Dear Beloved Parishioners,
Happy New Year and a Pleasant Epiphany from Fr. Johnson, Deacon Mark, the Parish Staff and myself. I have a small 3 x 3 wall hanging that has followed me through all my moves. It says simply: Wise Men (and Women) Still Seek Him…
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So, just a little reminder about inclement weather and Mass attendance –that I was reminded of the hard way today. Snow is easier to manage than ice. And it doesn’t take much ice for a tumble. (Or, in this case, wet wood on a ramp leading into/out from someone’s house. I put my left foot down and next thing I know I am tumbling forward as my sandal just slid out from me on the wet wood. In the good/bad news department, I was somehow able to get my right leg under me, which kept me from doing a face plant, but at the cost of a torn muscle or two on my quad.)
So, in these days, when weather conditions are iffy and age/unsteadiness makes normal walking an adventure – be careful out there. We do continue to stream Masses – one from both celebrants on weekends (usually the 5 and 7:30 –but tomorrow the 7:30 and 9) so you have an option, as well as the 6:30 weekday Mass. Once more, you can find that at Stjustinmartyr.org/youtube.
And, as an FYI, our snowplow company does an exceptional job with the parking lots, by far the best of any assignment I have been at.
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From the Archdiocese – an opportunity for some of our parishioners, perhaps…
Naming & Commendation: Find Comfort, Healing & Hope
All are welcome to attend Naming & Commendation which is being offered twice in January 2022. This prayer service, developed by the Archdiocese of St. Louis, helps meet the needs of families whose child died before birth for any reason (including miscarriage, accident, abortion or still birth). Offering an opportunity to name the child, bring peaceful closure to great loss, and unite with our merciful God, parents and families of any religious background are invited to attend, whether the loss was recent or long ago.
The January Naming & Commendation Rites will be held at these parishes:
- Christ Prince of Peace (415 Weidman Rd, Manchester, MO 63011), Saturday, January 8, 8:45 a.m. (following the 8 a.m. Mass) To RSVP or for more information, please contact Susan Nowak at susananowak@sbcglobal.net or visit online at https://www.facebook.com/events/852899598684599
- St. Francis Borgia Parish (115 Cedar St, Washington, MO 63090), Sunday, January 23, 1 p.m.
To RSVP or for more information, contact Jane Maune at janemaune@hotmail.com or 636-432-6781, or visit online at https://www.facebook.com/events/852899598684599
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For those wanting a bit of a trip down Memory lane – here is what Christmas decorations looked like more than a few years ago. (it is an undated photo, complements of Jeannine Szatkowski…)
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The Deeper Dive into the Feast of Mary, the Mother of God comes to us from the Vatican Website, and an excepted version of the Pope’s homily for this feast.
The scandal of the manger
Mary’s experience of this time required enduring “the scandal of the manger,” the Pope explained. Long before the shepherds, she received the message of an angel announcing she would bear a son and name him Jesus, who would be called Son of the Most High; but now “Mary has to lay Him in a trough for animals.” How can “she reconcile the glory of the Most High and the bitter poverty of a stable?” the Pope asked, adding how this must have caused her distress, especially seeing her new born child suffering such a precarious situation. Yet, Mary “does not lose heart” and “kept all these things, pondering them in her heart.”
To keep and to ponder
The shepherds instead are joyous and tell everyone about their experience of the angel that appeared in the night and his words about the Child to whom they went to pay homage. The Pope noted that “words and amazement” describe their reaction, whereas, Mary is “pensive,” pondering this reality in her heart. These two different reactions recall aspects of faith experience in general, the Pope said: where the shepherds remind us of the beginnings of faith, when all seems easy and clear, Mary’s “pensiveness” expresses a “mature, adult faith.”
The Pope said we can learn from the Mother of God here by taking on the same attitude of “keeping and pondering,” since we may also have to endure great challenges in life where our expectations clash with reality, putting our joy of the Gospel to the test. Mary teaches us that we can learn, grow, and mature in faith from these difficult situations, as “it is the narrow path to achieve the goal, the Cross, without which there can be no resurrection.”
The ideal and the real
The Pope explained that managing and overcoming this clash between the ideal and the real requires “keeping,” as Mary did, the experiences of what happens to us, and not trying to forget or reject them. Mary kept in her heart both the amazing and the troubling life experiences – the angel who gave her great news, the lowly stable where she had to give birth: “she does not pick and choose; she preserves. She accepts life, without trying to camouflage or embellish it.”
She keeps and ponders
The Pope went on to describe Mary’s “second” attitude: “she keeps and she ponders,” bringing together in her heart and prayer the beautiful and challenging aspects, discerning greater meaning in them by considering them from God’s perspective. She realizes that “the glory of the Most High appears in humility,” and “she welcomes the plan of salvation whereby God must lie in a manger.” The Pope observed that this inclusive vision of “keeping” and “pondering” is “the way of mothers” who embrace the challenges in raising their children. This maternal “gaze” and love is able to see everything from a wider perspective, he noted, both “conscious and realistic” and “one of care and love that gives birth to new hope.” The Pope said we need such people, “capable of weaving the threads of communion in place of the barbed wire of conflict and division.”
A mother’s gaze, a path to rebirth
As this New Year begins under the sign of Mary, our Mother, whose gaze is “the path to rebirth and growth,” the Pope encouraged everyone to make greater efforts to safeguard mothers and protect women, lamenting the terrible problem of violence again women today. “To hurt a woman is to insult God, who took on our humanity from a woman.” The Pope prayed that, through Mary’s maternal protection, she might help us all “to keep and ponder all things, unafraid of trials and with the joyful certainty that the Lord is faithful and can transform every cross into a resurrection.” He encouraged everyone to call upon her as did the People of God at Ephesus, repeating three times her title: “Holy Mother of God, Holy Mother of God, Holy Mother of God!”
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The Song of the Day – in honor of Mary, Mother of God – a song from the St. Louis Jesuit’s album Gentle Night: The Beautiful Mother. A haunting piece, with some just lovely harmonies…
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Blessings,
Fr. Bill