Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

   Lent begins this (ASH) WEDNESDAY! The annual Lenten season is the fitting time to “climb the holy mountain” toward Easter. It has a double character, namely, to prepare both the faithful and the catechumens to celebrate the Paschal (Easter) Mystery. This solemn time extends from Ash Wednesday up until the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday. During this time of year, we have, once again, made available, “The Word Among Us” booklets for your taking, to meditate on during the holy season of Lent. They are available at the church doors as you leave at the end of Mass. They will help guide your thoughts toward Jesus as you make this sacred journey toward Calvary and the Resurrection. May they help to increase your faith, service to, and love of the Lord.
Ash Wednesday and the days of Holy Week have precedence even over feasts and solemnities; and even the Alleluia is omitted from the beginning of Lent until the Easter Vigil. During Lent, the altar is not decorated with flowers (except for some on the Fourth Sunday of Lent). If any marriages are to take place during this season, couples are reminded that wedding plans should respect the special nature of this season, be simple, and refrain from too much pomp or display.
On Ash Wednesday, a day of universal fast and abstinence in the Catholic Church, ashes are blessed and imposed after the homily. Priests and deacons are assisted by Extraordinary Ministers (of Holy Communion) in the imposition of ash, especially for the sick and shut-ins. For your additional spiritual preparation for Lent, Confessions will be heard after the 7:00 p.m. evening Mass on Ash Wednesday.
Regarding the abstinence from meat, ALL Catholics from age 14 throughout life are obliged to abstain on Ash Wednesday, All Fridays of Lent and Good Friday. Regarding fasting, all Catholics from the day after their 18th birthday to the day after their 59th birthday, are obliged to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. The law allows the partaking that day of one full meal only. The combined quantity of food taken at the two lighter meals that day should not exceed the quantity taken at the full meal.
Mass on Ash Wednesday will be at 7 a.m., 8:30 a.m., 12 Noon, 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. (An additional Mass is added each weekday during Lent at 12 Noon for your participation and spiritual advancement).
Thank you most sincerely for your kindness, to all of you who made your DSA commitment, especially last weekend, when you made the real kick-off to the Diocesan Services Appeal very special.  Last year, we fell short of our parish goal, and so, the balance of money due had to be taken from the collection we put forth each week to serve the needs of our church and school. I ask that you will honor your pledge for the coming year and commit your sacrifices to making this coming year’s goal a reality. Our goal for the coming year is slightly over $201,000, and though we do find ourselves in rough economic times, the notion of sacrifice that was a valuable principle of Christian living to our grandparents and parents can again carry us through these difficult times. We are ONE BREAD, ONE BODY, ONE WITNESS.
Our 42nd Annual Parish Festival begins this coming weekend, and the rides, prizes and booths have increased this year in order to make it more successful than ever. Again, we will have “Paddy’s Pub,”and will add a “Cucina Italiana.” Once again, the $100 raffle tickets (limited to only 1,000 sales) will be sold again after Masses this weekend and during the festival. But, please, don’t wait until the last minute to purchase your special ticket (some people like special lucky numbers!). Also, we are always looking for volunteers to serve in the booths; but you’ll need a special volunteer name tag this year, so come to the volunteers’ booth to get your tag. This is a must for the purposes of security and the avoidance of bogus people who would try to “rip off” our parish.
Finally, the Palm Beach Diocesan Council of Catholic Women and the Office of Respect Life invite everyone to join them in “Catholic Days at the Capitol,” March 21-23. Catholics from all over the state of Florida will gather with their bishops in Tallahassee to meet with legislators, to promote legislation that supports the teaching of the Church, and to attend the annual “Red Mass” at the Co-Cathedral of St. Thomas More in the capital city. Registration forms for hotel accommodations and bus-ride details are available at our parish office, or you may get information through KATHLEEN MULLER at (772-468-2893) OR, e-mail, ffeathersnest@msn.com.
     
 Msgr. Tom

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

          Have you seen the new movie, Valkyrie, starring Tom Cruise? I ask this because, I believe, we find ourselves in an eerily similar situation as the German people nearly 70 years ago. The movie presents the true-life story about a large-scale conspiracy within the German army to assassinate Adolf Hitler. The heroic German Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg led the coup. The assassination attempt in July 1944, failed because the detonated bomb only injured Hitler. Von Stauffenberg and his co-conspirators were executed for treason. Now, of course, they are honored as heroes who tried to stop the madness of Hitler.      
Yet, unknown to most people today, is another hero living at that very time, who courageously opposed Hitler and his plans. His name was Michael Cardinal von Faulhaber, the Catholic Archbishop of Munich from 1917 until his death in 1952 (An interesting side note is the last man that the Cardinal ordained to the priesthood was one Joseph Ratzinger, our present Holy Father!). As you might imagine, the years between 1933 and 1945, when Hitler was in power, were especially difficult for Cardinal von Faulhaber, because he courageously chose to speak out against the Nazi regime and its policies, rather than remain quiet out of fear of the Nazis. At every opportunity, he condemned the crimes of the Nazis, risking his life every time he did so. His Advent sermons of 1933, delivered in the beautiful Cathedral of Munich, drew thousands- with standing-room only. They came to listen to him fearlessly challenge National Socialism, to assert the rights and freedoms of the Catholic Church and to call for the protection of the Jewish people. Of course, Hitler wanted the Church to remain silent in the face of all the atrocities of the Holocaust, all in the name of progress and pride of a nation. Fortunately, a small group of great Christians, such as Cardinal von Faulhaber, Prof. Dietrich Bonhoffer, Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg and others stood up and shouted in defiance. Ultimately, their voices were heard, but not before 7 million innocent people lost their lives in the Holocaust. What made Cardinal Faulhaber so courageous? He heard Jesus' invitation to "come and see" who Jesus was, and that encounter changed his life forever.  From that moment, Cardinal von Faulhaber followed Jesus faithfully, never wavering in his dedication, despite incredible hardship and a not-so-subtle persecution of himself and his character!

Among the most troubling questions facing the German people after World War II were, “How was it possible that a Holocaust of so many innocent people went on without a huge protest? How was it even possible that a great people, such as the intelligent Germans, could have been fooled by an evil leader with such a diabolical political agenda? How could so many Germans, especially Christian Germans, have supported Hitler?” It was because some of them viewed their economic prosperity, their comfort, the strengthening of their institutions and army, and the pride of a restored nation after the devastations of World War I, as more important than certain groups of people; for others, it was because they became part of the conspiracy of silence. They were confused, deceived, or intimidated.  Yet, the Holocaust happened!     

Today, we find ourselves facing a similar, and even more horrible holocaust of innocent people. I say more horrible because over 45 million innocent people - the most innocent and defenseless of all -- babies - have been aborted since the Supreme Court ruling of Roe vs. Wade in 1973.  Why is this happening?  Because some people in this nation really do believe that the end justifies the means. They believe that the evil means of abortion, euthanasia and genetic engineering justify the good end of a better nation and society, better health, and a more convenient life. This also includes manipulation of stem cells harvested through abortions, and the termination of life of our elderly through euthanasia -- solely for the purpose of a national agenda of convenience, economic prosperity, and creating another race of people who will not get sick, who will be as beautiful as the models and movie stars we see on TV or in the movies, or who will be the brightest and most talented in the world - a super race. It’s also because so many people have become part of a conspiracy of silence. They have been confused, deceived, or intimidated.     

It began in the late 1960s, when anti-life fanatics in America began their drive to make abortion legal. One of the chief architects of the strategy to legalize abortion was Dr. Bernard Nathanson (this same man now has become a member of the Catholic Church and an outspoken champion of the unborn). He now tells about what it was that allowed his fellow abortion extremists to succeed. By his own admission, he killed thousands of babies. Nathanson was anything but pro-life! He helped launch NARAL, and played a major role in devising the strategy that paved the way for Roe v Wade, that has legalized “abortion-on-demand” throughout all nine months of a woman’s pregnancy. That strategy was to vilify the Catholic Church, because he knew that it was the major obstacle blocking the path to legalized and socially-tolerated abortion. So he and his cohorts set out to silence the bishops and undermine the Church’s moral teaching authority.  They attacked the Church relentlessly. They portrayed the Pope, the bishops and the priests as villains. They fed outrageous lies to members of the news media (who then reported those lies as facts): lies about the number of women who died in so-called “unsafe” abortions; lies about the number of illegal abortions taking place in America; most of all, lies that claimed that most Catholics wanted reform of the nation’s laws against abortion.                     

Yet, in spite of their bravado, Nathanson admits that he and his fellow abortion supporters feared that the clergy would mount a massive, nationwide outcry that would challenge the false claims the abortion supporters were making and ultimately defeat them--which leads me to the secret he revealed --words that haunt me to this day-- and the reason why I’ve been so opposed to those politicians – Catholic or otherwise – who claim to be “personally opposed” to abortion: “We would never have gotten away with what we did if (the clergy) had been united, purposeful, and strong.” The Catholic clergy was SILENT!           

Well, unlike the abominable silence and inaction of forty years ago, today’s clergy are speaking out! Many bishops and priests now have been making strong pro-life statements. The last several popes have been very clear about the Church’s teaching on abortion and euthanasia. There is no confusion, no ambiguity in their teaching. It is only unbelievers and “fair-weather Catholics” who try to dilute the message. But there is still a large number of Catholics out there who are good and trying to be faithful, but who have been intimidated or confused into silence.                                                                   

Sadly, our new President has stated publicly that the one of the first things he will do when he gets into office is to the sign the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) when it comes to his desk.  For those who do not know, FOCA (which may come before this Congress and was sponsored by then-Senator Barack Obama), will roll back all restrictions on abortion that the majority of Americans want and have voted on during the past 36 years.  FOCA will invalidate for the entire country all restrictions on abortion, including  parental notifications, waiting periods and even partial birth abortions (yes - the brutal killing of 9-month old fetuses while they are in the birth canal, ready to be born). FOCA also will attempt to force Catholic hospitals to adopt these evil measures.     

Thank God, Francis Cardinal George of Chicago, the president of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, has told President Obama and his team that if FOCA is signed into law, the Catholic Church will close their Catholic hospitals rather than participate in evil (By the way, Catholic hospitals make up one third of all hospitals in the nation).  Do you know what President Obama's team said to Cardinal George?  "That's OK!  We'll just buy your hospitals."  To which Cardinal George replied, "You didn't hear me!  I said that we will close our hospitals.  You will have to build your own!"  Good for him (and all the Cardinals and Bishops standing with him)!  They are the new Cardinal von Faulhabers, standing up against today’s evil!  Hitler tried to intimidate Cardinal Faulhaber and many others into silence during the first Holocaust.  The secular world tries to do the same now with this holocaust.     

We Catholics make up one-fifth of the population of America. If we stood together as dedicated disciples of Jesus and faithful witnesses to His teachings, we would change the entire moral fabric, fiber and direction of our country.  We need to stand up!  We need to speak out for all those unborn or elderly citizens who have lost their voice in our sleek, chic, sophisticated world.  Don't be intimidated, confused or deceived.  Jesus is very clear what He wants us, his faithful disciples, to do. So, I urge you not to be afraid; act with courage and faith! If we don't, we will rue the day, as the German people still do now about the first Holocaust. If we don't stand up and speak out, then we will stand condemned by future generations, and maybe even before God, because we failed to heed Edmond Burke's admonition, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men and women to do and say nothing." By the way, have you done your part in sending the FOCA postcards yet, or brought them to church for us to send?
     
 Msgr. Tom