From the Pastor
March/26/2009
Last weekend, you heard Steve Dudenhoefer speak on the wonderful accomplishments in our mission that your very generous offerings have made possible. This weekend, we take up a second collection for Ak’ Tenamit in Guatemala. Thank you, again for your stewardship of God’s gift of treasure to you. May your sharing in the work of missionaries in the rain forest of Guatemala bring you blessings, and may it bring more of God’s children closer to Him. For sure, here you know your gift is going for a great cause!
Next weekend, with Palm Sunday, we begin the holiest week of the year. To prepare ourselves for this solemn observance and Easter, we will have our annual Lenten Penance Service this Thursday evening (April 2nd) at 7:00 p.m. Several priests will be available to hear your Confession and reconcile us once again with the Lord. May you take the opportunity to confess to the Lord and receive His pardon for offenses committed against Him directly (blasphemy, neglect of
Sunday obligation, etc.), or through His people (so many ways a bit too numerous to publish here).
This week I would like to share with you a letter from a good Catholic named Tom Mealey. His road to conversion had not been easy, but he came to the Faith through what we might call the “back door.” “When we first married, my wife, Misty, and I were the typical secular couple. We relied on hormonal contraception. Due to bad side effects, that didn’t last long. Then, Misty found out about Natural Family Planning (NFP) through a Catholic friend. Admittedly, I was suspicious of all the “hocus pocus” involving thermometers at o’ dark-thirty in the morning and observations written down in cryptic symbols on the NFP chart. That would all change in surprising ways once we got into living the NFP lifestyle. Before having children, Misty had been an atheist, and I had been an agnostic. With our first child, the miracle of life spurred a spiritual awakening in us. We realized the Holy Spirit had already been leading us into a Catholic life. Even after our conversion, however, NFP enriched our relationship with each other and with God in ways we never expected.
We studied Pope John Paul II’s “Theology of the Body” and became excited about living out our faith and sharing it. It was thrilling to learn the compelling reasons behind the Church’s beautiful teachings on sex and marriage. Much to my surprise, I also learned how grateful my wife was that I was willing to learn how her body worked. I shared the responsibility in planning our family, and also found non-sexual ways of expressing affection and intimacy when we had good reasons to postpone pregnancy. This strengthened our marriage and made me a better husband and father.
When we became Catholic, I knew I wanted to be the spiritual leader of our family, but I didn’t understand what that entailed besides bringing our children to church on Sunday. Through NFP and Scripture, I discovered
that I had a choice in the kind of man I was going to be. We often blame Eve for eating the forbidden fruit. But in Genesis, we learn that after taking a bite, she turned and offered the fruit to Adam, who was with her. Adam didn’t stop her and say, “This is a bad idea, let’s go.” He did not protect his wife, but stood by silently while the serpent convinced her to surrender her holiness and damage her relationship with God.
Then there was St. Joseph. When Joseph obeyed the angel who told him to bring Mary into his home, he was accepting the public shame and embarrassment of a pregnant fiancée. He sacrificed his personal honor
and reputation to obey God and protect Mary and Jesus. The choice for a husband is clear: either he can be his wife’s Adam, or he can be her Joseph. A man can stand by silently and allow his wife to suffer the physical and spiritual consequences of contra-ception; or he can defend her virtue, body, and soul by using NFP. Today, sadly, contraception is so commonly accepted and expected. And if a man forgoes it for NFP, he may likely be exposed to some ridicule and criticism. But
as St. Joseph taught us, there are some things more important than the opinion of others. May we husbands choose to be Joseph to our wives!”
If you would like to hear more about enriching your marriage preparation or married life, based on Pope John Paul’s teaching of the Theology of the Body, you may contact Meaghan Hildebrandt of the Diocese of Palm Beach at 803-7692, or e-mail at meg615@gmail.com. Please don’t forget that our school children are collecting long-sleeved shirts for the migrant workers who labor in the fields of the counties of our diocese. The laborers need to be protected from pesky mosquitoes and other insects. You may drop your donations at the main school door during morning “drop-off” time or afternoon “pick-up” time. This drive will run until April 3rd. God bless you for helping the needy of our community!
Very Rev. Canon Tom