Columns 2021

Have you been to Bethlehem? How often have you gone there and when was your most recent visit? Each year, in faith and prayer, we are invited to journey with Mary and Joseph, with the shepherds and Wise Men, to go to Bethlehem and to adore the newborn King. When we stop and think, there is a truly spiritual journey that takes place each year when we think of all the Masses, throughout the whole world, celebrated on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day ...

As of Jan. 1, our Diocese will have a new Director of the Office of Faith Formation and Catechesis, Father Yojaneider Garcia. He was ordained a priest for our Diocese in 2014 and he has just completed two years of post-graduate study at Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio, achieving a master’s degree in Catechesis. We are grateful to Father Paul Manning, our Vicar for Evangeli­za­tion and his team at St. Paul Inside the Walls, as they have been “filling in” and covering the responsibilities of the Office of Faith Formation for the past year and a half, when there was no full time Director.

Dec. 8 was an opportunity to experience the unity which we share as members of the Universal Church, the “One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic” Church. We have such an opportunity, to be united with the “mystical Body of Christ” each time we celebrate the Mass, as we believe that full, active participation in the celebration of the Eucharist (a.k.a. “Mass”), unites us, not only with the mystical Body, the whole Church, here on earth, but also with the “Church Triumphant” in heaven (a.k.a. the “Heavenly Liturgy”).

Two weeks ago, as I wrote my weekly column, I was preparing to attend my first in-person meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). At that time, I had just read the draft of a proposed document on the Eucharist, The Mystery of the Eucharist in the Life of the Church. At the meeting, the document was approved by more than 95 percent of the bishops (222–8). As I said after first reading it, I believe it is an inspiring document and it will be great help in a much-needed “Eucharistic Revival.” The document is now available online at the USSCB website. 

As I began writing this week’s column, I thought that I had written on the theme of Thanksgiving last year, but, when I looked back, I realized that I had not written a column — rather, I had written a homily for a Mass that I would celebrate on Thanksgiving Day (2020) at St. Simon Parish in Green Pond. As you will see, I shared my experience of having served as a pastor for 10 years in a largely immigrant parish. Instead of rewriting it, I will share what I wrote at that time: