Monthly Archives: March 2014

Archbishop Schnurr’s statement on the occasion of the “Border Mass”

On Friday Archbishop Schnurr released the following statement:

 

Statement on the Occasion of U.S. Catholic Bishops’ Mass on the U.S.-Mexico Border

Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr

Archbishop of Cincinnati

March 27, 2014

On Tuesday, April 1, all the member bishops of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration will journey to the U.S.-Mexico border in Nogales, Arizona to celebrate a very special Mass. The prayerful event will be on behalf of the nearly 6,000 migrants who have died in the U.S. desert since 1998, as they desperately risked their lives to support themselves and their families. The bishops will highlight the human suffering caused by our broken immigration system, which provides far too few paths for legal migration and drives so many to such dangerous journeys of survival. The trip follows the example of Pope Francis, who, in his first excursion outside of Rome last year, traveled to the Italian island of Lampedusa to remember African migrants who died attempting to reach Europe across the Mediterranean Sea. On this occasion, I wish to join publicly my prayers with my brother bishops on the border.

For years now, the Archdiocese of Cincinnati has advocated for the restoration of law, order and respect for human dignity to our immigration system. Our current policies fail both to regulate migrant flows for the good of our nation and to honor the God-given rights of those seeking a better life here. The harrowing evidence for this is in the estimated 12 million people living in the shadows without documentation, and the thousands of migrants dying on our nation’s doorstep because there is no legal way for them to otherwise get here. For the Archdiocese locally, the repercussions are seen in the breakup of too many good, immigrant families through deportations in our parishes, schools and agencies.

On the verge of this April 1st Mass, we find ourselves dealing with an Administration that says it stands with migrant families yet has deported more immigrants than any administration in U.S. history. And our Congress is sending the message that it is better to cast a “yea” vote for our current status quo of chaos and disorder, rather than to forge a compromise on any set of principals about how our nation’s immigration system should even function. In the end, the victims of such complacency are the thousands of men, women and children for whose departed souls we pray. But, even more broadly, all Americans are negatively impacted when their communities and local economies are forced to manage the fallout from a national immigration system still in disrepair.

I urge all people of faith and good will to remember our migrant brothers and sisters on the occasion of this Mass. I encourage us not to give up hope that we can help our national leaders restore law and order and courageously welcome those whom we have called strangers as our nation’s own.

 

Worth praying together

PASTOR’S CORNER

March 30, 2014

             Last Sunday at the 11:00 Mass we celebrated the first of the “scrutinies”. Rather than going into the historical and theological background, let’s just say that it is the whole Church praying for those who are on the home stretch to Baptism. In Baptism they will be joined to Christ as members of his Body the Church. We pray that these final weeks of their preparation may be a time of real spiritual change, conversion for them.

            These final weeks are not the equivalent of “cramming for the final exam.” That would be the case if preparation for the Easter Sacraments were primarily something of the “head”. But it is even more something of the “heart”. So the final weeks are closer to being an extended retreat.

            The godparents or sponsors are to be especially involved in this conversion process. The Church suggests that additional words be added to the Eucharistic Prayer (which in the main is unchangeable):

Assist your servants with your grace ,O Lord, we pray,

that they may lead these chosen ones

by word and example to new life in Christ, our Lord.

            You might ask, “Why is there so much ‘to do’ about those entering the Church at the Easter Vigil? And why do you have all these ceremonies at Sunday Mass? Wouldn’t it be better to do it when it wouldn’t inconvenience people who are just coming for Sunday Mass?”

            These are all good questions. A perspective would be to say that rather than over doing things for older children and adults who are entering the Church at Easter, we have been under doing things for infant baptism. Maybe we haven’t taken infant Baptism seriously enough by establishing a significant period of preparation and by more fully involving the Church into which the infant will be baptized. Baptism, adult or infant, is to be taken seriously by all of us.

            The radical individualism that afflicts our culture in our moral likewise afflicts us in our spiritual life. We are all passengers on the “Barque of Peter”. In one sense, we all sink or sail together. It makes a difference to us all who are our fellow sailors and how prepared they are.  It is worth praying about.

“Living the Eucharist”; Greeters at Mass; Thanks

PASTOR’S CORNER

March 23, 2014

 

            Thanks to a little help from my friends “Fr. Mike’s Blog” is up and running.  The link is on our main page.  I’ll start off posting the coming Sunday’s “Pastor’s Corner” each Tuesday when I finish it.  Some weeks I’ll post other things as well.  You are invited to comment, question, add to etc. 

 

            It looks like the Living the Eucharist   program has been quite successful.  I hope you have found the inserts in the bulletin helpful.  In addition there are 182 people in English language small groups and another 50 or so in Spanish-based groups.  Another hundred or so are using the meditation booklets.  Thanks to the group leaders and to Tami Urcia who is spearheading the program.  So what has been your experience?

 

            Once more I want to express my appreciation to the women and men who serve as ushers and greeters.  I’m asking them to do an attendance count in May like we do in October.  It just helps us see what is happening.  We are working to make the ministry of usher/greeter more than just opening the door and taking up the collection.  We will reinstitute the use of “sign-up sheets” to bring up the gifts at the preparation rite.  Hopefully this will encourage more people to get involved in this way.  It is not just for families with children. 

            Have you been to a church that really welcomes people?  Would you want to be a part of that at St. Julie?

 

            Finally, we are in the budgeting process at this time of the year.  It is an occasion to express my appreciation once more to Betty Meiner.  Betty has been a part of the parish staff for over twenty years.  She is not just the person who handles all the financial details with intelligence and transparency; she is a person who makes St. Julie Billiart a good place to work.

Contracts and Conversations

PASTOR’S CORNER

March 16, 2014

Last week I once again felt a bit powerless in the face of “the media”.  I refer to the news about the new contract that Archdiocesan Catholic Schools will be using with teachers.  The Enquirer got a hold of the new contract before principals had the chance to review the document with their teachers.  They made it front page news because the new contract is a more explicit statement of what is expected of teachers who are role models in our Catholic Schools.  Out of context, and with little reflection, the new contracts appear quite draconian.  My concern is that we, Church leadership, need to be part of the “news cycle”.  Last Saturday after Mass some very sincere parishioners expressed some real concerns about this.  The Church needs to make sure our voice is heard as people quickly make up their minds about an issue.  All of you need a way to express your concerns / questions and get a response.

So, I’ve decided to post my “Pastor’s Corner” to a blog and receive comments and questions.  It will be a “moderated” blog.  That means that I will approve comments.  I will do that simply to sort out anything that may be mean-spirited or rude.  I will not screen out comments that disagree with what I write.  For those of you who don’t understand what I just wrote, I still respond to paper messages.

Regarding the new contracts, I do have a couple of thoughts.  First, the new contract makes explicit what the older contract assumed.  Teachers are ministers of the Church.  The only reason we put such resources into Catholic schools is to form Catholics.  Some promotional materials over the years might have lead one to mistakenly think that the reason for Catholic Schools is first of all to get a better, more marketable education.  Faith formation involves not just what is “taught”, but also what is “caught”.  That means that witness of life is a vital part of the mission of a CatholicSchool teacher.  Unfortunately, some recent law suits both locally and nationally have made it impossible to assume a shared understanding of this mission.  If you read the contract you will see that the emphasis is on public behavior or comments.  This is not the re-introduction of the Spanish Inquisition.  No official of the Church is going to be “checking up” on teachers’ private lives.  However, when something comes to light, the Church needs to respond in some way.

Let me strongly and publicly declare once more that our Catholic School teachers, as a group, give a concrete and beautiful witness to the faith.  I join you in thanking them!