This is the Second Sunday of Easter and also known as Divine Mercy Sunday. There is a whole story about Divine Mercy that I encourage you to read up on. I want to talk here about the chaplet of Divine Mercy. The chaplet is a prayer devotional akin to the Rosary. If you struggle with the Rosary perhaps you should try this chaplet. It uses rosary beads in the fashion in which the Rosary is prayed but instead of praying the Hail Mary one says, “For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.” Like the Rosary it begins with some initial prayers and concludes with some specific prayers. Overall, it moves along very quick, and the prayers are very easy to memorize. The chaplet is addressed to God the Father in light of the sacrifice of the Son. The chaplet is a splendid intercessory prayer you can pray for yourself, your loved ones or absolutely anyone. It is a wonderful prayer to encourage someone on the edges of faith to pray, even non-Catholics for who it should have great appeal. I have the chaplet on a small business size card and will have them available at the entry of the church. You may also visit www.thedivinemercy.org for instructions on praying it. You will also find resources to hear it recited and even sang. So, I encourage you to take up this gift from the Mercy of God and use it. You will be uplifted and blessed. Yours in Christ. Fr. Sid.

Easter Sunday is the most important day for all Christians. We celebrate the resurrection from the dead of our Lord Jesus Christ! Unfortunately, in popular culture it comes in after Christmas, the Super Bowl and the Fourth of July. The Incarnation of our Lord observed at Christmas is indeed very important. But it means nothing without the Resurrection. Christmas has attached all the warm sentiments provided by a newborn child, angels, shepherds, and domestic stable animals. Easter however is very different. The Resurrection takes place in the shadow of brutal torture cheered on by a vulgar crowd of former admirers. Friday and Saturday of Holy Week are appropriately gloomy. Easter does not lend its self at all to the joyful build up with decorations, songs and gifts that proceeds Christmas. Taken seriously Easter has something no other holy day or national observance can give us. Easter gives us forgiveness for the past, love always present and the pledge of eternal life with God in the future. It strikes us as too good to be true. But it is true. Let it soak in. Thank God for it. Celebrate it! Have a very blessed Easter! Yours in Christ, Fr. Sid.

Here it is, Holy Week. It has been two years since we celebrated this week together. I want to use this space to explain some minor changes for this year. First, on Holy Thursday we will not have the washing of feet. On Holy Friday we will venerate the Cross without touching it. Veneration can be done by genuflecting, making the Sign of the Cross or bowing profoundly. On Thursday we will move the Blessed Sacrament to a temporary chapel in the parish hall where He will remain until the Saturday vigil. The hall will be unlocked Friday and Saturday. I encourage you to come by and “spend one hour with the Lord.” The Saturday vigil Mass is very special. According to the instructions for this Mass, it is not to begin until sundown. That’s why it begins much later than our ordinary time. And yes it is longer. There are several readings, Psalms, and prayers. All in all, it is more than just a celebration of the Resurrection. It is a celebration of the whole salvation history. It is also a very ancient tradition to bring new souls into the Church by baptism at this Mass. I challenge you to attend. Offer it to the Lord as a gift of praise and thanksgiving for your salvation. You will be blessed! Yours in Christ our Lord, Fr. Sid.

One of the great weaknesses in the Church right now is the loss of faith in the Sacraments, Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Confession, Anointing, Marriage and Holy Orders. For many years now this has been almost universally blamed on poor teaching to the Catholic faithful. It is true that when all the religious deserted 50 years ago that the Catholic mandate to pass on the Faith fell on very hard times. Parents had to step in and take over a duty they were not prepared for and received very little assistance from the Church. This was also coupled with an influx of distorted teachings about the Sacraments that did much damage to the “believing” dimension as related to the Deposit of Faith, that which is universally held by the faithful to be true. This brings me to the false contention that I want to take issue with. It is summarized by something I read in our Lenten meditations based on the words of St. Terresa of Calcutta. “Faith is not a matter of knowing, it’s a matter of believing!” The faith spoken of here is not the doctrinal composition of stated beliefs, but rather the faith lived out in our day to day lives. So, we say we believe in the Sacraments, but do we? This might best be tested by two questions of evaluation. One, do I regularly participate in those offered on a repeated basis, such as Confession and the Eucharist (Mass)? Two, do I consciously expect God’s Grace to be actively working in me through the Sacraments, therefore experiencing real power at work within me? If the answer is “no” or “not sure”, I am probably not dealing with a matter of sufficient knowledge of the subject material, but rather a matter of unbelief, not believing what knowledge we already have. Remember what Jesus said, “To him who has, more will be given. But he who has not even what he has will be taken away from him.” To him who has what we ask? Faith, believing! It’s not the conclusion just based on convincing evidence. Faith is a decision to believe someone we trust as being truthful. Jesus, I trust in you! I believe in what you have done, said, and revealed! Yours in Christ, Fr. Sid.

Well, this is a special Sunday in Lent. Besides having to get up an hour earlier for daylight savings, it is Laetare Sunday. This Sunday indicates a halfway mark in Lent and Laetare means “rejoice”. More specifically it means “Rejoice Jerusalem” because your salvation is coming. Accordingly, this Sunday is more “upbeat” than the rest of the Sundays of Lent. The liturgical color is rose, (I know, it looks like pink.) It’s to be a lighter version of the violet color of Lent. It’s appropriate to put flowers on the altar for the Mass. It is to mirror the joy of the father of the prodigal son, who begins to be filled with joy at the sight of his son from a distance. If we have been doing a proper examination of conscience, we may not be experiencing a joy about the condition of our soul. However, our Heavenly Father is joyful as He sees his children coming closer to Him with their hearts and souls. This is the mission of Christ our redeemer, to lead many children to the embrace of the Father. So, I invite you to enter into the joy of the Father and rejoice in the salvation, eternal salvation, provided to you by Christ the Son. Yours in Christ. Fr. Sid.

I want to pick up where I left off last week about the Sacrament of Confession. Last time I defined mortal sin. I would like to now define venial sin. Venial is pretty easy to define. It’s anything that is less than mortal. But venial sin should not be thought of as no big deal. It is kind of like poison. If I handed you a drink saying don’t worry it doesn’t have enough poison to kill you, would you drink it? Well, no! So, you could think of venial sin as a watered-down mortal sin. Where one drink of mortal is deadly, venial sin can kill slowly by accumulated doses. Habitual and unhindered venial sin disposes us to a growing disposition to more serious sin, even mortal sin. Although venial sins do not require the Sacrament of Confession to be forgiven, remedy must still be sought by confession to God and asking forgiveness. This is why nearly every Mass begins with an acknowledgment of our sin and asking for forgiveness. Most of us need to do it frequently. So, we can address our venial sins by personal prayer but there is a great advantage to also going to Confession. In the Sacrament we receive a measure of God’s grace. If we are serious about growing in virtue and ridding ourselves of vice, this is a huge advantage. It’s like having a cut on your finger and putting a band aid on it. It will probably heal. But if you put some antibiotic on the wound it will heal faster. Confession is like the antibiotic. Yours in Christ our Lord, Fr. Sid.

Lent is the season when we traditionally do more in the way of examination of conscience and take the opportunity to confess our sins. I would like to take a moment to review the difference between venial sin and mortal sin. Mortal sin is first a very serious sin. The Church defines it as concerning “grave matter”. Grave matter would be sins such as murder, adultery, character assassination (willfully telling lies to destroy another’s good reputation), stealing a significant amount, serious blasphemy, etc. etc. There is not a comprehensive list of grave sins. Now to be mortal it must be grave. Two, the person must be mentally aware that the sin is grave. And three, the person committing the sin must have sufficient time to ponder the seriousness of the sin and then still decide to commit the sin anyway. This sin is said to be mortal or deadly because it cuts off the grace of God from our soul. Or another way to say it, mortal sin destroys our relationship with God. Our Faith teaches us that this can be restored or healed by one of two ways. The Church teaches us that if one is capable of perfect contrition, they can pray directly to God for forgiveness and receive forgiveness. Perfect contrition means being truly sorry for offending God and not motivated by fear of punishment or other resulting bad consequences. The question we must ask, is a person who has committed mortal sin capable of perfect contrition? Probably not. So, God’s mercy through Christ provides a much easier way, the Sacrament of Confession. Through this sacrament, God the Father, through the death and resurrection of the Son, sends the Holy Spirit through the ministry of the Church/priest to give forgiveness of all sin even if the contrition is much less than perfect. I suspect many folks think that if they haven’t committed mortal sin there is no need for the Sacrament of Confession. That would be wrong. All the sacraments impart God’s grace. We all need God’s grace. Next week I will write about venial sin and the benefits of Confession. Yours in Christ, Fr. Sid.

I want to start this off by saying “Thank you” to everyone who contributed to the Diocesan Appeal. We surpassed our financial goal by a +30% and we also exceeded out participant goal. The dollars raised stay within our diocese and support its efforts. These efforts make the parish shine brightly among the diocesan parishes. However, I must keep before you how perilous our future may be. Parishes will continue to close or be consolidated as the shortage of priests continues. (We are blessed with 8 seminarians, the most in over 30 years with more coming next year. But it will be 10 years before this increase will help the situation.) St. Libory’s is experiencing growth. We frequently register new families and have many baptisms. But we are still the smallest parish within a 20 minute or less drive to 5 other parishes. If you have 6 people running from a hungry bear, all that 5 need to do is run faster than the sixth. We are the sixth. And in terms of numbers, we are way behind the other five. Before closing a parish, the Bishop will confer with the area pastors. This is cold realism, but they will primarily see closing us as a benefit to them by receiving us into their numbers. This is a frequent topic of my prayer and meditation before the Lord as pastor. I love this parish. It’s loving, faithful and fruitful. I really do not want it to close. But my prayer always takes me back to, Lord what do you want? I do believe His will is for us to thrive in the same sense that it is His will that His faithful thrive in His grace. But I also know His permissive will allows for the other, as when the people of Israel failed to enter the promise land even though it was His perfect will that they should. I have ideas, but I am only willing to pursue God’s will. Perhaps we could make our interior too beautiful to close. Perhaps we could offer our parish to provide the traditional Latin Mass, which has a growing popularity, especially with younger generations. Perhaps we could enthusiastically promote Catholic education of our children by throwing our support behind G.I. Central Catholic which is rapidly reclaiming its Catholic identity. (This would make us an asset to the Grand Island parishes as we would be helping with their burden of school support and therefore less inclined to desire our closure.) Perhaps we could become a center for adult Catholic learning. We have a hall that would certainly lend itself well to the need. (The pandemic has helped to produce an abundance of programs available via the internet.) Perhaps we could organize to be a vibrant outreach to the surrounding community with the redeeming message of our Lord. Perhaps we could do all of these and more. I realize that I’m dreaming here, but that’s where it starts. What’s your prayer for our parish? What’s your dream? Are we willing to say like Blessed Mary, “I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be done to me according to your word.” Jesus said, “With God, all things are possible!” Yours in Christ our Lord. Fr. Sid.

This Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the holy season of Lent. Here is a rundown on how it will go down. Ashes will be distributed in the traditional manner of the smudge on the forehead. Rome has also authorized another form of distribution that avoids any physical contact, the sprinkling of a pinch of ash on top of the head. So, there will be myself and another distributing by smudge and a third available for those who prefer the sprinkle of ashes. As for Confessions, there will not be a Penance Service. I will however offer extended time in the confessional. Starting the first Saturday of Lent I will be in the confessional beginning at 3 PM till 4:15 PM. I will also be available on Wednesdays after the evening Mass till 7:30 PM or as long as needed. Lent is a particularly good time to do meaningful examination of conscience. It is not for the purpose of making us feel guilty. The purpose is healing. Sin always injures us in some manner. Confessing our sins to the Lord and seeking forgiveness is the application of healing Grace to our wounds. This in turn moves us toward being the person we were created to be, made in the image of God. Yours in Christ our Lord. Fr. Sid.

In a little more than two weeks the Holy season of Lent will begin. Ash Wednesday will be different this year. Rome has given permission to apply the ashes by sprinkling them on your head so as to avoid direct contact from person to person. I’m not sure the ladies are going to appreciate that. What I am anticipating doing is offering both, the traditional ashes on the forehead and the sprinkled ashes. Please be aware that it is not required to receive ashes. This is not a sacrament. There would be nothing wrong with coming to Ash Wednesday Mass and abstaining from the reception of ashes. This is a really good opportunity to reflect upon why we receive ashes. It is an act of penance. The Gospel message is introduced with the imperative declaration, “Repent!” It means to turn, to turn from our sins and toward God. That is what Lent is all about, doing an examination of conscience and going to confession, all in preparation for our holiest of days, Easter. Yours in Christ our Lord. Fr. Sid.

There are a lot of depressing things in our life brought about by the virus. I thought I would use this space today to point out some positives that have come about. -We are spending more time with those closest to us. -We have come to appreciate the relationships in our life because we miss them. -Due to the anxiety of these times, folks are spending more time in prayer. -We are doing more creative thinking which has been brought about by restrictions to our normal habits of communication and work. -Since we cannot express our affections by our presence, we are expressing it by saying it, like “I love you.” -Due to social distancing, the front pews of the church are getting usage. Humor aside, folks have had to break away from a routine of sitting in a particular place. This gives us a different experience of Mass and an opportunity to be closer to different people in the parish. -In spite of the downside of smartphones, many seniors are discovering the marvel of being able to communicate with their children and grandchildren quickly and easily by such applications as Facetime or Snapchat. There are a lot of things for which to be thankful. In the midst of this medical crisis, we are going through, try to imagine how many lives have been saved by health care providers and their access to the most recent discoveries of medicine. For example, think of the ventilator, it is a fairly recent development. By this one machine, thousands and thousands of lives have been saved. So, when you say your prayer, remember to be thankful. Yours in Christ our Lord, Fr. Sid.

Our first and second readings for Mass this Sunday are warnings. The first concerns the prophet Jonah warning the city of Nineveh that they are about to be destroyed for their sinfulness. In the second, St Paul declares, “…time is running out…because the present world is passing away.” In the Gospel reading, Jesus says, “Repent and believe in the gospel.” It is really easy for us to look at the news or social media and declare, “There’s the problem.” And yet, the message of salvation is always very personal. We are all called. We are each responsible to heed the call and live the Gospel. We are indeed living in very confusing times. We hear contradicting voices of influence telling us we should do this or that. But as Christians we have a place of refuge, an inner peace that nothing and no one can take away; our faith in Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. So, whatever you are listening to, be sure you give priority to the message of the Gospel, read your Bible, read your Catechism, and use solid daily devotional practices. Do this first, give priority to these first and, “The peace that passes all understanding will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”(Ph. 4:7) Yours in Christ, Fr. Sid.

I have been getting questions about the Covid vaccine that is now being distributed. The first question concerns the morality of how the vaccine was produced. There have been reports that aborted fetal tissue is used in the production of the vaccine. This has been investigated and here is the information as best as I can describe it. The two available vaccines out are made by Pfizer and Moderna. It’s my understanding that no fetal tissue was used in the manufacturing of these vaccines, but Pfizer did use such tissue in the testing of their vaccine. This is not moral and shows a disrespect for human life. The moral issue being considered is am I participating in that sin by reception of the vaccine? This is a worthy consideration, and it needs prayerful consideration. What we have here is a confrontation with two paths of which there is evil to consider on both paths, secondary participation is the disregard of human life by reception of a scandal tainted vaccine or disregard of human life by being a potential carrier of the Covid virus to a person for who it will be deadly. Catholic moral teaching says that in this type of situation you choose the path that serves the “greater good”. By greater good the Church does not mean numbers but the higher moral principle. In this case, the avoidance of carelessly exposing someone to death would be the higher moral principle. Now, this is not saying that it is immoral to not receive the vaccine, but one is still morally responsible not to carelessly spread something that could be deadly. This can be done by other means, good hygiene and looking out for others that are vulnerable. In my vocation of working regularly with vulnerable people, I have elected to receive and have received the first dose of the vaccine by Moderna. Other than the morality of receiving the vaccine there are also health issues to consider. There are potential side effects. Please keep in mind that these vaccines have been fast tracked and have not undergone the normal two-year process. The reason for the two years is that sometimes it takes months for adverse side effects to show up. This lengthy part of the trial has not been done. There could be bad side effect yet to be discovered. I advise you to do some research on your own and by all means, ask questions of your health provider. I am not indorsing that everyone gets vaccinated. I don’t think there is enough quality information available to make that call. Pray about it and remember, you have the Holy Spirit to guide you. Fear is not from the Lord. He will give you peace in your decision. Yours in Christ our Lord. Fr. Sid.

All for the Bridegroom Ascetical practices are a form of sacrifice, but they are never enough for a deeper spiritual life…. They may strengthen spiritual discipline, but this is too narrow a view of sacrifice, missing its essential purpose. Self-denying mortifications can be managed simply by will power alone and lack love, without which sacrifice falsifies its name. What our crucified Lord Jesus would prefer from us is something more serious in love than the customary renunciations that are part of any good life. He wants sacrificial acts in the inner life that can unleash a fire within the undercurrents of our soul. He desires us to step over the edge, as it were, in offering ourselves to him in the privacy of interior prayer. He waits for bold, irreversible acts of surrender in prayer that cannot be taken back, like marriage vows, dissolvable only in death, yet repeated continually in life. Every intense sacrificial offering of this kind stretches love into the buried depths of the soul. These acts inflame our soul’s passion for God; afterward, inevitably, they compel actions of generosity for others…. All radical love for God may hide its deeper mystery within such private offerings made in the quiet of prayer. Unknown but to God himself, these acts pronounce a willingness to sacrifice everything for love of him as our beloved Lord and God. FATHER DONALD HAGGERTY

A great big welcome to 2021! 2020 will live on in infamy. Good riddance. I have some hopes for the future. Our parish is growing. In spite of the difficulties of 2020, we grew in registered families, baptisms and professions of faith. We have about 160 registered families and of them, about two thirds could be considered active. That is pretty amazing considering that most parishes are hardly claim 25% active. During the pandemic our attendance has been stable and we have seen an increase of visitors. I want to encourage you to make contact with visitors. Introduce yourself and invite them to return. A friendly parish is the number one attraction to those seeking a home parish or looking to return after a long absence. I must remind you that the future of our parish is precarious at best. We are the smallest of six parishes in a 15-mile radius. There will be parish closings in the future. Unfortunately, numbers matter. To survive into the future, we must grow! Yes, we have grown but we must continue. We are seated in a growing population area. (Just notice the new homes being built.) Consider inviting someone. And most important, pray for your neighbors. Our world desperately needs Christ, just like we do. Remember, you are the Lord’s instrument. Let Him work through you. Yours in Christ our Lord. Fr. Sid.

I doubt that any years in our lifetime will be recalled with the loathing that the year 2020 has fostered. It has been a crazy, confusing, and disruptive series of events. It has produced sadness, loneliness, depression, frustration, anxiety, fear, irritability, to name a few. We sometimes feel like we are hunkered down just waiting for the next bad event. If you are reading this, it is probably because you are or have turned to the Lord for help. Psalm 121 says, “I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth!” If you are familiar with the salvation story as recorded in Holy Scripture, you are also aware that the Lord speaks to us from the “storm clouds”. His message is always pointing out the path of salvation, the Good News. I invite you as we conclude this year to renew your commitment to our Lord Jesus Christ. Invite him into your soul and give Him permission to reveal His saving Truth to you as it applies to you in a very personal way. We will only get to know our Creator to the extent that we come to know our self. We only get to know our self to the extent that we allow the Lord to shine His Light of Truth in our soul. He is always waiting to come closer. Invite Him! Yours in Christ our Lord. Fr. Sid

First, I want to remind everyone again about our Christmas Eve schedule. Masses will be offered at 3 pm, 4 pm and 5:30 pm. Our time between the 3 and 4 pm Masses are very short. If you come for the 4 pm, please wait until the 3 pm lets out before entering. Also, if you are concerned about social distancing, please consider attending the 5:30 pm or Christmas Day Mass at 9 am. I anticipate that these two Masses will have lighter attendance. We will also attempt to stream the 5:30 pm Mass on Facebook and also post a recording on our Facebook page for you to watch at home. Next, I would like to remind everyone as they celebrate this Christmas that adversity does not need to be an impediment to the holy joy of the celebration. The grace of God shines brightest in the midst of darkness, just like the star of Bethlehem. If you cannot be present with loved ones, make a special effort to speak to them by phone and other methods of messaging. Let people know that you love them and are thinking of them. Finally, I want to wish each of you a very blessed and holy Christmas! Your is Christ our Lord. Fr. Sid

I have some important information to bring to your attention, our Christmas Eve Mass schedule. This year, due to the virus, we will have three Masses offered, one at 3 PM, one at 4 PM and one at 5:30 PM. On Christmas day the Mass will be at 9 AM. Normally a Vigil Mass may not be offered until 4 PM or later on the Eve of a Holy Day but Bishop Hanefeldt has granted permission for an earlier time due to the pandemic. The hope here is to spread folks out and reduce crowding. Historically, people have attended the earliest Mass in the greatest numbers. The first one has always been packed and sometimes overflowing. Due to the limited seating, I anticipate the 3 and 4 PM Masses to be full. If you are concerned about having adequate social distancing, I strongly recommend that you try to attend the 5:30 PM Mass or the 9 AM Christmas day Mass. In the past the Christmas day Mass has had very light attendance. I strongly encourage you to wear a mask. As this is being written, there is not government mandate to wear a mask in Howard county. This could change by Christmas Eve. If it is mandated, we will post it at the door and have mask available as they always have been in the past. I know there are strong feelings about both sides of the mask issue. Both make strong arguments. I simply ask you to think of others in the choices you make. Please remember, it is Christmas! Yours in Christ our Lord. Fr. Sid.

We are now into the season of Advent. Although we will not have a penance service, I will be offering additional time for confession on Wednesday evening 6:30 – 7:30 pm for the Wednesdays of Advent. There will be a Mass offered at 5:45 and at the conclusion I will be available in the confessional till 7:30 or as long as needed. I am observing that many are in a deeper way turning to their faith in God. This is very good. A great way to do this is a regular examination of conscience and confession. You might ask, do I really need to do that? That is a popular approach that usually means, I’m not going to do it. Perhaps asking our self this question instead might give better perspective, why shouldn’t I go? I know that admitting our sins can be embarrassing. That is one of the reasons the Church offers confession anonymously from behind a screen. This is offered at our parish and it is supposed to be offered at every Catholic Church. If you haven’t been for a while and have forgotten how to proceed, grab a brochure from the entry or simply tell the priest you would like some help. It happens a lot and we are very happy to assist. Your confession is held under the “seal”, which means the priest is not to divulge the content even under threat of death. It’s Church law! (If you have good reason to believe this has been violated, it should be reported.) The most helpful thing is to keep in mind that ultimately you are confessing to the Lord. The priest is just the “phone connection” if you will. The absolution the priest says to you comes from the Lord. Receive it from the Lord. Yours in Christ our Lord, Fr. Sid.

This Sunday marks the beginning of the new church year with the first Sunday of Advent. For that reason, I will be returning to offering the Mass “ad orientum”, which means I will face the same direction as the congregation during the prayers of the Eucharist. The Mass has been provided in this manner for two millenniums and it is only in very recent history that priest faced the congregations. The symbolism of ad orientum is that we are journeying toward the “kingdom of God”. We are all to be heading in the same direction. We are all turning our hearts, minds, and bodies toward God. The prayers of the Mass offered by the priest are offered to God as well as by the people. Rather than the priest and the people looking at each other, we look to God the Father, through Jesus the Son by the Holy Spirit. Since I as the priest will be turned in the same direction as you, please take this opportunity to fix your eyes on our beautiful crucifix (it is an inspired work of art) as you listen and participate in the prayers. In every Mass you and I are mystically transported to Calvary, to the One Sacrifice offered once for all time. The sacrifice that atones for our sins and redeems our lost soul. By the mystery of the Mass you and I participate in the here and now in that One Sacrifice. When you hear the old hymn, “Were You There When They Crucified My Lord?” Our answer should be, “Yes I am! At every single Mass!” I invite you to ponder this reality as you make your spiritual journey through the Holy season of Advent. Yours in Christ our Lord. Fr. Sid