Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
February 7, 2026 Bulletin Column Father De Celles
Snow. What a couple of weeks we’ve had! It feels more like living in Alaska than Virginia.I hope you’ve all been able to weather it okay, no pun intended. If there’s anyone still in need of assistance don’t hesitate to call the office.
I need to thank the folks who worked so hard before, during and after the storm around the parish, especially Mike Thompson and Luis Tapia, and all the volunteers who shoveled the snow on the sidewalks and around the doors. Also kudos to Fr. Bergida who did an outstanding job coordinating things when I was out of town.
Robert Royal Talk. Thanks to Dr. Royal for his excellent presentation on St. John Henry Newman last Saturday. I was happily surprised to see over 100 people braving the arctic weather to attend.
VIRGINIA ABORTION AMENDMENT. Have you been keeping up with the antics of the newly elected Democrat legislature in Richmond?
Abortion Amendment. As reported byOSV News: “The Virginia General Assembly has sent a sweeping amendment enshrining a “fundamental right” to abortion in the Constitution of Virginia to a statewide referendum on the November ballot.
“If the voters approve the amendment, it will establish virtually unlimited abortion at any stage of pregnancy as a ‘fundamental right’ in Virginia’s constitution.
“The amendment passed the General Assembly Jan. 16 …
“Two proposed changes to the amendment were voted down: first, a proposal to keep the current parental consent law enforceable; second, a ‘born-alive’ protection that would guarantee the right to medical care for a child born despite an attempted abortion.
“The parental consent law currently upholds parental rights in decision-making for minors under 18 on a variety of issues, including abortion, though there is a judicial override on abortion.
“Richmond Bishop Barry C. Knestout joined Arlington Bishop Michael F. Burbidge in calling the amendment ‘radical,’ ‘extreme’ and ‘shocking to the conscience’ in a Jan. 16 statement.
“….The state Legislature first approved the proposed amendment in early 2025, but by Virginia law, the proposal must pass in two consecutive state legislatures. The House of Delegates approved the 2026 version of the amendment Jan. 14.
“‘It will be the most extreme abortion amendment in the nation. This prevents the state from regulating abortion in any way, shape or form, all the way down to inspecting clinics for basic safety standards,’ said state Sen. Glen Sturtevant, a Republican….
“The amendment goes far beyond even what Roe v. Wade previously allowed and provides no protections whatsoever for preborn children. It does not include any age restriction or safety standards. Besides severely jeopardizing the parental consent law, it will also impact conscience protections for health care providers.
“The 21-18 vote along party lines was widely anticipated…”
New Taxes. While no human being can support the Abortion Amendment, we can disagree on the new taxes the Legislators are proposing. Still, according to Foxnews.com:
“Virginia Democrats have introduced …[m]ore than 50 proposals…for the new legislative session, including additional local sales tax in all Virginia counties and cities….
“The new proposed policies include: dog walking and grooming tax…gun and ammunition tax…new income tax brackets…storage facility tax…dry cleaning tax…home repair tax…new personal property tax on electric leaf blowers and electric landscaping equipment…
“A delivery tax would apply to deliveries made by Amazon, Uber Eats, FedEx and UPS orders in northern Virginia.
“…The House of Delegates …[has ] a large Democratic majority. The party also holds a majority in the state Senate. …Newly sworn-in Gov. Abigail Spanberger ran on a platform of making Virginia more affordable.”
Rescued Children. A lot of folks are unhappy with the President’s policies enforcing immigrations laws, including the US Bishops. Last week one of the most powerful American Bishops encouraged cutting funding for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) saying:
“How will you say ‘no’ this week when an appropriations bill is going to be considered in Congress? Will you contact your congressional representatives, the senators and representatives from your district? Will you ask them, for the love of God and the love of human beings, which can’t be separated, to vote against renewing funding for such a lawless organization?”
Personally, I have a hard time seeing ICE is a “lawless organization.” In any case, I don’t recall many opponents of ICE, including any Bishop, commenting on this story, as reported here from RedState.com:
“One of the more horrible aspects of the mass illegal immigration that was allowed to fester under the presidency of Joe Biden and whoever was running the autopen was the number of unaccompanied illegal alien children that went missing. Most estimates place the number at 300,000. Until recently, we didn’t know what had become of those children.
“Now, we have nearly half of them back. On Friday, Border Czar Tom “The Hammer” Homan took a few moments off from staring down ICE protestors in Minneapolis to take note of this on his official X account.
“The post continues:
“‘…to tirelessly to run down hundreds of thousands of leads and work numerous investigations to locate more than 300,000 unaccompanied alien children that the Biden Administration turned over to unvetted sponsors, lost track of, and weren’t looking forward. Through their outstanding efforts, they have so far been able to locate more than 145,000!
“‘President Trump promised that we would find these children, and under his strong leadership and with his unwavering support, the patriots at these, and other partner, agencies have been—and will continue to do—just that.”
“Mr. Homan doesn’t mention what these kids may have been doing when they were found, and that may be for the best.”
Dare I say it? Good for ICE!
REPEATING ANNOUNCEMENTS. In the bulletin of Snow Sunday I made a couple of announcements you may not have noticed. I just want to repeat them here.
Chesterton Academy of Christ the King. CACK is now taking applications for its first students in the 2026-2027 school year. This new independent Catholic High School is part of the Chesterton Schools Network of about 70 schools which follow a “Classical” curriculum. It is located at St. Lawrence Catholic Church in Alexandria, just 14 minutes away from St. Raymond’s. Tuition will much more affordable than most of the Catholic high schools in the area, at $13,900. In addition, for at least the coming year, St. Raymond’s “Our Lady of Ransom Scholarship Fund” will double the amount of our standard high school scholarship from $2000 to $4000 for qualified St. Raymond parishioners who attend CA-Christ the King. Visit chesterton-christtheking.org to learn more and apply.
Liturgical Change. I’d like to make a small change in our Holy Day Masses. That is, when there is a Holy Day Of Obligation the 7pm on the actual day will normally be celebrated in the “style” of our 9am Sunday Mass, e.g., more traditional, with most of the second part of the Mass (the Liturgy of the Eucharist) said/chanted in Latin. If that “style” is not your favorite, don’t be concerned, since you can attend one of the other Masses, including the Vigil Mass the night before. Let me know if you think this will be a problem. I value your input.Oremus pro invicem. Fr. De Celles