October 20, 2020 Column Father De Celles
MEN’S RETREAT AT ST. RAYMOND’S. I invite all the men in our parish to attend a “Men’s Day of Recollection” in honor of Christ the King. Fr. Paul Scalia will lead the day, with the theme: “For Freedom Christ Has Set Us Free, Breaking the Yoke of Slavery From Within and Without.” When: Saturday, October 24, 2020, from 9:15 AM – 1:15 PM. Where: at St. Raymond’s. Cost: FREE – donations gratefully accepted. Includes lunch and materials. The retreat is new to St. Raymond’s but has been sponsored by the Women’s Apostolate to Youth for 22 years. Questions? Please contact Robin Maas – rmvlmaas@gmail.com, or call the parish office.
SCHEDULE CHANGES. With Fr. Willard’s move last week to Our Lady of Hope, I will be the only priest assigned and/or in residence to serve our parish, probably until next summer. Please join me in begging the Lord to send us a good Parochial Vicar as soon as possible. Please also pray for me.
As has been previously announced, I am forced to make a few important changes to our schedule. As time goes on, if it seems I can expand our schedule, I will definitely do so. I’m very sorry to make these changes, but I hope you will understand and continue to support the parish, especially by your attendance. And to support your pastor, especially through your prayers.
All these changes were effective Thursday, October 15, 2020.
Our new Mass schedule is as follows:
Monday to Friday: 8:30am
Saturday morning: 9:00am
Saturday Evening (Sunday Vigil): 5:00pm
Sunday: 7am, 9am, 11am, 1pm
Extraordinary Form Mass: 1st and 3rd Fridays, 7pm
Mass on federal holidays: 10:00am Mass only
(Summary: There will be no changes to the current Mass schedule except that we will no longer have 6:30am weekday Masses, and when the Covid restrictions are lifted we will not return to having a Wednesday or Sunday evening Mass.)
Our new Confession schedule is as follows:
Wednesday: 6:00pm to 6:55pm
Saturday:
8:15am to 8:45am (“sharp”)
3:00pm to 5:00pm
(Summary: We will have very limited time for Saturday morning Confessions, and when the Covid restrictions are lifted we will not return to having Sunday morning Confessions.)
Exposition and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament:
No change, but I ask that every adorer include in their prayers before the Blessed Sacrament a prayer for their pastor and for vocations.
Advent and Lent:
In general, the number of Confession times will be drastically reduced, i.e., I will not be able to hear confessions every night as usual, and priest help is especially difficult to find during these seasons. I will try to provide both an Advent and Lenten Series for you.
THE ELECTION. We are a little over 2 weeks away from the Presidential election. Many struggle making a choice this year. But for me, it’s pretty straight forward.
Four years ago I wrote here: “I see this election as voting mainly for the Supreme Court. As I’ve said before, the Justices (Judges) on the Supreme Court are the most powerful people in our government, as they regularly uphold or throw out decisions by our elected officials…as well as decades, centuries, and millennia of precedents and common sense assumptions of Western Society. For example, it was one vote (on a 5-4 vote), so one Justice, who overturned the immemorial unanimous belief that marriage was only between a male and female and it was one vote/Justice who kept abortion a fundamental inalienable right. On the other hand, it was one vote/Justice who protected the religious liberty of business owners (i.e., Hobby Lobby; and remember the Little Sisters of the Poor case currently before the Court), and it was one vote/Justice who temporarily stopped the President from forcing local schools to give special privileges to “transgenders.” And that’s what it comes down to for me: The Supreme Court and abortion, traditional marriage, religious liberty/freedom of conscience, and the attack on common sense (the transgendered issue).”
Well, it turned out a lot of Americans were thinking along the same lines; as the last four years have proven, we elected the President who would provide us with a sensible pro-life/marriage/family/religious-liberty court. And not just a 5-4 court, but a 6-3 court, with Number 6, Judge Amy, in the pipeline. And in my opinion she will be one of the most important justices in our history.
So, with a 6-3 pro-life/marriage/common-sense court soon to take the bench, does that mean we can base our voting choices on other issues? Sadly, no. Because if the pro-abortion candidate is elected, he has pledged to continue to fight for “abortion rights,” “gay” and “transgender” rights, and to suppress religious freedom when it conflicts with those “rights” (he has publicly promised to force Christian employers, which includes the Little Sisters, to pay for contraception insurance). And he has promised to appoint judges and justices who agree with him. Moreover, he claims voters don’t “deserve” to know if he supports his fellow party leaders’ call to “pack the court,” that is, increase the number of Supreme Court Justices so as to be able to appoint a far left (pro-abortion/etc.) majority. So he refuses to tell us his position on this, but he did select a supporter of court packing as a running mate for Vice President. In fact, New York Times’ Alex Burns reported last week that Sen. Kamala Harris, “told me in an interview actually that she was absolutely open to” packing the court. Of course, Harris is also rabidly pro-abortion/etc.,” and pro-suppressing conflicting religious liberties. So the 6-3 pro-life/etc. Supreme Court could quickly become a 7-6, or 9-6 pro-abortion Supreme Court.
I have a lot of reasons for supporting the candidate I do this year, but the bottom line is still formed by the issues of 2016: the Supreme Court, pro-life, marriage, religious liberty and common sense. One candidate is clearly on the pro-life/etc. side, the other is clearly on the pro-abortion/etc. side.
But I never publicly endorse candidates.
Oremus pro invicem. Fr. De Celles