Weekly Letter from the Pastor

Dear Fellow Parishioners of St. Benedict:

Some quick news before my reflection: the bishop – after consultation with the governor, has expanded the attendance at daily Mass to 100 people, we will no longer require advanced notice of your desire to come to daily Mass. Feel free to come – wearing a mask, maintaining social distance, and entering/exiting through door #6 only. We are also ending the Sunday 8:00 a.m. Mass in the Gym, directing everyone to the church only.

Happy Fourth of July weekend! This opportunity to reflect on and celebrate our national heritage and the guiding principles of our republic occurs this year amidst turmoil, anger, pain, and confusion. We are painfully aware that the history of our nation – that the history of every nation that has ever existed, every institution – including the church as we also painfully know – is rife with blemishes and afflicted by evil in the midst of all of its positive and noble claims, gestures, and accomplishments. It is important to celebrate the accomplishments, to remember so as to never repeat the failures, and to honor the totality of who we are as a people. Whether you are yourself an immigrant – as is Father JM – or a descendent of those who fought for our freedoms in the American Revolution (or is that the Colonial Rebellion) – as am I – we all have a stake in the peace, security, and dreams that built and continue to build our nation. This weekend we pray for our president, our national and state legislators, our justices and magistrates, and all who work in governance, military, and public service, that they will have the wisdom and prudence to steer us through these challenging times and bring peace and healing to our streets and to our nation.

It is a good time to remember the prayer of then Bishop John Carroll of Baltimore – a diocese which at the time spanned the entire thirteen original states – for our nation in 1791: “We pray Thee O God of might, wisdom, and justice! Through whom authority is rightly administered, laws are enacted, and judgment decreed, assist with Thy Holy Spirit of counsel and fortitude the President of these United States, that his administration may be conducted in righteousness, and be eminently useful to Thy people over whom he presides; by encouraging due respect for virtue and religion; by a faithful execution of the laws in justice and mercy; and by restraining vice and immorality. Let the light of Thy divine wisdom direct the deliberations of Congress, and shine forth in all the proceedings and laws framed for our rule and government, so that they may tend to the preservation of peace, the promotion of national happiness, the increase of industry, sobriety, and useful knowledge; and may perpetuate to us the blessing of equal liberty.“

We pray for his excellency, the governor of this state, for the members of the assembly, for all judges, magistrates, and other officers who are appointed to guard our political welfare, that they may be enabled, by Thy powerful protection, to discharge the duties of their respective stations with honesty and ability.

We recommend likewise, to Thy unbounded mercy, all our brethren and fellow citizens throughout the United States, that they may be blessed in the knowledge and sanctified in the observance of Thy most holy law; that they may be preserved in union, and in that peace which the world cannot give; and after enjoying the blessings of this life, be admitted to those which are eternal.” 

May the Lord bless our nation with peace, security, freedom, and justice for all:

Fr. Garry