1. With the Church’s Year of Faith soon to begin, I want to make sure that we have a number of good Catholic resources available to help us continue to grow in our faith. As a result, you might see some new things in old places such as the recently reorganized gift shop area and some of the literature racks in the vestibule. We’re also going to be restocking the Lighthouse CD’s soon (sorry for the delay). I do want to make one request, however. I ask that if you are going to put some material on the bulletin board or in any of the literature racks in the vestibule, please ask me first. For one thing, there is a lot of good material out there, and I’m grateful that many people are willing to share the good things that they read. However, there is limited room in our literature racks, and it’s also important that our vestibule looks tidy especially since we, thanks be to God, receive a lot of visitors at our parish.
In addition, as a pastor/administrator, it is my responsibility to make sure that what is out there is good, solid teaching (this doesn’t seem to be a problem here), but also that it meets the approval of the Church. Now, you might ask, “If it’s good, solid teaching, why wouldn’t the Church approve it?” It’s not that the Church doesn’t approve of a particular article or quote, but the Church has to look at the big picture. While a certain source might say something good here and there, the Church looks at the integrity of the source itself. For example, so-and-so might say something about the nature of God or the evils of abortion that the Church would agree with. But if this person were known to live an immoral life or to not be authentically Christian in some other way or to have taught something contrary to the faith somewhere else, the Church would have to treat this source with caution. Otherwise, to approve of one of his/her writings might be interpreted as approving him/her as a whole. It’s much like how the process of declaring someone a saint often takes a long time. The Church has to do her due diligence with important matters such as these.
2. This coming Saturday the 29th is the feast day of the Holy Archangels, Ss. Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael. These powerful warriors are important companions, guides, and helpers along our spiritual journey. The angels are not “literary devices” or symbolic entities that merely decorate our stories. They are real and they are powerful. It is good that we develop a friendship with them because their purpose is to guide us to Heaven and help us to avoid the potholes along the way. St. Michael in particular is very important in protecting us against “the wicked snares of the devil”. To celebrate this feast, I would like for us to say the prayer of St. Michael after every Mass next weekend. There are a few versions of this prayer with slightly different wordings in each of them, so I would like to suggest one so that we can say the prayer in unity:
St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the Devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan, and all the evil spirits, who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.
This beautiful prayer was composed by Pope Leo XIII who asked that it be said daily after Low Mass throughout the world. This practice was suppressed in the 1960’s. However, Blessed John Paul II stressed its importance in the spiritual life of the Church: “I ask everyone not to forget it and to recite it to obtain help in the battle against the forces of darkness and against the spirit of this world.”
3. If you’ve been to the parish website lately, you’ve noticed a big “Under Construction” sign (very familiar to us in Michigan). I’ve finally gotten around to beginning the redesign of the parish website. It’s something that I’ve been eager to do since I arrived, but you all know how things often interrupt our plans! Hopefully, I will be able to finish the project soon. For the website, I would love to have some nice pictures of the church, the parish grounds, and parish events so that when a visitor arrives at our website, they will be able to see the beauty that we get to see everyday. If you have digital copies of pictures that you’re willing to share, would you please email them to me?
Yours in Christ,
Fr. Acervo
