From the Pastor
April/23/2009
Congratulations to our 2009 First Holy Communion Class! In that very moment when they first received the Body and Blood of the Lord, they became even more precious in the eyes of the Lord. May they be surrounded by good examples of Catholic living so that they may grow stronger in their faith and love of God. My first hope and prayer is that they will stay close to Jesus, by receiving Him every week. My second hope is that their parents will set the good example for them by accompanying them to church each week, and, where possible, receive the Eucharist with them.
Sadly, as is often the case, those who are supposed to lead by good example, fail in that special obligation to set the high standards that are needed. When reminded of their failure, they may even recoil and sometimes attack the good intentioned person with a vengeance that is most unbecoming of one who claims the name of “a follower of Christ.” Though their conscience may have shown them the error of their actions, they will not change, they will not repent; instead, they entrench themselves in their wrongdoing and respond with an attack that poorly attempts to hide their evil doings and dodge the real issue at hand, by using ‘ad hominem’ arguments.
So, if you should find yourself in such a situation in your own family, or community or even your profession or occupation, let me suggest to you to read the Psalms of the Old Testament for solace and consolation. In particular, I draw your attention to Psalm 37, especially these excerpts that follow, from which I have often drawn inspiration: “Do not fret because of the wicked; do not envy those who do evil, for they wither quickly like grass and fade like the green of the fields……Commit your life to the Lord, trust in Him and He will act, so that your justice breaks forth like the light, and your cause like the noonday sun. Be still before the Lord and wait in patience; do not fret at the man who prospers; a man who makes evil plots to bring down the needy and the poor. Calm your anger and forget your rage; do not fret, it only leads to evil. For those who do evil shall perish; the patient shall inherit the land. A little longer - and the wicked shall have gone. Look at his place, he is not there. But the humble shall own the land and enjoy the fullness of peace. The wicked man plots against the just and gnashes his teeth against him; but the Lord laughs at the wicked. For He sees that his day is at hand. The sword of the wicked is drawn, his bow is bent to slaughter the upright. Their sword shall pierce their own hearts and their bows shall be broken to pieces……for the power of the wicked shall be broken and the Lord will support the just….But all the wicked shall perish and all the enemies of the Lord. They are like the beauty of the meadows… they shall vanish, they shall vanish like smoke.”
You may have noticed that we are putting a new roof on the church; hopefully, this will stop the intermittent leaking that occurs during the more severe rainstorms. If you remember, a new one was put on a few short years ago, shortly before I took over the reins of the parish. Most unfortunately, that roof was done with an inferior quality of workmanship, and we have taken the necessary steps to rectify that flaw and to seek restitution from those responsible for such a mess. In the meantime, we’re glad to be cooperating with the diocesan overseers of any renovations to an existing parish facility or structure. I only wish that I could have taken charge of the parish a bit earlier than I did in order to prevent several such situations from occurring, thereby saving more money and avoiding more headaches.
Very Rev. Canon Tom