Stations of the Cross from CDS North American Martyrs
From Father Larry Adams
This week, we begin the season of Lent, and turn our minds to acts of prayer, almsgiving, and fasting. These 40 days call us to strengthen our relationship with God, to reach out to others in the Body of Christ who need our support, and to re-commit to a focus on the needs of our soul (and not just our body). I’d like to talk about two of these Lenten pillars: the way we utilize our resources and our prayer lives. In terms of our charitable giving, I’d like to encourage you to consider donating to PSP this year. We’re working on a PSP letter that we’ll be mailing to you in the next week or two. This year, we won’t be asking you to make a ‘pledge’, but we will be asking you to utilize the monthly PSP envelopes that come in your envelope packet every other month. Our goal dropped from around $300,000 last year to $196,000 this year. Please keep an eye out for the mailing that will be arriving in your mailbox soon! Sometimes, people decide to skip donating to PSP for one reason or another:
“They use that money to pay off predator priests!”, they claim. (None of the money you donate to PSP is used to address the crisis – those funds come from other sources.)
“We don’t see any of that money coming back to us here in Penn Hills and Monroeville!”, others assert. (In fact, the services that PSP supports is helping us address the electricity outage at St Gerard Majella as well as the receipt of the PPP loan that was a great help to us in 2020.)
Some folks say, “well, why should I donate? It doesn’t go towards helping anyone who I know!” (Actually, your PSP donations funded CDS parishioner Frank Bursic’s formation leading to his ordination as a deacon last year, and it funds the on-going priestly formation of Brian Myler, son of CDS parishioners Bonnie and Jack Myler.)
Please prayerfully consider participating in our parish’s PSP campaign this year! Our prayer lives are important to our Lenten commitment, too! During this time of pandemic, many have become accustomed to staying at home on Sunday instead of going to Mass. Some have been critical of the decision of the bishops to waive the obligation to attend Sunday Mass. Recently, the archbishop of Detroit announced that in his diocese, the waiver of the obligation is being removed. What many are unaware of, though, is that this obligation has never been absolute: if you’re too sick to attend Mass, or it’s unsafe for you to leave the house (due to weather or road conditions), or if you might infect someone with your cold or flu… then the Church has always said that you should discern staying at home! And, in that case, the obligation is lifted for you! From my personal point of view, the archbishop’s statement boils down to a simple observation: if you feel comfortable going out to restaurants for sit-down dinners, shouldn’t you feel comfortable going to Mass? Moreover, shouldn’t you do so out of a personal commitment to your faith, rather than being told by the Church, “Hey! You’re required to do this!” The whole thrust of the Second Vatican Council, in a sense, was to ask us as Catholics to take ownership of our commitment to Christ, rather than doing so only because someone was telling us it was a requirement! In any case, let me echo the archbishop’s message: if you feel comfortable going out and about – shopping, to restaurants and hair-dressers and other activities, would you please prayerfully discern whether it’s time to return to Mass? Even at our reduced seating capacity due to the pandemic, our available pews still aren’t full on Sundays. We’d love to welcome you back to Sunday worship at Mass! Please continue to support our parish through your prayers and generosity! Christ the Divine Shepherd, have mercy on us! St Bartholomew, St Bernadette, St Gerard Majella, St John de Brebeuf and companions (the North American martyrs), St Michael, and St Susanna, pray for us! Blessings, Fr Larry