Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
April 2, 2025 Column Father De Celles
First Confessions. Yesterday (Saturday, February 8) about 35 of our Second Graders went to confession for the first time. What a great gift God gives us in this sacrament. And what a joy to be able, as a priest, to share this gift with these little ones. I’m confident that none of us thinks any one of them was in absolute need of the sacramental absolution (i.e., in the state of mortal sin), even so, we all know the joy of the grace this sacrament imparts to live more closely with Christ as well as the absolution of venial sins are gifts. Moreover, how great it is that they have received the gift of admission to the sacrament itself, that is, to be able from now on and throughout their life to come to Christ in the confessional and receive his forgiveness even for the most terrible thing they might do, especially as teens or adults—the promise that in His loving mercy, Jesus will never abandon them, no matter how they might fail Him.
Let’s pray for these little ones, that they may regularly and always seek the Lord in the confessional throughout their lives (I pray their parents will bring them to the confessional at least once a month, as my parents did for me). And let us pray for one another that we may have a renewed appreciation and more frequent experience of this great sacrament in our own lives.
“Candlemas” Thanks. If you attended the 9am or11am Mass last Sunday, I hope you enjoyed the unique opening to the Mass with the blessing of candles. We don’t often get to celebrate the Presentation of the Lord/Candlemas on a Sunday. Thanks for all the folks who helped us organize this, especially Mary Butler.
Folks at those Masses also were given candles to take home with them. These candles had been used on the altar, but replaced when they were burned down. Since we can’t just throw them away, last Sunday we gave them away.
But we still have a whole bunch left. So we’re putting the rest near the doors of the church today and asking you to take them home with you, and burn them in your homes as a reminder of that Christ, the Light of the World, is with you always. They are free, take as many as you want. But I encourage you to consider making a small donation (There will be a box next to the candles).
Women’s Retreat at St. Raymond’s. Lent doesn’t start till March 5, but it’s time to do a little planning ahead. On Saturday, March 1, the Parish is sponsoring a “pre-Lent” half-day retreat for the woman of our parish—see below for details. Although the priests of the parish will be hearing confessions and I will be offering Mass (and preaching), once again I have asked the ladies of the Women’s Apostolate to Youth (WAY) to give the talks and lead the discussions.
For those of you who are not familiar with WAY, it is an official Church lay association for Catholic women in the Diocese of Arlington whose mission is to promote the spiritual wellbeing of children/youth and provide spiritual formation and support for women who work with youth in a variety of Apostolates. Angelus Academy is an apostolate of WAY, as is the popular DAYSTAR Mother-Daughter Retreat Series and the “Saint Michael’s Army of Intercessors.” I strongly encourage all women of the parish—younger and older, married or single—to attend this retreat.
Immigration and VP Vance. Recently Vice President Vance responded to a question about the crack down on illegal immigration in a very unusual (for a politician) way. He stated,
“[A]s an American leader, but also just as an American citizen, your compassion belongs first to your fellow citizens. It doesn’t mean you hate people from outside of your own borders….But there’s this old-school [concept] — and I think a very Christian concept, by the way — that you love your family, and then you love your neighbor, and then you love your community, and then you love your fellow citizens in your own country, and then after that you can focus and prioritize the rest of the world….A lot of the far left has completely inverted that. They seem to hate the citizens of their own country and care more about people outside their own borders. That is no way to run a society.”
Excellent. This is a pitch perfect, if simplified, explanation of the Catholic Church’s teaching on “ordo amoris,” sometimes translated as “rightly ordered love.” If this sounds familiar, it should be. While it is a teaching often overlooked by many Catholics talking about immigration, it is one that is often preached here in our pulpit and in this column. As I wrote here last July (in part):
“St. Thomas Aquinas explains that our first neighbor is our parents (family), but after that our second neighbor, is our country…and our fellow countrymen. …Of course, the people in other countries are also our neighbors. But it’s a matter of priorities: it’s a simple rule, “charity begins at home.” So we should love people in other countries, but first we should love, honor and care for our country and our countrymen.”
Bishop Burbidge on Immigration. Although he approaches the topic from a different perspective, this ordo amoris also undergirds the teaching of our good Bishop Burbidge in his recent “Pastoral Statement on American Immigration Law and the Catholic Imperative of Upholding Human Dignity and the Common Good.” I sent it around in a parish email last week—I hope you will read it.
Trump and School Choice. Did you see the President’s January 31 executive order, “Expanding Education Freedom and Opportunity for Families,” that directs various government agencies and Congress to consider options for promoting School Choice? As his press release states:
“It recognizes that parents, not the government, play a fundamental role in choosing and directing the upbringing and education of their children….However, for generations, our government-assigned education system has failed millions of parents, students, and teachers. This Executive Order begins to rectify that wrong by opening up opportunities for students to attend the school that best fits their needs….[This] Administration….will provide every available opportunity for parents to enrich the education of their children through individual choice.
This is just a beginning, but an outstanding beginning. As Vatican II taught: “Parents who have the primary and inalienable right and duty to educate their children must enjoy true liberty in their choice of schools. Consequently, the public power, …must see to it…that public subsidies are paid out in such a way that parents are truly free to choose according to their conscience the schools they want for their children….” (Gravissimum Educationis, 60).
Super Bowl. I apologize to all you Eagles fans, but being a life-long Cowboy fan and I just can’t root for them. And Kansas City is the original hometown of my parents and siblings and still the home of most of my relatives, so I’m a natural Chiefs fan. Enjoy the game!
Oremus pro invicem. Fr. De Celles