Letters from a Pastor to His People- May 31, 2020

Dear Parishioners,

A priest friend of mine recently shared with me Teilhard de Chardin's Prayer of Patient Trust. Let me share it with you here. It is fitting both for the celebration of Pentecost, which is this weekend, and for the COVID crisis.

Above all, trust in the slow work of God.
We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end without delay.
We should like to skip the intermediate stages.
We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new.

Letters from a Pastor to His People- May 24, 2020

Dear Parishioners,

Clouds are mentioned quite a bit in Sacred Scripture. In the Old Testament, God was manifested in a cloud. We read in the Book of Exodus, "And as soon as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud" (Exodus 16:10). A column of cloud led the Israelites through the desert (cf. Exodus 13:21) and then the shekinah was like a cloud or light that was in the temple of Jerusalem, signifying God's dwelling.

Letters from a Pastor to His People- May 17, 2020

Dear Parishioners,

Why are you Catholic? Why do you believe in God? Why do you pray and why do you try to live a morally upright life? If you are joyful and peaceful on account of your faith, why?
Don't take offense at these questions. I'm not trying to make you feel guilty or put you on the defensive. And I'm certainly not trying to make you second-guess yourself.

Letters from a Pastor to His People- May 10, 2020

Dear Parishioners,

This Sunday's Gospel is one we typically read at funerals.  It is meant to be a consoling passage, and one focused on the afterlife.  "Jesus said to his disciples: 'Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places'"(John 14:1-2).

Letters from a Pastor to His People- May 3, 2020

Dear Parishioners,

I have a small statue of the Good Shepherd on my bookshelf in my office.  Someone gave this to me when I became pastor.  It is about eight inches or so tall, made of white plaster, and depicts a shepherd (not necessarily Christ) carrying a sheep over his shoulders.  It's an image I'm sure you all are familiar with.