In our continued journey through the Mass we now come to a familiar place, the support offering. As mentioned before, our offering has several facets. We offer our praise, our thanks, our financial support to the mission of the Church and ultimately, we offer our hearts, our very lives to the Lord. Folks at our parish have always been very generous. I do not recall ever needing to encourage financial giving. Perhaps they have figured out a solid truth. You cannot out give God! “Give and it will be given to you, good measure, pressed down and flowing offer it shall be given unto you”, Jesus said. Jesus introduces us to the “seed principle”. Your generosity in giving, (all types of giving) is like seed planted and nurtured. It yields a return 30, 60 or 100 times as much back to the giver. A good way to do this is to arrive at an amount to regularly give every week. Many do. If you are not, you perhaps should consider it. It’s another way to say to the Lord, “I trust you to bless my finances and to supply my needs.” Give it some prayer and thought. Yours in Christ our Lord, Fr. Sid.

Last week we looked at the use of Holy Water when we entered the church. As you can tell by now, we are going to move through the Mass very, very slowly. We will next examine taking your seat and preparing for Mass. If you want a particular location, you better come early. We tend to be creatures of habit and we like “our usual place.” However, there are some things to consider. Sitting in different locations gives one the opportunity to meet others in the congregation. You probably noticed that we have a number of new members. Part of the reason for this is we are a friendly parish. I am told that many parishes are not. One of the most important things you can do to evangelize at Mass is to smile. The smile says without a word, “You’re welcome here. I would like to meet you and know you.” We don’t usually appreciate the fact that some visitors haven’t been to church for a long time or maybe not ever. They are nervous and feel out of place and not sure what is expected of them. The smile from just one person can go a long ways toward putting them at ease. Another seating issue, sitting as far in the back as possible. One of the positives of the Covid event was it kind of loosened us up in our seating. Many have grown accustomed to sitting in front or closer to the front. Here is something to consider. If you want to understand the Mass better and the actions of the priest, sit closer to the front. Two things will happen. You will be able to see the small actions taking place at the altar and you will find yourself less distracted by the others, movements, side conversations, an unhappy child, etc., etc. All this said, it’s a good idea to come a little early. This way you can become “recollected,” focused and prepared to encounter our Lord and Savior in the Holy Mass. Yours in Christ, Fr. Sid.

Mysteries of the Mass.2 Last week we examined why we should bring a good, personal intention to Mass. That starts at home. This week we will examine our personal entrance into the church building and reception of holy water. When we first come through the door, we should seek to bless ourselves with holy water. This has a threefold application. First, it reminds us that we are baptized into the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We are legitimately God’s child. (Even if we don’t feel like it.) Two, if we confess our sin, our venial sins are forgiven to us. And three, the blessed water provides a blessing upon us, assuming we are acting in good faith, believing that God indeed wants to bless us. (You should also be encouraged to take holy water home to bless yourself regularly and your home or anything else you wish to be blessed. Bottles are provided by the Holy Water font, but you are welcome to bring your own container.) Holy water is a “sacramental” as is any blessed item. It is not magical. Its power is the faith drawn forth from the user and the Church as providing the blessing via the priest. This means that you can access God’s grace even when you may not believe you are putting forth much in the way of faith. The result is a dispensing of God’s grace. This grace is real and powerful. It changes things. The key here is “Faith”. Your faith, stimulated by the presence of the sacramental, in this case the water, accesses divine grace. Grace is manifold or “many-folds”. Grace is defined as the very life of God given out to the recipient. Again, it’s not magic, but it has good effects that are unpredictable in a good way. There are no prerequisites to receiving Holy Water. Anyone can and is encouraged to use it, baptized or not, infants, non-Catholics, anyone! Yours in Christ, Fr. Sid

I hope to use this space in the coming weeks to offer an abbreviated form of my weekend message. Over the coming weeks we will examine the Mass from beginning to end. We begin at home before you leave for Mass. This is where we begin to prepare ourselves, where we make the decision, yes, I am going! By rights it shouldn’t be anything we think about but have previously decided to go every Sunday and Holy Day. Many Catholics have concluded that attendances is optional. I’m not sure where this idea came from. The Faith has always taught that we are to “keep the sabbath” by attendance at Mass. It is a mortal (yes mortal) sin to willfully not attend when we are able. Why is it considered that serious? Because it is an affront to our relationship with God. We are thumbing our nose at the invitation of our King, saying by behavior that something else is more important. With attendance a settled given, we should be considering our intention for the coming Mass. Most of you are familiar with the announcement of an intention at the beginning of Mass but it is proper for each person to have a personal intention, (prayer request). Mass is worship, a sacrifice and it is prayer. We cannot separate these because all of the Mass is prayer, the songs, the worship, and the sacrifice. We will be unpacking all of these in the weeks to come but it is essential that you approach with humble faith or there will be little understanding realized. It is a simple movement of the heart and mind that says, Lord, I trust you, I believe you! Yours in Christ our Lord, Fr. Sid.

This Sunday we celebrate Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit. With this as a beginning, I intend to do something unusual for my homilies. Normally the expectation is that the homily be an expounding explanation of the Scriptures. But it is also permissible to use the prayers of the missel, (the big red book with the prayers used by the priest). Specifically, I intend to explain the Mass, step by step. I will start with the opening hymn and procession next week and in the following weeks move small step by step through the entire Mass. You have heard me mention many times that according to surveys, the majority of practicing Catholics do not believe Christ is fully present in the Communion they receive, Body, Soul, Blood, and Divinity. Instruction is needed. That is why our second graders spend the whole class year of religious formation preparing for their First Communion. But instruction is not a replacement for Faith, humble, believing faith in Christ. So throughout these many weeks of examining the what and why of the Mass, I will frequently bring us back to this requirement for understanding things of the Spirit, humble faith. Yours in Christ our Lord, Fr. Sid.

I would like to speak about Mass at St. Libory’s. You have probably noticed that I have been switching back and forth from saying Mass facing the people and facing with the people, called “ad orientum”. Since I am aware that some clergy are very opposed to celebrating Mass ad orientum, I have done some research on the topic in an attempt to understand their opposition. I read an overview of the history behind the changes that took place after the 2nd Vatican Council of the 60s. Those arguing for the changes that came about sighted two primary reasons. First, they asserted that the priest facing the altar and the people was the original positioning and therefore to do this was simply a return to the original. This was a popular teaching of the time. I was taught this as well in my Protestant seminary. However, subsequent archaeological digs and research of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd century church buildings proved this to be false. The first church buildings mirrored the structure of the Jewish synagogue, whose altars where always against the wall. Second, (and this is the most interesting), it was proposed that the new positioning, (bringing people closer to and around the altar with the priest facing the people), would bring about a much better understanding among the laity of the Mass. By their physical closeness, direct participation in the responses and use of English, they would grow in their understanding of the Mass and its application to their faith. The changes would increase attendance and conversion because the folks in the pew would “understand.” Now I must admit that those intentions seemed very reasonable. If I had been present in that time and presented with this argument, I would probably have been supportive of the changes. However, today the clear evidence indicates that these assumptions were wrong in their conclusions. Just the opposite has taken place in Catholic parishes. Understanding of and participation in the Mass are drastically down from before the changes. Is this the result of these changes? No, not completely. But to not recognize that something went amiss with the changes is extremely naïve. So, I am not trying to be a rebel or to return to the past, but simple to use the freedom that is available in the instructions of the Mass to help us find the path to a better understanding and participation in the most important event of our regular gathering as the Lord’s people, the Mass. Yours in Christ our Lord, Fr. Sid.

From time to time you have heard me voice alarm about the condition of the Church in the United States. There is the rapid decline of available priest and the rapid decline of participation in faithful practice by the members. So, what can we do? To begin with we all need to progress in our personal prayer lives. Most all the faithful believe in the power and the need for prayer. But how should we pray? Is there prayer that is more effective than another? The answer is yes. Most important is the setting aside of a time and place for prayer. In the evening before we go to sleep is not a particularly good time. Yes, it’s very good to say a prayer at that time to close out our day. But it is not a good time for contemplation, meditation, or spiritual listening. We are usually too sleepy. What makes prayer “effective” is our faithful engagement. If we sincerely set out to progress in a genuine prayer life, the Holy Spirit will guide us into the prayer that pleases God the most. The Lord wants what we want, (even if we may not be fully aware of what we want most.) He wants a relationship, a close, intimate relationship. If our prayer life is only one-way messages from us to God, there is never going to develop much of a relationship. Prayer also means “listening.” Listening as we read scriptures, meditate on spiritual writings or even just listening to the silence and pondering. The Lord speaks to us through these events and through His creation, the other people we encounter, events in our lives, nature, beauty, music, etc. But we need to pay attention, tune in. Spiritual directors tell us that the Lord generally confirms His messages with multiple confirmations. We hear the same thing but from diverse and unconnected sources. Please be aware, it’s not always going to be what we want to hear but it will always be what we need to hear. So, pray. We need to pray! Yours in Christ our Lord, Fr. Sid.

Last week was the feast day of St. Catherine of Siena, one of our window saints at St. Libory’s. She was responsible for correcting my definition of mortal sin. It came to me as I read her explanation of why people who commit mortal sin are not generally aware of their transgression or the seriousness nature of its consequences. I was troubled, even frightened. How could this be? I did some research and discovered that I had an incorrect understanding of what makes sin a mortal sin. I had put forward that for mortal sin to be mortal, one had to know it was mortal. That’s what I had wrong. Here is the proper definition. 1) The sin must be grave, (very serious). 2) I must know that it is grave. 3) I must have sufficient time to consider the first two before deciding to do it anyway. When these three are present, mortal sin has been committed. I had confused the words “mortal” and “grave.” I had wrongly explained that one could not commit a mortal sin without knowing it was a mortal sin, other words, knowing I was cutting off the grace of God in me. All one needs to know and understand is that the sin to be committed is very serious. With the above conditions, it then becomes mortal. Going back to St. Catherine, she says that when we extinguish the light of grace in our heart by committing mortal sin, it’s like the light goes out in our intellect, brain and or soul. We cannot recognize what we cannot see. This results in a very precarious condition for the soul. This is why it is very important to pray for each other and pray for the conversion of sinners. Because the only “light of grace” that the mortal sinner is going to have is from the grace provided by the prayers of others. So, PRAY! In Christ our Lord, Fr. Sid

As a child I had difficulty in tolerating church. Every time I hear a child fussing during Mass, I have a reaction that is probably not typical. I vividly remember feeling just that way. (Even as an adult, I have been present at Masses that I still would like to fuss.) I know some folks are annoyed with fussy children at Mass, not me, been there, done that. I understand. As adults we can easily forget how impressionable children can be. They learn from us. In spite of my childhood resistance to church attendance, being there got a very important message through to me. The message being, “This must be something important even if I have no clue what it is.” We have five young Catholics receiving their First Communion this Sunday morning. Your attention directed to them will make a very important impression upon them. This is important! Tell them, shake their hands, and give them a big smile. Yours in Christ our Lord, Fr. Sid

As a priest I frequently get asked questions about Church teaching. Questions are good, the “why” helps us to understand the “what.” But there is something about Catholicism that must be clearly understood. If one gets this wrong, one ceases to be Catholic. By that I do not mean a formal rejection of the identity, “Catholic,” but rather a rejection of the definition, “the meaning of Catholicity.” Catholic means, “universal,” we hold to a universal body of truths revealed to us by God through Christ Jesus. They are unchangeable and constant in their meaning. What we perceive as changes are not changes in the revelation but changes in how they are addressed to new circumstances in the present world. For example, there is the popular influence to take the lives of the pre-born, the elderly, and gravely ill for purposes of alleged relief of suffering or simply convenience. The Church says what she has always said, “NO!” It is wrong to kill the innocent, always wrong, period. So, using this extreme example and grouping a multitude of lesser disagreements beneath it, let’s ask the question, “Is it okay to disagree with the teaching of the Catholic Church?” No, it is not okay if I wish to remain Catholic, that is, one who holds to the revealed universal Truth. To yield one part is to yield it all. If I forsake the meaning of “Catholic,” I have nothing left to hang the name on. It is like going to the fridge for ice cream, opening the container that says, “Ice Cream” and discovering it contains something else or perhaps nothing. This is going to make us all uncomfortable at times and maybe a great deal more than uncomfortable. But ice cream is ice cream and Catholic is Catholic. That’s the truth. As Jesus stood before Pilate he said, “I came to bear witness to the truth.” We all know what happened next. Yours in Christ our Lord, Fr. Sid

This Sunday is Divine Mercy Sunday. Perhaps you are a person without a repetitive devotional like the Rosary. The Rosary can be a little challenging to get down but with perseverance it can be mastered to great benefit. But if you do not think you are up to it you might consider the Divine Mercy Caplet. It can be mastered easier and quicker than the Rosary. You use Rosary beads but instead of the “Hail Mary…” prayer you say, “For the sake of His sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.” You pray five decades just like the Rosary. It usually takes about half the time or less. The caplet has the echo of the Mass to it. Each decade concludes with, “Eternal Father, I offer you the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your Dearly Beloved Son, Our Lord, Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.” This is what is accomplished in every Holy Mass. Like the Rosary, you can pray this for your own devotion and needs or for anyone else you desire to offer prayer for. It is a great devotion to offer for the conversion of sinners. Give it a try! Yours in Christ our Lord, Fr. Sid.

The Lord is risen! Alleluia! Alleluia! Have you ever seen the notice on a sale sign that says, “While supply last!” You will see it frequently at special sales like black Friday or door busters. It is intended to motivate us with a sense of urgency and for the most part it works, if the product is something you want, and the price is a deal. It is a disappointment when we arrive to late, and the item is “sold out.” Now this probably seems like a strange observation regarding Easter but let me explain. You see, we are tempted to live our life under the sign, “While supply last.” We live our lives by the clock and the calendar. There are only so many hours in a day, days in a week, weeks in a year, and finally, there are only on the average about 80 years to our life. We are tempted to live our life looking at our death as a final event. Although it is good to live life conscience of our mortality, this can also drive us to disregard eternity. What the Resurrection reminds us of, is the blessing of eternal life offered to us through Christ. And it is much more than just eternal life, (all souls are eternal.) This eternity is a “blessed” eternity. Spend some time this week thinking about eternity. It’s forever and ever, no end! A million years is not even a beginning. That is what the Resurrection means and that it is what is offered to us. Alleluia! Alleluia! Yours in Christ our Lord. Fr. Sid

I would like you to consider the imagery of “garden” used in Holy Scripture. Recall, the Bible’s opening story begins in a garden, the Garden of Eden. Who is Adam supposed to be? A gardener. But sin gets Adam and Eve kicked out. Now think about the Passion and Resurrection. When the suffering begins, where does Jesus go? To a garden, Gethsemane. What does he do there? He prays. When he rises from the dead, Mary Magdalen is the first to see him. Who does she mistake him for? The gardener! Mistake? Yes and no. The Faith frequently refers to Christ Jesus as the Second or the New Adam. The first Adam was a gardener. So is the second. We are His garden and he sows his Word in our hearts. Hopefully we yield the fruit of the Spirit unto eternal life, His resurrection becoming our resurrection. As you prepare your gardens this spring, meditate on this, Jesus said, “Unless a seed falls into the ground it remains alone. But if it falls into the ground and dies, it bears much fruit.” (This is depicted in the crucifix in the sanctuary of St. Libory’s.) Jesus is that Seed. You are the soil, His garden. Yours in Christ our Lord, Fr. Sid

Our Gospel lesson this week is the raising of Lazarus from the dead. It is probably the most powerful miracle of Jesus short of his own resurrection. The Resurrection is always to be kept in our mind as we live out the difficulties of life. The difficulties are our own personal “cross”. Without a doubt, when carrying our own cross it is very difficult to be mindful of the resurrection to come. And yet, it comes to us to relieve our heartache when we need it most. When we encounter the death of our loved ones, we feel the pain of the cross the most. But we are not left without hope. We will see them again in the resurrection. Yours in Christ our Lord, Fr. Sid

Our Gospel lesson for today concerning the healing of the man born blind, serves as a powerful metaphor of our healing from the effects of Original Sin. Original sin is the sin nature that is present in every human. We inherited it from our first parents, Adam and Eve. Baptism applies God’s merciful forgiveness to this and all sin. But it does not remove the effect, at least not immediately. Think of having an infection ravaging and destroying your body. The doctor administers an antibiotic which stops the infection. However, you are still left to recover from the damage done to your body. One of the most damaging effects of sin within our hearts and minds are spiritual, moral, and intellectual blindness to sin. Why is this you ask? Because sin is always based on a lie. It’s alleged promise of health, wealth, wisdom, and power are always false and misleading. When we accept a lie as the truth, we are required to paint over the truth with the lie. This is where the blindness takes hold. And this blindness is the most fearsome and insidious of all illnesses because it renders us blind to our blindness. We do not know what we do not know. It’s like flying an airplane at night without instruments but thinking and believing it’s daytime. Crashing is only a question of “when?” Here is a little spiritual “eye” test. How do you see the world morally? Do you approve of the moral situations presented in most TV, movie, internet drama and comedy entertainments? Or do you stand with Christ and the teaching of His Church? The first is an indication of blindness the latter is a sign your spiritual vision is healing. So, as we finish our Lenten journey let us pray for eyes to see and ears to hear the voice of the Spirit. Yours in Christ our Lord, Fr. Sid.

St. Patrick’s day will be this coming Friday and being during Lent, it is a day of fasting. Related to this I have been asked about dispensations granted by a priest. A priest can give a dispensation on an individual bases to persons who present a good reason why they cannot keep the fast. This is limited to individuals. He cannot grant a dispensation to group, gathering or congregation. Only the local bishop can grant group dispensations. If you are 60 years or older you are already excused from the fast by church law. This doesn’t mean that the fast is to be ignored but that the rigor of fasting can be too much for advanced age. They do not need to request a dispensation. You may also receive a dispensation from Sunday or Holy Day obligations, again with good reason. Normally this is requested with an offer to attend Mass on another day, such as a daily Mass but this is not necessarily required. This request can be made by phone or message. (No dispensation is needed if you are sick, caring for someone who is homebound, or you just cannot get there due to a legitimate obstacle like weather or transportation. This includes safety.) If you legitimately forgot to fast before Mass, a priest can also give you a dispensation. Another is work on Sunday. Yes, we are to refrain from work based on the 3rd Commandment and the according to the teaching of the Church; it is a sin to work unless it is very necessary. A parish priest can give a dispensation to work on Sunday but it needs to be requested. My childhood pastor used to say, “If your ass falls in the well on Sunday pull him out. Just be sure you didn’t push him in.” I imagine some reading this are thinking, “Wow, it’s still considered a sin to not fast when required, miss Sunday or Holy day Mass or to work on Sunday? Yep. As I say repeatedly, “It’s not about the sin, it’s about the relationship”, our relationship with God. Yours in Christ our Lord, Fr. Sid.

We live in a day when there is a lot to listen to. We are surrounded with sound and a multitude of voices. The voices are telling us this and that about everything. No doubt we all have our favorite voices for information, news, and music. But do we really listen? And if we do listen, are we only listening for what we want to hear. In our Gospel reading today Jesus is transfigured and the Father says, “This is my Beloved Son. Listen to him!” The three apostles cringed in fear when they heard this. I suppose the magnitude of who they were following was beginning to register. They began following him because they believed He was the Christ, the Messiah. But like us, they had misconceptions about what this meant. They hoped for a supernatural, political leader who would deliver them from all enemies. Is that not still happening today? Are not many eyes searching the horizon for that special leader who will deliver what they want? In the embrace of diversity, we have witnessed the gigantic spread in desires and preferences, concerning all things. But none have been more divisive than the moral expectations concerning human behavior. If we are paying attention, we too wrestle with the questions. But we don’t really need to wrestle that much. “This is my Beloved Son. Listen to Him!” Yours in Christ our Lord, Fr. Sid.

During Lent it is not unusual to hear or read about someone complaining about “Catholic guilt.” Lent being a time of self-examination, it is normal for people to experience guilt and remorse for past transgressions. People experience the pain of guilt. It is normal. But many do not believe it for what it is or want to face up to it. Psychologists identify feelings of guilt as a major mental anxiety affecting mental health. Much could be said here but let’s just talk about the ordinary ways we try to rid ourselves of feelings of guilt. One is to blame another, “I did what I did because of what another person did. It’s their fault.” We make excuses. “I didn’t know it was wrong. Everyone else is doing it.” Or we rationalize, “I don’t believe it’s wrong. If I didn’t do it something bad would have happened.” The bottom line is, we don’t want to face up to the pain of guilt. Guilt is really a wonderful gift. It is part of our being. A gift from our creator. It is an emotional pain not unlike physical pain. When we touch something very hot, we learn from the physical pain not to touch it again. Guilt acts the same way, assuming we acknowledge it for what it is, my conscience telling me I have done something wrong or failed to do what I should have. Blame, excuses, or rationalizations will not make the pain go away. They actually make it worse because we fail to see where the real cause of our pain is located. Therefore, we may turn to alcohol, drugs, food or sex to temporarily relieve the pain. But the pain momentarily gone, returns and remains. Praise be to God, we have the fix, forgiveness! If you are unhappy with yourself, I encourage you to examine your heart about what you may feel guilty about. But first pray about it, asking the Holy Spirit to guide you. You will probably experience emotional pain as it comes to the surface. But this is your opportunity to be rid of it. Go to Confession. Your wound will be cleansed, and the medication of God’s mercy applied. This Wednesday beginning at 6:45 PM will be our Lenten Penance service here at St. Libory’s. There will be six priest available to hear confessions. It’s a great opportunity. Don’t pass it up. Yours in Christ our Lord, Fr. Sid

In ten days, it will be Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. Ash Wednesday is always a very observed occasion for Catholics. It rivals Christmas and Easter for attendance and that’s good. It’s a day of penance, sorrow for our sins. The ashes we receive are to remind us that without the Lord all we have are ashes. The way to make the best of this occasion is to prepare. The way we prepare is with abstinence, the denying of our selves of our normal consumption of food. It is strange how the sensations of hunger help us to keep focused upon the “Day” and its purpose. The nutritional lack remind us of our spiritual lack and the short comings of our devotion to God. But the saints tell us that it also sharpens our spiritual perception. When fasting, we are more attune to the promptings of the Holy Spirit and the messages of Holy Scripture. Some advice; focus on the fast and its purpose, not the food. Your health or age may not allow you to fast from food. Then fast from something else, TV, the telephone, the internet, social media, the newspaper etc. It’s about self-denial, which causes us, with the Lord’s help, to grow in self-mastery. The ability to deny ourselves a good thing, strengthens us to deny the bad or evil. Yours in Christ our Lord. Fr. Sid

Our Sunday Gospel readings leading up to Lent come from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount recorded in Matthew. They provide us with the finest teaching of Christ Jesus. They are an example of Biblical text that one will profit from comparing different translations. Something to keep in mind as you read or hear Holy Scripture is that you are not usually getting it in the native language it was spoke or written. I am not pointing this out to discredit Holy Scripture in any way. It is the Word of God written in human language. God is infinite and unlimited. Human language is finite and limited. This is why prayer with scripture reading is so very important. The Holy Spirit and the collective teaching of the Church, (called the Magisterium) will guide us to the truth if it is our prayerful intention to know the Truth. One of the problems of translation of Scripture is that contemporary languages are always changing in definitions. For example, those of you my age will remember that “thongs” where originally sandals, now called “flip-flops”. Thongs now refer to underwear. How about the word “gay”? It used to describe a happy state of being and now it refers to a particular state of sexuality. Imagine the confusion that could cause for a reader a hundred years from now! Fortunately, the original languages of Holy Scripture are what we call “dead languages”. That means they are no longer used by anyone for conversation today. The good thing about this is they never change in meaning or definition. This is also true of Latin, the official language of the Church. I have heard on multiple occasions Church Latin being scoffed at because it is a “dead language”. But that is exactly why it is important to keep it as the official language. It doesn’t change in its definitions. The contemporary “smoke and mirrors” trick of those who want to change the unchangeable by changing the definitions doesn’t work. But that does not keep some from trying anyway. Bishop Fulton Sheen once said, “The truth is the truth even if no one believes it and a lie is a lie even if everyone believes it.” Yours in Christ our Lord. Fr. Sid.