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A MESSAGE FROM OUR PASTOR, FATHER TOM
DECEMBER 5, 2021

On this second Sunday of Advent, I am thinking of the Holy Family journeying to Bethlehem over rough roads - not in a comfortable SUV, but on foot with perhaps a donkey. Only women who have experienced pregnancy can imagine what that trip was like for Mary. Certainly, as Mary and Joseph prepared for the birth of the child they were not hoping for a long, dangerous journey with no reservations at the Inn. They couldn’t have hoped for the baby to be born in a manger!

The Renew My Church process was nothing any of us wanted or hoped for. None of us sought the changes that were required of us. The three parish communities, St. Hugh, St. Mary, and Mater Christi, all felt they were “doing okay.” A review of Mass attendance, ministries offered, and financial and facilities needs made it clear we were not “doing okay.” We were comfortable perhaps, but the mission of the Church is to proclaim the gospel in word and deed and not simply to be satisfied with the status quo.

Our journey as a new parish these past four months has upset much of what we knew in our parishes before. No one wanted St. Hugh to close. No one wanted to “be combined.” We valued our separate identities. I did not desire to be pastor of three unified communities with two campuses. Staff people did not want their positions to change, parish organizations did not seek to accommodate new ideas and to compromise in the “we always did it this way” moments.

We can focus on the “I never wanted this” or, moved by God’s grace, we can embrace this journey and be enriched by new ways of doing things, welcoming each other, seeing the hope in all the good that has been done.

I can’t imagine Mary, in all her discomfort and concern on the journey to Bethlehem, being focused on “poor me.” Even less can I imagine her blaming Joseph for the hardships of the trip?

I’m sure Mary’s focus was on the baby to be born and Joseph’s focus was on both Mary and the baby. Where is our focus this post-Renew My Church Advent? We all have a choice. We can like Mary and Joseph focus on Jesus and all the gifts of faith he has brought for us to share, or we can - and each of us can - focus on “poor me” and blame whoever is handy for this difficult journey.

I am reminded of the quote from Dale Carnegie in his book, “Stop Worrying and Start Living”: “two men looked out from prison bars, one saw mud, the other stars.” Our focus is the key to a happy Advent journey and a positive unity.

Father Tom May
Pastor of St. Paul VI Parish

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A MESSAGE FROM OUR ASSOCIATE PASTOR, FATHER MATT
DECEMBER 5, 2021

This Wednesday we will be celebrating the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary. It seems like this is one of the more confusing celebrations of the Church. I know I get a little ruffled when movies and television shows confuse the Immaculate Conception with the Virgin Birth of Jesus. To help us Philip Kosloski of the Aleteia gives a brief guide to this great mystery of the Christian faith.

In the liturgical calendar of the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church, there exists the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary on December 8. It is a feast that is often confused with the conception of Jesus Christ, which is celebrated with the Solemnity of the Annunciation on March 25 (nine months before Christmas day).

What does the “Immaculate Conception” mean?

The Catechism of the Catholic Church lays out a basic definition.

To become the mother of the Savior, Mary “was enriched by God with gifts appropriate to such a role.” The angel Gabriel at the moment of the annunciation salutes her as “full of grace.” In fact, in order for Mary to be able to give the free assent of her faith to the announcement of her vocation, it was necessary that she be wholly borne by God’s grace. Through the centuries the Church has become ever more aware that Mary, “full of grace” through God, was redeemed from the moment of her conception. That is what the dogma of the Immaculate Conception confesses, as Pope Pius IX proclaimed in 1854: The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin. (CCC 490- 491)

It is a difficult teaching to understand, as it centers on the teaching that God applied the merits of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross to the Virgin Mary at the moment of her conception.

The Canonry of St. Leopold expounded on this truth.

[God] took the grace and salvation which would come from His plan to enter into the world, become a man, suffer, die, and rise, and he gave the grace to Mary before He actually did it. This is not a time-traveling episode in a science fiction series (although maybe we are fascinated with time travel because of the Immaculate Conception!) but rather what the theologians call prevenient grace, the grace that worked before (in time!) its source had appeared! So, God lifted up Mary with this grace - to be, as it were as if it had been she, Mary, in the Garden, without the burden of Original Sin. And so, she is the Immaculate Conception – conceived in the womb of her mother without the stain of Original Sin.

It is a great mystery of the Catholic faith, one that may be difficult to comprehend, but fits into the “logic” of salvation history. He sought to prepare a vessel for him to come into the world as Savior and Redeemer, and chose Mary, the daughter of Joachim and Ann, to fulfill his plan. It shows his tenderness to humanity and the great love he poured out upon the Virgin Mary, to grant her such grace. He wanted the best for his earthly mother!

It may take many years of study before a person can even partially comprehend this dogma. If you struggle with this teaching, it is appropriate to say the prayer of the father whose son was cured by Jesus Christ, “I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24).

Father Matt Nemchausky
Associate Pastor of St. Paul VI Parish

Please feel free to contact the Parish Office for any question you may have at (708) 447-1020
“Let us not grow weary of doing good.” (Galatians 6:9)