Bulletin Article: January 5

I hope that you are having a blessed 2020. The month of January will be very busy around this parish. Here are a few events that I would like to highlight:

-January 6 Mass will be offered in the Extraordinary Form at 6pm to celebrate the Solemnity of the Epiphany.

-January 13 will be our Parish Open Forum. It is my hope that these will be helpful in bringing our parish community together towards the building up of our parish community for the Lord. There will be a pot luck dinner starting at 5:30pm and the forum will be from 6:30pm-7:30pm.

-January 14 there will be an informational meeting for those interested on the pilgrimage to the Holy Land at 6:30pm. There are brochures located in the gathering area.

-January 20 we will have a meeting concerning our 2020 Fall Festival at 6:30pm. We are still in need of a chairperson for the festival.

In Christ,

Fr. Dustin Collins 

Most Holy Name of Jesus Homily

Merry Christmas!

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Most Holy Name of Jesus. Please keep in mind that there will be a Mass offered in the Extraordinary Form on the proper day of the Epiphany which is January 6th. This Mass will be offered at 6pm. This feast of the Holy Name fell out of the calendar following the reforms, but thankfully it has been restored in the current Roman Missal and thus this feast was offered in the Ordinary Form this past Friday.

This is an important feast because it presents us with the name of Jesus. From the account of the Annunciation we are told: “Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. We are also told from the account of His circumcision: “When eight days were completed for his circumcision, he was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.” We are also told of the importance of this name from Saint Paul’s Epistle to the Philippians: “Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in Heaven and on earth and under the earth.”

The Hebrew meaning of the name “Jesus” means “God saves.” Some Greek fathers of the Church would also relate this name to healing and thus “God heals.” As the Catechism of the Catholic Church explains: “The name “Jesus” signifies that the very name of God is present in the person of his Son, made man for the universal and definitive redemption from sins. It is the divine name that alone brings salvation, and henceforth all can invoke his name, for Jesus united himself to all men through his Incarnation, so that “there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

In the year 1274 Pope Gregory X desired the faithful to foster devotion to the Holy Name especially when they attended the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. He therefore wrote and requested of the faithful: “We have also judged it proper to persuade the faithful to demonstrate more reverence for the Name above all names, the only Name in which we claim salvation- the Name of Jesus Christ, who has redeemed us from the bondage of sin. Consequently, in obedience to that apostolic precept, “In the Name of Jesus let every knee, be bent,” we wish that at the pronouncing of that Name, chiefly at the Holy Sacrifice, every one would bow his head in token that interiorly he bends the knee of his heart.”

With that let us come to foster proper devotion and trust in the Most Holy Name of Jesus. This is the Name that saves and heals. In our world we have lost a lot of respect for holy things especially the Most Holy Name of Jesus. Let us instead strive to not take this Name in vain, but to honor it always with our thoughts and words. When we are tempted to sin let us call upon this Name to receive our strength. May this Name remain our light and hope always as we strive for the Kingdom of Heaven. In all that we may do may we come to honor and adore the Most Holy Name of Jesus.

Epiphany Homily

Merry Christmas!

Today we celebrate an important solemnity in the form of the Epiphany. For some this is solely a celebration of three wise men or three kings who come to visit Jesus and bring Him gifts. This is true, but this is also a very profound celebration in Christendom which transcends even these magi.

The word “epiphany” comes from the Greek and means “manifestation.” What is revealed here is the manifestation of God to man. In the East the Epiphany not only accounts for the visit of the Magi, but His baptism in the Jordan, and the miracle at the wedding feast where water was changed into wine. Each of these three realities serve as God’s manifestation to us.

The magi serve as important figures because God manifested Himself unto them. They followed the light of a star which brought them into this encounter with the Messiah. In the words of Pope Benedict XVI: “it is not the star that determines the child’s destiny. It is the child that directs the star.” He goes on to state: “this implies that the entire cosmos speaks of Christ, even though its language is not yet fully intelligible to man in his present state.”

From the light of this star Christ calls the magi into an encounter with Him. With this the magi journey towards Him. The magi who were Gentile in origin then undergo their conversion. They become the first to encounter God made Flesh and be converted. For them this conversion marks a new beginning. Through them we find in the words of Benedict XVI “the journeying of humanity toward Christ.”

In our Gospel we heard these words: “they prostrated themselves and did him homage.” In the Extraordinary Form the priest genuflects at this point in the Gospel for this verse points towards their realization that this child who they have encountered is God made Flesh.

May we too journey with these Magi during this time of the Epiphany. May we encounter this same child who is God made Flesh and may we too be converted and live. From the lowliness of a manger He now manifests Himself unto the whole world as God made Flesh. From this reality may we continue to journey towards Him in how we live and orient our life.

Proclamation of Moveable Feasts 2020

Know, dear brethren,

that, as we have rejoiced at the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ,

so by leave of God's mercy

we announce to you also the joy of his Resurrection,

who is our Savior.

On the twenty-sixth day of February will fall Ash Wednesday,

and the beginning of the fast of the most sacred Lenten season.

On the twelfth day of April you will celebrate with joy Easter Day,

the Paschal feast of our Lord Jesus Christ.

On the twenty-fourth day of May will be the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ.

On the thirty-first day of May, the feast of Pentecost.

On the fourteenth day of June, the feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.

On the twenty-ninth day of November, the First Sunday of the Advent of our Lord Jesus Christ,

to whom is honor and glory for ever and ever.

Amen.

Mary, Mother of God Homily

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Today we embark upon this New Year. As we embark upon it may we call upon the Holy Spirit to guide us in this new year. It is for this reason that the singing of the “Vini Creator Spiritus” “Come Creator Spirit” is a plenary indulgence on January 1st along with (1) receiving communion in the state of grace, (2) making a confession in a reasonable amount of time, and (3) praying for the intention of the Holy Father.

Today is also the eighth day following Christ’s birth. This day brings about the conclusion of what is known to us as the Octave of Christmas. The importance of this eighth day was also pointed out in our Gospel: “When eight days were completed for his circumcision, he was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.” As time has progressed this day has also become dedicated to Mary as being Mother of God. Truly whenever we have the opportunity to celebrate the Blessed Mother we have the opportunity to dwell with Christ for all devotion to her always points the way back to her Son.

Throughout Christmas we celebrate the fact that God loved us so much that He took on our human flesh and dwelt among us. With that let us think how scandalous all of this may seem to the untrained mind. God was unable to feed Himself and instead relied upon His parents in order to receive His sustenance. He would go to the desert and there He would come to know the true meaning of hunger and thirst as He fasted for a period of forty days and nights. Through His circumcision He spilt His Blood as a foreshadowing of what would come through the ultimate spilling of blood upon the cross.

If we desire to be more human then we will strive to be more like Christ. Through this reality we are not called to becomes less human, but to become more human through this pursuit. As Saint Athanasius put it in today’s Office of Readings: “Our Savior truly became man, and from this has followed the salvation of man as a whole. Our salvation is in no way fictitious, nor does it apply only to the body. The salvation of the whole man, that is, of soul and body, has really been achieved in the Word himself. What was born of Mary was therefore human by nature, in accordance with the inspired Scriptures, and the body of the Lord was a true body: it was a true body because it is the same as ours. Mary, you see, is our sister, for we are all born of Adam.”

As we head into this new year may we continue to foster devotion to Mary in our life and within our family. All of this devotion draws us into a closer relationship with her Son, Jesus. In this manner we can strive to be more like Christ and in the process strip away everything that keeps us from achieving this goal. For many a New Year’s resolution never gets put into action or if it does it only lasts a few days and weeks before things return to normal and we begin to forget of what we once strived for. To pursue Christ is not a New Year’s resolution, but a way of life.