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Our deanery (Southeast), held a Synod discussion last Tuesday evening, continuing the process Pope Francis initiated this past summer. Bishop Nickless was present with Deacon Mark Prosser (Pastoral Planning Director), as was for the initial Northeast deanery Synod gathering last week. His presence did not deter the different voices sharing thoughts and opinions relative to the Synod questions as initially set forth by the Vatican. A wide spectrum of thoughts were shared pertaining to the Church at large and to that of our own diocese. People spoke freely unhindered by the moderator, with concern, hurt, understanding, hope, vision, desire—and above all, faith. Regardless of the emotions within the comments shared, their passion for our Roman Catholic faith and parish life was evident. Everything from the Sacraments to parish closures to Church history and family involvement was shared. Bishop Nickless was asked to lead the prayer after the nearly two hour session. He graciously and compassionately thanked the people for their faith and concerns, and desire to protect and enhance the grace of our Catholic practices within families and parishes. In April the diocese will provide a summary of the information shared at the four deanery gatherings before it is forwarded, eventually to Rome.
Information provided by individuals within our local Catholic parishes have been coalesced and sent to the diocese. You may view this compilation on our parish website, reflecting the hope and passion about our Catholic faith shared at the deanery meeting last Tuesday. May I share a couple responses, locally. “I feel that the Catholic community as a whole is very in group, we are very personal people, the Catholic faith is very easy for introverts, the liturgy is very personal with its relations between the person and the miracle taking place on the altar. But inspire these aspects of the faith community, we must make greater efforts to invite the surrounding community in. Because it is our duty as Christians to convert and make disciples of all nations. We are now living in a world that is much more like the early Church than any time before. The Faith was then spread by our actions in the community. . . .Those actions were done by no one else in the community but the Church.”
“Personal invitations to return to the life of the parish. Increased prayer & adoration. Increased opportunity for confessions. I feel many of the faithful attendees have returned to the parish, however, of those who haven’t returned, we have to ask. . . .how were they not being ‘fed’ before the pandemic? What made our Church and parish so easy to give up?”
“To get out of the realm of Caesar and into the Healing power of Jesus from soul and sometimes flesh. To lead without apology, to guide with true love, and to inspire as a radical.”
Jesus entered the synagogue and was handed the scroll of Isaiah, as depicted in today’s gospel passage, illuminating his presence as the Messiah. In doing so Christ placed the Jewish faith as the foundational aspect of our Catholic Church, our Christian beliefs. Abraham Heschel has been a wise and inspirational voice as a rabbi and guide within the Jewish community of believers and too, followers of Christ. Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907-1972) was born into a family of Hasidic rabbis in Warsaw, Poland and called to the spiritual life at a young age. He fled escaped Poland just before the Nazi invasion, eventually ending up in New York. His faith and spirituality was shaped by the death of his mother and sisters in the Holocaust. “The meaning of the Sabbath is to celebrate time rather than space. Six days a week we live under the tyranny of things of space; on the Sabbath we try to become attuned to holiness in time. It is a day on which we are called upon to share in what is eternal in time, to turn from the results of creation to the mystery of creation; from the world of creation to the creation of the world. . . .Prayer cannot bring water to parched fields, or mend a broken bridge, or rebuild a ruined city; but prayer can water an arid soul, mend a broken heart, and rebuild a weakened will. . . .Awe enables us to see in the world intimations of the divine, to sense in small things the beginning of infinite significance, to sense the ultimate in the common and the simple, to feel in the rush of the passing the stillness of the eternal.”
God Bless, Fr. Tim.
FYI: St. Francis de sales feast day is Monday, and the ‘gentleman saint’ reminds us: "The same everlasting Father who cares for you today will care for you tomorrow and every day. Either he will shield you from suffering or give you unfailing strength to bear it. Be at peace then and put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginings."
Our deanery (Southeast), held a Synod discussion last Tuesday evening, continuing the process Pope Francis initiated this past summer. Bishop Nickless was present with Deacon Mark Prosser (Pastoral Planning Director), as was for the initial Northeast deanery Synod gathering last week. His presence did not deter the different voices sharing thoughts and opinions relative to the Synod questions as initially set forth by the Vatican. A wide spectrum of thoughts were shared pertaining to the Church at large and to that of our own diocese. People spoke freely unhindered by the moderator, with concern, hurt, understanding, hope, vision, desire—and above all, faith. Regardless of the emotions within the comments shared, their passion for our Roman Catholic faith and parish life was evident. Everything from the Sacraments to parish closures to Church history and family involvement was shared. Bishop Nickless was asked to lead the prayer after the nearly two hour session. He graciously and compassionately thanked the people for their faith and concerns, and desire to protect and enhance the grace of our Catholic practices within families and parishes. In April the diocese will provide a summary of the information shared at the four deanery gatherings before it is forwarded, eventually to Rome.
Information provided by individuals within our local Catholic parishes have been coalesced and sent to the diocese. You may view this compilation on our parish website, reflecting the hope and passion about our Catholic faith shared at the deanery meeting last Tuesday. May I share a couple responses, locally. “I feel that the Catholic community as a whole is very in group, we are very personal people, the Catholic faith is very easy for introverts, the liturgy is very personal with its relations between the person and the miracle taking place on the altar. But inspire these aspects of the faith community, we must make greater efforts to invite the surrounding community in. Because it is our duty as Christians to convert and make disciples of all nations. We are now living in a world that is much more like the early Church than any time before. The Faith was then spread by our actions in the community. . . .Those actions were done by no one else in the community but the Church.”
“Personal invitations to return to the life of the parish. Increased prayer & adoration. Increased opportunity for confessions. I feel many of the faithful attendees have returned to the parish, however, of those who haven’t returned, we have to ask. . . .how were they not being ‘fed’ before the pandemic? What made our Church and parish so easy to give up?”
“To get out of the realm of Caesar and into the Healing power of Jesus from soul and sometimes flesh. To lead without apology, to guide with true love, and to inspire as a radical.”
Jesus entered the synagogue and was handed the scroll of Isaiah, as depicted in today’s gospel passage, illuminating his presence as the Messiah. In doing so Christ placed the Jewish faith as the foundational aspect of our Catholic Church, our Christian beliefs. Abraham Heschel has been a wise and inspirational voice as a rabbi and guide within the Jewish community of believers and too, followers of Christ. Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907-1972) was born into a family of Hasidic rabbis in Warsaw, Poland and called to the spiritual life at a young age. He fled escaped Poland just before the Nazi invasion, eventually ending up in New York. His faith and spirituality was shaped by the death of his mother and sisters in the Holocaust. “The meaning of the Sabbath is to celebrate time rather than space. Six days a week we live under the tyranny of things of space; on the Sabbath we try to become attuned to holiness in time. It is a day on which we are called upon to share in what is eternal in time, to turn from the results of creation to the mystery of creation; from the world of creation to the creation of the world. . . .Prayer cannot bring water to parched fields, or mend a broken bridge, or rebuild a ruined city; but prayer can water an arid soul, mend a broken heart, and rebuild a weakened will. . . .Awe enables us to see in the world intimations of the divine, to sense in small things the beginning of infinite significance, to sense the ultimate in the common and the simple, to feel in the rush of the passing the stillness of the eternal.”
God Bless, Fr. Tim.
FYI: St. Francis de sales feast day is Monday, and the ‘gentleman saint’ reminds us: "The same everlasting Father who cares for you today will care for you tomorrow and every day. Either he will shield you from suffering or give you unfailing strength to bear it. Be at peace then and put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginings."
