Pastor’s Corner — June 25th, 2023
Special Announcement: Thank you Deacon Mike!
This weekend, I’m announcing that Bishop Boyea has granted Deacon Mike Gilbert Senior Deacon Status effective June 28th. Here is a little note from Deacon Mike:
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ
It is with a saddened heart that I must inform all of you that effective June 28, 2023, I will be entering senior status as a deacon. This means that my assignment at St. Patrick Parish will be officially concluded. This does not mean that I will no longer be a deacon. It means that, while you may still see me doing ministry if I am needed, I will no longer be scheduled for regular ministry at the parish. My wife, Karen, and I will continue to be members of St. Patrick Parish, which we love.
What necessitates this change are some ongoing, chronic health issues. While these conditions are most likely not terminal, my wife and I, after much prayer and consultation with several trusted people, starting with Fr. Mathias, have agreed it is in ours and the parish’s best interest for this change. We will continue to look to our Lord Jesus Christ for guidance and remain docile to the Holy Spirit, so we may continue our pilgrimage to the glory of God the Father. Be assured of our continued prayers for our parish, our members and for the life of the world. Blessings to all, I remain
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Deacon Michael Gilbert
A Comprehensive Guide to Navigating the Gender Identity Crisis
I hope my homily last weekend on how we can both sincerely love friends and family who struggle with their sexuality and strongly reject the evil ideology lurking behind the celebration of “Pride Month” was helpful. I specifically didn’t speak about why gender ideology is wrong because we’ve done so many times in homilies, bulletin articles, recommendation of other articles, videos and even a new recent documentary on the topic. I know there are more questions on this topic around friends and family but I couldn’t get into all of them in my homily.
Recently a solid Catholic apostolate called Edify (from which I’ve recommended resources in the past) published a short booklet called Identity Crisis, A Catholic Response to LGBT, Your Comprehensive Guide to Navigating the Gender Identity Crisis (June, 2023). This 24pg digital booklet is very clear and very helpful and is a great summary. I heartily recommend it to you all as a way to sharpening our understanding to help those who have fallen victim to the ideology’s deception about human nature
Are Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (D.E.I.) Initiatives Rooted in Bigotry?
Regarding “Pride Month,” many Catholics are simply unaware how much the Christian view of justice is being contradicted by the prevailing Marxist conceptions of justice around gender and race. This ignorance has led even many well-meaning Christians to unwittingly buy into principles that undercut true justice and love for people. In order reiterate to everyone just how pervasive this anti-Christian mindset is even among Catholics, we could just consider the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (D.E.I) initiatives present everywhere today. This framework is fundamentally inconsistent with Christianity as it presupposes false Marxist formulations of justice that actually hurt people. Nevertheless, many don’t know how and why this framework is problematic.
To this end, I think it’s increasingly important for Catholics to be aware of these differences. One of my new favorite cultural commentators is Catholic philosopher Matthew Petrusek who works for Word on Fire. (Word on Fire is large mainstream Catholic apostolate founded by Bishop Robert Barron) I find Dr. Petrusek an especially astute commentator on “wokeism.” Earlier this year, I listened to his excellent ten-part series Idolatry of Identity: Progressive-Wokeist Ideology and the Catholic Response.
For our topic he recently, he published an article “D.E.I—Corporate-Sponsored Bigotry,” in which he explains what this Diversity, Equity and Inclusion mean and why it’s contrary to Catholic teaching. I found it to be quite helpful.”
Your servant in the Lord,
Fr. Mathias