Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Mary and Joseph did everything they could do to protect the Christ child. They had already dealt with so many hardships. The Holy Family then has to leave everything and move to a foreign country to avoid the king who wanted to kill Jesus. Jesus is just a week old and, already, there is trouble. Surely there was another way! Couldn't God have somehow just "taken care" of Herod? Why did the Holy Family have to suffer so much?
READ MOREDear Brothers and Sisters,
Four weeks ago, we began Advent, pondering the end of the world and the last things. But Advent ends with a beginning! It is the beginning of the Kingdom of God that has been established here on earth by the one whom God has sent to us as our Messiah, Christ Jesus, the Son of God whose nativity we celebrate on this glorious day!
It goes without saying that I am exceedingly grateful for the generous stewardship of our parishioners of St. Joan of Arc. Thank you! You absolutely amaze me. It is such a joy to be your pastor and see all the good you accomplish!
READ MORETHE CHRISTMAS TREE
Despite many historians' attempts to link the Christmas tree to an ancient pagan practice, it is completely Christian in origin. As the story goes, St. Boniface and his companions interrupted an event where there was to be the sacrifice of a child. With his bishops’ staff (crozier) in hand, Boniface approached the pagan crowd, who had surrounded the base of the Thunder Oak, saying to his group, “Here is the Thunder Oak, and here the cross of Christ shall break the hammer of the false god, Thor.”
READ MOREDear Brothers and Sisters,
My friend, Fr. Richard, recently shared with me a true story about a university-sponsored trip that he experienced as a college student. Part of the trip included a dinner with alumni at what he described as a “posh country club”. You have to understand that Fr. Richard has this amazing knack for recognizing food from a great distance away…it is sort of a special gift that he is constantly perfecting (I’m joking, sort of). As he stepped off the chartered bus, the first thing he noticed was the savory smell of steaks on a grill.
While we both enjoy our fair share of fast food, there is nothing like a home-cooked meal. Fr. Richard noticed that his mouth immediately started to water like an old hound dog. Then he remembered that it was Friday and it was Lent. And his eyes started to well up with tears. Okay, I made that last part up.
READ MORETHE ADVENT CALENDAR
The Advent calendar or Adventhaus began in Scandanavia and Germany, especially in the regions of the Palatinate and Hesse. Its purpose is to help children become aware of the expectancy of Advent. Sometimes the Advent calendar is a picture of a house with 23 small windows and 1 large window that are opened to reveal the tiny religious symbols, icons and pictures behind them. Another variation is to construct a Jacob's Ladder that leads step by step to the day of Christ's birth. Every morning or every evening before bedtime, the child opens a window, behind which appears a star, an angel, a manger or some other picture appropriate to the Advent season. (If there are several children in the family, the privilege of opening the windows rotates from one to another.) An appropriate bible verse can serve as a caption to the picture. On the 23rd, all twenty-three small windows are open; the big window remains closed until Christmas Eve, when it is opened to reveal the Holy Child in the manger. When all the windows are opened, stand the calendar in form of a lamp or window. The light will shine through the paper, giving the little house a Christmas glow.
READ MOREDear Brothers and Sisters,
The word Advent comes from the Latin words, advenire (to come to) & adventus (an arrival), and refers to Christ's coming into this world. The Advent season is a time of joyful expectation and preparation for Christmas, the day upon which Christ's birth is celebrated and His first coming into this world. The focus of Advent is upon the centuries of waiting and preparation by God's chosen people, which preceded the coming of the Messiah. As such, it is a time marked by expectation, hope, preparedness and penance. The later being mindful of John the Baptist's cry to prepare for the coming of the Lord with repentance (Treasury of Latin Prayers by Michael Martin).
READ MORE(Excerpts from a homily on pornography by Fr. Richard Doerr, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish in Carmel, IN)
What is the response in dealing with an addiction to pornography?
The first is honesty. Admit that the dark side of the Internet is a problem in your life if it is. Most importantly, through thoughtful reflection, when you have fallen into sin, determine what emotion triggered it. Addictive behavior of any kind is self-medication. Somehow, we are hurting and we are looking for ways to “check out” when we engage in addictive behaviors like the dark side of the Internet. If this is you, get to counseling and be at peace with yourself and your past.
READ MOREDear Brothers and Sisters,
Most Rev. Paul S. Loverde, the Bishop of the Diocese of Arlington, wrote: “In my nearly fifty years as a priest, I have seen the evil of pornography spread like a plague throughout our culture. What was once the shameful and occasional vice of the few has become the mainstream entertainment for the many—through the Internet, cable, satellite and broadcast television, smartphones and even portable gaming and entertainment devices designed for children and teenagers. Never before have so many Americans been so tempted to view pornography. Never before have the accountability structures—to say nothing of the defenses which every society must build to defend the precious gift of her children—been so weak” (Bought with a Price: Every Man’s Duty to Protect Himself and His Family From a Pornographic Culture).
READ MOREDear Brothers and Sisters,
The nurturing of vocations to the priests, deacons, consecrated men and women and the lay faithful and sacramental married life are vital to the mission of Our Lord Jesus Christ. To be clear, Our Lord asked us to “GO MAKE DISCIPLES… OF ALL NATIONS.” We have had many couples receive the Sacrament of Marriage at St. Joan of Arc. We have many lay faithful seeking to become saints. St. Joan of Arc has never had a priest or religious from our parish.
We know that God calls many young men and women to serve as priests and religious sisters. There is still a shortage of priests and religious in our diocese. Why? There are many reasons for this problem. I would say that the main issue has to do with listening to Our Lord. I believe there is a “crisis of listening.” I often wonder how many people have entered into the wrong vocation and are living a life that is not God’s will for them.
READ MOREDear Brothers and Sisters,
Our Lord prayed that His followers would all “be one” (John 17). We read in John 17:3 where Jesus addresses his Father, saying, "And this is eternal life, that they know You - the Only True God." Our Lord is very clear about His hope that all God’s children would be truly one and that all would come to know Him. Our Lord’s prayer needs to be our prayer too.
Today’s Gospel reminds us that our mission as followers of Christ is to lead others to the one Teacher, the one Doctor, the one Father who is Lord of all. God is our goal and really the purpose of our existence. Our Lord sets our priorities when He says to call no man "Rabbi" or "Teacher" or "Father." We have only one Master, one Teacher, one Father - God himself.
READ MOREDear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
The way our culture currently recognizes Halloween is more than scary… it is wrong. Let me attempt to clarify a few things. This week we will celebrate the Feast of All Saints, which is celebrated every November 1st. This celebration dates back to the fourth century. It was originally called the Feast of All Martyrs and it was celebrated on May 13th. The words “martyr” and “saint” originally meant basically the same thing — someone who is a witness to Christ even unto death.
The early Christians usually placed the body of the martyr, someone who had been killed for the faith, in a tomb that was easily accessible. Then on the anniversary of that martyr’s death, the faithful would come and pray and celebrate the Eucharist on or near the tomb of this Christian hero or heroine. That is why many altars have a relic of a saint located in the altar. Eventually, these celebrations were held in local churches to commemorate not just one martyr, but all who had given their lives for the faith. By the fifth century, this feast of “All Saints” was held on the Friday of Easter week.
In the ninth century, Pope Gregory the IV changed the date to November 1st. In 1484 Pope Sixtus IV established November 1st as a holy day of obligation. Those Christians who endured torture for the faith, but did not die, were treated with great respect. Therefore, their local church honored those who led heroic and faithful lives as saints after their deaths.
READ MOREDear Brothers and Sisters,
Our Lord has blessed St. Joan of Arc parish with some very generous parishioners who enable our parish to continue to function in wonderful ways. Specifically, your generosity has enabled our parish debt to be paid down $83,918 in one year… leaving us a debt of $206,862. Unfortunately, our plate collection and the “Save Our Parish” collections have both decreased a bit this year. The good news is that we have been able to cut back in other areas of spending so as to avoid financial loss. We have seen our parish increase in the total number of parishioners but the number of families who come to Mass regularly changes dramatically depending on the time of the year. The visitors to our fish fry helped us to profit over $20,000 from the fish fry this year.
READ MOREDear Brothers and Sisters,
After nearly seven years of prayer, fasting, and a powerful Christian witness by Respect Life groups from several parishes coupled with the faithful presence of the Knights of Columbus every Tuesday night, the Planned Parenthood office on 32nd Street and Thunderbird has officially closed its doors. The hours of standing in the hot sun; hearing the insults of passersby; resisting the temptations to give up, all speak to the grit of the prayer warriors who fought the good fight… and won! Yes, it is only one victorious battle in the war against the unborn but it is one victory. But, as a result of this particular Planned Parenthood closing its doors, abortions will cease to be offered in our neighborhood and lives will be saved.
READ MOREDear Brothers and Sisters,
It is a wonderful blessing to be able to serve you as your priest. I get to meet so many people from so many different walks of life. Today I want to share what a great blessing it is to have so many wonderful seniors in our parish who are so dedicated to Our Lord. Your presence blesses us all. You deserve our prayers, our respect, and our love. I am grateful for all those who have sacrificed so much to make St. Joan of Arc such an incredible place. Your dedication and desire to be a part the life of our parish is inspirational and will hopefully motivate generations to come to do their part and to make a positive difference in our world.
READ MOREDear Brothers and Sisters,
I was blessed to travel with a priest as well as Deacon Peter and his wife to Hawaii for summer vacation. My friend was able to arrange one day for us on the Island of Molokai where St. Damien De Veuster and St. Marianne Cope ministered to lepers. Twelve people afflicted with Leprosy or Hansen’s disease who are now cured remain on the Island. If I had to guess, they prefer to be hidden from the world after being treated so harshly when diagnosed.
Normally, people refuse to touch lepers for fear that they will contract leprosy themselves. But Father Damien was different. He would hug those with leprosy and hold their hands to make them feel better and in the process restored their sense of human dignity. The lepers realized that Damien didn't care what they looked like or if they were sick. He saw them for what they truly were-Children of God.
READ MORE