Diary of a Parish Priest

St. Aidan of Lindisfarne

St. Aidan was the second missionary called up to evangelize the lands of Northumbria. The first wasn't martyred or imprisoned, his methods were not working. St. Aidan, though he was pious and austere personally, was pastorally inviting.

St. Aidan's efforts met with unqualified success. His mission took birth from the Isle of Iona in a community founded by one of our Window Saints, St. Columkille (Columba). In Northumbria, Aidan eventually founded a community at Lindisfarne. 

Both communities of monks produced beautiful illustrated manuscripts - the Book of Kells and the Lindisfarne Gospels respectively.

There is usually more than one way to accomplish anything, St. Aidan is proof of that. Nor should we take someone else's failure as a prediction of our own efforts. Aidan kept the focus on his love for Jesus and the gospel. His love and compassion for those to whom he ministered flowed from that.

 

 

 

 

St. Fiacre

Saint Fiacre would  have preferred to live a life of solitude as a monk. He even left Ireland for France to find it, but his reputation for efficacious healing prayer and his growing of medicinal herbs preceeded him and people flocked to him wherever he went.

We've become so conditioned to have negative associations with the word "drugs" - their abuse, their expense, their side effects, that we may forget the abundance of healing chemicals and substances found in nature alone. Most of today's drugs are either found in nature or synthesized to resemble and improve upon naturally healing compounds.

Let us thank God for the healing gifts of nature and for St. Fiacre's insight that the best combination is prayer and healing compounds.

Watch With Jesus For One Hour Every Thursday Night 6:00 - 7:00 PM

One of the traditions surrounding Thursday evening Holy Hours was that they were a watch with Jesus on Holy Thursday evening in the Garden of Gethsemane. They come as a direct invitation from Jesus to wait with Him in the Garden.

We are expanding our once monthly Thursday evening devotions to every Thursday 6:00 - 7:00 PM.

There are no group prayers, official hymns or ceremony. Come for all or any part of the hour and watch with Him.

 

Welcome to New Faculty Members at Holy Cross School

Our new principal, Dr. Mark DeMareo has brought several new faculty members onboard and we are pleased to welcome these experienced and talented teachers:

Mrs. Kathleen Fry, who will be teaching 3A

Mr. Neil Brown, Music

Mrs. Megan Peter, Art.

The faculty is full of enthusiasm for the new year and are looking forward to the return of their students, new and old.

 

St. Augustine

Saint Augustine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

Saint Augustine's restless search for truth and love ended when he found Christ. 

Putting aside those modern interpreters who view Augustine as overly prudish or harsh, his writings are filled with love of Christ and an emphasis on the anticipated joys of heavenly beauty.

His passion for Christ and His Church burned even on his deathbed as the gates of Hippo were besieged by barbarians.

Perhaps his most famous quote is also his best:

Our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee, O God.

St. Louis IX of France, Holy Cross Window Saint

St. King Louis IX of France was to all accounts a man of exemplary piety and sincere faith. He led two Crusades to regain control of the Holy Sites in Jerusalem and died of illness during the second. He promoted the ecclesial reforms of the Dominicans and Franciscans. Whether or not he actually became a Franciscan tertiary is not certain, but it was for his support of the Franciscan Order that our window was originally installed in the Church of St. Francis in Philadelphia.

He is shown garbed in a robe with the royal symbol, fleur-de-lis and his earthly crown, holding not a scepter of power or an orb, but the Cross of Christ.

 

 

Saint Bartholomew, Apostle and Martyr

 

Statue of St. Bartholomew in St. John Lateran

With the same irony that names St. Bartholomew patron saint of tanners, the Church selects a reading from St. John's gospel, the only gospel which does not use the name Bartholomew to celebrate his feast day.  Philip, paired with Bartholomew in the three synoptic gospels, is paired with Nathaniel in John's gospel. Hence one of the reasons some scholars posit Nathaniel and Bartholomew as the same person.

 

One of the traditions concerning Bartholomew is that he was martyred by being skinned or flayed alive. This was the favorite depiction in art since the Renaissance and he is often shown holding the knife by which he was flayed in one hand and his own skin in the other. You may recall that historians speculate that the face on the flayed skin St. Bartholomew holds in Michelangelo's Last Judgment is actually a self-portrait by the artist.

Today we can celebrate Bartholomew's intellectual curiosity to explore the truth, his gift of faith to apprehend it when he met Jesus, and his zeal and enthusiasm to have this faith change not only his life but the life of the world. How sorely we need a thirst for truth in today's society where truth has been cynically discarded for "my story." So many have either despaired that there really is any truth, or have given up even looking for it.  Rational discourse has been replaced by dramatic, interpretive monologue.

Let us ask for the energy and courage St. Bartholomew had to spread the message that Christ is the "Way, the Truth and the Life."

 

Justice or Mercy

Today's gospel reminds us that we do not have a lock on God's loving concern or a veto over God's lavish giving.

A covenant is not simply a contract. For one thing, it is unbreakable - not rendered void by the action of one party. This is an important teaching not only for couples about to marry in the Church, but something for us to consider whenever we're led into anger or resentment because of God's forgiveness or mercy towards others.

The vineyard owner's question to the laborers "Are you envious because I am generous?" is a good one for us too.

 

Eclipse of Faith?

For a moment today, the sun will be darkened by planetary motions which scientists can predict even if not fully understand.

Faith in things unseen is a fundamental principle of the Christian view of the world. Religious faith is more complicated than having faith that the sun is still there even when we can’t see it. It’s a belief in things that cannot be seen or measured, but are nevertheless real – a spiritual world exists too. We can know enough about this realm using our human reason alone to agree on a public morality which should allow us to live in mutual respect and peace.

Through Divine Revelation, we believe that higher truth has been revealed through the Scripture and Sacred Tradition of the Church, enabling us to profess our faith in the Nicene Creed we pray every week at Mass.

Saints and spiritual writers encourage us to keep the faith during times of personal faith eclipse – times in our lives when God may seem absent and our spirits dark. When such feelings persist, St. John of the Cross called them the “Dark Night of the Soul.” We learn much about God and move into closer union with God, not by fleeing the dark night, but by learning to find God in the dark. Faith that God is near, even when we can’t see.

St. Pius X and Holy Communion

Pope St. Pius X promoted both frequent, even daily, reception of Holy Communion for adults and ensured that the practice of the Church was to welcome children to First Communion and First Penance when they had reached the age of reason, age seven.

They need not have a perfect understanding of Holy Eucharist, but merely an understanding that the Eucharistic Bread is different from ordinary bread and to receive it with a degree of piety and reverence appropriate for their age. 

The Pope called the reception of Holy Communion the "surest, easiest, shortest way" to heaven.

 

“Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.”

Read J. Janda's poem, "Jesus Speaks" at the St. Louis University Sunday webpage for some insights on treating people well.

 

Jesus Speaks by J. Janda

Saint Helena, Empress

St. Helena in St. Peter's

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Helena, an important saint in the church and in the iconography of our own parish.

St. Helena, whose son battled his way to imperial power ultimately under the banner of the Christian cross, was brought to the imperial court by her son and deputed to search for sites important to Christians in the Holy Land. Well into her senior years, she directed the demolition of pagan shrines often built over these sites and undertook excavations in Jerusalem which ultimately uncovered the True Cross, the tomb of Jesus and other precious relics.

Her pilgrimage and building opened the way for countless other pilgrims through the centuries to make the difficult journey to the holy sites in and around Jerusalem.

Travel pilgrimages survive today as a form of devotion, though usually not as perilous as those of yesteryear. The journey theme itself, however, is still an important metaphor for the life of Christian discipleship: we begin our challenging journey in this life in the footsteps of Jesus and follow His Way to the heavenly Kingdom. 

St. Helena's energy and enthusiasm for new projects in her senior years, her resilience of spirit following her divorce by her husband and her hope to search for the unseen can be inspirations for us today. We too, should revere Jesus' memory and the places he trod during His earthly life.

Let us ask her protection on life's journey as we follow Jesus on The Way.

 

 

Forgive Us Our Trespasses As We Forgive Those Who Trespass Against Us

What interesting Scripture readings for mass this morning. The first reading recounts Joshua's passage through the River Jordan with the Ark of the Covenant and the entire people of Israel, mirroring Moses' passage through the Red Sea - both leading the people to the Promised Land.

The gospel is from Matthew, whose gospel is carefully constructed around Mosaic themes, depicting Jesus as the "New Moses," who fulfills the Old Covenant and forms a new Covenant with his people. Like Moses and Joshua, but surpassing them both, Jesus leads them into the Kingdom of God.

The parable of the unforgiving servant reminds us that old rules no longer apply in the New Kingdom. The "lex talionis" or eye-for-an-eye is an overly rigorous expression of justice. Instead, we should show the same freely given forgiveness Jesus issues to us to our brothers and sisters in return.

Today, some grudge, resentment or unpaid debt will surely come to mind before Communion. Let us ask Jesus to help us release it, for in doing so we not only release our debtor, but our own spirit too. If we can't find the forgiveness in our own heart yet, we can surely find it in the Heart of Jesus.

 

 

 

New High Resolution Security Cameras

Holy Cross recently completed the installation of high resolution security cameras in and around the church. The school, of course has had such cameras for some time now and the old church had security cameras, but the new church has been without them until now.

Technology advances quickly and the quality of the images from modern security cameras far surpass those of even a few years ago. But electronic security cannot substitute for watchful eyes and the importance of reporting suspicious activity in and around the church to parish staff or the police.

There have been a few episodes of robbery from churches recently in our diocese. Keep watch on God's House!

 

St. King Stephen and Secular Power

St. Stephen of Hungary was crowned king by Pope Sylvester II in 1000 A.D. after Stephen consolidated his rule over competing tribal chieftains and allied with Christianity as a unifying dimension of his kingdom. He later founded many monasteries and built churches emphasizing liturgical and faithful unity with the papacy. 

Since the early days of the church,  the question of the use of force by Christian leaders has been a thorny one. St. Augustine's City of God famously dealt with the issue and much later, Martin Luther had more to say on the subject. The days of papal armies are long gone, the pope wielding moral authority more than worldly power. What are the legitimate uses of force, including lethal force, against evil? This question still prompts vigorous discussion. 

Bronze statue of St. Stephen in Aachen

 

Crown of St. Stephen

The Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary

In 1950 Pius XII infallibly defined the dogma of the Assumption of Mary, a belief already held by Catholics and many other Christians since the early days of the church. The dogma deliberately leaves open the question of whether Mary suffered death before her assumption prevented bodily deterioration. 

In 2005 on the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary,  the statue of Our Lady of Grace which stands atop our Carriage House was dedicated in Mary's honor and with prayers that she intercede for our parish and its people.

St. Maximilian Kolbe, Martyr of Charity

While canon lawyers are still discussing the technical requirements of the Catholic church for being declared a martyr, we should not miss Maximilian Kolbe's heroic life of virtue long before he volunteered to take the place of a condemned man in a Nazi concentration camp. His self-sacrifice and service to others continued even in the bleak starvation bunker with his fellow prisoners.

Pope Francis' recent motu proprio, "Greater Love Than This" defined a new category of sainthood -an offering of life. Traditionally, the death of a martyr for the faith had to occur as a direct and immediate hatred for the Catholic faith on the part of the oppressor toward the victim. 

 “They are worthy of special consideration and honor, those Christians who, following in the footsteps and teachings of the Lord Jesus, have voluntarily and freely offered their lives for others and have persevered until death in this regard.”

Pope Francis, Majorem hac dilectionem.

 

 

Stormy Seas and Seawalking

I laughed when St. Peter's sinking

into the stormy waves

reminded me of learning

To ride a bike.

For my first brief solo flights

without training wheels, 

I was fine until I realized

Dad wasn’t holding on anymore.

And then...crash...right into the hedges!

 

 

This gospel is wonderful encouragement

as we strive to follow Jesus.

First, encouragement not to lose faith

For it is then we begin to sink.

       There’s a point at which

       All the books about prayer

       Can’t teach us to pray

       If we don’t begin to pray

       And then stop worrying

       If we’re doing it right.

Second, reassurance

That if we’re heading

In the right direction...toward Jesus

And following his commands

He won’t let us sink.

 

St. Augustine preached

A wonderful homily

On this gospel

On which we can reflect

After we realize that

Augustine asks us

To make, “Lord, I’m sinking.”

Is not always easy to admit.

But we need not keep

Up a bravado with God - 

A false front of security

And calm, even if done

For the sake of others.

God doesn’t require it.

You are not walking on the lake like Peter
but on another sea, for this world is a sea;
Trials its waves, temptations its storms,
and men devouring each other as fishes do.
Don't be afraid, step out stoutly lest you sink.
When the gale blows and the waves rise,
and your weakness makes you fear you will be lost,
cry out, 'Lord, I am sinking,'
and he who bade you walk will not let you perish.

St. Augustine via At The Edge of the Enclosure a wonderful resource for prayerful reflection on Scripture each Sunday.

Could St. Clare Watch Television With You?

Pope Pius XII named St Clare, virgin and abbess,  patron saint of television due to her reported ability to "watch" mass on the wall of her room when she was unable to attend in the chapel due to illness. She had one of the earliest big screen televisions?

Her radical commitment to poverty, chaste living and prayer, especially in the Eucharist are counter-cultural images to our age of acquisition, sexual promiscuity and self-deification. 

Could we invite her to watch the television images we project on our walls?

 

St. Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr

 

Jesus told us that where our treasure is, there also will be our heart.

The lure of earthly possessions, reputation,  and other things which pass can attract our heart away from things which last forever.

St. Lawrence had it right when he counted not the possessions of the church as its riches, but its people gathered around Christ - especially its poor, sick and powerless.

We can profess our love for God, family and brothers and sisters in Christ, but our heart may have been tempted away from them.

Let us pray today, that we keep our hearts in the right place - centered in Christ.