From Our Pastor

From Our Pastor

Dear Folks,

What a year it has been. We have passed the one year anniversary of the shutdown, and many folks are beginning to feel more comfortable returning to Mass. For that I am grateful. I have received several emails from folks wondering just how the accommodations for COVID precautions will affect their experience of praying the Mass. Or alternatively, emails from folks who recently returned and are grateful for those accommodations. We are going to begin including altar servers once again at our Masses and recently sent an email to reconnect with the team. If you did not receive an email or are interested in altar serving please email stmaryfxbg@gmail.com. A quick word of thanks to Vicky Kopcak who has faithfully directed this ministry for many years, may God reward you, and a welcome to Lara Traylor who is taking the reins moving forward.

I must also thank the many staff members and volunteers who have displayed great generosity in serving during this pandemic. It has required a degree of flexibility and understanding in the face of ever-changing parameters and requirements from the Commonwealth. I honestly don’t think that most parishioners understands how difficult it has been this year to keep this parish running. I will leave you with these words of Pope Benedict in an address to Volunteers from 2008:

“Volunteers want to be asked, they want to be told: “I need you” – “You can do it!” How good it feels to hear words like these! In their human simplicity, they unwittingly point us to the God who has called each of us into being and given us a personal task, the God who needs us and awaits our response. Jesus called men and women, and gave them the courage needed to embark on a great undertaking, one to which, by themselves, they would never have dared to aspire. To allow oneself to be called, to make a decision and then to set out on a path – without the usual questions about whether it is useful or profitable – this attitude will naturally bring healing in its wake. The saints have shown us this path by their lives. It is a fascinating and thrilling path, a path of generosity and, nowadays, one which is much needed. To say “yes” to volunteering to help others is a decision which is liberating; it opens our hearts to the needs of others, to the requirements of justice, to the defense of life and the protection of creation. Volunteer work is really about the heart of the Christian image of God and man: love of God and love of neighbor.”

Brothers and Sisters, you are wanted, needed, appreciated and loved! Welcome back to all of our parish members, and all who work so hard to make St. Mary’s a family!

pax,

Father John Mosimann

March 21, 2021
V Sunday of Lent
From Our Pastor

From Our Pastor

Dear Folks,

St. Ignatius has a principle of the spiritual life called the ‘particular examen.’ It means that once a day, (maybe with night prayers, or lunch, or in the car ride home), we stop what we are doing and examine that very day with regards to one particular sin or fault. Do this for a year, relentlessly and honestly looking, and you can root out a lot of sin. And if you don’t know what sin to relentlessly examen, then ask your spouse or parents.

Maybe I am harsh and judgmental, and want to ask the Lord for the grace to be more merciful. What if you made this your particular examen, “Where did I miss today an opportunity for mercy?” Anyone who asks this honestly will find several ways that he or she can improve.

Mercy is the enduring constant love of God. I know I have repeated this to you before, but one of our RCIA folks defined mercy and grace thus: “Grace is God giving us what we don’t deserve.” “Mercy is God not giving us what we do deserve.”

I need Mercy. You need Mercy. We all need Mercy. Let’s help to give it to one another. Forgive someone who is not asking for forgiveness. Forgive someone who refuses to repent from their error. Forgive the one who has hurt you most keenly.

Oh yeah…. and confessions: the more you do the difficult work of extending mercy to others, the more you will experience and treasure the Lord’s gift of mercy to you.

Whatever you decide needs to be the focus of your own personal particular examen, it is a great tool for making progress in the spiritual life.

A Blessed Lent to each member of our parish family.

pax,

Father John Mosimann

March 14, 2021
IV Sunday of Lent
From Our Pastor

From Our Pastor

Dear Folks,

Do you believe when you don’t understand? Sometimes we say that things ‘don’t make sense.’ But, we should always qualify that phrase as ‘don’t make sense to me.’ I remember a talk that I attended given by a ‘celebrity priest’ back when I was in college. He defined faith as, ‘belief without proof, but not without reason.’ As a student of physics, and one who loves science, that definition resonated with me. There are many reasons why each of us believe, and many of them are tied up in our relationships with family, friends, our parish, and the Lord. Know your reasons why, and be ready to offer them as witness.

And OOOOPS!! So this week I learned something new. I was asked by a parishioner if it was ok to use beef or chicken stock in soups on Fridays during Lent. I answered with what I thought I knew the answer to be: “No.” This was how I was raised, no boulioun in soup, no meat, just fish sticks. (And yes, like any right thinking child I despised frozen fish sticks). However, a podcast from Catholic Answers and Jimmy Akin, set me straight. A 1966 document (Paenitemini) was promulgated defining the penitential discipline of the Church changed the Catholic law on soups! It removed he prohibition on eating soups made from meat. Yes, abstaining from meat is still required, but that means that soups like chicken broth and bouillon are legitimate. I am sure that my parents taught me what they knew and grew up with. At the time this change was promulgated, my parents had just two months prior welcomed their 6th child home, so I don’t ‘blame’ them for missing this change!

So I write this, to correct the erroneous answer I gave to a parishioner, to let your consciences be informed, and to thank God that we can always keep learning!

Have a blessed Lent!

pax,

Father John Mosimann

March 7, 2021
III Sunday of Lent