Pastor's Letter -- August 1, 2021

My dear parishioners,

It has become expedient that I address the rather disturbing occurrence at our weekend liturgies where a parishioner makes some distracting sounds as if having a religious experience right after the Gospel is proclaimed and at the beginning of the homily. Since my arrival, this has occurred on three different Sundays, and I cannot but imagine how parishioners and visitors feel when this occurs. I want you to know that I am bothered by it as much as many of you are. I am also mindful of our vocation as Christians to be charitable to this parishioner, seeing that she is a child of God and infinitely loved by God. I have spoken with this parishioner and specifically expressed my displeasure at this behavior and how disruptive it has become of our weekly liturgies. And I have asked her to discontinue, but she seems to think that it is beyond her control, advancing religious argument in favor of a divine origin for this behavior.

Could this parishioner be genuinely under some divine influence when she disrupts our weekend liturgies? This is a question I have reflected on for a while. For me, the behavior and timing of this incident is suspect. And sacred scripture is replete with evidence that God will not contradict himself because God does not operate in disorder. When some in the crowd accused our Lord Jesus of casting out demons by the power of Beelzebub, the prince of demons, his response was: “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste and house will fall against house” (Luke 11:17). By this logic, God cannot work against himself. If the Holy Mass is of God, it would therefore stand contrary to reason that the Spirit of God would incite what disturbs and/or detracts from the decorum that should characterize any Eucharistic assembly. On this matter, the words of St. Paul, when he speaks of the order that must exist in the church, are instructive. In the passage where he speaks about prophecy and utterances said to have divine provenance, he writes, “Indeed the spirits of prophets are under the prophets’ control, since he is not the God of disorder but of peace” (1 Cor. 14: 32-33).

If we were to admit that this behavior is from God, what could be the purpose and/or use for it within the holy sacrifice of the Mass? What could God be communicating? St. Paul again admonishes that where the interpretation of a tongue is not possible the wise thing is for anyone so gifted to keep silent in church and speak to themselves and to God since tongues are intended to build up and not to tear down the church (cf. 1 Cor 14: 28). In this peculiar case, it is not difficult to surmise that no one profits from such an outburst of purported tongue. And since we have the instruction from St. John to test all spirits to see whether they are from God (1 John 4:1), I have been doing some discernment, and seeking counsel with those with expertise and knowledge about these matters. We can only hope for positive outcomes.

I would like to commend and thank our vigilant and helpful ushers and parishioners who have helped take care of this parishioner when such incidents occur. I apologize that your participation at the liturgy is disrupted every time this incident occurs. My apology also goes to anyone who might have had some difficulty with this incident. It is my hope that our collective concern for the good of this parishioner and for all of us would motivate us to intensify our prayers for a resolution of this situation.

May Jesus bless you, and may Our Lady protect you!
With blessings from my heart,