Pastor's Letter -- October 3, 2021

Greetings of peace and goodwill to you and your households!

I want to first express my gratitude to all our parishioners for your participation in the events marking our celebration of the feast day of our heavenly big sister, St. Thérèse, the Little Flower of Jesus. Thank you also to members of our Accompaniment team led by Kerry Wallace, our parish staff, and the Knights of Columbus of our council for their work in making the feast a memorable one. May St. Thérèse continue to intercede for us all, and for our parish, and bring us roses of answered prayers from God’s garden in heaven. Amen.

October is Respect Life Month; and in our country, it is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month. We believe that every human life is invaluable, unrepeated, cannot be duplicated, and must be protected. We will do our part to promote the culture of life and protect this sacred and divinely given right, and at the same time work to stomp out the culture of death. This endeavor will profit from recourse to the blessed mother of God, who is also our mother. I therefore encourage that we renew our commitment to the daily recitation of the rosary and ask the intercession of the most holy of creatures, the Blessed Virgin Mary, as we strive to treasure the gift of life that God has gratuitously bestowed upon us, and also help defend the most vulnerable among us, the unborn, elderly and infirm, from all policies and attempts that threaten their right to life. We also remember in our prayers all pregnant women, and families who have lost children through abortion or miscarriages.

October is also Domestic Violence Awareness Month. The silent scourge of domestic violence and abuse is one we must all agree to denounce and expose. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has written a pastoral response to Domestic Violence entitled “When I Call for Help,” which can be found here: tinyurl.com/5kbj5udx, and provides important information both for those who find themselves in violent domestic situations and those looking to provide support for them.

It is not good that man should be alone… from the very beginning the Creator willed that human beings live in community and in life-giving relationships with others and with creation. We see this clearly in the second creation account recorded in the book of Genesis chapter 2. The lifelong and exclusive union between a man and a woman, which we call marriage, is grounded on this understanding that humans are created out of love and for love. I would like to invite you to reflect on this quote from our patron Saint. It speaks to the necessity of communities of love, like our parish, the church, marriage, friendship, whatever communities that encourage human thriving and flourishing. The diversity evident among us should be a blessing rather than a curse because, as St. Paul says, though many, we are one body in Christ (Romans 12:5).

Charity gave me the key to my vocation. I understood that the Church being a body composed of different members, the most essential, the most noble of all the organs would not be wanting to her; I understood that the Church has a heart and that this heart is burning with love; that it is love alone which makes the members work, that if love were to die away apostles would no longer preach the Gospel, martyrs would refuse to shed their blood. I understood that love comprises all vocations, that love is everything, that it embraces all times and all places because it is eternal! (St. Thérèse, Story of a Soul)

Another lesson we can deduce from the first reading is that God’s creative act points to the complementarity of the sexes. The man was incomplete until the woman was created; in the same way, the woman was incomplete without her man. In creating a woman from the bone taken from the man’s rib, God shows the closeness of this new creature to the heart of man, and also indicates her status as his equal. This natural union was subsequently elevated by Christ to the status of a sacrament, and thus becomes the privileged medium for communicating God’s graces to the spouses – for their own good, and for the procreation and education of children. Like every sacrament, marriage is an efficacious sign that communicates grace to its recipients. It is a sign of the union between Christ and his bride, the church. Although an earthly reality, marriage is oriented toward the life hereafter. Spouses have the vocation of sanctifying each other, and helping each other get to heaven. And they have the grace of the sacrament to help them on this journey.

I will conclude my reflection by praying, in the words of the psalmist, for all married couples, and for all contemplating marriage, that they fear the Lord and walk in his ways. May they eat the fruits of their labors. For husbands, may their wives be like fruitful vines in the recesses of their homes. May their children be like olive plants around their tables, and may they see their children’s children. Shalom!

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