Short note today, because today I visited the church and tomb of St. Nicholas. It appears he has already headed up north to check on the work of his elves ,so I didn’t get a chance to filll him in on your Christmas wish lists!!
I’ll send afew pix and renew my exhortation to watch the series I mentioned last week, (https://www.ewtn.com/programs/10781-road-less-traveled-turkiye) (or google “EWTNroadless traveled Türkiye” to find it) which provides a beautiful window into the early days of the church!
I will offer Mass for y’all at the home of Our Lady in Ephesus on November 1st!
Close readers of the bulletin will know that I have headed to Turkey and Greece to lead a group on pilgrimage from the parish. Why? I was curious to see and visit the lands so essential to the life and ministry of St. Paul, and the growth of the early church!
And then last week, I found that EWTN is releasing a series on this very theme!! Five episodes have been released, and it can be streamed from free from the EWTN website: https://www.ewtn.com/programs/10781-road-less-traveled-turkiye
or google “EWTN road less traveled Türkiye” to find it!
If you want to understand why this region of the world is important, you can get a tour from the comfort of your couch!
Ballot Initiatives:
Bishop Burbidge has led us in speaking up boldly and clearly about this year’s ballot initiatives. I went and voted before heading out of town, and was shocked to read how vague the wording of the initiatives is. The very language of these initiatives is designed to hide what they will accomplish. But this is not new.
Please vote. And yes, the Church must speak on matters of faith and morals. We avoid partisan directives very carefully, but on matters of morals being Catholic does not forfeit the right to speak.
I don’t know that the initiatives will be defeated. But I do know that my judgment depends on my actions, not on the outcome of ballot initiatives. People often ask why others sit by and do nothing in the face of grave societal evils, and sometimes it is the complacency of thinking nothing can be done and we won’t win.
God has called us to be faithful, and to defend the innocent and vulnerable. He will be the ultimate victor, even if local battles are lost. So do your part.
Nothing much to report here: just a long week at St. Mary’s as we bid adieu to Elaine Stanislawski who has worked here for 32+ years! And I do have to get you results for America the Beautiful photo contest!
So today I will thank the parishioner who invited me to join him for a day of off-road Jeeping! It was great to take a day away from the office, and I only spent some of the day, typing notes for a meeting on my phone! We went in with a group of Jeep enthusiasts up into the mountains near Harrisonburg and took a trail with some rock obstacles too big for ‘regular’ cars. Often picking the most ‘spicy’ lines to drive over rock obstacles!
It had me dreaming of buying a Jeep, until I recalled that it is way, way better to just ride with the parishioners who already have the cars and knowledge! I greatly enjoyed the glorious fall Virginia day! I think we really appreciate perfect weather here, because we don’t often get it!
So I will share with you a few pix, just for fun, and hope that you too can spend time with family and friends.
