This week, the Arlington Catholic Herald, our diocesan newspaper, published an article about the special blessings group we have in our parish, and in particular, a Mass celebrated for the families. The article is link HERE.
All parishes in the Diocese have been asked to take up a special emergency collection for disaster relief in Haiti. Although not previously announced, we will be taking up this collection this weekend and your generosity is most appreciated. All checks should be made payable to the parish with “Haiti” in the memo line. You may also bring or mail your donation to the parish office this week.
Dear Folks,
Tomorrow our school reopens for the year. Goodbye summer!
The first day of school is always one of excitement and potential! Parents rejoice, and children mourn as school bells ring. Remember that when you work and study, you are using the gifts that God has given you. He doesn’t give gifts without a purpose. Work has inherent dignity, that is often lost on modern man. We can be so focused on immediate gratification, that the long plan of education loses its shine by Labor Day.
A special word of support to our children who return to school this week: I pray for a peaceful year filled with energy and enthusiasm all year! I have been asking the children about returning to school, and it seems that many are excited to return, in-person and see their friends. But, none have expressed being tired of summer vacation…. surprise, surprise.
Did you know that our diocese has two patron saints? St. Thomas More and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton! St. Elizabeth Ann Seton is also one of several patron saints for schools. She was a wife, mother, and founder of a religious order dedicated to education. We know for sure that she can relate to the many pressures faced by modern families having to juggle so many demands! I have a relic of St. EAS, and I will be asking her to bless and intercede for our families and children who are returning to school!
Thanks to Google, I found a lovely article (tinyurl.com/2nhz6s4n) that contained this prayer for her intercession in the new school year:
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, you were a teacher who helped your students grow in their love for Jesus every day. Please ask Him to watch over our children as they begin their studies this year, to give their teachers the wisdom, strength and patience they need in their classrooms, and to help us—their parents—to know how to support them as they become the people God wants them to be. Amen.
Thanks for praying that by reading it just now!
pax,
Father John Mosimann
Dear Folks,
Every Feast of the Assumption I share with you a story of my grandmother visiting and how when she left I got up in gratitude to say goodbye. It deeply resonates with me why we must come to Mass to bid farewell to Our Lady as she is assumed into heaven.
Today, I want to share another childhood memory. I grew up living in a court, and the unwritten law of the land was that you didn’t park in front of your neighbor’s house. Maybe it is this way everywhere, but, I do recall how annoyed I was when folks parked in front of our house. Sometimes it seemed intentional, like when there was a spot open in front of their own house. I had to learn to ‘offer it up,’ as we all learn to deal with being human and annoying one another.
Ok, now St. Mary’s. We are surrounded on three sides by residential neighborhood, and as good neighbors, we must be aware that our parking needs can and sometimes do annoy our neighbors. If you worry that you can’t go to the store on weekends because there will be no parking near your home…. yeah…. that is difficult.
There are times when our parking spills out into the neighborhood,
and becomes a pain point for our neighbors. As pastor I have tried to address that, in part, by adding an evening Mass or two at Holy Cross on Ash Wednesday, one of our most congested days. Last Christmas and several Easters have been at the Expo Center.
Additionally, sometimes we are so full of the Holy Spirit at the end of the Mass that we want to fly…. and we fly out of the parking lot with the speed of the eagles. Our haste does not mean that we can drive through residential side-streets in a manner that is not safe.
What can we all do?
1. Please use the parking lot as much as possible. We did have the town add a number of spots along Williams Street in front of the church, and those are prime spots that don’t impact our neighbors. But too many folks park along other residential streets when there are still plenty of parking spaces in the lot (obviously b/c it allows for a quicker departure and not having to deal with the lot).
2. When you exit onto Stafford Avenue, remember that you are in a residential neighborhood with children at play.
Let’s be good neighbors, as charity begins with the Lord, and continues as we exit the parking lot and into all of our daily lives.
pax,
Fr. John Mosimann
