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Notes from the Pastor August 20, 2017
Dear friends,
There are a lot of times that we feel we really don’t belong somewhere; changing over to another established grade or a new school, marrying into a family that is not similar to one’s existence, being told in church that you cannot sit in someone’s pew, not being talked to at a gathering.The feeling of not belonging someplace was certainly forced on the woman in today’s Gospel. She was a Canaanite, a gentile, a pagan. What was she doing seeking healing for her daughter from this Jesus, whom the Jewish people were treating as their long sought Messiah? She was determined. Her faith was further tested when Jesus said that it is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs, dogs being the Jewish way of referring to the gentiles. Her response that even the dogs eat the food that falls from the table showed that her faith in Him would not waiver. It was clear that she belonged there, before the Lord. No one could say that she didn’t belong. She couldn’t even say that about herself.
None of us should ever feel that we don’t belong coming before the Lord. We do belong here. We belong here because He has called us to be here. Nor should any of us believe others who through their subtle actions send a message that we really should be excluded from His Presence. Saints and sinners belong here. And so, we come before Him this Sunday and every Sunday. We come before Him with simple faith. Like the Canaanite woman, we ask Him for healing. And we trust Him. For His mercy and compassion are infinitely greater than our sins. We look at the image of our Lord on the cross. We meditate on what He has done for us. And in complete humility we say, “I belong here.”
Pope Francis has granted a plenary indulgence opportunity for the 100th anniversary of the Fatima apparitions throughout the centennial year, now to November 2017. A plenary indulgence removes all of the temporal punishment due to sin. To obtain the plenary indulgence, the faithful must fulfill the ordinary conditions: go to Confession and Communion, be interiorly detached from sin, and pray for the intentions of the Holy Father. Three options to receive this indulgence:
- Make a pilgrimage to the Shrine in Fatima, Portugal and participate in a celebration of prayer dedicated to the Virgin. In addition, the faithful must pray the Our Father, recite the Creed and invoke the Mother of God.
- Pray before any local shrine of Our Lady of Fatima (as we have in the side shrine in our church) and there, during the days of the anniversary of the apparitions, the 13th of each month from May to October 2017, devoutly participate in some celebration or prayer in honor of the Virgin Mary. In addition, the faithful must pray the Our Father, recite the Creed and invoke the Mother of God.
- The elderly and infirm, because of age, illness or other serious cause, may pray at home in front of a statue of Our Lady of Fatima and must spiritually unite themselves to the jubilee celebrations on the days of the apparitions, the 13th of each month, between May and October 2017. They must also “offer to merciful God with confidence, through Mary, their prayers, and sufferings or the sacrifices they make in their own lives.”
Father Joe Piekarski, Pastor*Flowers at the Holy Family Shrine are in memory of Bryan J. Kosc.