From Our Pastor

From Our Pastor

Dear Folks,

One new thing I learned this week: God spits.

Ok, that’s not really new, b/c I have noticed that in the gospel for years. But the new tidbit is this: that Jesus spitting in the Gospel would have triggered a recollection from Genesis of God creating Adam.

Genesis 2:7 reads: “Then the LORD God formed the man out of the dust of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”

The verb ‘formed’ is a word that means forming and molding with clay like a potter. However dust is dry and would thus resist being formed and holding a shape. What I learned is that, at the time of our Lord, there was a Jewish tradition that God used spit to moisten the dust, and form Adam. Ahhhhh…..

In Mark and John’s gospels, when Jesus uses spit and dirt to form clay, for healing, evoking the Father’s creative power in healing and restoring what has been damaged by sin. We will read one of the accounts from Mark’s gospel (Mk 7:31-37) this coming Labor Day weekend.

Until recently, this was repeated in the Right of Baptism. Most of you older than 50, were baptized in the old latin rite. The priest had to touch the infant’s ears and mouth with his spit! I once did a baptism in the old rite and I thought, “really? gross!” Can’t say I’d be excited to see that make a comeback in the CoronaVirusAge. But it now makes much more sense as a constant thread from the act of creation in Genesis, through the miraculous healings of our Lord, to our re-creation in baptism.

pax,

Fr. John Mosimann

XVI Sunday In Ordinary Time
July 18, 2021
Parking at St Mary

Parking at St Mary

St Mary is blessed to be located in a great spot here in the College Heights neighborhood in downtown Fredericksburg.  Being located in a neighborhood gives us special obligations to be good neighbors to the residents who live around the church.  One way we can contribute to being good neighbors is by how we park for Mass.  As you all know, we have a parking lot that is often too small for our church, often necessitating parking in the neighborhood to attend Mass. St Mary wishes to encourage our parishioners as much as possible to be mindful of the neighbors in front of whose houses we park, and one way of doing that is to first try and park on the new parking spots added on William Street in the past year.  This street parking provides direct access to the parish property with little to no inconvenience to our neighbors.  We encourage anyone coming from downtown up William Street to use those spots first before attempting to park anywhere else.  One other way to make the parking situation better is to park in a way that will allow a maximum number of cars to fit on the street.  On Sunday mornings, some of our neighbors have to park 2 or 3 blocks from their house because of our overflow onto the neighborhood streets.  Please park considerately.  And lastly, when exiting the parking lot on the Stafford Avenue Exit, please be cautious and mindful of the fact that we are exiting into a neighborhood.  These small considerate steps can help to alleviate a great stress on our neighbors, and make Sunday Mass a little more prayerful and a little less hectic once we leave the church for the chaos of the world.

From Our Pastor

From Our Pastor

Dear Folks,

This week I read, and shared on Facebook, words from a homily on the priesthood by the Cardinal who would become Benedict XVI. (A short link to the article: https://tinyurl.com/w77v8bsn).

Some of the words echo back a theme that Fr. Kelly touched upon as he was leaving: that he wants you to know Jesus. In a priestly vocation the Lord touches
a man and invites him to intimacy that exceeds both imagination and expectations. To know Him as friend and Lord is at the heart of the invitation received and passed on. That encounter is not unique to us, but priests are also gifted with being an instrument to enkindle that fire of love in other souls!

The future pope added this personal story about the bond of friendship and grace:

When I cross Saint Peter’s Square, indeed, when I simply step out of the house, I encounter people from all countries, of all ages, from all walks of life. They recognize me as a bishop and are glad because a bishop is for them a successor of the apostles, a bearer of the mystery of the Church, a messenger of Jesus Christ. Again and again it is as though we are all old friends. No one is a stranger to the other. Through the faith, we are all acquainted.  Through the Church, we all belong to each other. And what is most moving for me is the joy that is alive in all these encounters.

I know people (with pictures to prove it) who encountered him exactly as he speaks of walking across St. Peter’s Square at the same time each day. Their stories of his humility and warmth chatting with him stuck in my memory.

So, thank you Fr. Kelly, and all of the priests who have and will serve you and all believers. And on behalf of our priests, thank you for the warmth and kindness of your love for the priesthood. The Lord has brought us together and let our paths cross so that we might share in His love. But above all, thank the Lord who accomplishes all these good things in us.

All goodness is an unmerited gift from the Blessed Trinity!

pax,

Fr. Mosimann

July 11, 2021
XV Sunday In Ordinary Time