Letters from a Pastor to His People

Father James with SJS students lighting the first Advent candle for Hope

Letters from a Pastor to His People- December 1, 2019

Dear Parishioners,

Many spiritual writers speak of Advent as a time of purification and penance.  This is why we invoke purple, a color of mourning.  Let me quote from an old spiritual treatise, The Spiritual Life by Adolphe Tanquerey:

The Church invites us to meditate upon the threefold coming of Christ: His advent upon earth through the Incarnation, His entrance into the souls of men through grace, and His appearance at the end of time to judge all mankind. It is chiefly upon the first coming that the Church centers our attention: she recalls to us the longings of the Patriarchs and Prophets, in order to make us long with them for the coming of the promised redeemer and the establishment or strengthening of His Kingdom in our souls. This is, then, a time of holy desires and ardent supplications, a time when we ask God to pour down upon us the dew of grace, and, above all, the Redeemer Himself...these holy desires and penitential practices evidently tend to purify the soul and thus prepare it for the reign of Christ.

Letters from a Pastor to His People- November 24, 2019

Dear Parishioners,

The Feast of Christ the King.  The end of the liturgical year.  I can't believe we're already here.  We've completed 34 weeks of Ordinary Time.  During these past summer and fall months we read from the Gospel of Luke.  Much of it was, as we mentioned a few weeks ago, from the "travel narrative"; that is, our Lord's journey from Galilee to Jerusalem.  This week is the consummation.  Jesus is upon the cross.  An interesting selection to highlight Christ's royalty.

St. Juliana Cancer Support Group

Letters from a Pastor to His People- November 17, 2019

Dear Parishioners,

At first glance, you might look at these readings and not have a warm, fuzzy feeling.  They might not appear very consoling to you.  "Lo, the day is coming, blazing like an oven...We hear that some are conducting themselves among you in a disorderly way...There will be powerful earthquakes, famines, and plagues from place to place...You will even be handed over by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends, and they will put some of you to death...You will be hated by all because of my name..."

Yipee.     

Yes, it is actually, 'yipee.'  At least it is 'yipee' to me, and not because I'm a masochist.  I take consolation in these readings because they affirm to me how awesome Jesus was and how, once again, the most important thing is our soul and not any material object.

Saint Juliana School recently went to Feed My Starving Children to pack meals for the poor.

Letters from a Pastor to His People- November 10, 2019

Dear Parishioners,

Why would the seven brothers, along with their mother, undergo horrible tortures unto their death?  Because they love God.

Why would some people, as our Lord says in today's Gospel, "neither marry nor be given in marriage?"  Same answer.  Because they love God. 

Now, I know our Lord is describing the afterlife.  That is, he is saying we will not be married to our spouse anymore when we are in Heaven.  In Heaven we are all "married."  We are all swept up in love in the communion of saints, and that love is greater than any love we could ever experience on this earth.