Pastor’s Corner — February 6th, 2022
Bishop’s Homily on the Upcoming Synod
This weekend all pastors are being asked to play or read Bishop Boyea’s homily on the worldwide two-year Synod called by Pope Francis. In his first homily on the opening of the synod back in October, Bishop Boyea explains that the word synod means, “on the way with” or on “the journey together.” Bishop assembled the Diocese of Lansing Synod Team, which is charged with implementing this in our Diocese. The team writes:
“The Holy Father has called for a worldwide synod, asking us to listen as the entire People of God, to what the Holy Spirit is saying to the Church. He is asking us to examine how we are journeying with not only the faithful in the pews but those fallen away from the Church and those on the peripheries of society.
In the Diocese of Lansing we are rooting our synodal process in the mission we have already undertaken in recent years, particularly based on Bishop Boyea’s Pastoral Letter, “Go and Announce the Gospel of the Lord.” In it Bishop Boyea identifies three different groups of people to whom we must focus our pastoral efforts; The Household of Faith, The Lost Sheep and the Court of the Gentiles.
As part of the Diocesan Phase of the synodal process, Pope Francis is asking us to have conversations and consultations with those in our communities in order to hear what the Holy Spirit is saying to the Church. From these conversations we will collect feedback and synthesize it into a document to be sent to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and then on to Rome. The Pope’s desire and our hope is that this feedback will not only contribute meaningful insights to the Universal Church but also reveal ways that we can better engage in mission here in our own diocese.”
We Probably Won’t See Batman Around Brighton/Howell Anymore…
This is embarrassing. I am told on good authority that the guy dressing up as Batman written about in the Livingston Daily will probably not be seen much anymore because some people found out his identity and discovered he is a low-level registered sex offender. Moral of the story? Be careful about random people dressing up as DC Comic characters wanting to greet you in public. (And it’s not just because Marvel characters are better!)
More on Woke Ideologies
The parish knows by now what the Christian response to the various woke ideologies should be. (See my Pastoral Note on Critical Race Theory, my bulletin article on Archbishop Gomez’s speech, and Deacon Dave’s homily about it) In my Pastoral Note, I had recommended everyone to read an article and a book by Catholic author Noelle Mering as she is particularly clear in describing the woke phenomenon. Recently she did an outstanding written interview with Catholic World Report, which I recommend as well.
Why am I bringing this up again? For this simple reason: people in our sphere of influence (family, friends, co-workers who are Christian and non-Christian alike) need us Catholics to be informed about our faith and how it intersects with dangerous cultural ideas. We need to be able to articulate why people who are rightly seeking to address various injustices are falling prey to ideologies and worldviews that not only are in direct conflict with Christianity, but ideologies if followed would cause more harm than good. Since these terrible ideas are becoming more mainstream, we have a moral responsibility to help people understand where the truth is and to help our fellow Christians not fall prey to a pernicious and unchristian way of thinking. We can’t help people understand it, if we ourselves don’t.
If you’ve already read the Noelle Mering article and/or book, great! If you haven’t (or have), I encourage you to read the newer written interview above and/or watch Chris Stefanik’s new engaging video explainer (5 min) produced by the new Catholic initiative called Edify. Chris’ approach is winsome, informative and hopeful.
My hope is that when family members or friends bring up questions/concerns about how we fight injustice in our world that they will find in St. Pat’s parishioners an informed and intelligent approach that can bring clarity and hope in our increasingly divisive and hyper-politicized culture.
Thanks to Donors of the Stained-Glass Panel of St Patrick
You may have noticed that a few weeks ago a panel of stained glass showed up in the gathering space by the carport. One parishioner, who wishes to remain anonymous, hand made the stained glass and another parishioner helped install it. I’m grateful for this donation to our Church, which reminds us of the intercession and patronage of St Patrick in our effort to bring the light of Christ to the Brighton area.
Your servant in the Lord,
Fr. Mathias