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• Bienvenido

that the ‘official summary’ of the Synod process in the parishes and dioceses of our country has now been presented by the Bishops of the United States and is available?

We participated in the Synod process, with several sessions, here in January, and found it a great listening/learning moment.

Among the findings synthesized in the report are: that Catholics across the country continue to feel wounded by the clergy abuse crisis, seek a more welcoming church in which their "lived reality" is prioritized over rules and regulations, and desire lifelong spiritual, pastoral and catechetical formation as disciples.

This is very much in line with what surfaced in our parish discussions. It can be summarized with the desire expressed by many, that we become a “more welcoming Church”!

Our Parish/Finance Council spent some time reviewing what was shared in the listening sessions and trying to creatively address the concerns that were raised. There will be more
on that planning coming out soon!

It is very much an on-going conversation, and your input is always welcome. (Parish/Finance Council meetings are the 3rd Tuesday of each month, at 5:30 PM in Madonna Hall!)

We are also beginning to move out of the sense of isolation and ‘disconnectedness’ occasioned by the pandemic and the lockdowns.

Attendance at Mass, classes, and participation in various expressions of devotional life (Adoration, public Rosaries, prayer groups) is certainly on the increase, as is a renewed sense of belonging to the Catholic (“Universal”) Church!

We are certainly being ‘stretched’ out of any narrow parochialism.

This awareness has been very much increased by the presence of Fr. Samuel (Nigeria), Fr. Jude (Nigeria), and Fr. Simon (Kenya) serving among us, as well as the visit of Fr. Anthony Corcoran (Kyrgyzstan) in June, and, this coming week, Fr. Silas Bogati (Nepal)!

We have also been very connected with our sister-parish, Mole St-Nicolas in Haiti, the Diocese of Santo Domingo in Ecuador, and Fr. Marco’s home parish in Vera Cruz, Mexico!

We have also increased our support of the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) missionaries, and, of course, we continue to support Bethlehem University in the Holy Land!

We are told, in the Gospel, to watch for the ‘signs of the times’, and while there is much that is alarming and deeply challenging, there are also many signs of renewed life and Spiritual energy all around us!

In His parable of the wheat and the weeds (Matthew 13:24-43) our Lord tells us that the good and the evil are both growing – that the bad will get worse, but that the good will get much better, as we move toward the harvest! There is cause for rejoicing here!

Congratulations to our Fr. Rob Neske, who was promoted to the rank of Knight Commander (the highest rank given to Priests)in the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem this past weekend!
 

“I have no taste for corruptible food not for the pleasures of this life. I desire the Bread of God, which is the Flesh  of JESUS Christ, Who was of the seed of David; and for drink I desire only His Blood, which is love incorruptible.”
                                                                                                            

                                                                                                                         - St. Ignatius of Antioch (died 108)

This Week’s Question: “Where is Adam’s grave?”

The answer to last week’s Question: “What is the connection between Saint Jerome and the Lion?” The pious legend says that a lion entered a schoolroom in which St. Jerome was teaching and lifted one of its paws. Although the disciples all fled, Jerome proceeded to extract a thorn from the lion’s paw and dress the wound. The legend points to the effect of kindness, and the transforming power of gratitude. The story is set in a classroom, because St. Jerome was a prodigious scholar – his ultimate life’s work was translating the entire Bible into Latin (the “Vulgate”), the Old Testament he translated from Hebrew and the New from Greek. He worked in a cave/home next to the cave/stable in which Christ, and his cave study-and-home can still be visited by pilgrims to Bethlehem.

(If you would like to be as well-informed as the “Quiz Master” – pick up a copy of the Catholic Source Book, available in the Parish Office, for only $25!)