St. John the Baptist is the patron saint of spiritual joy. After all, he leaped for joy in his mother's womb at the presence of Jesus and Mary. And scripture says that John rejoices to hear the Bridegroom's voice!

St. John the Baptist was joyful because he was humble. In fact, he shows us the true nature of this virtue. Humility is not beating up on yourself, denying that you have any gifts, talents, or importance. John knew he had an important role that he lived out with authority and confidence. Humility does not mean that we sheepishly look down on ourselves. John does not look at himself at all. He looks away from himself to the Lord. 

Pride is sinful because it leads us to be preoccupied with ourselves and causes us to forget God and our neighbor. St. Augustine teaches: "There never can have been, and never can be, and there never shall be any sin without pride."

The proud have to perpetually exalt themselves over others in the hope that this provides a sense of worth and inner peace. But, of course, it doesn't. Human history has proven this time and time again. Pride always comes before the fall, as it did in the Garden of Eden. Again Saint Augustine reminds us: “It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels.”

Humility brings freedom from this egotistical and selfish bondage. Freed from the blinding compulsion to exalt ourselves, we can truly recognize the presence of God. We begin to feel a sense of satisfaction when we realize that God is God and honor him as such. We can even freely recognize godliness in someone else and rejoice when others notice and honor them.

But what about John's stark call to repentance? How is this Good News? Because repentance is all about humility, and humility is all about freedom. And freedom leads to inner peace and joy, joy in the presence of the Bridegroom. How can we find this freedom? Where is to be obtained? We find it when we humbly repent of our sins in the Sacrament of Confession. Trusting in God's mercy, we can humbly kneel in contrition and admit our sins.

There are ample opportunities for Confession at OLM before Christmas. Every Monday night at 6:00PM and every Saturday afternoon at 3:00PM. This Monday night, we welcome two Dominican Friars from Providence College for Confession. On Monday, December 20th, there are two hours of Confession from 6:00PM until 8:00PM, with four priests available both hours. Two great opportunities at OLM to make a good Confessions before Christmas.

If we truly wish to rejoice in the Lord, it begins with a good Confession. St. John the Baptist is calling each of us to humbly repent and believe the Good News that Christ loves and saves us! In these two weeks left before Christmas, make the time to humbly come to the Confessional.

Pope Francis has urged Catholics to return to the Sacrament of Confession with frequency.  He states: “Everyone should ask: 'When was the last time I went to confession?' And if it has been a long time, don't lose another day! Go, the priest will be good. And Jesus, will be there, Jesus receives you. He will receive you with so much love! Be courageous, and go to confession. “

So be courageous and prepare the way for Christ. It is easily done with more time in prayer, greater charity to the poor and needy, faithfully attending Mass every week, and making a good Confession frequently! Keep the Friars busy at Monday Night Confessions as we prepare the way of the Lord!

Be well. Stay safe. Do good. God Bless. Go Pats!!!!

Immaculate Conception and the Supreme Court

Dear Parishioners:

On Wednesday, December 8, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which celebrates the dogma that Mary was preserved from original sin from the moment of her conception.      The origin of the feast arose in the Eastern Church in the seventh century. It came to the West in the eighth century. In the 11th century, it received its present name, the Immaculate Conception. Finally, in the 18th century, it became a feast of the universal Church and is now recognized as a solemnity.

  In 1854, Pius IX solemnly proclaimed: "The most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instant of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the savior of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin."

  In 1846, while meeting in Baltimore, the U.S. bishops adopted a decree naming Mary, "conceived without sin," as patroness of the United States. Pope Pius IX approved the choice and placed the United States under the patronage of the Immaculate Conception in 1857.

This Solemnity is a holy day of obligation on which Catholics are obligated to attend Mass. A Vigil Mass is to be celebrated Tuesday at 5:00 PM, and on Wednesday, there are Masses are at 7:30 AM, 9:00 AM School Mass, and 7:00 PM.

And while we anticipate the joyous celebration of Mary’s Immaculate Conception, this past Wednesday, December 1, the U.S. Supreme Court considered the conception of unborn children as it heard oral arguments in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization concerning Mississippi's ban on most abortions after 15 weeks. The Court is considering the question of whether all bans on pre-viability abortions are unconstitutional.

Legal experts say the case presents an ideal opportunity for the Supreme Court to reconsider previous rulings that upheld legal abortion nationwide. The 1973 Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion in the entire nation, Roe v. Wade, said that states could not ban abortion before the "viability" of the fetus. Viability is the point at which an unborn child can survive outside the womb. The Court determined it to be around 24 to 28 weeks into pregnancy.

  Nearly 20 years later, the Court upheld that ruling in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, saying that states could regulate pre-viability abortions but could not pose an "undue burden" in doing so. Mississippi's law bans most abortions after 15 weeks which is well before the point of "viability" established in Roe and upheld in Casey. Mississippi's law directly challenges the Roe and Casey decisions. Many legal experts suggest that these rulings were already vulnerable and ripe for reconsideration.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, in its friend-of-the-court brief filed July 27, stressed that abortion is not a right created by the Constitution and called it "inherently different from other types of personal decisions to which this court has accorded constitutional protection."

  Referring to the Court's major abortion decisions, the brief warned that if the Supreme Court "continues to treat abortion as a constitutional issue," it will face more questions in the future about "what sorts of abortion regulations are permissible."

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: "Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law."

As Catholics, we are called to pray for the protection of the sanctity of all human life. Prayer is the foundation of everything we do in defense of human life. So let us pray for the Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court as they consider this case, and let us pray for an end to abortion in our nation and our world.

This weekend, I am in Washington, DC, attending meetings of the National Association of State Catholic Conference Directors at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. We will be updated by legal experts and USSCB Staff on the Dobbs Case and other issues, including religious liberty, vaccine mandates, immigration, refugee resettlement, poverty, and Catholic Education.   

It’s Advent, so prepare the way with prayer, Mass, and Confession! Be well. Stay safe. Do good. God Bless. Go Pats!!!!