Much has happened in the last two years, so this sort of flew under the radar, but late in 2019 – appropriately, on September 30, the feast of St. Jerome – Pope Francis declared that the third Sunday of Ordinary Time would be devoted to the celebration, study, and dissemination of the word of God, and would henceforth be known as the Sunday of the Word of God. This was not an arbitrary decision, but instead is the fruit of much prayer and study in the life of the Church. This might be simplistic, but one could say the institution of this particular day has its roots in the Second Vatican Council. The dogmatic constitution on divine revelation, Dei Verbum, teaches that “the Church has always venerated the divine Scriptures as she has venerated the Lord’s body, in that she never ceases, above all in the sacred liturgy, to partake of the bread of life and to offer it to the faithful from the one table of the word of God and the body of Christ” (DV, 21).
We know that the Eucharist is the source and summit of the Christian life, and we provide evidence of our reverence and devotion to the Eucharist almost automatically – genuflecting before we enter the pews; kneeling at the Eucharistic prayer; making time to come to Eucharistic adoration, and so on and so forth. But do we honor the scriptures in the same way? Do we make time on our own to read the Bible? Are we as attentive as we should be to the readings during Mass? Today is a good day to reflect on those questions, and to perhaps formulate a plan to better incorporate the scriptures into our daily lives. As Pope Francis said when instituting this Sunday, “Christ Jesus is knocking at our door in the words of sacred Scripture. If we hear his voice and open the doors of our minds and hearts, then he will enter our lives and remain ever with us.”
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It’s getting to be that time of year again – time for the launch of the Parish Share Program. Probably by now you received the initial mailing from the diocese; if not, I’m sure it will show up early this week. At this point, all we’re asking you to do is start to pray about what you might be able to give to the program. Parish Share supports the diocese in providing services to the parishes that they wouldn’t be able to do on their own, and perhaps most importantly, supports the education and formation of our seminarians and deacon candidates.
This year, the parish assessment for Christ the Divine Shepherd is $193,967. Again, please pray about how you can support the parish in meeting this goal. “Commitment Sunday” will be at the end of February, and more information will be forthcoming.
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Just a brief update on some improvements happening around our campuses:
*Just before Christmas, the collapsed storm drain at the entrance to the Penn Hills campus was replaced at a cost of approximately $7600.
*A keyless access system is being installed at the Monroeville campus, specifically at Biedenbach Hall and St. Bernadette Church. This will work in conjunction with the keyless access system installed at the Lourdes Center. This gives us better security while at the same time, greater ease-of-access. This project will cost about $8000.
*The signage at the entrance to both campuses will soon be updated to reflect our name and identity as Christ the Divine Shepherd Parish.
*We are very close to signing a contract to begin work on the water issue behind the Lourdes Center. The holidays slowed the process down, but now that we’re into the new year, I hope to move quickly on this.
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Finally, a sacramental announcement: the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick will be celebrated following the 11:00 and 11:30 Masses on the last Sunday of every month. If you’re dealing with a chronic illness or facing an upcoming surgery or procedure, it’s probably a good idea to receive the grace God wants to give you in this sacrament.
Oremus pro invicem!
