Pentecost Sunday - May 24, 2015

One of my favorite prayers is one that starts “Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful.” It is, of course, very appropriate for Pentecost. Today I would like to look at the second part of that prayer, “O God, who did instruct the hearts of the faithful through the light of the Holy Spirit, grant to us that same Spirit, that we me be truly wise and ever rejoice in His consolation, through Christ our Lord.”

The instruction mentioned in the prayer is not a magical enlightenment in which we suddenly know everything. (Some people think that magically knowing everything comes automatically around one’s thirteenth birthday, but that’s another story.) Learning our faith is a life-long task. Most of the time, though, when we think of Religious Education, we think of the children and adolescents. Today I would like to look particularly at our Faith Formation program.

 I recently received the sad news that our Catechetical Administrator, Joanne Swank, is retiring in order to spend time with her husband, children and grandchildren. Our annual Vacation Bible School will be her final event in that position. We didn’t want the announcement to take away from the end of CCD, the Confirmation or all the First Communion celebrations, so I am only making my public statement about Joanne’s retirement now.

When I was pastor of Guardian Angels Parish, I held the now-defunct role of “Deanery Director of Religious Education.” My job was to meet with all of the Catechetical Administrators in this area. It was mostly a role of support, and it gave me a chance to get to know some of the people in that ministry. I got to know Joanne through those meetings and because she and her Guardian Angels’ counterpart used to ride together to classes for their degree in Catechesis. Thus I have known Joanne for some years now, and I have always respected her as being very capable and, more importantly, as a person of deep faith and trust in God. My time working with her at St. Malachy has confirmed that understanding and deepened my respect for her.

As much as I will miss Joanne, she and I agreed that the important point is that we continue to teach the faith. It is a sign of her effectiveness that the catechists who teach our CCD classes have expressed a confidence that we will continue to provide an excellent program after she leaves. In fact, by the time you read this note, I will have met with a search committee (including CCD catechists and parents) and interviewed a candidate for the position. I am confident that we will continue to provide an excellent faith formation program. But one reason why I am so confident is that Joanne has done such a fine job. So the hopeful note is for a future bulletin, when we introduce the new Catechetical Administrator. For now, we thank Joanne Swank for her wonderful contribution and wish her Godspeed.

                                                        Father H

Seventh Sunday of Easter - May 17, 2015

When I was a little boy, growing up in Wilkinsburg, there were times when Mom would take me “up street” into the Wilkinsburg business district. (“Up street” was the local alternative to a bus ride “downtown” into Pittsburgh.) I knew mostly what to expect when I would go up street with Mom. I knew I could look for toys and ask Mom to buy me something if we went into Murphy’s Five & Ten. Caldwell & Graham, on the other hand, didn’t have anything fun. They only sold boring stuff like clothes. I knew we might stop in the Wilkinsburg Public Library for a book. I also knew that at some point, usually on the way home, we would go by St. James and “stop in for a visit.”

I don’t think the same opportunity exists today. Wilkinsburg is not the same neighborhood as when I was growing up, and I suspect that they have to keep the church locked when nothing is going on. As in so many places, you cannot just stop into church for a quiet prayer. But here at St. Malachy, with a nicer area and a police station just across the street, we are fortunate to be able to keep the practice alive. On weekdays we keep the church open throughout the day, until about 8:00 in the evening. On Saturdays we lock up after the evening Mass, and on Sundays the church is open until somewhere around 7:00 or 8:00. At any of those times, you are welcome to stop by and spend a few quiet moments with the Lord. There may be times when you find something going on, such as a funeral or the Friday Bible Study group (who would welcome you to join them). And of course on the third Tuesday of the month, including this coming Tuesday, you have the special opportunity to join us for all-day Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, from Exposition at the morning Mass until Benediction at 6:30.

Mom always referred to it, as I said above, as a “visit,” like stopping by to see a friend. As a child, of course, I always wanted to be doing something, to play some sort of game, when I visited a friend. Adults, on the other hand, could just sit and talk. So often we come to church when there are things to do, especially the Mass. But it is nice to have some quiet time just to visit, to sit quietly and pray. Think of it as an opportunity to have a pleasant conversation with the Lord. Sure, there may be some problems or some other issues in our lives that we want to bring to prayer. But as with a good friend, we can just stop by to be in His presence and enjoy His company. After all, good friends like to be together for a quiet time.

So remember that this Tuesday is our monthly day of Adoration. But also remember that any time you are in the neighborhood, Christ invites you to “stop in for a visit.” As people who believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, we know that Jesus is present in our church. What a blessing that we can still offer you some quiet time in prayer in His company.

                                                               Father H

Sixth Sunday of Easter - May 10, 2015

It was all over Facebook. Soon it was on TV and was going viral on YouTube. A sixteen-year-old was dressed all in black with a hood over his face. Given the rioting and looting that was going on in Baltimore at the time, it was clear that he was intending to cause some sort of trouble. Then his mother saw him, and he never had a chance. The video of his mom cuffing him around got lots of publicity.

Today I wish every mother a happy and blessed Mothers Day. As holidays go, this one tends to be sentimental to the point of being sappy. It gives us a picture of our mothers as rocking us to sleep and softly kissing us. We may think of a mother smiling as she watches her children sweetly playing with one another and sharing their toys. Perhaps we would be wise to remember the mother in Baltimore. I don’t know what kind of mother she is in real life, and I certainly do not want to encourage the kind of language she used in the video. But she does remind us that motherhood is not easy. Mothers often have to take their children in hand, at least figuratively. Mothers, I pray that you never have to pull your children out of a riot, but you have to deal with your children’s choices, starting with the “terrible twos.”

Sometimes the difference between a mother and a child is a matter of perspective. As children, we tended to think of what I want right now or what problem is bothering me right now. Our mothers had a broader perspective of what would make us grow up to be mature, responsible – and happy in much deeper and lasting sense. Ultimately, of course, that desire is for us to be united with Christ for all eternity. The blessing for mothers at baptism, which I usually adapt for a blessing for Mothers Day at the Masses, says, “She now thanks God for the gift of her child. May she be one with him (or her) in thanking him for ever in heaven.” If we keep that goal in mind, we honor our mothers without becoming maudlin.

That goal also ties today’s feast in with our month-long celebration of the Blessed Mother. By our Catholic tradition, May is the month of Mary. Our devotions to Mary can similarly be sentimental to the point of being sappy. Granted, Mary was conceived without sin and gave birth to the perfect Son of God. But she still had to run a household and manage a family in a small village. She had to be a model of faith in a world when the Jewish people were rather downtrodden. Like any mother, she had to let her Son go His own way. Imagine how she must have felt to hear her twelve-year-old Son say, in the Temple, “I must be about My Father’s business.”

The Blessed Virgin Mary is a model for us of total trust in God’s will. When Christ, on the cross, entrusted her to St. John, he was giving her to the entire Church to be a mother to all of us. Like our mothers, she wants to help us see that God has something greater in store for each of us than the pursuits we often get caught up in. Let’s just hope that we learn that lesson without needing someone to slap us around as the mother in Baltimore did for her son.
                                                        Father H

Fifth Sunday of Easter - May 3, 2015

As a teenager, at an age when I thought my parents didn’t know anything, I would laugh when my mother spoke of Carnegie Tech. I knew better than to correct her, but I wondered why she couldn’t get used to calling it Carnegie-Mellon University. After all, it had been CMU for some time. I got my comeuppance years later when the Civic Arena was renamed as the Mellon Arena. Try as I might, I could never keep from calling it by the old name.

The same thing can happen with Church terminology. There even are some terms that have not been accurate since the Second Vatican Council but which many people continue to use. Every so often I get a call to go up to the hospital to give someone “Last Rites.” I always want to be sensitive to the needs of the patients and their families, but I do try to give a little education on the matter. Instead of Last Rites, I offer the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick.

Anointing of the Sick is a sacrament of healing. For years, however, the sacrament was reserved for those who were near death. It was seen as a way of helping those who were about to die to prepare for Purgatory and Heaven. One result of that development was that the sacrament became frightening. Some people would not call a priest, even when a patient was critical, out of fear that “Mom would die of fright if a priest walked into her room.” I recently witnessed a family member who did not want the patient anointed because he was not sure he was dying. Fortunately he felt much better when I explained that it is not “Last Rites.”

Vatican II tells us that it is fitting to be anointed “as soon as any one of the faithful begins to be in danger of death from sickness or old age.” My father started receiving the sacrament annually about the age of 80, figuring that he qualified under the heading of “old age.” He lived to be 96 and was in surprisingly good health for most of those years. He believed that the grace of the sacrament helped keep him going. On the other hand, it is not something we receive for a head cold.

I try to tell people of three ways in which the grace of the sacrament can have an effect on us. It does promote physical healing. Generally we do not see a miraculous turnaround in a patient’s condition. This is not “faith healing” as we think of that term from someone putting on a show. Certainly God can work miracles, and he does use the sacrament in miraculous ways. But miracles are, by their very nature, not an everyday occurrence. God often uses this sacrament in another way, to give someone the strength to carry the burden of an illness, joining our sufferings to those of Christ on the Cross. Finally, as I often explain when called to the hospital, the ultimate healing is to be called home to be with Christ in heaven, away from this vale of tears. In that sense, this sacrament can be our last rites, and there are special prayers included when we reach that point.

                                                     Father H

Fourth Sunday of Easter - April 26, 2015

This Tuesday, April 28, marks the first anniversary of my first day as pastor of St. Malachy. On the one hand, I can’t believe how quickly this year has gone by. On the other hand, it feels like I’ve been here for years. The latter feeling comes from how wonderfully everyone here has welcomed me and made me feel at home. This is a fantastic parish, and I have quickly come to love the parish and the people. Thank you for a great first year; now let’s have a lot more.

While I officially started on April 28, I actually had a good head start. For one thing, Fr. Michael had graciously given me space to store my property as we began the move. Moreover, he invited me to help with some of the school and CCD Confessions during Lent to give me a chance to get to know some people. And then I actually moved in on Sunday, April 27. My first quasi-official duty was to concelebrate with Fr. Michael at the First Communion Mass that Sunday, before being the celebrant at the next weekend’s First Communion Mass. What a great way that was to start, for First Communion is one of the highlights of any parish’s year.

And that is another key theme to today’s message, for this weekend we celebrate the first of our First Communion Masses. It is always a great joy to see the boys and girls receiving Christ for the first time. The excitement they feel reminds us of the importance of a Sacrament that we can easily take for granted. We who have lost count of how often we receive the Eucharist may fall into the trap of making it just another part of our week. When we see the joy on these children’s faces, especially as they are all dressed up for the occasion, we remember what a great gift it is. In addition, when we see how nervous some of them are, then we may tend to ask ourselves if we are really prepared, in a spiritual sense, to receive the Eucharist. There is a reason why our preparation to receive includes the prayer, “O Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof.” But again, the joy of these children reminds us to complete that prayer, “But only say the word and my soul shall be healed.”

First Communion, of course, is not the end of the journey. I want to recognize the eighth graders of our parish who, this past Wednesday, received the Sacrament of Confirmation from Bishop William J. Winter, our retired Auxiliary Bishop. I am writing this column before the event, but I can confidently say that it Confirmation was (by the time you are reading this note) a beautiful celebration. Bishop Winter makes the sacrament very personal for each of the Confirmandi. With this Confirmation, they are now prepared, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to live more fully the grace they first received in baptism.
All of this activity shows us what an exciting time the Easter season is in the life of the parish. And that, once again, reminds me of how thankful I am to God and to Bishop Zubik for making me part of this incredible parish of St. Malachy.
                                                 Father H

Third Sunday of Easter - April 19, 2015

There is an old truism about the West Point Military Academy that they are always training army officers to fight the last war. In other words, when the nation fights a war, the officers make note of what tactics were successful under that war’s conditions, and that’s what they use to train soldiers in the future. When another war comes along, they realize what changes have occurred in technology, weaponry, strategy and the like. They then realize that the plans they have made have to be adapted to the new circumstances.

I suppose that all of us “train to fight the last war.” We know what has worked in the past, and we rely on those strategies. There comes a time, though, when we need to do long-range planning with an honest examination of the circumstances and the available resources. That is part of what Bishop Zubik is trying to do with On Mission for the Church Alive!, the initiative which he announced in the letter we read at all the Masses last weekend. If you missed the reading of the letter or want to look more deeply into it, a copy of the letter is included with this week’s bulletin. We will all hear much more about it in the coming months. Today I would like to make a few brief comments on the initiative as we set out.

Bishop Zubik intends to make long-term plans for the health of our diocese, including the parishes, schools and other institutions. As Catholics, any such planning has to begin with certain eternal truths such as the promise of Christ to be with His Church always and His presence in ways such as the Eucharist. The Magisterium (teaching authority) of the Church gives us a solid foundation to build upon. Beyond that, however, we have to be open to new possibilities. We face the changing demographics of Western Pennsylvania and the declining number of priests, in addition to an increasingly secular society. Thus we have to be creative in looking for how the Church will communicate the eternal truths in our modern society. We have to understand where we are without simply fighting the last war.

What strikes me most clearly is that Bishop Zubik is taking a very positive approach to the realities that confront us. There are serious challenges, but this is also an opportunity for evangelization and for a renewed devotion to the grace of Christ. It is a call for us to trust in the guidance of the Holy Spirit and to trust in Christ’s promise to His Apostles. Rather than simply trying to maintain the status quo as best we can, this is an opportunity for the Church to grow and be more vibrant. For such a large task, the bishop recognized that we need to engage the help of people whose specialty is creating such long-term plans. I am thankful that he has chosen, from several very qualified organizations, Catholic Leadership Institute. This is the organization that presents the Good Leaders, Good Shepherds program which many of our local priest, including both Fr. Michael Maranowski and I, have taken part in. There are people in this organization who have come to know the Diocese of Pittsburgh and to recognize our unique strengths, and I am confident that they will be very effective.

                                                      Father H

Second Sunday of Easter - April 12, 2015

Thank you! Before I can say anything else, I have to thank so many people for making Holy Week and the Paschal Triduum such an amazing experience of faith and joy. Easter is the highlight of our year, and St. Malachy does it so well. I have to thank all the Altar Servers, Lectors, Eucharistic Ministers, Ushers and everyone else who contributed to the celebrations. I am thankful to John Lester for his work as Master of Ceremonies and particularly for his work in decorating the church for each part of the celebration. The Triduum embraces such a wide range of emotions, reaching a low with the barren atmosphere of Good Friday and then springing to life for the Easter Vigil. And a similar range of emotions has to influence the music, so I am very grateful to Laurie Lanz, who gave us beautiful music with the help of the adult and children’s choir, the cantors and with a huge contribution from Margie Masilunas and her adult and children handbell choirs.

Speaking of Margie Masilunas, she did a wonderful job with the crew that presented the Living Stations of the Cross all through Lent, culminating on Good Friday. Also, let me add my thanks to Catherine Spanard for helping organize the Seven Church bus tour on Holy Thursday evening and to all who rode along. And I cannot forget to thank, as well as to congratulate, our newest Catholics through the RCIA, Jamie Aurigemma and Emma Fleiner. Working with them and seeing their joy at entering the Church has been a reminder to me of how much our faith means.

Another huge debt of gratitude goes out to Joyce and Ed Chezosky and all who volunteered at our Fish Fry all through Lent. I am among those for whom meatless Fridays are still a real penance (which we observe throughout the year), but our Fish Fry brings us good food along with a chance to support the parish. And what a success it has been in both ways.

Most of all, thanks to all the people of St. Malachy for coming together in prayer throughout the Triduum. I really experienced St. Malachy Parish as a family of faith in the joy of Easter.

As I thank you for your contributions to Easter, I hope I don’t make it sound as if Easter is over. The first eight days, up through the Second Sunday of Easter, is an “Octave,” a continuation of Easter Sunday itself. Today’s celebration has, in recent years, been given the extra designation of Divine Mercy Sunday, but even before that it has had special significance as the Octave Day of Easter. We treat this whole week as one long Sunday. And even at that, the joy of Easter does not end. This Easter season continues right up through Ascension Thursday (May 14 this year), concluding on Pentecost (May 24). During that time, we not only continue to celebrate the Resurrection, but we also have Confirmation and First Communion to celebrate. So this will continue to be a special time. Thus, in addition to my thanks, let me again say Blessed and happy Easter.

                                                   Father H