Twenty Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time

October 21, 2017 News


Rosary. As most of you know October is the “Month of the Rosary.” Tradition attributes the Rosary to an apparition of the Blessed Mother to St. Dominic around the year 1200. The use of strings of beads to count prayers dates back to pre-Christian times and to the first centuries of the Church. By the end of the 8th century the beads were used to count the praying of the 150 psalms. In the 10th and 11th century the strings of beads were commonly used to count Our Fathers, but by the 12th century they were more widely used to count the 150, or 50, Hail Marys. In the 15th century the practice of meditating on the mysteries of the life of Christ while praying the Hail Marys became popular, and the devotion began to be called the Rosarium, (“garland of roses”). By the 16th century the division of the Rosary into the 5 decades of the Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious mysteries became set. In 1999 Pope John Paul II proposed the “Luminous mysteries.”
October’s particular association with the Rosary goes back at least to October 7, 1571, when Pope Pius V attributed the miraculous defeat of the invading Muslim fleet in the Battle of Lepanto to the praying of the Rosary, and declared that day the “Feast of Our Lady of Victory.” Two years later this was changed to the “Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.” In 1883 Pope Leo XIII dedicated the whole month of October to the Queen of the Holy Rosary.
The Rosary remains a devotion that should be dear to the hearts of all Catholics, and Our Lady of Fatima reminded us to pray it daily. For centuries successive popes have recommended it. If anyone asks me how to improve their prayer life, my first response is always, “pray the Rosary”—every day, or at least once a week. Especially in October!

Fr. Smith’s Fatima Talk. Fr. Smith’s talk on Fatima on Friday, October 13, was well received by a large crowd of parishioners. Thanks to him for sharing his knowledge and experiences of Fatima, and thanks to all who attended.

Feast of St. John Paul II. Today, October 22, is the feast day of St. John Paul II. I’m always surprised how many people do not remember him or know much about him. They should.
Born in Wadowice, Poland on May 18, 1920, Karol Jozef Wojtyla was one of three children. Sadly, he lost his mother when he was about 9 years old, and all of his immediately family members were deceased by the time he was 21. His career as a young university student, and amateur actor, was interrupted by the German invasion of Poland in 1939, and he spent the next few years working in forced labor in a quarry. Eventually he entered the underground seminary run by Krakow’s archbishop, and was ordained a priest on November 1, 1946. He went on to earn his doctorate in theology in Rome, and his doctorate in philosophy in Krakow. He then served as a parish priest, university chaplain, and seminary and university professor. He was ordained auxiliary bishop of Krakow on September 28, 1958. In 1964 he was named Archbishop of Krakow (at age 43) and became a cardinal in 1967. As a bishop and archbishop, he took an active role at the Second Vatican Council, making important contributions to the constitution Gaudium et Spes. As the popular young Cardinal-Archbishop of Krakow he became the nemesis of the Communist government of Poland.
During his years as a professor he was dearly loved by his students and their friends. Working with other Catholic theologians he developed a unique approach to teaching about the dignity of the human person, his relationship to God and the meaning of family, marriage and sexuality. This later came to be known as the “Theology of the Body,” which he presented as a gift to the whole Church when he was elected Pope on October 16, 1978.
His papacy began dramatically, as he was elected after the sudden death of Pope John Paul I, who reigned for only 30 days—some seeing this as part of a direct and extraordinary intervention of the Holy Spirit in choosing Wojtyla. This dramatic beginning, along with the fact that he was the first non-Italian pope in over 400 years, as well as his obvious physical vigor, keen intellect, and personal magnetism, made him an instant focus of world attention.
His 27 year reign was marked by innumerable and great accomplishments, including: being a critical figure in the fall of the Iron Curtain and Soviet Communism; clarification of Church doctrine in his prolific speeches and writings; promulgation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church; complete revision of the Code of Canon Law; pastoral visits to 129 countries (8 million saw him at one event in the Philippines); reform of the liturgy; establishment of World Youth Day; complete reorganization of the Roman Curia; canonization of 480 saints; and his unrelenting and outspoken defense of the unborn and marriage.
His example of personal holiness and prayer (spending hours every day in prayer, he seems to be a genuine contemplative and mystic) were a lesson to us all. But perhaps his most amazing accomplishment was attracting young people to the Church, who loved him for clearly speaking the truth to them.
There is not enough space here to explain all he did or what a great and holy man and Pope he was. At the end of his funeral four million mourners in Rome spontaneously and enthusiastically shouted, “Santo subito!”—“a saint right now!” Many call him “the Great,” and I am personally convinced that he will eventually receive this as a formal title (given only to 3 of his predecessors), and also be named a “Doctor of the Church.”
Saint John Paul, pray for us!

Parish Finances. Last week we published our “Annual Parish Financial Report” for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2017, as an insert in the bulletin. Operating Income (mainly from offertory and debt-reduction collections, and other donations) was $2,351,131, only $5,587 (or .2%) less than the prior year, while OPERATING EXPENSES were $1,914,681, up $57,253 (or 3%) from the prior year, leaving us a Net Operating Income of $436,450, down $62,842. Most of the increase in expenses was due to increased salaries and benefits ($48,000), mainly relating to increased cost of medical benefits and an accounting anomaly of extra pay period (27 vs. 26).
We also had Capital Improvement Expenditures of $102,590, mainly related to the confessionals ($18,000), the new “donor wall” ($18,000), and office renovations ($54,000). This left us with a Net Surplus (the bottom line) of $333,860.
On the Balance Sheet side of things, we had $1,078,487 in savings (up $28,829, due to interest) and a loan balance of $387,917 (down $297,096 from the prior year). Note: we are on target to pay off the parish debt (the “building loan”) next summer, June 2018.
Please feel free to contact me or Kirsti Tyson in the parish office with any questions about the report.

Oremus pro invicem. Fr. De Celles