Saint Aloysius Parish Blog

My Dear Brothers & Sisters,

After sharing my letter in last week’s bulletin, as well as reading the Bishop’s letter at all the weekend masses, many conversations were instigated and we have received a number of inquiries regarding information about this Affordable Care Act and the Catholic Response to it. I encourage you to visit www.USCCB.org and also www.dioceseoftrenton.org where you can see Bishop O’Connell’s message speaking on the new legislation. Please pray.

It is easy for many of us to start feeling down about any number of things in our world today, but that’s nothing new as is shown in our first reading today. For Job, so focused on his misery, nights drag and he counts the hours of his existence. Jesus, in stark contrast, so focused on his mission, can scarcely carve out a moment of solitude in his nonstop ministry.

The 20th-century poet and Presbyterian clergyman Henry Van Dyke said of time: “Time is . . . too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice, but for those who love–time is eternity.”

Instead of our worrying about time, we should tap into eternity by filling each hour with love for God and others. Van Dyke’s 1907 hymn “Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee,” set to the music of Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy,” should help us shift our focus:

Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee, God of glory, God of love; Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee, Opening to their sun above. Melt the clouds of sin and sadness; Drive the dark of doubt away; Giver of immortal gladness, Fill us with the light of day! Thou art giving and forgiving, Ever blessing, ever blest, Well-spring of the joy of living, Ocean-depth of happy rest! Thou our Father, Christ our Brother, All who live in love are Thine: Teach us how to love each other, Lift us to the Joy Divine.

Seek the joy and find yourself and God!

Fr. Scott

P.S. Have a great Super Bowl celebration!

My Dear Brothers & Sisters, An announcement was made by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) January 20, 2012 that nearly all employers will be forced to cover drugs and procedures that violate their conscience in their health insurance plans.

In response, Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan said,

“When the ability of feeding, housing and healing the struggling of the world is curtailed and impeded if one does not also help women abort their babies, one can hardly be faulted for being tempted to ‘sin against the Holy Spirit’ and just consider all as lost.” He goes on to say, “From a human point of view, we may be tempted to surrender, when our government places conception, pregnancy and birth under the ‘center for disease control,’ when chemically blocking conception or aborting the baby in the womb is considered a ‘right’ to be subsidized by others who abhor it.”

Our US Catholic Bishops have condemned the present administration’s decision to move forward with the regulation as “literally unconscionable.” The regulation that was passed last Friday, January 20, requires Catholics to act against their faith, which teaches that sterilization, artificial contraception and abortion violates the natural law and that Catholics cannot be involved in them. The new regulation will go into effect on August 1, 2012. This legislation is a challenge and a compromise of our religious liberty. As Catholics, we should not stand idly by as all this is happening. I encourage you to read more about this serious issue at the Bishops’ website: USCCB.org, or at cnsnews.com.

May God bless you and may God bless our country.

Fr. Scott

This weekend is Pledge Sunday for the Bishop’s Annual Appeal throughout the Diocese of Trenton. Each year the Bishop seeks the support of all members of the diocese to further the work of Diocesan and parish ministries. Each of us has a vital part in all we do in Christ’s name, and each of us can share in all we do with a gift to the Bishop’s Annual Appeal. When we make a gift to the appeal we follow the command that we are One Family, Our Family in Christ with every fiber of our lives.

The goal for the 2012 Bishop’s Annual Appeal is expanded to $8 million. This additional $1 million above the base goal will be used specifically to help support our parish-based social service programs that provide essential resources for those in our family who have the greatest need.

Last year, St. Aloysius surpassed its goal of $80,000, with pledges of more than $104,000 and $91,000 received to date. Our 2012 goal has increased, and will be announced at all Masses this weekend. As always, a portion of the monies we raise are returned to us to support many of our local programs and services.

Together with all of the people of the Diocese of Trenton, we can help others see Christ working in our midst. Please take a moment and truly reflect on any help you can give.
I am always grateful and moved by the level of support and dedication you give to our parish. I thank you for this support, and may God continue to bless you, your family and all the parishioners of St. Aloysius.

-Fr. Scott

The disciples’ first question to Jesus in the Gospel today is, “Where do you live?” The same question might be good for us to ask ourselves. Where do we live?…Where do I live? Do I live in fear or anger? Do I live in joy and gratitude? Do I live with confidence or doubt? All of us are pulled in different directions. We search for the best solutions at our work and our play. We strive to do well in school or to be the best parent.

Where are we with our faith? If you are here today, it is an indicator that you are conscious of what you believe and that you want to do, hear, and see more to deepen that faith and your understanding of it. Today, as we begin this season called Ordinary Time, let us respond to Jesus’ call to “Come and see” by making it a point to grow stronger in our faith, to commit to reading Sacred Scripture, to step outside ourselves and truly get involved with the work of the Church.

Jesus will not disappoint.

May God bless us all.

-Fr. Scott

My Dear Brothers and Sisters, “Magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem.”

The magi were “wise men,” Gentile seers who combined astronomy and astrology to divine religious insights from the skies. Naturally the star attracts them and leads them to find its meaning. But for them to really find out who Jesus is, they must first learn from the Jewish scripture–the Messiah will be born in Bethlehem. The magi symbolize several things: the need for revelation to inform natural knowledge; the Gentiles’ willingness to accept Jesus as the Messiah; and the pilgrimages of religious seekers who set out on long, risky, and uncertain journeys to find the source of their faith.

Friends of mine were stranded in Florida during a hurricane. They spent the storm in a hotel ballroom that was windowless and safe in the center of the building. Water and food had been stored. I asked them what was the hardest part of their ordeal. Without hesitation, they said it was when the lights flickered and then went out. Emergency lighting lasted and dimmed until the batteries gave out. The darkness affected them the most. A box of candles brought in by an employee was cheered.

We’re used to light when we want it by flicking a switch. When light is not there for us, we are left very disoriented. It is hard for us to imagine living without a ready, easy source of light.

In the same way, Christ’s light, which today we celebrate shining on all of us, has given us hope and a challenge that we can never take for granted: hope that it will always shine and the challenge to share that light with our brothers and sisters everywhere in all places for all time. This has now become our task. In this new year let us all always walk in the light of Christ which shines for all to find our way!

Fr. Scott

My Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Happy New Year! On this first day of the new calendar year, I was thinking of what I might offer to our parish family. As we know, last year was marked by a number of factors-economic, social and political-that can and have often times gotten us down or discouraged. Unemployment or under-employment, financial woes and shattered relationships have affected many of us. But, the older I get the more I realize that the negative impact of what happens in the world and in our lives can be lessened if we filter it through a positive faith attitude. Yes, our attitude can make a difference—all the difference in the world.

A song has been bouncing around in my head all morning as I prepared to write. I looked up the lyrics from this parody written by Eric Idle (of Monty Python fame). Here’s a snippet:

Some things in life are bad, they can really make you mad.. Other things just make you swear and curse. When you’re chewing on life’s gristle, don’t grumble, give a whistle. And this’ll help things turn out for the best, and…Always look on the bright side of life!

Bobby McFerrin also encouraged our whole society as he sang, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy!”

And just so those who are reading this are not left with just pop music lyrics to inspire us to live our lives with hope and calm, here are a few verses we heard today at mass: May God bless us in his mercy. May the nations be glad and exult because you rule the peoples in equity: the nations on the earth you guide. Ps. 67:5. God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!”

So you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son then also an heir, through God. Gal 4:7.

And, last, the Blessing of Aaron, The LORD bless you and keep you! The LORD let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you! The LORD look upon you kindly and give you peace! Num 6:24-26

In this New Year may all of us approach life with the joy and hope of God’s children, knowing that our Lord’s promise to be with us always is cause for our hope.

God bless you!

-Fr.  Scott