The Bishop’s Note
The thought of how wonderfully joyful our Faith is keeps coming back to me. Recently, I was interviewed on Teens and Faith, a podcast run by two teenage parishioners of ours (Gianna Larson from St. Hugh of Lincoln in Milwaukee, WI, and Annie Eberhart of St. Teresa of Avila Mission in Grand Forks, ND). It is very edifying to see the enthusiasm of many of our young families who, instead of fighting on Twitter over differences of nonessential matters, actually go out of their way to provide Catholics with wholesome entertainment. Our children have to give up so much in this world, so it is very important that these things are replaced with other Catholic things. Too often, our Faith is presented to children only from the negative aspect—what they are forbidden to do or not to do, what is mortally sinful, etc.—thus reducing our religion to what I refer to as a “Thou Shalt Not” religion. If someone followed you around telling you only the bad things you did and saying what you should not do, you would not be inclined to love this person and you would seek to avoid his company. When we present our religion in this way, we are essentially portraying Our blessed Lord as a harsh taskmaster, someone who just wants to take away joy, and is just waiting for us to make a mistake so that He can punish us. But our Faith is so much more than “giving up” things. Surely, “giving up” things and avoiding what is sinful is a huge part of the practice of our Faith, but it does not stop there. When Our Lord appeared on earth there was something so attractive about Him, something so captivating about His teachings and doctrines, that people were drawn to Him. They came in large crowds to hear Him and many left their homes and families to follow Him everywhere, hanging on to His every word. The Catholic Church is the Mystical Body of Christ and therefore the Church is just as attractive to souls as Christ was—but we must not focus merely on the negative aspects of the teachings. The practice of our Faith becomes so very joyful when we realize what beautiful things God has given us to do. When we realize what a beautiful thing it is to visit the sick and the elderly, or when we begin to truly study the lives of the saints, when we realize what a privilege it is to receive Holy Communion, what joy comes to our hearts. When we flock to the confessional to get rid of our sins, truly and really forgiven by Our Lord through the priest, what peace can fill our hearts.
Did any of you see the pictures from the All Saints party? They were absolutely fantastic! One could see the joy of the children all over their faces. I am convinced that this sort of joy comes only from their innocence and from the Holy Ghost. Their presentations were very excellent and no one even had to read from a sheet of paper this year! It was a day to remember.
Another thing that has been most edifying is to see so many of our parishioners centering their day (and their lives) around the Church, as I imagine it would have been before Vatican II. Wednesday choir night has become a family gathering for so many. While the choir works so hard at practicing the music for Sunday, the children play in the parking lot, the ladies go on walks, the men do their thing, but everyone has a good time. In fact, oftentimes, even people who are not in the choir come to church just for the big social event.
Some of our men have put together a St. Joseph Guild and met just yesterday to begin working on laying the rest of the cloister tile. They didn’t come just to work, which for most would have been enough. They came in time for the Salve Regina, sermon, High Mass, breakfast, and then a barbecue to end the day.
This Thursday the Catholic Mothers’ Consortium will meet for Mass, followed by supper, a conference given by a member of the clergy, and then some time for the mothers to chat about different things. Elizabeth Gunsher will talk about the Liturgical Life lived at home. An excellent idea!
On Saturday, we celebrate the feast of our patroness, St. Gertrude the Great. It is also Fr. Lehtoranta’s priestly anniversary. Be sure to wish him a happy anniversary and to say a prayer for him. He will sing the Solemn High Mass that day. Afterwards, the Rosary Confraternity will go on a field trip to one of the beautiful churches in downtown Cincinnati.
Fathers McKenna, Simpson, and Brueggemann are at St. Hugh’s this weekend for the Forty Hours Devotion. They will offer Solemn Masses with sermons, a public Holy Hour, sing parts of the Divine Office, and spend private Holy Hours with Our Eucharistic Savior. Forty Hours is always a time of immense graces for the whole Catholic Church and always has the effect of bringing parishioners closer together and of bringing true joy to the hearts of all.
All of this should make us thankful to Our Lord. Do you see?! Our Lord gives us so much joy by the practice of our Faith and by taking part in Catholic society. It is important to educate your children in the proper way concerning our Faith. It is such a joyful, wonderful thing. How utterly unworthy we are to have it, but how much we should bless God for having given it to us!
– Bishop McGuire