Pastor's Letter-- May 17, 2020

Check your mailboxes later this week for a letter from the parish regarding the re-opening of Masses. We will outline the various liturgical modifications and expectations of all attendees. It is important to follow it all out of respect to our authorities and out of charity to our neighbor. Love of neighbor is always of paramount importance, even beyond our conveniences or “liberties,” as St. Paul makes clear in 1 Corinthians 8:4-13. We will also have explanations online at our (new!) parish website and our Youtube and Facebook pages. We are excited to do whatever we can to pray together and receive Our Lord in Holy Communion!

Although he never would have known what these times would have looked like months ago, Pope Francis asked for the following week be "Laudato Si week” focused on environmental awareness. It has been five years since Pope Francis wrote the encyclical by this title.

While growing up in Argentina, Jorge Bergoglio (our current pope) received a titulo as a chemical technician before entering formation with the Society of Jesus. His awareness of the environmental effects of certain chemicals may have been cause for his bringing this encyclical to fruition. Certainly Pope Benedict XVI’s accomplishment of making the Vatican the first nation with zero carbon footprint, as well as Pope John Paul II’s comments about environmental stewardship, were important factors that also set the stage for this important document.

I highly encourage you to study the document and the various initiatives by the Vatican and by our USCCB. I am especially encouraged by the US Bishops' letter to the Bipartisan Senate Climate Solutions Caucus. The two chairmen bishops, in a way representing all Catholics in the USA, speak powerful words:

"Economically viable solutions that attend to the complexities of the ecological crisis are urgently needed. The Catholic Church has consistently upheld an integral ecology that considers together the care of the environment, the necessity of sustainable economic development, and the promotion of human dignity, especially of the most vulnerable. Pope Francis has called for an innovative dialogue that is “far -sighted and capable of a new, integral and interdisciplinary approach to handling the different aspects of the crisis” (Laudato Si’, no. 197). We urge you to remember these principles as you construct pragmatic legislative proposals. Addressing the challenges of global climate change represents one of the greatest leadership opportunities of our time. As people of faith, we pray that you will be guided by honesty, responsibility, and courage as you develop concrete solutions to protect our common home.”

Let us continue to keep this in our prayers. And I thank the Social Justice Committee of our parish for their help in raising awareness.