Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church

Again writing this note on the bus in Germany! Today is our last full day, leaving Munich, visiting Rothenberg on the way to Frankfurt where we will catch a flight home.

One more reflection on The Passion Play, having now seen it! The ‘difficulties’ in it were in the written text. It was often jarring to see things portrayed and said that just aren’t in the gospel. The ‘world’ presumes that the whole account of the gospels is fiction, and thus has no problem re-writing it to fit the modern world. Of course that makes sense, IF you accept their presumption!

The staging, singing, and production are truly first rate! I am so glad that I came with this bus full of pilgrims. The production included many connections to Old Testament accounts fulfilled in the passion narrative. For example, the friends of Job, accusing him, was connected to the trial of our Lord, and Joseph before the Pharaoh was connected to our Lord before Pilate!

When we consider the passion of our Lord, it should invoke the reflection, “look what our Lord did for me” or “look what my sins did to Jesus.” (The former is better, but the latter is good for repentance)! If our response is “look what they did to Jesus,” then our reflections on the passion have missed the mark badly.

St. Theresa of Avila, in her great work on prayer The Interior Castle, speaks of the necessity of meditation on the sacred humanity and passion of our Lord:

“Let us begin by considering the mercy of God showed us by giving us His only son…. [R]eflect upon all of the mysteries
of His glorious life… then allow them to continue the subject until they reach the crucifixion…. This is meritorious kind of prayer…. [Don’t] forget these precious proofs of His love which are living sparks to inflame the heart with a greater love of our Lord.”

All right, the bus is pulling in for a pit stop, and I am going to go grab a cup of delicious coffee!

Pax,

Fr. Mosimann

As you read this….I am in Oberammergau!

Ever since I heard of The Passion Play in Oberammergau, I have wanted to see it. I must have imagined a dramatic and faith filled production of
art and culture from a time long gone when people believed in stopping plagues by prayer and promises to the Lord.

But in 1990, my parents went, and I remember my father coming back and saying, “that was disappointing.”

In 2020, the newest plague canceled The Passion Play, and this pilgrimage was pushed back two years. Pilgrims who couldn’t wait two years lost deposits labeled ‘unrefundable’ in the fine print of the registration.

Last month, I watched a video, and found that The Passion Play has been even further updated for modern times. Jesus is portrayed as interested in political reform, and social issues, but a little fuzzy on who he is! And the last supper? Stripped of distinctively Catholic elements, the words of institution are gone and replaced with, “Here, eat this and remember me.” The director said that “religious themes must recede to the background and social come to the fore.”

Expectations, yes, those are diminished! But doesn’t life often bring such?

Our Hope is not for or of this world. The fulfillment we seek cannot be found in this world. “Seek first the kingdom of God, and all other things will be added unto you!”

But I will also enjoy all that is good, true and beautiful in The Passion Play! The spectacle, music, the reenactment of the passion itself, and the script still brings forward many scriptural images of the Old Testament fulfilled in the passion. Not to mention the Bavarian countryside, German beer, and beautiful woodcarvings!

With realistic expectations, I will let the Lord surprise me with whatever gifts He should desire to give. Blessed be the Lord!

Pax,

Father John Mosimann

“Nothing is Impossible for God”

When the Stewardship Committee and I settled on the theme for this year, we were drawn to these words of the Archangel Gabriel to Our Lady.

Who, could have conceived of the good news that God almighty would become one of us? The all-powerful takes on weakness, the all-knowing becomes a baby, the eternal is born in space and time. Even the words of the prophets were veiled. Receiving this truth requires our willingness to hear the good news!

Our Lady received the message of the archangel with joy and faith. Her response asks about the path forward, not doubt nor denial.

Last week, I came across this gem on humility: “The seventh step of humility is that a man not only admits with his tongue but is also convinced in his heart that he is inferior to all and of less value…” (The Rule of St. Benedict, 37).

This is important: to express with our words and believe it in our hearts. It runs contrary to pride to see everyone else’s virtues as greater than mine. Roy Schoeman, a convert to the faith, claims to have had been given a conversation with the Blessed Mother. He asked, “How can it be that you are so exalted?” She responded, “No, you don’t understand, I am nothing, and He is everything.”

Everything she is and ever did proclaims the greatness of the Lord. Remembering that He is everything not only applies to lives of the saints, but to everything that we are and will ever do! The life of the saints and our lives become living icons.

I have been told at various times, “this is impossible” to which I answer, “not if God wills it.” In the months between picking this theme and unveiling it to you, I can attest that things labeled impossible are unfurling before us!

Finally, Mary answered Gabriel, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Behold, look, observe, and see. Filled with His grace, and in conformity to His will, she is inviting others to see the wonderous good news!

Thus the good news of the fire of divine love is received, believed, lived, and proclaimed to the world.

Nothing is Impossible for God

Pax,

Father John Mosimann

As I type this, Holy Cross Academy celebrated its first day back in school. At Mass, I said to the children that the building was crying without them all summer. Ok, that was a little exaggerated, or poetic. But we are truly made for communion with God and one another! A building without life is an empty shell. Thanks for your prayers that this be a healthy, holy, and happy year for all our students- at HCA, public and home schooled as well!

We are incarnational people. The truth of who we are is known in the light of the incarnation: the great dignity that God became one of us, so that we could become one with him. It is the great reminder that human nature is a union of the material world (our bodies) and spiritual (our souls). This is why physical presence matters, since it is part of our very nature.

I also said at Mass that I think we love the first day of school because everything is new and fresh: classrooms, textbooks, new teachers, new classmates! This newness reflects the words of the Lord, “Behold! I make all things new!” Heaven will be a constant thrill of delighting in the infinite beauty, goodness, and truth of God! Our love of new is a product of our deep thirst for our infinite, loving Father!

On the cover of this bulletin is our parish theme for the year, “Nothing is Impossible for God”. I am excited to share more with you all as the year unfolds on how we may trust in our Lord’s profound love and plan for each one of us and truly know that all things are possible with Him!

Pax,

Father John Mosimann