Aug 2010
From the Pastor
August/26/2010
If we are faithful to our call to be children of God, then our stewardship of time, talent and treasure are supposed to be woven into the fabric of each one of us; this includes adults, teens and youngsters. For this reason, we’ve been trying to integrate more young people into the life and activity of our parish, with the purpose of assuming their proper responsibilities in our parish family, including financial support. We’ve been blessed in our land and our Church with so many gifts from God, and along with these gifts comes the responsibility to be faithful stewards of these gifts. Yet, our lack of carefully accountability to God in many matters brings us into some scary prospects of where we are going in life, and how are we going to get there.
I’m not a daytime TV-watcher, so I only get to watch the news or a limited amount of other programs in the evening when the day’s activities are concluded, all the meetings are over and the parish office has quieted down. But by that time, it seems, more than twenty minutes of television watching usually puts me fast to sleep. Though it sure beats counting sheep, it’s not as relaxed as falling asleep praying the Rosary. However, when recently watching an enlightening TV interview with a ranking official of the U.S. Department of Labor, I remained quite alert as I heard her matter-offact statement that current unemployment figures in our country have hovered for many months at nearly ten percent.
Even though that information was not new to me, it struck me now more distinctly when that official emphasized, in a very dramatic way, that nearly 37 percent of Americans aged 18 to 30 have been jobless or underemployed during the current recession. Additionally, about 28 percent of all households have at least one member currently seeking a full-time job. One time “empty-nester” homes are filling up again as individuals (and even couples) are returning to their childhood home for financial and emotional support. As many family budgets are being strained, and savings are being plundered to meet just the most basic and necessary expenses, traditional notions of family, respect, privacy and responsibility will surely need significant adjusting.
This entire social upheaval means there is more than a significant number of young people who may have a lot of time on their hands and a lot of despair in their lives. This is certainly not a good mixture, in general, neither for those individuals nor for our society. What direction they ultimately may take in order to alleviate their frustrations or the pain of hopelessness could affect them in the most negative of ways, and have dire consequences that last for the rest of their lives. Joblessness causes such a spiritual malaise that, if not remedied, can lead to almost total despair.
As repeatedly emphasized in the encyclicals of most of the last ten popes of the Church, honest and honorable employment
has a spiritual component that positively affects both the individual and society. But when even lower-level survival jobs are hard to find, everyone really becomes stressed, because knowing that earned wages promote not only material wealth, but also a sense of self-sufficiency, of control over our choices, we feel powerless to achieve our perceived goals.
Our parish family is not immune from the financial debacle that plagues our society. Families, individuals and even the parish itself have been beset by the failure of the economy to get back on its feet and march to a more regular tempo. In families, financial problems will occur when spouses fail to communicate about money issues, leading to a lack of unity in marriage. It also happens when we seek satisfaction in our lives by acquiring and accumulating “stuff.” Credit card bondage has “done in” more than several families, individuals and businesses. Sometimes we carelessly put ourselves in a precarious financial position without even thinking of what effect this can have on the spiritual side of our lives. This materialism eventually gets in the way of our relationship with one another and, even more so, our God.
How much do we include God in our financial and other daily decisions? How do our priorities in life reflect our belief in Him? Have we established a strong relationship with Him in making our day-to-day choices? Maybe we’ve been trying to do too much on our own, without invoking God’s help in a prayerful and meaningful way. How much time do we make for Him in our life? How often do we spend our time in prayer with Him? What about just sitting in His Presence in the Adoration Chapel? We have received so much from Him in the way of faith, life, family, freedom and opportunities, but do we even take the time to really thank Him, or to contemplate His gifts and wonder why He gave them to us? Do we willingly share these gifts with those in need?
Here is a prayer that I would encourage you to offer during these difficult times, especially if your family or friends are subjected to the trying situation of little or no employment.
Gracious and loving God, You know our need for meaningful work. Send your Holy Spirit to guide those who are searching for employment. Help them to recognize the gifts and talents You have given them. Deepen their desire to follow your Will. Inspire them as they contact potential employers. Give them patience as they wait for responses. Shelter them from the feelings of rejection. Protect them from discouragement. Give them courage to overcome fear. Shower on them the grace they need to persevere. Let this time of searching be an opportunity to grow in faith, to cultivate the virtue of hope and to experience your healing love. We ask this through Christ Our Lord. Amen.
Very Rev. Canon Tom
I’m not a daytime TV-watcher, so I only get to watch the news or a limited amount of other programs in the evening when the day’s activities are concluded, all the meetings are over and the parish office has quieted down. But by that time, it seems, more than twenty minutes of television watching usually puts me fast to sleep. Though it sure beats counting sheep, it’s not as relaxed as falling asleep praying the Rosary. However, when recently watching an enlightening TV interview with a ranking official of the U.S. Department of Labor, I remained quite alert as I heard her matter-offact statement that current unemployment figures in our country have hovered for many months at nearly ten percent.
Even though that information was not new to me, it struck me now more distinctly when that official emphasized, in a very dramatic way, that nearly 37 percent of Americans aged 18 to 30 have been jobless or underemployed during the current recession. Additionally, about 28 percent of all households have at least one member currently seeking a full-time job. One time “empty-nester” homes are filling up again as individuals (and even couples) are returning to their childhood home for financial and emotional support. As many family budgets are being strained, and savings are being plundered to meet just the most basic and necessary expenses, traditional notions of family, respect, privacy and responsibility will surely need significant adjusting.
This entire social upheaval means there is more than a significant number of young people who may have a lot of time on their hands and a lot of despair in their lives. This is certainly not a good mixture, in general, neither for those individuals nor for our society. What direction they ultimately may take in order to alleviate their frustrations or the pain of hopelessness could affect them in the most negative of ways, and have dire consequences that last for the rest of their lives. Joblessness causes such a spiritual malaise that, if not remedied, can lead to almost total despair.
As repeatedly emphasized in the encyclicals of most of the last ten popes of the Church, honest and honorable employment
has a spiritual component that positively affects both the individual and society. But when even lower-level survival jobs are hard to find, everyone really becomes stressed, because knowing that earned wages promote not only material wealth, but also a sense of self-sufficiency, of control over our choices, we feel powerless to achieve our perceived goals.
Our parish family is not immune from the financial debacle that plagues our society. Families, individuals and even the parish itself have been beset by the failure of the economy to get back on its feet and march to a more regular tempo. In families, financial problems will occur when spouses fail to communicate about money issues, leading to a lack of unity in marriage. It also happens when we seek satisfaction in our lives by acquiring and accumulating “stuff.” Credit card bondage has “done in” more than several families, individuals and businesses. Sometimes we carelessly put ourselves in a precarious financial position without even thinking of what effect this can have on the spiritual side of our lives. This materialism eventually gets in the way of our relationship with one another and, even more so, our God.
How much do we include God in our financial and other daily decisions? How do our priorities in life reflect our belief in Him? Have we established a strong relationship with Him in making our day-to-day choices? Maybe we’ve been trying to do too much on our own, without invoking God’s help in a prayerful and meaningful way. How much time do we make for Him in our life? How often do we spend our time in prayer with Him? What about just sitting in His Presence in the Adoration Chapel? We have received so much from Him in the way of faith, life, family, freedom and opportunities, but do we even take the time to really thank Him, or to contemplate His gifts and wonder why He gave them to us? Do we willingly share these gifts with those in need?
Here is a prayer that I would encourage you to offer during these difficult times, especially if your family or friends are subjected to the trying situation of little or no employment.
Gracious and loving God, You know our need for meaningful work. Send your Holy Spirit to guide those who are searching for employment. Help them to recognize the gifts and talents You have given them. Deepen their desire to follow your Will. Inspire them as they contact potential employers. Give them patience as they wait for responses. Shelter them from the feelings of rejection. Protect them from discouragement. Give them courage to overcome fear. Shower on them the grace they need to persevere. Let this time of searching be an opportunity to grow in faith, to cultivate the virtue of hope and to experience your healing love. We ask this through Christ Our Lord. Amen.
Very Rev. Canon Tom
From the Pastor
August/19/2010
In one of our recent weekday Gospel readings, the Apostles asked Jesus about their sacrifice to follow Him: “What’s in it for me?” His response was probably not one which interested some of them (most noticeably, Judas). But ultimately He pointed out that their reward would be “out of this world!” So many people ask the same question of Jesus’ Church when it comes to the issue of volunteerism. So, I ask, “Where did ‘good old Volunteerism’ go?” Well, according to some recent results to requests for help in several areas of our parish (lectors, musicians, altar servers, extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion, etc.), it has been found, albeit in somewhat limited form, in our parish. Several people offered to help count the collection on rotating Mondays; a few people have offered their services in the parish rectory to relieve Linda and Susan from their heavyladen work schedule; and one of our fathers helped our maintenance staff to prepare the school and playground for an on-time opening. Maybe they will inspire others who have time on their hands. God bless them all!
Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski has asked me to convey his heartfelt appreciation for your generosity in answer to his appeal for the Good Samaritan Foundation to help the sickly poor in Africa and Asia. We came in just shy of $2,600, and I hope that we will reach that goal when the envelopes left in our pews will be filled out and sent in. Thank you for your kind response!
You may have noticed the mechanisms in church for the installation of new AV screens being placed in the beam area over the choir and its corresponding space on the opposite side of our sanctuary. These screens will be a big help to us not only when we are presenting the annual Diocesan Services Appeal or the appeal for our mission in Guatemala, but for eventual use for posting our hymns and several other important items that can be viewed from almost anywhere in the church, such as announcements before Mass, important pictures of a religious nature, messages from our Holy Father, and even reminders about not leaving Mass early and missing God’s blessing. The installation experts are trying to work in between weekday Masses,
funerals and choir practice. We hope to have everything ready before the end of September, so that these screens, which can go up and down electronically, will not detract from the decorum of our beautiful church.
It was “back-to-school” for our “munchkins” this past week, and so many seemed quite excited with the changes that they had already noticed. Quite a few new students had applied over the summer and enrolled in our quality program, and a number of our former students did not return for various reasons (mostly economic ones, although some moved). We’re glad to have 250 children in our school program under the capable administration of Mrs. M. Vikki Delgado, our Principal. We continue to make improvements to the physical plant of the school, and the cleanup of the building and of the floor in our gym were major projects during the summer. A few new members of the faculty will enhance our educational project, and most of our faculty has returned. We ask your special prayers for the improved health of three of them.
In order to try to keep down the deficit created by the expenses in running the school, our kids are counting on your support of the fund-raising effort we have planned for the year. You may not know it, but the cost of educating just one child in our school is expected to jump next year to nearly $9400. Previous sibling discounts, an actual drain on the budget, have to be reduced in order to try to balance the budget, though there are an increasing number of scholarships and grants-in-aid to help a number of our families make it through these rough economic times as they send their children to a Catholic school for a quality Catholic education. Tuition is $6100, plus additional costs for registration, fees, etc., bring it even higher. So, your help is valuable.
One of the ways we can help pay for the education of our kids at St. Vincent is the continued use of the Sunday envelope each week, including those that are directly related to the support of our school. This goes a long way in reducing the deficit, for if each school envelope contained a minimum five dollars each month, we would be closer to balancing the books. Many people who don’t have children in our school still support our school in this way. Another way is through sponsorship of a scholarship. These can be done by using the form below or, by writing in to the school or parish office and stating how much you’d like to contribute towards sponsoring one of our students and the amount you’d like to pledge. Monthly tuition for a student is $500, and the families of some of our finest students are in need of financial support, for their sacrifice alone cannot make Catholic education otherwise possible. Thank you for helping our students to have a Catholic education!
Very Rev. Canon Tom
Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski has asked me to convey his heartfelt appreciation for your generosity in answer to his appeal for the Good Samaritan Foundation to help the sickly poor in Africa and Asia. We came in just shy of $2,600, and I hope that we will reach that goal when the envelopes left in our pews will be filled out and sent in. Thank you for your kind response!
You may have noticed the mechanisms in church for the installation of new AV screens being placed in the beam area over the choir and its corresponding space on the opposite side of our sanctuary. These screens will be a big help to us not only when we are presenting the annual Diocesan Services Appeal or the appeal for our mission in Guatemala, but for eventual use for posting our hymns and several other important items that can be viewed from almost anywhere in the church, such as announcements before Mass, important pictures of a religious nature, messages from our Holy Father, and even reminders about not leaving Mass early and missing God’s blessing. The installation experts are trying to work in between weekday Masses,
funerals and choir practice. We hope to have everything ready before the end of September, so that these screens, which can go up and down electronically, will not detract from the decorum of our beautiful church.
It was “back-to-school” for our “munchkins” this past week, and so many seemed quite excited with the changes that they had already noticed. Quite a few new students had applied over the summer and enrolled in our quality program, and a number of our former students did not return for various reasons (mostly economic ones, although some moved). We’re glad to have 250 children in our school program under the capable administration of Mrs. M. Vikki Delgado, our Principal. We continue to make improvements to the physical plant of the school, and the cleanup of the building and of the floor in our gym were major projects during the summer. A few new members of the faculty will enhance our educational project, and most of our faculty has returned. We ask your special prayers for the improved health of three of them.
In order to try to keep down the deficit created by the expenses in running the school, our kids are counting on your support of the fund-raising effort we have planned for the year. You may not know it, but the cost of educating just one child in our school is expected to jump next year to nearly $9400. Previous sibling discounts, an actual drain on the budget, have to be reduced in order to try to balance the budget, though there are an increasing number of scholarships and grants-in-aid to help a number of our families make it through these rough economic times as they send their children to a Catholic school for a quality Catholic education. Tuition is $6100, plus additional costs for registration, fees, etc., bring it even higher. So, your help is valuable.
One of the ways we can help pay for the education of our kids at St. Vincent is the continued use of the Sunday envelope each week, including those that are directly related to the support of our school. This goes a long way in reducing the deficit, for if each school envelope contained a minimum five dollars each month, we would be closer to balancing the books. Many people who don’t have children in our school still support our school in this way. Another way is through sponsorship of a scholarship. These can be done by using the form below or, by writing in to the school or parish office and stating how much you’d like to contribute towards sponsoring one of our students and the amount you’d like to pledge. Monthly tuition for a student is $500, and the families of some of our finest students are in need of financial support, for their sacrifice alone cannot make Catholic education otherwise possible. Thank you for helping our students to have a Catholic education!
Very Rev. Canon Tom
From the Pastor
August/14/2010
An interesting part of our experience in Guatemala most recently was the opportunity to speak with clergy and laity who are active in the Church there, and ask why that country was witnessing a sharp decline in the Catholic population and a rise in the non-mainline Christian denominations in the last twenty years. It was almost like a repeat of lessons in Church History that I had studied for four years in the seminary; I could see it coming!
The long experience of the Catholic Church has included many seasons of decline and renewal. Throughout the centuries, the Church has striven by preaching and exhortation to help individual Christians reform their lives. The universal Church likewise has undertaken major institutional reforms, for example: the Gregorian reform of the 11th century, which imposed stricter discipline on the clergy and secured the independence of the Church from secular control.
At many times in her history, the Church has been threatened by false reforms, which, if accepted, would have denatured her. Such reforms were attempted by the Donatists in the 4th century, the Waldensians in the 12th, the so-called “Spiritual Franciscans” in the 13th, John Wycliffe in the 14th, and John Hus in the 15th. The Conciliar Movement [also] in the 15th century brought forth some good fruits, but came to a bad end at the Council of Basel. Attempting to convert the Church into a kind of constitutional monarchy, it ran afoul of the Catholic doctrine of papal primacy.
By the beginning of the 16th century, the necessity of a thoroughgoing reform was generally recognized. After the failure if the 5th Lateran Council to achieve this objective, the whole Church teemed with reform movements, notably among Christian humanists such as Erasmus, John Colet and St. Thomas More. Catholic cardinals, such as James Sadoleto, Reginald Pole and John P. Caraffa, proposed timely reforms some years before the Council of Trent.
Luther and some of his colleagues also took up the theme of reform, but in the name of “correcting abuses,” they attacked the essentials of the Catholic Faith and became totally separated from the Church. To counteract this negative movement, reform decrees of the Council of Trent targeted some of the real abuses and continued to bear excellent fruits long after the Council. But in the next few centuries, the term “reform” became suspect among Catholics because it seemed to have a Protestant ring.
The First Vatican Council ran counter to certain reform movements of the 19th century. It successfully eliminated the remnants of the Conciliar Movement and, in the form of Gallicanism, crushed ecclesiastical nationalism and its counterparts in several nations. As a result, the papacy maintained uncontested control of the Catholic Church through the middle of the 20th century.
It was only with the advent of the Second Vatican Council, a dream of Pope Pius XII, but not fulfilled until the reigns of Pope John XXIII and Paul VI, that a true and updated reform of the Church began to take hold.
Some have maintained (and continue to do so) that Vatican II was the beginning of a downfall of the Church (actor Mel Gibson and his father seem to be among them), but that’s most likely because they have not read the documents of the Council in their fullness, nor understood what the leading Fathers of the Church in this age were saying to strengthen the Church. Some “changes” that quickly followed the Council were not always authentic, nor based on a true reading or understanding of the Council documents, so that much chaos began to erupt in the Church under the guise of “conciliar reform.” What was often looked upon as “change” in the Church was really not substantive in any way, and people began to look at the results of that Council with a jaundiced eye or skepticism that continues until today.
Fortunately, with the mass media of communication that we have at our disposal, we can go back to examine all that the Church has tried to teach us and hopefully begin to understand just what are the real needs of the People of God and how could they come to be addressed properly.
Next weekend, we will be honored to have as our guest at Mass, Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski, of the Vatican, President of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers. He will speak to us, and then he will take up a second collection for the Good Samaritan Foundation, which was instituted by the late Pope John Paul II to assist the most needy sick people, especially in Africa. I pray that during these difficult economic times, we may still be able to reach deep enough into our treasure to help others who really have nothing.
Very Rev. Canon Tom
The long experience of the Catholic Church has included many seasons of decline and renewal. Throughout the centuries, the Church has striven by preaching and exhortation to help individual Christians reform their lives. The universal Church likewise has undertaken major institutional reforms, for example: the Gregorian reform of the 11th century, which imposed stricter discipline on the clergy and secured the independence of the Church from secular control.
At many times in her history, the Church has been threatened by false reforms, which, if accepted, would have denatured her. Such reforms were attempted by the Donatists in the 4th century, the Waldensians in the 12th, the so-called “Spiritual Franciscans” in the 13th, John Wycliffe in the 14th, and John Hus in the 15th. The Conciliar Movement [also] in the 15th century brought forth some good fruits, but came to a bad end at the Council of Basel. Attempting to convert the Church into a kind of constitutional monarchy, it ran afoul of the Catholic doctrine of papal primacy.
By the beginning of the 16th century, the necessity of a thoroughgoing reform was generally recognized. After the failure if the 5th Lateran Council to achieve this objective, the whole Church teemed with reform movements, notably among Christian humanists such as Erasmus, John Colet and St. Thomas More. Catholic cardinals, such as James Sadoleto, Reginald Pole and John P. Caraffa, proposed timely reforms some years before the Council of Trent.
Luther and some of his colleagues also took up the theme of reform, but in the name of “correcting abuses,” they attacked the essentials of the Catholic Faith and became totally separated from the Church. To counteract this negative movement, reform decrees of the Council of Trent targeted some of the real abuses and continued to bear excellent fruits long after the Council. But in the next few centuries, the term “reform” became suspect among Catholics because it seemed to have a Protestant ring.
The First Vatican Council ran counter to certain reform movements of the 19th century. It successfully eliminated the remnants of the Conciliar Movement and, in the form of Gallicanism, crushed ecclesiastical nationalism and its counterparts in several nations. As a result, the papacy maintained uncontested control of the Catholic Church through the middle of the 20th century.
It was only with the advent of the Second Vatican Council, a dream of Pope Pius XII, but not fulfilled until the reigns of Pope John XXIII and Paul VI, that a true and updated reform of the Church began to take hold.
Some have maintained (and continue to do so) that Vatican II was the beginning of a downfall of the Church (actor Mel Gibson and his father seem to be among them), but that’s most likely because they have not read the documents of the Council in their fullness, nor understood what the leading Fathers of the Church in this age were saying to strengthen the Church. Some “changes” that quickly followed the Council were not always authentic, nor based on a true reading or understanding of the Council documents, so that much chaos began to erupt in the Church under the guise of “conciliar reform.” What was often looked upon as “change” in the Church was really not substantive in any way, and people began to look at the results of that Council with a jaundiced eye or skepticism that continues until today.
Fortunately, with the mass media of communication that we have at our disposal, we can go back to examine all that the Church has tried to teach us and hopefully begin to understand just what are the real needs of the People of God and how could they come to be addressed properly.
Next weekend, we will be honored to have as our guest at Mass, Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski, of the Vatican, President of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers. He will speak to us, and then he will take up a second collection for the Good Samaritan Foundation, which was instituted by the late Pope John Paul II to assist the most needy sick people, especially in Africa. I pray that during these difficult economic times, we may still be able to reach deep enough into our treasure to help others who really have nothing.
Very Rev. Canon Tom
From the Pastor
August/07/2010
We welcome Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski to our parish this weekend, along with his secretary, Monsignor Peter Supierz. The Archbishop has already completed one year as the President of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Health Care Workers. He will speak at the Masses, and we will take up a collection for the Good Samaritan Foundation next week (a correction to last week’s bulletin notice because the 2nd collection this week is for The Church in Latin America).
The Good Samaritan Foundation assists the most needy of sick people, especially in Africa. It’s always good to be back on U.S. soil after days away in a foreign country. Our mission trip this year in the rain forest of Guatemala included the construction of twenty wooden table/bench combinations for the new library, as well as a very suitable altar for the celebration of Mass at the Father Tom Moran Education Center. We brought over 850 rosaries with us for the priests to distribute in their villages, as well as for the people in the villages we visited.
Our Knights of Columbus made donations of cash to the parish that covers this area to enhance the catechetical work of the priests and sisters that travel to over three-dozen villages during the course of a year to keep the faith alive in a land that is constantly being besieged by foreign evangelicals trying to re-convert the Catholics.
Needless to say, the priests and the people we met were extremely kind to us and grateful for your continued
support of them in their striving to better their lives and living conditions in that part of the world. Although only a little over two hours from Miami, the country we visit seems to be half-a-world away. Despite years of civil war and political strife and corruption in successive governments, the people now seem to be making some headway. What was amazing for our group was that we discovered an active council of the Knights of Columbus in one of the large parishes in Antigua City. It’s nice to know that this brotherhood of Catholic men is not only so widespread, but it is the largest Catholic fraternal in the world.
Although our mission trip in Guatemala was a great success in the work accomplished, it was not without its difficult moment. That came when we were touring the colorful outdoor/indoor market in the ancient capital city of Antigua. Two of our men had their wallets stolen (literally, slit) from their pockets, with one of them also losing his passport. That is always a difficult situation when one tries to leave one country to re-enter ours. So that meant filing for another temporary passport, and with the U.S. embassy offices being closed on a weekend, it meant staying an extra day away from home, while hoping to catch the first available flight back to Florida. Thank God, that was the worst (and the first) such encounter on our nine trips with the Knights of Columbus to Guatemala. We’ll be better
prepared for such an encounter next year!
As a special service for our homebound members of the parish, if you wish to view the homily for last Sunday’s recorded TV Mass that I celebrated, you may click on to the following website: http:// diocesepb.org/multimedia/homily/index.html. You can do the same for this week’s homily by clicking on the same this Monday. This is a new service provided by our diocese, and is made possible, in part, by your contribution to the annual DSA (Diocesan Services Appeal). Bishop Barbarito thanks you for your support of the DSA, and so do I. As we come closer to reaching our goal, and if you have not yet made your pledge, I ask you to truly consider being part of all the good our donations will assist for the many services rendered by the Church in this five-county Diocese of Palm Beach. May God reward you in kind for your gift!
Very Rev. Canon Tom
The Good Samaritan Foundation assists the most needy of sick people, especially in Africa. It’s always good to be back on U.S. soil after days away in a foreign country. Our mission trip this year in the rain forest of Guatemala included the construction of twenty wooden table/bench combinations for the new library, as well as a very suitable altar for the celebration of Mass at the Father Tom Moran Education Center. We brought over 850 rosaries with us for the priests to distribute in their villages, as well as for the people in the villages we visited.
Our Knights of Columbus made donations of cash to the parish that covers this area to enhance the catechetical work of the priests and sisters that travel to over three-dozen villages during the course of a year to keep the faith alive in a land that is constantly being besieged by foreign evangelicals trying to re-convert the Catholics.
Needless to say, the priests and the people we met were extremely kind to us and grateful for your continued
support of them in their striving to better their lives and living conditions in that part of the world. Although only a little over two hours from Miami, the country we visit seems to be half-a-world away. Despite years of civil war and political strife and corruption in successive governments, the people now seem to be making some headway. What was amazing for our group was that we discovered an active council of the Knights of Columbus in one of the large parishes in Antigua City. It’s nice to know that this brotherhood of Catholic men is not only so widespread, but it is the largest Catholic fraternal in the world.
Although our mission trip in Guatemala was a great success in the work accomplished, it was not without its difficult moment. That came when we were touring the colorful outdoor/indoor market in the ancient capital city of Antigua. Two of our men had their wallets stolen (literally, slit) from their pockets, with one of them also losing his passport. That is always a difficult situation when one tries to leave one country to re-enter ours. So that meant filing for another temporary passport, and with the U.S. embassy offices being closed on a weekend, it meant staying an extra day away from home, while hoping to catch the first available flight back to Florida. Thank God, that was the worst (and the first) such encounter on our nine trips with the Knights of Columbus to Guatemala. We’ll be better
prepared for such an encounter next year!
As a special service for our homebound members of the parish, if you wish to view the homily for last Sunday’s recorded TV Mass that I celebrated, you may click on to the following website: http:// diocesepb.org/multimedia/homily/index.html. You can do the same for this week’s homily by clicking on the same this Monday. This is a new service provided by our diocese, and is made possible, in part, by your contribution to the annual DSA (Diocesan Services Appeal). Bishop Barbarito thanks you for your support of the DSA, and so do I. As we come closer to reaching our goal, and if you have not yet made your pledge, I ask you to truly consider being part of all the good our donations will assist for the many services rendered by the Church in this five-county Diocese of Palm Beach. May God reward you in kind for your gift!
Very Rev. Canon Tom