Fifth Sunday of Easter - May 19, 2019

On Mission for The Church Alive!

Recent events suggest that a few have missed important announcements from the Church of Pittsburgh these past three years. I trust, however, that some of you are not entirely oblivious. So I beg your patience as I remind you that we are On Mission for The Church Alive!. That means all Catholic parishes, schools, and other institutions across the Church of Pittsburgh, including even the diocesan administration, are undergoing a dramatic reorganization. Our goal is to turn our increasingly limited resources in priests, volunteers, worshipers, and funds away from the maintenance of a multiplicity of institutions and toward a renewed focus on our mission to proclaim the gospel, administer the sacraments, and care for the people.

First to be affected last year were the clergy, many of whom were reassigned, and almost all of whom received expanded mandates to care for several communities. At RocKenRo, Fr. Bob Zajdel and Dcn. Tim Killmeyer stayed in their current assignments but received new responsibilities for all the parishes of RocKenRo. Meanwhile, Frs. Alan Morris, Michael Ruffalo, and I left our previous pastorates to serve at RocKenRo.

Next at RocKenRo came the schools. I would have preferred to address these later in the process, but deficits at St. Malachy School would have greatly burdened RocKenRo, so I merged the schools for the coming 2019-20 academic year. This represents a special hardship for the teachers, some of whom will lose their jobs, so please at least remember them in your prayers.

I expect that later this year we’ll also undertake to study whether it would be advantageous to consolidate RocKenRo into one parish. The study will be public, involving questions about population, finances, ministries, and other features of our community. It may emerge that we can best fulfill our mission as one parish with several churches and a school.

That won’t be the end. Whether or not we consolidate parishes, but especially if we do, we’ll be consolidating staff positions—either to eliminate redundancy, or to refocus our staff more on mission and less on maintaining, for example, three separate offices, sets of accounts, maintenance programs, and religious education programs. We’ll also have to look at how we use our buildings and properties, and what the best use might be.

But again, all of this is in the service of mission. Emerging from On Mission!, I expect that we’ll be able to devote a lot more time and energy to worship, evangelization, and discipleship. My hope is that we’ll be offering our best in worship and that everyone who comes to our churches will be more aware of themselves as followers of Jesus and better able to share that discipleship with others.

Father of Mercy, as we journey On Mission for The Church Alive! endow us with your gifts of courage, collaboration, and compassion. Help us to fulfill the mission of Jesus and his Church through vibrant parishes and effective ministries. Raise up selfless, energetic leaders to serve the Church in fidelity and with care. May we the Church of Pittsburgh in Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Greene, Lawrence and Washington Counties be sustained and strengthened by your grace. Help us to learn Jesus, to love Jesus and to live Jesus. Hear this prayer and grant it through Jesus Christ our Lord, with the help of our dear Blessed Mother, under the mantle of her love. Amen.

—Fr. Dave

Fourth Sunday of Easter - May 12, 2019

The Good Shepherd

The fourth Sunday of the Easter season is often called “Good Shepherd Sunday,” because the readings for the day always come from the passage in the Gospel of John where Jesus speaks of himself as the “good Shepherd” and his disciples as his sheep.  Shepherds:

• protect sheep from predators;
• lead sheep to places where there is sufficient grass and water; and
• bring sheep to the place of shearing, where their wool is taken and the sheep thus fulfill the purpose for which they have been bred.

That third function of shepherds is often neglected in our thoughts about Christ as the Good Shepherd:  Christ doesn’t care for us merely because we need care, though it’s true that we do need care and that Christ cares for us in part because we need him.  But our Lord also has a purpose for us.  He does not need us, but he intends us to enrich him with our wool—metaphorically speaking, our good deeds and our maturity as followers of Jesus.  The Good Shepherd calls you to become good sheep—that is, to become saints!
                                                                                                                    —Fr. Dave

Third Sunday of Easter - May 5, 2019

Christ is Alive!

Pope Francis recently published an apostolic exhortation, Christus vivit (“Christ is Alive!”).  I quote here his remarks about Catholic schools—not because all his praises or criticisms necessarily apply to our current schools, but because I want us to consider these things as we envision our future, both for Archangel Gabriel School and for evangelization in the RocKenRo grouping of parishes.  The whole exhortation can easily be found at the Vatican website.

221. Schools are unquestionably a platform for drawing close to children and young people. Precisely because they are such privileged places of personal development, the Christian community has always been concerned to train teachers and administrators, and to found its own schools of various kinds and levels. In this field of educating the young, the Spirit has raised up countless charisms and examples of holiness. Yet schools are in urgent need of self-criticism, if we consider the results of their pastoral outreach, which in many cases focuses on a kind of religious instruction that proves often incapable of nurturing lasting experiences of faith. Some Catholic schools seem to be structured only for the sake of self-preservation. Fear of change makes them entrenched and defensive before the dangers, real or imagined, that any change might bring. A school that becomes a “bunker”, protecting its students from errors “from without” is a caricature of this tendency. Yet this image reflects, in a chilling way, what many young people experience when they graduate from certain educational institutions: an insurmountable disconnect between what they were taught and the world in which they live. The way they were instructed in religious and moral values did not prepare them to uphold those values in a world that holds them up to ridicule, nor did they learn ways of praying and practicing the faith that can be easily sustained amid the fast pace of today’s society. For one of the greatest joys that any educator can have is to see a student turn into a strong, well-integrated person, a leader, someone prepared to give.

222. Catholic schools remain essential places for the evangelization of the young. [G]uiding principles…for the renewal and revival of missionary outreach on the part of schools and universities include a fresh experience of the kerygma, wide-ranging dialogue, interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary approaches, the promotion of a culture of encounter, the urgency of creating networks and an option in favour of those who are least, those whom society discards. Similarly important is the ability to integrate the knowledge of head, heart and hands.

223. On the other hand, we cannot separate spiritual from cultural formation. The Church has always sought to develop ways of providing the young with the best education possible. Nor should she stop now, for young people have a right to it. “Today, above all, the right to a good education means protecting wisdom, that is, knowledge that is human and humanizing. All too often we are conditioned by trivial and fleeting models of life that drive us to pursue success at a low price, discrediting sacrifice and inculcating the idea that education is not necessary unless it immediately provides concrete results. No, education makes us raise questions, keeps us from being anaesthetized by banality, and impels us to pursue meaning in life. We need to reclaim our right not to be sidetracked by the many sirens that nowadays distract from this pursuit. Ulysses, in order not to give in to the siren song that bewitched his sailors and made them crash against the rocks, tied himself to the mast of the ship and had his companions plug their ears. Orpheus, on the other hand, did something else to counter the siren song: he intoned an even more beautiful melody, which enchanted the sirens. This, then, is your great challenge: to respond to the crippling refrains of cultural consumerism with thoughtful and firm decisions, with research, knowledge and sharing”.

Please note an exception to the weekday Mass schedule on Wednesday, May 8:  The usual 6:30 p.m. Mass at Holy Trinity will instead be at 7:00 p.m. to accommodate Holy Trinity School.

—Fr. Dave

Second Sunday of Easter - April 28, 2019

Happy Easter, again!

Today we hear the boast of the apostle Thomas, “I will not believe!” Thomas prefigures all the clever fools who would follow in subsequent centuries—men who boast of their intelligence and cynicism, men who “think rather than blindly trust,” men who “think for themselves,” all the while ignoring the evidence before them, the compulsion of the truth.

Thomas, however, repents. When the Lord appears again among them to offer Thomas the evidence he sought, Thomas realizes his offense. He acclaims Jesus, “My Lord and my God!” Let him be an example for all of us, called to turn from our doubt to belief and trust.

 Please give thanks for and/or to those who helped us celebrate the holy days:

Ÿ musicians and choirs for the extra Easter work;

Ÿ those who decorated the churches for the holy days;

Ÿ RCIA teams who led adult catechumens and candidates to baptism, confirmation, and 1^st Communion at the Easter Vigil;

Ÿ worshipers who made way for others in the parking lots and in the pews;

altar servers and their parents for the extra hours, and all the emcees, ushers, readers, and extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion for filling the additional assignments;

Ÿ those who adored the Lord in our churches or on the 7-church pilgrimage;

Ÿ the parishes’ staff for completing several behind-the-scenes tasks.

On Holy Thursday, our churches welcomed buses and convoys from many other parishes. Thank you for extending your hospitality to all!

     Brother Casey Cole, OFM, is a Franciscan deacon and something of a celebrity speaker, especially via the internet. He visits RocKenRo in real life May 10-11, with an appearance at Holy Trinity’s “Connect Night,” and then in an unusual event, a “spiritual walk,” on May 11 in McKees Rocks, starting and ending at the church of St. Mary, Help of Christians, of St. John of God Parish. More details will be available in this and the next bulletin, and on the website www.RocKenRoCatholics.org .

     Hundreds of volunteers keep our RocKenRo parishes operating. Thank you! Just this past holy week, we needed our liturgical ministers (altar servers & parents, ushers, readers, hospitality crews, extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion, and especially our choirs and musicians), church decorators, fish fry laborers (cooks, cleaners, servers, clerks, etc.), money counters, catechists and catechetical aides, adorers for Holy Thursday, and more. If you’re not a volunteer, please consider becoming one. Check with your parish office about meeting the “Safe Environment” requirements, and we’ll go from there.

—Fr. Dave

Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of the Lord - April 21, 2019

Victory and More!

Jesus won his victory on the cross: Despite torture, mockery, and malice, Jesus persevered in loving obedience to God and in loving mercy toward us. From mankind’s first awakening, we failed to answer God’s call to love, but at Jesus’ death we at last fulfill God’s purpose for us.

Jesus’ victory for us is awesome, but the God goes further by raising Jesus from the dead and restoring him to his human body—glorified in divine life, beauty, and power. Follow Jesus on the way of suffering and death, and you also follow him on the way of glory and resurrection.

Jesus intends his followers to respond through life in his Church. His dying command was, “Love one another, as I have loved you.” And after his resurrection, he bound his disciples to the shared life of the Church and her mission to bring his good news to the ends of the Earth.

So we’re On Mission for The Church Alive! At RocKenRo—the three parishes of St. John of God, McKees ROCks, St. Malachy, KENnedy Township, and Holy Trinity, Robinson—we’re reorienting our institutions, personnel, and resources toward a contemporary expression of our mission:

On February 23, the Diocese of Pittsburgh announced the merger of our two elementary schools, Holy Trinity and St. Malachy, into the new Archangel Gabriel School, with K to 8 at the Robinson campus and the pre-school at the Kennedy campus. The merger will save RocKenRo a great deal of money and, if we can sustain enrollment, will facilitate a broader and better range of programming for the students.

Jacob Williamson joins us May 6 as our new director of engagement, responsible for evangelization, communications, youth ministry, and religious education. Jacob writes:

Happy Easter! I am excited to begin as the new Director for Engagement for the parishes of Holy Trinity, Saint John of God, and Saint Malachy. I was raised in West Kittanning and graduated Kittanning Senior High School in 2006. I have an older brother who lives with his growing family in Bakersfield California and I have an older sister who lives with her daughter in Raleigh, North Carolina. My mom and the rest of my extended family still live in Kittanning. Unfortunately, my dad passed away in 2014.

After high school, I entered Saint Mark Seminary as a seminarian for the Diocese of Greensburg and began my studies at Gannon University. In 2010, I graduated with my B.A. in philosophy and discerned out of seminary formation.

Since college and seminary, I have worked in both business and ministerial roles. Right after college, I worked in administration at Macy’s in the South Hills while, at the same, I volunteered at Saint Anne’s in Castle Shannon on their youth ministry core team. After a lot of consideration, I decided to pursue a career in youth ministry and was hired in 2011 at Holy Sepulcher Parish in South Butler County as the Director for Youth and Young Adult Ministry. During those five years, I encountered God in amazing ways as I was privileged to accompany teens and young adults through some of their most profound joys and sufferings. 

In 2016, I ventured to Denver, Colorado to more diligently pursue a graduate degree in theology that I had been working on from the Augustine Institute. While in Denver, I also worked with a small Catholic non-profit called Christ in the City. My time in Denver was short because some people from the Diocese of Pittsburgh and I began talking about the possibility of me moving back home to take on a new role in the Diocese as the Director for Young Adult Outreach, which I did in early 2017. For the last two years I have worked for the Diocese of Pittsburgh assisting leaders in our parishes to re-vision what ministry for people in their 20s and 30s could be and help them to effectively implement that vision. This work manifested itself not only in that consultative work but also through creating leadership development experiences, facilitating large outreach events, leading international pilgrimages, and raising volunteer teams to minister directly to young adults.

Now, I am excited to begin working here with you. I look forward to meeting you, listening to your ideas and stories, praying with one another, and making this parish grouping an authentic place of encounter where strangers do not exist and all grow as disciples of Jesus Christ. Peace,                 —Jacob R. Williamson jwilliamson@holytrinityrobinson.org

Brendan Barker, director of music at Holy Trinity, departs June 16. Brendan writes:

Beginning this August, I have accepted a position in the graduate program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign under the instruction of Dr. Andrew Megill. There I will work toward a Doctor of Music Arts degree in Choral Conducting, made possible by a teaching assistantship in the choral division. It has long been a dream of mine to have a career as a collegiate conductor, and this is the next step in that long process. My time at Holy Trinity has been an integral part in that development. It has been a privilege to direct the choir here and refine my real-word choral techniques with an amazing group of people. Walking beside the music ministry as it progressed to excellence has been my proudest life achievement thus far, and I will take with me many of the lessons I learned during that process. I knew from the start that this was an outstanding community from the great vigor with which you sing together during the Mass. I hope that this will only continue to grow with my successor. My last weekend at Holy Trinity will be June 16^th; it seemed appropriate for me to end on Holy Trinity Sunday as that was my first weekend on the job in 2016. I wish to express my sincere gratitude to the countless people who have approached me after liturgies with kind words of encouragement and appreciation over the past three years.  —Brendan

Brendan is a genial man of great talent, and his departure is a loss for RocKenRo, but even so it’s a joy to see him advance and prepare to make even more effective use of his gifts.

Jacob Gruber joins us July 1. Jacob is a seminarian for the Diocese of Pittsburgh and has reached the point (usually three years before priestly ordination) where he is expected to spend an internship year in a parish. It’s an honor for us to be entrusted with a portion of Jacob’s preparation for priesthood. We’ll be looking for ways to provide him with helpful experiences.

I expect to adjust the daily Mass schedule (but not yet the Sunday Mass schedule). Beginning mid-June, I’ll drop the Friday 8:15 a.m. Mass at Holy Trinity Church (except when it is required for the future Archangel Gabriel School). For those who want a Friday morning Mass, I will schedule an 8:30 a.m. Mass at St. Malachy Church, thus extending the Monday-to-Thursday Mass to all weekdays. Watch for future announcements.

Meanwhile, the work of Christ in his Church continues. We worship our Lord and share Holy Communion. We repent of our sins and forgive sinners. We baptize new followers of Jesus, marry those who pledge themselves as signs of Jesus’ love, anoint the sick as signs of Jesus’ loving suffering, and we bury the dead in hope of resurrection. We aid those who appeal to us for comfort, and in all things we proclaim the good news of Jesus, who died and rose from the dead.

Through all these transitions, we hope to sustain the good work of Christ and his Church. We also hope to shift our habits of thought and behavior until all of us are newly and deeply aware of ourselves as followers of Jesus, and newly and deeply committed to helping others follow Jesus, too.

—Fr. Dave

Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord - Sunday, April 14, 2019

Holy Week

Today we celebrate Passion (Palm) Sunday, commemorating Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem.  Then:

Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday, April 15-17

8:30 a.m.                 Mass at St. Malachy

9:30 a.m.                 Mass at St. Mary Help of Christians

5:30 p.m.                 Confessions & Adoration at Holy Trinity

6:30 p.m.                 Mass at Holy Trinity

Holy Thursday, April 21

7:00 p.m.:                Mass of the Lord’s Supper at St. Malachy (Bus pick-up from St. John of God c. 6:30 p.m.)

The Easter Triduum begins with this Mass commemorating the Lord’s institution of the sacraments of the Eucharist and Holy Orders. I’ve asked Fr. Ruffalo to celebrate this Mass in a traditional manner.  This will include the priest facing the altar from the same side as the people, signifying that both the ordained priesthood and the baptismal priesthood together exist to serve Jesus Christ, present in the Blessed Sacrament.

After Mass: Seven Church Pilgrimage (Bus departs from St. Malachy lot)

Dcn. Len Thomas and others will lead a bus tour of seven local churches, stopping to adore the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament at each site.

Until 11:00: Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament at Holy Trinity, St. Mary Help of Christians, and St. Malachy Churches

Good Friday, April 22: Paschal fast & abstinence

(St. Malachy Parish Fish Fry – Limited Menu & Hours)

9:00 a.m. Street procession of the Cross beginning at St. Mary Help of Christians, walking to 1^st Baptist Church, McKees Rocks

1:30 p.m. Liturgy of the Passion and Death of the Lord at St. Mary Help of Christians

(Bus departs from Holy Trinity lot at 12:45 p.m.)

On Good Friday, the only day of the year without a Mass, the Cross is adored as an image of Jesus, Savior of the World.

7:00 p.m. Stations of the Cross at St. Malachy

8:00 p.m. Tenebrae Service at Holy Trinity

Holy Saturday, April 23: Paschal fast & abstinence as far as possible until 8:30

Holy Saturday marks the Lord’s bodily rest in the tomb, while his soul descended to the “Purgatory of the Patriarchs” to free souls who, from the time of Adam, waited for salvation from God.

11:00 a.m. Confessions at St. Malachy

12:00 noon: Blessing of Easter foods at St. Malachy

8:30 p.m.: Easter Vigil at Holy Trinity

This once-a-year Mass includes the blessing of the year’s Paschal Candle, representing the Lord’s resurrection, and the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation as administered to adults.  There will be no other Masses on Holy Saturday.

Easter Sunday, April 24

Masses follow the usual Sunday schedule.  The Easter Triduum concludes with Easter Sunday Masses.  Through the entire Easter season, we celebrate the bodily resurrection of Jesus.

—Fr. Dave

Fifth Sunday of Lent - April 7, 2019

The Resurrection and the Life

While most of you this Sunday will be hearing the story of the woman caught in adultery, those at the 10:00 a.m. Mass at Holy Trinity will be hearing the gospel about Lazarus.  After Jesus delays his visit long enough for Lazarus to die, we twice hear the protest, “If you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Hear the ache in the sisters’ hearts! They grieve the death of their brother. They know that Jesus—already famous for his healing miracles—could have saved Lazarus, but he didn’t. Maybe God did impressive things in times past, but when it really counts for Mary and Martha, God appears to have failed them.

Is theirs also your story? Does your heart protest against God? Perhaps you lost a beloved friend or relative to premature death. Perhaps you or a loved one suffer from sickness or disability. Maybe you face a seemingly unrecoverable loss, and now in your heart of hearts, you suspect God failed you. If so, you’re in good company, for Martha and Mary felt the same way.

But Jesus is more than just a miracle worker. God is doing more than just twiddling his thumbs while he waits around for the Last Day. God has come to us in Jesus, and Jesus has revealed himself as “the resurrection and the life”: He is the Resurrection and therefore the promise of life after death, but he is also the Life of God already, beginning now, even before death, and never dying. Those who live in Christ may die according to the flesh, as Jesus did, but they never really die in the Spirit: Life in Christ is life forever.

Martha and Mary discover that they and their brother Lazarus were all alive in Christ. Like them we discover and trust that our worldly failures are nothing compared to the Lord’s power to vindicate us. All that you think you missed in this life, all you think you were deprived of, all you could possibly hope for—and much, much more—is fulfilled in Christ and given to you through him.

I’ll be away this week. From time to time I help other dioceses with the development of their clergy and other ministers, and this week I make my debut in the Diocese of Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Next Sunday is (Palm) Sunday of the Passion of the Lord. In some of our churches it was customary for the assembly to share in the reading of the Passion narrative by reciting those lines presented as quotes of multiple speakers. This year, I’m changing that custom, and instead asking just the clergy and liturgical readers to proclaim the Passion. So please participate simply by listening attentively and devoutly: Hear in the spoken word the story of Jesus’ fulfillment of God’s will and your salvation in him.
Last week I received some complaints and suggestions for the confessionals at St. Malachy Church. Unfortunately, I don’t fully understand the complaints, and they’re anonymous, so I can’t check with the plaintiffs. All this to say: As a matter of policy, I don’t usually respond to anonymous messages, and it’s best to identify yourself and provide contact information if you have complaints or suggestions.
                                                                                                                                    —Fr. Dave