Thirty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time - November 4, 2018

Philosopher René Girard wrote compellingly on the spiritual origins of violence.  If we could see the truth, we’d live for the God who is love, forever in joy.  Instead, spiritually blind, we live in competition with each other, defining ourselves by whether we surpass or defeat them.  If God doesn’t stop us, our eagerness to “win” drives us inexorably to violence, to the demonization of our enemies, and to murder.

The world often directs its resentment and murderous violence along lines of religion, through which cultures identifies and applies the meaning of life.  Historically, the most vivid hatred has been directed at the Jews, whose distinctive revelation from God on Mount Sinai has since ancient times discontented worldly powers.

Baptized Christians often forsake the righteousness that comes from Christ and in its place seek an earthly vindication.  Caught up the pursuit of worldly victory, they help to propagate hatred of Jews and to inflict violence on them. 

Police identify Robert Bowers as the murderer of eleven people at Tree of Life Synagogue in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh.  His public record suggests he’s a wicked man of limited sanity.  But in Girard’s philosophy, the wicked foolishness of one man can also be understood as a manifestation of wicked foolishness in the wider society:
the loss of good purposes for life;
a blindness to the truth;
the failure of family, friendship, and neighborhood to correct or mitigate our wickedness;
the spirits of competition, hatred, and vengeance so widely at work in our public conversation.

Let no Catholic Christian imitate Robert Bowers in word or action.  Let no one even partially justify what he has said or done.  Instead, consider the heroism of Saint Maximilian Kolbe, a kind of anti-Robert-Bowers.  Saint Maximilian, a Polish priest, was interred in a Nazi concentration camp alongside Jews and other Poles.  One day in 1941, while looking for prisoners to execute, a camp commander selected a Jewish man, Franciszek Gajowniczek.  When Gajowniczek cried out in grief for his wife and children, Fr. Kolbe volunteered to take his place, and was ultimately executed.

Our purpose as followers of Jesus is to give our lives to God and neighbor, whether in a momentary act of loving sacrifice, as did Saint Maximilian, or through long years of loving service, as most of us are called to do.  Let no one fail, and let everyone help his brothers and sisters to win this true victory.
                                                                                                                  —Fr. Dave

Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time - October 28, 2018

I’m writing this note on October 22, exactly one week after the transitions On Mission for The Church Alive!  Here’s what we accomplished this past week:

All three priests newly destined to live in the RocKenRo grouping succeeded at moving in to his designated rooms.  We’re all still unpacking, but we’re here.

We activated a plan for assigning priests and deacons to Masses.  It’s complicated, but I count it a success thus far inasmuch as we got a priest to every Mass.  My hope is that this week we’ll develop the system so as to accommodate scheduling the priests for funerals in each of the three RocKenRo parishes.  Baptisms and weddings are also underway.

We discovered that we need to recruit volunteers at Holy Trinity and St. Malachy to accommodate the new daily Mass schedules at each location.  Especially at St. Malachy’s, we also need to recruit people to take responsibility for daily and weekly tasks previously assumed by the departing pastors.  Rosemary Corsetti and others have been straining to coordinate this effort, so if Rosemary or someone else asks you to help, please help!

We learned that the St. Malachy pastoral council has focused largely on evangelization projects such as the Speaker Series.  But I need a pastoral council also to advise me on matters arising On Mission! especially as they apply to St. Malachy.  My plan is to split the pastoral council between those who will focus on evangelization and those who will focus on advising me.  Perhaps some will do both, but in the meanwhile, this transition is a good opportunity for St. Malachy parishioners to join either group, depending upon their interests and motivations.  Email me if you think you could contribute to either effort.

These days, in the Catholic Church, when you think of staffing or volunteering, you should also think of the Safe Environment program. Please be prepared to help by going through the program and extending the Church’s vigilance against potential harm to minors.  And if you’ve already completed the program, please be equally diligent about staying current. Otherwise—well, let’s just say no one can volunteer in a public capacity in the Church without satisfying the conditions of the Safe Environment program.

A lot of the initial transition work has been administrative, and therefore fell disproportionately on the business managers, who carried the extra burden well this week.  Thank you, MaryAnn Jones, Lisa Davis, and Bonnie Amendola!

As always, if you think I need to know something, tell me: Write me a note or send me and email.  Daylight savings time ends next week, Sunday, November 4.  Please remember to set your clocks back one hour next weekend, or you’ll arrive very early for Mass.
                                                                                                                               —Fr. Dave

Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time - October 21, 2018

I write this notice on October 15, my first day on the job as administrator of On Mission for The Church Alive! Grouping 330: Holy Trinity, St. John of God, and St. Malachy Parishes. That’s a bit awkward, so I’ve chosen to refer to us all informally as RocKenRo Catholics (for the ROCks, KENnedy Township, and RObinson Township).

One early priority is to get to know you. Already on paper you’ve been introduced to the new clergy: Fr. Alan Morris, Fr. Michael Ruffalo, Fr. Bob Zajdel, Dcn. Tim Killmeyer, and I, in addition to the retired RocKenRo priests (who are staying in place). Now we’ll start to see each other at Masses and other events. You’ll also meet Benito Stallings (pictured), an intern in ministry who’ll be with us until May, when he finishes his Master of Divinity degree.

You also know I’ve convened a “Grouping Executive Council” to advise me on RocKenRo: Tom Adams, Rosemary Corsetti, Tim Davis, Linda Gomulka, Dave Hess, Joe Maggi, and Dr. Bill Stropkaj. I was very proud of them last Wednesday as they and we clergymen passionately discussed how best to move the grouping forward.

Maybe Tim put it best: “From the start, people will want to know the plan.” The short answer: For RocKenRo, it’s not obvious what the plan should be. We know we’ve got to be more On Mission!, but we’ll have to take some time to think and talk about how to do that collectively as RocKenRo and not merely as three separate parishes.

Among other things, that means I’ll need advice beyond my new executive council. I’ll be meeting with the pastoral and finance councils of each parish and, where these councils have some empty seats, I’ll need to fill them. In particular, I invite the faithful of St. John of God Parish to meet me on Thursday, November 1, after the 6:30 Mass at St. Mary’s, to talk about who from St. John of God might advise me. But no one is shut out: If you think there’s something I or one of the clergymen or advisors need to know, please write a note and get it to us!

Meanwhile, inasmuch as I’ve been asked several questions about money, please allow me to reassure you: Everything is in its own bucket. Each parish’s property remains its own, and donations go only to the parish for which they are marked, no matter which parish they arrive at. Expenses common to all parishes of RocKenRo, such as clergy costs, will be split according to a formula:

50% Holy Trinity 20% St. John of God 30% St. Malachy

Earmarked monies in reserve, such as those from capital campaigns, will be used only for the originally designated purposes, or (if this is now outdated or impractical) there will be a formal and public process for considering any alternative purpose.
                                                                                                                          —Fr. Dave

Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time - October 14, 2018

“I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.” I believe that I have quoted those words of G. K. Chesterton before, most likely in a column around the holiday of Thanksgiving. But I cannot think of any better sentiment to begin my final Pastor’s Ponderings for the St. Malachy bulletin. I have truly loved my time at St. Malachy, and these past few weeks I keep finding myself thanking God for the past four-and-a-half years. And while I am excited to begin my new adventure – and to get reacquainted with people I have served in the past – I feel a certain sadness at saying goodbye to the people of St. Malachy whom I have come to love. But the sadness hardly compares with the gratitude I feel for what I have experienced.

Thanks be to God for putting me in this beautiful setting. I have said that I was impressed with St. Malachy long before I came here. When I was first ordained and was assigned to St. Francis de Sales in McKees Rocks, we came up here occasionally to help out. I was impressed with the beauty of this church the first time I saw it. I also visited here quite frequently when my good friend Fr. Michael Maranowski was pastor here. Once I moved in, it took quite a while for the novelty to wear off.

Thanks be to God for the staff I have been privileged to work with. It would be hard to find a more dedicated group of people, and their devotion to Christ and His Church are evident to anyone who has the blessing of working closely with them. They have complemented my strengths and weaknesses very well. They have kept St. Malachy running smoothly and have made it look like I knew what I was doing.

Thanks be to God for all of the wonderful parishioners of St. Malachy. I knew that I could always find a true expression of faith when we gathered to celebrate the Eucharist. Our Sunday celebrations were always the highlight of my week. And the community that formed at the 7:15 Mass every weekday morning became a special part of my family. I know that whenever and wherever I celebrate the Eucharist, I will still be in Communion with this parish in the deepest way possible.

Thanks be to God in a special way for Fr. Russell Maurer. We had a professor in the seminary who told us that the most important thing was to have a priestly heart. Fr. Russell, despite his physical limitations, truly has a priestly heart and wants to continue being a priest to the best of his ability. Thanks also for the opportunity to work with Fr. Patrick O’Brien until he could no longer continue.

Thanks be to God for the families of St. Malachy School and CCD programs. When I came here, Fr. Eckman of the Clergy Office told me that they knew they had to send me to a parish with a school since that is so much a part of my ministry. Our students have had some of the best leadership, with Janet Escovitz and Cathy Militzer as school principals, and with Joanne Swank and Steven Swank as Catechetical Administrators. We have wonderful teachers and support staff. But there is a special joy of getting to know the students. With the students, you see the growth more clearly than with adults. I think of when I was preparing to come here and Fr. Michael was showing me around. I met a fifth grader who struck me as a sweet but giggly little girl. I see that same student, now in high school, when she serves as a Lector at Sunday Mass, and I see someone who has grown and matured so dramatically. I am proud to have been part of the lives of these young people. As we often say, “Once a Bomber, always a Bomber.”

So as I leave Kennedy Township, I leave a part of my heart here. For all that I have experienced since April 28, 2014, I have only one thing to say: Deo gratias!

                                                                                        Father H  

Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time - October 7, 2018

Four and a half years ago, I had the great privilege of becoming pastor of St. Malachy Parish. As with any priest beginning a new assignment, I knew there would be surprises. But I did make two promises on my first weekend in the parish, the same promises that I made to every parish where I have served as pastor or administrator. I promised to celebrate the Liturgy with reverence and joy, and I promised that I would be present to the students of St. Malachy School and of our CCD program. You have heard me speak or read what I have written about our school and CCD, so you can tell that religious education has been very vital to me. So today I want to reflect on the Liturgy.

About a month ago, I was the homilist at the annual Forty Hours celebration at St. Gabriel of the Sorrowful Virgin Parish. Fr. John Skirtich asked me to take that role even before we knew that I would be part of that parish and its neighbors as parish chaplain. As I thought about what I wanted to say, I thought it was important to speak about the Eucharist in light of the implementation of On Mission for the Church Alive. After all, the Eucharist is the single most important aspect of our lives as Catholics. Without the Eucharist, we cannot maintain our faith.

I based my homily at St. Gabriel on a first-century document called The Didache. This writing offers some prayers to be used at the celebration of the Eucharist, including, “As this broken bread scattered on the mountains was gathered and became one, so too, may your Church be gathered together from the ends of the earth into your kingdom.” The Eucharist is the greatest sign of our unity, as well as the source of that unity. As we share the Eucharist, we share as members of the Body of Christ. So as we prepare to move into this new phase in the history of the Church in Pittsburgh, we remember that the celebration of the Eucharist is the most important thing we do and the most important element in bringing our community together with St. John of God and Holy Trinity.

I know it won’t be easy for the new priests coming into this grouping. Each parish has its own ways of celebrating the Eucharist, and they will have to get used to the differences among our three parishes. Similarly, I will have to get used to the differences of St. Gabriel, Nativity, St. Germaine, and St. Valentine parishes. The difference is that I have a bit of a head start, having spent six years as an assistant at St. Gabriel and eight and a half years as pastor of Nativity. And in that time, I was a frequent guest celebrant at St. Germaine. But still, each priest has to remind himself that each parish has slight differences. Moreover, each priest has his own way of doing things. Even staying within the guidelines that the liturgy offers, there are many different customs, and each parish has to get used to each new priest.

With those last differences in mind, I also will tell you a joke that I offered in my Forty Hours homily, directed mainly at the other priests who were there that evening. I told of a woman who was getting ready for church one Sunday morning. She told her husband to hurry up, but he said that he had decided not to go to church. When she asked why, the husband said that he didn’t like the new priest at their church. She responded, “You also told me that you don’t like the new bartender down at Joe’s Bar. But that hasn’t stopped you from going there.” Five minutes later, he was ready to go to Mass.                                 

                                                                                                            Father H  

Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time - September 30, 2018

Over the past few months, my friend Ralphie and I have been rehearsing our act for the parish festival. Last year I thought it would be fun to surprise everyone, and just a couple of people guessed correctly that I was doing ventriloquism. This year you know ahead of time what kind of act Ralphie and I have, so we have been rehearsing for quite a while.

While Ralphie thinks this is all about him (as he seems to be developing the cheeky personality of the classic ventriloquist dummy), I know that there are many people who have been putting a lot of work into the more important parts of our parish festival. There have been people prepping for the Italian booth in the cafeteria on Saturday mornings for quite a while, there has been a smell of cooking onions for the pierogi booth at various times, and there has been some painting and cleaning of the bar area. And that’s just a sample of what’s been happening on site in a way that I’ve been able to notice. The chairpersons of the various other booths have been working here and at their homes to make sure everything is ready, as have those who are working behind the scenes.

So come on out this week, Thursday through Saturday, and enjoy the food and fun of our St. Malachy Nationality Festival. The festival runs from 4:00 PM to 9:00 PM each of the three evenings, leaving me with the choice of what food booths to taste. I am at the age where I have to be careful not to overdo it, and there is just so much good food to choose from. I know that I will have a good meal from the German booth. (With a name like Hissrich, how could I not support my ancestral heritage?) Many of the other booths have the same great food that I have enjoyed in past years. And there are some new things such as “Fresh Off the Grill,” an outdoor grill that will feature hot sausage, grilled kielbasa, cheese steak hoagies on other delicacies.

Our festival features other forms of fun for everyone as well. There are games for the children (now in the school lobby) as well as for the adults. You can come away with some wonderful prizes, from the linen booth run by our school faculty all the way up through the raffle prizes of $1,000 Thursday evening, $2,500 Friday evening, and the grand prize of $5,000 Saturday night.

Entertainment in the gym will include a number of acts on Thursday, starting with the Mars Rover Quartet, a part of the Greater Cranberry Men’s Chorus that Fr. Russell sings with, followed by our own championship St. Malachy Cheerleaders. Ralphie and I are on after the cheerleaders, and then we have a performance by Dance Time, formerly the Miller School of Dance. The Celtic Spirit Highland Dancers and Pipers of Pittsburgh will perform on Friday evening. And Saturday we have Elvis Presley returning to St. Malachy, as presented by our own Don Obusek. So come on out and enjoy yourself (while supporting St. Malachy Parish) at our festival this week. It is sure to be a great time for all.

You are welcome to stop reading at this point, but I feel like adding a bit of information that is so trivial that it doesn’t even qualify as trivia. Last year I knew my ventriloquism partner simply as Ralphie. I wanted him to have a full name, but nothing more than “Ralphie” seemed to fit. Since then I have come to call him Ralph Edgar Mulligan. “Ralphie” goes back to an inside joke with an old high school friend. Edgar is in honor of the great ventriloquist Edgar Bergen, who really helped popularize the art. And he was named Mulligan after a seminary professor who was my spiritual director for four years. So come say hello to Ralphie, but please don’t tell him that we’re not getting paid for our act.
                                                                                                   Father H  

Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time - September 23, 2018

Last week we began Bishop Zubik’s Year of Repentance. While this year primarily affects priests and deacons, I was pleased to hear some of our parishioners tell me that they were planning on taking part with us, fasting to show solidarity with and support for the members of the clergy at this difficult time. I thought it might be good to reflect a bit on a couple of aspects of what the bishop is calling us to.

This past week we had the first of the Ember Days. I have to admit that I have heard of Ember Days all my life but had never paid much attention to them. I have since learned that the word “Ember” comes from a corruption of the Latin phrase Quatuor Tempora, meaning “four times,” since they fall at four times during the year. Pope Gregory VII (1073-1085) formally instituted these days as a time of fasting and prayer for the Church, though their origin seems to go back further than that. They were to fall four times in the course of the year, falling on a Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. While we are using them as a time of reparation, they are also a time of thanksgiving for harvest, as they fall at the change of seasons. As we ask for God’s mercy, then, we see a loving God who never withholds His bountiful gifts. In addition, it was once a custom for priestly ordinations to take place on the Saturdays of the Ember Days, so that these days became a time to pray for priests. That connection makes Bishop Zubik’s use of them seem particularly appropriate. And while I haven’t seen an official explanation, I suspect that is why we skip over the Thursdays during the Ember Days, since Thursday was the day of the Last Supper and the institution of the Eucharist and the priesthood.

In establishing this Year of Repentance, Bishop Zubik also asked us “to consider restoring in your parishes, after all Masses, the recitation of the Saint Michael the Archangel Prayer.” The wording of the bishop’s letter makes it clear that this is a suggestion. But since I had mentioned to one of the diocesan officials that the Prayer to St. Michael might be a good way to approach the current issues, I would feel really bad if we didn’t use it here.

Before the Second Vatican Council, the Prayer to St. Michael was recited at the end of every Low Mass. It began during the papacy of Pope Leo XIII (1878-1903). Under his predecessor, Blessed Pope Pius IX, the Vatican had lost control of the Papal States to the newly unified nation of Italy. There were those who believed that the Pope had to be an actual civil leader in order to have standing among the world’s leaders. Pope Leo took that occasion to ask the Church to pray to St. Michael that all evil may be driven out of the world. Certainly we can see the current situation as a reminder that evil does indeed exist in the world. It was evil that allowed priests to harm the innocent youth. And now the devil uses that evil to turn people away from the Church. Yet it is always an important distinction that the devil is not the opposite of God. He is not all-powerful, as God is. Thus, in the end, the devil cannot win. The Book of Revelation speaks of St. Michael the Archangel casting Satan out, thus showing the victory that Christ won by His Cross. By praying that prayer, we pray that we can be part of that great victory.

When I first received Bishop Zubik’s letter, I thought of attending his prayer at the seminary this Sunday. But Sunday has long been the day when my Prayer Group (including Fr. Michael) meets, and we decided that it would be good for us to meet together on this day. So while we are praying together for the good of the Church, I ask all of you to continue to pray for your priests. Please also continue to pray for more vocations to the priesthood. In the end, we know that the Church will stand strong.                                           
                                                                       
                                                                                                Father H