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From the Pastor: Prime Days or Doomsday?
Amazon Prime Days returned! Yes, these are the days that everyone seems to go gaga over shopping online. Prime Days were postponed by a few months this year due to that nasty computer virus, COVID 19. When the CO(mputer)VI(rus)D(duh!) 19 virus first started spreading throughout the internet, I quickly shut my electronics down for safety’s sake. Nothing electric, no computer, no tablet, no TV, not even the refrigerator, was left running. I wasn’t about to let that nasty particle into the rectory where it would infect all of the appliances and would probably spread to even the battery operated gizmos like smoke detectors and wall clocks once it got a foothold. Heck, even the wooden chairs might not be safe. But after months of being cut off from the web, I really wanted--needed--an internet fix. I would have settled for a quick glance at Farcebook, and I nearly did several times, but my Catholic guilt got the best of me and I couldn’t justify “killing grandma”--as everyone kept accusing gamers and bloggers of doing when they just wouldn’t stop playing and writing even to save the world--just to see posts about what people were eating (accompanied by the inevitable nasty comments from “friends” and trolls deploring the restaurant of choice, the type of food, etc.) and memes with Jesus facepalming just about everything. I nearly caved to the desire to watch cute kitten videos on YouTube but thankfully the Google censors were removing them as soon as they were reported in a fairly successful attempt to keep us from temptation and electronic transmission of the infection. But when it was announced that Prime Days were back on the schedule, I knew the time had come. If Amazon was having this massive event, it must be safe to go online! I set my alarm clock for 2:37 am so that I would be up and ready for the 3:00 am start time. I needn’t have bothered, though, since I was so jacked up that I couldn’t sleep a wink anyway. As I prepared to get my computer fired up and running, the panic the government so lovingly instilled in me kept welling up. My index finger trembled as it hovered over the power button. Was I doing the right thing, entering into this crowded buying frenzy? I wanted to push such doubts out of my mind but I was not certain that all of my precautions would keep my computer free of this terrible virus. Maybe I was going online too soon, I thought, and putting the entire network in danger of contamination. But I knew that I had taken all of the precautions touted by Fauci and Friends. After months of government mandated interpersonal outdoor social activities, I tried to believe that the Great Isolated Indoors were finally free from contagion, or at worst would only kill off old DOS and XP systems. We have “flattened the cord” by now, so I wasn’t endangering the world by participating in this mob transaction, was I? I went over my safety checklist one last time. No computers or other electronic equipment within six feet of any other. Check. A mask over the breaker box so that the virus could not get in through the electrical outlets. Check. Lysol glistening on the keys of the wireless keyboard just in case some of the tiny little critters slipped past the mask and somehow travel through the air rather than staying confined to electrical cords (experts are still contradicting themselves and other as to whether this virus is spread more through wires or wifi or bluetooth). Check. A full protective suit of plastic bags enclosing both the modem and the router. Check. I took a deep breath and told myself that everything was going to be just fine. I was finally ready to step back into the world wide web by buying something--anything--on Amazon before somebody else could purchase it. As you can tell, though, I was nearly as worried as I was excited. My mind continued to race. What if my computer gets sick? Will it infect all of the others in the house? Am I putting the Geek Squad in danger unnecessarily just for the thrill of spending money on things I really don’t need? What if the virus lurks, unbeknownst to anyone, in the computer without doing any damage, and then one day, Bam! Bam! the government knocks on the door with a Norton Security Suite and detects that my machine is an asymptomatic carrier, contact traces all connected equipment, both those things physically present and those in the cloud, and quarantines every last thingamajiggy for two weeks or more? How could I live with myself should somebody in Nebraska have their fancy IoT toaster suddenly switch from “bagel mode” to “pop tart” after it connected to the same server in Utah that my DNS server possibly passed a few ones and zeros through? Maybe, I whined to myself, I should just curl up in bed and admit that the world will never go back to being connected, for even if a rushed computer vaccine is found to be safe and effective, the COVID might hack itself and bypass all antivirus measures in no time. I was truly torn about what to do. In the end, I caved to my temptations to return to “normalcy” (i.e., virtual reality). I turned on the computer, clicked the mouse, and bought a reusable metal straw. Doggone it, if I am going to doom the planet, I will save it at the same time. With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka
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From the Pastor: All Souls Day Is Coming Soon
All Souls Day is coming up soon and it is time to get your list of the Faithful Departed ready to give me for prayers. All Saints, November 1, falls on a Sunday this year, so you don’t get the opportunity to take off of work on a weekday for this Holy Day of Obligation. Maybe that will make it easier for you to come on Monday for one of the (non-obligatory) All Souls Day Masses (6:30 and 8:00 am and 7:00 pm). At these Masses, we pray for the souls of our deceased loved ones so that if they are in Purgatory our sacrifices and offering may help alleviate their suffering, cleanse their souls, and allow them to enter without stain into Heaven. Type or write (legibly, please) your list and bring it in before the end of this month. I will pray for those souls at that day’s Masses and remember them at Masses through the rest of the month. Why pray for them? The Council of Trent explains (bold emphasis mine). “[T]he Catholic Church, instructed by the Holy Ghost, has, from the sacred writings and the ancient tradition of the Fathers, taught, in sacred councils, and very recently in this ecumenical Synod, that there is a Purgatory, and that the souls there detained are helped by the suffrages of the faithful, but principally by the acceptable sacrifice of the altar...” Not only does Purgatory exist (no, Vatican II did not “do away with it”) but of all the various prayers offered for the souls “there detained” it is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass which is most beneficial. Of course, that means that the Mass for such souls must be done with all due reverence and devotion. “But let the bishops take care, that the suffrages of the faithful who are living, to wit the sacrifices of Masses, prayers, alms, and other works of piety, which have been wont to be performed by the faithful for the other faithful departed, be piously and devoutly performed, in accordance with the institutes of the church; and that whatsoever is due on their behalf, from the endowments of testators, or in other way, be discharged, not in a perfunctory manner, but diligently and accurately, by the priests and ministers of the church, and others who are bound to render this (service). Trent also offers this tidbit for any who hold the protestant notion that purgatory is not real. “If anyone says that after the grace of justification has been received the guilt is so remitted and the debt of eternal punishment so blotted out for any repentant sinner, that no debt of temporal punishment remains to be paid, either in this world or in the other, in purgatory, before access can be opened to the kingdom of heaven, anathema sit [“let him be anathema” or excommunicated].” So, believing what the Church teaches, write out your lists and get them to me! Now I want to tell you how my “week off” went last week since so many of you have left messages, texts, and emails asking how I am doing as you state that you know that I am not answering messages, texts, and emails! Monday morning started off as normal with Masses and confessions and Adoration and blessing of objects at the church but I was back at the office by 11:00. Weekend and morning messages were waiting for me. I had three sick calls to make in three different cities in two different counties. That was going to take the rest of the day, so I managed to fit in two house blessings along the way as well, clearing up the remainder of the week, or so I thought. On Tuesday I managed to get out to see my dad for a couple of hours after the morning schedule but had to spend the rest of the afternoon answering emails from people in pretty bad spiritual crises. That evening I tried to get some dinner from a favorite hole-in-the-wall Caribbean take-out restaurant only to find that covid panic put them out of business. On Wednesday I had some more important emails to answer after the morning routine but decided to use a computer in my room rather than stay at the office so that I would not get sidetracked with other business. Bad decision. After the “necessary” emails were finished I opened some from the diocese and soon fell asleep in my chair. Three and a half hours later (unbelievable!) I woke up and had to get going, for I had a dinner date with my mom, and then the “day off” was over without it really ever seeming to have begun. Thursday there was a noon funeral and burial across the bay so I got done with just enough time to prepare for the Holy League Men’s Group. After the morning routine on Friday, I went to Jesuit High school and heard confessions until the end of the school day. Then it was back to the rectory to do laundry which had been piling up too long. Saturday morning brought once again the Mass, confessions, Adoration, and Adult Catechism class, followed by the Rosary Rally in the afternoon, and, finally, the Youth Group in the evening. Somewhere along the way I also had to write this article, which means that the last couple of days had to be written before they actually happened, so they might have actually been busier than what was on the calendar! So much for a “week off”! It’s a good thing I love my vocation! With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka From the Pastor: The Week Ahead
This is the first full week of October and you all know what that means: it is time for the Annual Diocesan Priest Convocation. Yes, that week when all of the priests get together and hear some lectures, share some stories, eat a lot of good food, pray a bit as a group, and generally enjoy each other’s company. It is also the week that I generally have a visiting priest come and give a parish mission and take over the Masses while I am at the convocation. So for the next few days you won’t be able to find any of us priests around... Oh, wait. I forgot. Covid. Drat! How could I have overlooked that pesky little virus? There is no Priest Convocation this year. Quite a few months ago the command decision was made to cancel it. And with travel restrictions and an ever-lengthening two week “straighten the curve” set of “guidelines” that somehow found more force than the law itself, the parish mission was canceled as well. So life will go on pretty much as normal around here this week. Or will it? After all, who really knows what “normal” is anymore when the “new normal” (wearing masks, avoiding people, bathing yourself in kerosene every five minutes, etc.) is being touted as something wonderful all the time? You might have realized when you came into church this week that the “new normal” blue and green tape has been removed from the pews and floor. That is a result of the Bishop’s allowing us to follow the Governor’s elimination of occupancy restrictions. That does not mean that you should throw caution to the wind and start licking doorknobs (once again?), but it does mean that there is more flexibility in achieving your own sense of “safe space” in the church and hall. For now, I am keeping the social hall open for overflow during Mass, where you can arrange seats close or far from each other in the open space, while being “morally present” to the Mass which is being celebrated just feet from you although visible only via the monitor unless you have x-ray vision. You can hear it over the speaker system of the church as well. I will also keep the 1:00 pm additional Sunday Mass for now as we see how many people do or don’t rush back to the other Masses. “But Father!” I have heard the cries from so many people, “But Father! What about coffee and donuts?” Yes, that is a real issue. Not quite “the” real issue, but a real one nonetheless. All of the new people want to meet all of the regulars and vice versa. Old friends want to catch up and enjoy some time together. Everyone wants to get back to the old “normal” not just in the spiritual but also in the social aspects of the Church. Would you believe that there were no written guidelines sent to us from the Diocese about this so very important thing? So I have made a command decision. If restaurants can open full bore, so can we. Gathering for coffee and donuts is not mandated under any sort of obligation. Please use your common sense. Don’t cram into the hall like sardines. Grab a bite and sit outside at one of the many picnic tables, or stand under the oak trees chatting if the hall is crowded. Above all remember that if you are sick, if you have even the beginnings of symptoms of covid, stay home! One sure way of getting the churches closed down again is coming while contagious and spreading this darn thing throughout the congregation. Remember that even asymptomatic covid is counted as “killing grandma” in the headlines and official statistics, and the media is searching diligently to gloat about a superspreader event at a church. Don’t let that be us! In other news, in case you didn’t catch the announcement last week, St. Joseph Vietnamese Mission is in the process of purchasing their own property and church in the Town and Country area of Tampa. Fr. Chien has told me that they expect to move out of Epiphany before Christmas. They have already started a very successful fundraising campaign and have further financing set up with the Diocese. They have the Bishop’s blessing. They are assessing the structural issues of the current buildings on the property which need to be fixed, rebuilt, or otherwise transformed into something usable for them. Some things might need to be fixed before they can move in, others might wait until later. The best-case scenario will be something like this: everything is functioning and there are no safety issues, so they can move right in and do simple repairs and upgrades and aesthetical work while already occupying and using the church and other buildings. But a more likely scenario is that they will have to do some work before they can move in while doing most of the work afterward. Only time will tell. Speaking of time, I am looking forward to taking some time off. Since this whole week’s normal events were canceled, I plan on taking the “canceled” week off. Well, taking off whatever time is left after praying the breviary, celebrating the morning Masses, hearing confessions, giving the Benediction, blessing all the religious articles brought in, and then checking the mail, answering emails and texts, returning phone calls, writing bulletin articles, attending meetings, and doing all of the other little tasks that pop up. You know, that didn’t sound so restful once I put it down on paper. Sigh... With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka From the Pastor: More About Missals and Prayer Books
Last week I wrote about three Missals which are still being published today and used for the Traditional Latin Mass (the 1962 Missals from Angelus Press and Baronius Press and the Fr. Lasance 1945 Missal) plus one very simple-to-use English-only Missal (the 1963 or earlier St. Joseph Continuous Sunday Missal) that is not currently in print but can be found used online. There are other Missals available, though. I have on my shelf several small, pocket-sized Sunday Missals (that means that they don’t include any prayers or Scripture readings for the weekday Masses) that some of you might find handy. The first is titled, “My Sunday Missal explained by Father Stedman.” I actually have two different copies/versions of this small Missal. One is new and says on the cover “Larger type edition with new complete pulpit text of Epistles and Gospels.” Inside it claims to be “Two complete books in one. Complete Sunday Missal, all the Masses; Complete Novena Manual of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, all the novenas.” This is a reprint of the original 1938 Missal put out by the Confraternity of the Precious Blood but it doesn’t indicate who reprinted it and I don’t remember where I purchased it. I have a second, used, copy of the same Missal, which, though it doesn’t claim to be large print, has slightly larger print than the first one I just mentioned which makes that claim! This one claims to include “A simplified method of following the Mass” and also “A dialogue Mass.” Both books are basically the same. The “simplified” part means that they put numbers next to parts of the text where you have to flip to a different part of the book for the proper prayers and readings of the day. The “dialogue Mass” has an explanation that some people, like school children, want to do “Christian Action” so they are encouraged to say the parts of the Mass which are normally reserved for the altar boys. They put those responses in italics, assuming that the people who want to say words they don’t know wouldn’t know what words to say if not shown explicitly! Beyond that, it explains that “Sometimes another priest, or a public reader leads these responses in English, without any distraction to the Priest at the altar”! But it says that after stating that “The Dialogue Mass will keep you about three minutes longer than the regular Mass” which means that the “public leader” must be reading the responses more slowly than the priest and servers, so how that will not be a “distraction” is anyone’s guess. Without marketing it, the first book has the same italics and explanations as this one. They both have nearly identical prayers and novenas in the back pages of the book, too. I mention this because, if you are looking for one online, you probably cannot see it before buying it. Now that you know that they are basically interchangeable, if you want a tiny Missal you can just get the one in the best condition at the best price. Although in describing Missals I mentioned my preference for Missals which include a good selection of prayers along with the actual Mass prayers, you may wish, instead, to get a prayer book with a Missal included. Nearly every old (pre-1964) prayer book includes a section for following the Mass. They only have the prayers and readings for Sundays and Holy Days, but if you cannot ever make it to daily Mass, one of these might be a good option for you. One big one which is still in print is titled, “Blessed be God.” I have a nice reprint of the 1925 version which, unfortunately again, does not include information on who reprinted it. But I do see that Preserving Christian Publications has a brand new version of this book which has a leather cover, which I find preferable to a hardcover for a Missal or prayerbook. Another great prayerbook is “A Manual of Prayers for the use of the Catholic Laity” which I have in the form of a great reprint from Roman Catholic Books (not currently available) under the title of “The Baltimore Book of Prayers.” This is an excellent prayer book and contains the Mass from 1889! You will find very few differences in the Missals of 1889, 1925, 1945, and 1962, so feel free to use any of the old Missals or prayer books you can find! Cardinal Spellmans Prayerbook (1951, revised in 1955) is also a great prayerbook with a Sunday Missal. My copy is still very usable even though it was probably used regularly many decades ago. My version of the Catholic Extensionist Manual of Devotions (1931) is a pocket-sized and very worn book but is still quite a great prayer book for such a little thing. Lastly, I have a well-worn copy of the 1928 “Hail Holy Queen: A book of prayer and counsel for Catholic Girls and Women; the Roman Missal for Sundays” which, again, is an incredible prayer book plus Missal. Of course, the “counsel” this book gives to girls and women is far from politically correct today. Just one example: “A masculine woman is no less disgusting and repelling than a feminine man. Nobody wants to marry his own sex[!]” These old prayer books (and there are countless others) put all the new ones to shame. Being used, most are fairly inexpensive when compared to a new Missal. So take your pick: A stand-alone Missal, a Missal/Prayerbook, or a Prayerbook/Missal. Whichever one works best for you! With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka From the Pastor: Basics For Newcomers
We are growing at Epiphany! There are many new tongues sticking out at Communion time (that’s about all I see since I face Our Lord during most of the Mass instead of facing you!). “Newbies” often hesitate at the rail as they don’t know exactly what to do (kneel if physically possible, slightly tilt your head back and keep it still after opening your mouth and sticking out your tongue, keeping your hands out of the way of the paten which the altar boy will use to catch any stray Host or tiny Particles which may fall) or what to say (nothing at all, not even “amen”). I have written a bit more about the reception of Holy Communion in the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) twice over the summer (July 5 and August 16 if you want to go online and read them) as I faced more and more people coming from Novus Ordo Masses who tried sticking their hands out, or saying “amen” as I was already putting the Host on their tongue (or immediately afterwards, with Him already in their mouth!) or bowing their head just as my hand got close, touching the Host with their nose or forehead and nearly knocking It out of my hand). And, while this reminder is, perhaps, once again timely, I have also heard the need to explain a bit more than just how to receive Holy Communion. Today, let’s look at Missals. For instance, several of you have emailed me asking where to get a Missal and how to use it (“how” will have to be tackled another time). Locally you can find a new one at St. Anthony Bookstore, owned by a parishioner (find the address on the back of the bulletin). Of course, you may also look in used book stores or online for an old Missal once used by someone long ago. If you need many copies for your family, this option will, though more time consuming, save you a lot of money! Just make sure to get one for the 1962 (or earlier) Mass or it will do you no good! Before you buy anything, though, read what I recently wrote to someone wondering what to do for his first trip to a TLM. “First, congratulations on strengthening your Catholic Faith! Many people are finding that the "old ways" which have stood the test of time are worthy of dusting off and exploring once again. The Traditional Latin Mass converted the whole world without anyone knowing Latin or, for most of its history, having a written Missal to read, with Latin on one side and their own language on the other. They just experienced the Perfect Sacrifice of Christ on the Cross being made present once again, though in an unbloody manner, at Mass. They worshipped and adored Him Who died for their sins. I suggest that you do that very thing. If you wish, you may read the readings and prayers of the Mass at divinumofficium.com (scroll down on the first page of our parish website to find it) before coming but then, once here, simply watch and become enthralled with the solemnity and reverence of the Mass. You can bring your own Missal if you wish (ours are not out for use due to covid), but when you are new to the Mass, you will probably be lost and spend all of your time with your eyes on the book and you will miss most of the Mass. Later, after you get used to the Mass, you can ask anyone around you to help you find your way through the Missal. Don't worry about being the only one who is lost. Every one of the people around you was lost when they first discovered the TLM, too, including yours truly! Just be sure to not sit in the front pew, since you won't know when to sit, stand and kneel without being able to watch the people in front of you!” I also wrote the following to a new parishioner asking about “which Missal is best.” “I like the Angelus Press 1962 Missal. It is also a great prayer book. The downside is that if a reading is printed for one feast day and used again on another, they don't print it again but rather tell you to turn to where it is printed elsewhere, making it a pain when there are multiple page turns. The Baronius Press 1962 Missal is about the same but is not as complete a prayer book. The Fr. Lasance 1945 Missal prints out all the readings where they are needed, so there are fewer ribbons needed to switch pages from one part to the other and it is thicker due to more pages being needed. But it is not nearly as good a prayer book, just a good Missal. Most of the Masses will be the same even though it is decades older, except for Holy Week and any newer saints. All three of those Missals have all of the Masses for weekdays as well as Sundays. But if you want a "Sunday Mass Missal for Dummies" type of Missal, find a used St. Joseph Continuous Sunday Missal. It does not have any weekday Masses in it but on Sundays everything is printed page by page exactly as you need it. Everything. Just turn the pages like a regular book all the way through the Mass. Just be sure to get one that is 1963 (the last printing of the old Missal) or earlier or it will not match up with the Mass.” There are some of the basics. Perhaps I will write more in the following weeks. With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka From the Pastor: Demonic Political Party Stances
Quite a few years back I wrote an article that I reprint during election cycles. It deals with political parties (note: without mentioning any in particular) and their members/voters. In the article I did not tell anyone who to vote for or against, yet in the past some were offended that I warned them of eternal consequences awaiting those who purposefully choose to support any party which champions intrinsic evil. So be it. Better to offend while teaching the Truth and perhaps saving souls than to make people feel good about voting/supporting their way to eternal damnation. The mainstream media is fully on board with many intrinsic evils and therefore skews news in a terribly partisan manner while still laughably claiming journalistic integrity, independence, and neutrality. Many prominent Catholic clergy have time and again proven themselves to be either faithless or too wimpy to address the “tough” issues. Social media moguls outright censor information they disagree with. You may, therefore, be “gaslighted” into thinking you are crazy if you actually (gasp) believe and act on real Catholic moral teaching. I want to assure you that the real crazies are those who think that they can turn their back on God’s commands and still please Him (or outfox him or at least be ignored by him) and get to Heaven by bypassing Him. Anyway, here is the article, which is as valid now as ever. There are some businesses and “social organizations” that hold values so contrary to the Catholic Faith that no Catholic may belong to them. Such organizations could, perhaps, hold to other morally acceptable tenets and might even do some very good work but the evils they hold simply cannot be overlooked on account of the good. Along with that reality comes the logical correlation that if any member of such an organization were running for any public office, from dog catcher to mayor or even further up the scale, no Catholic may, with right conscience, vote for him/her, given other options. A business example is Planned Parenthood. Many worldly people gush at the supposed “good” PP does while distributing cheap contraceptives and aborting babies but no Catholic could ever volunteer at or be employed by PP without cooperating in those mortal sins. Nor could any Catholic vote for, in any election or for any office, a PP employee or staunch supporter for the same reason, if there is an opponent who does not embrace intrinsic evil. An example of a “social organization” of this ilk is the Ku Klux Klan. The KKK promotes hatred of Catholics, Jews, and Blacks. No Catholic could possibly claim membership in such a club nor could any Catholic vote for a member of the KKK if one were running for any political office, even if the member was a well-known philanthropist. Should a Catholic join the Klan with the explanation, “Well, I don’t agree with their stand on certain matters but they are a bunch of good guys most of the time with whom I simply enjoy getting together and sharing a few laughs. I leave the meetings when they go on a lynching so they know where I stand on that,” nobody would buy it. A Catholic would have to basically renounce his faith to either become a Klan member or support a Klan member in an election. It would not matter what his “conscience” told him or how much he “prayed” on it. Whether brand new or generations old, if the organization’s charter puts it directly at odds with morality, especially if it officially endorses intrinsic evil, no Catholic should ever voluntarily become or remain a member once they understand what evil the organization holds out to be a “good.” Furthermore, no Catholic could, in good conscience, support a member of such a club or business in an election if a rival candidate, even if not preferable in areas open to prudential judgment, could be found who did not endorse intrinsic evil. Because this seems to me to be so very clear, it baffles me that seemingly nobody in authority in the Catholic Church will tell Catholics that same truth when it comes to organizations that are much more powerful than mere social clubs or even influential businesses: political parties. If the Knights of Columbus, a well established Catholic organization, wrote a new platform promoting embryonic stem cell research, homosexual “marriage” and abortion, no matter what else was in their charter, and regardless of their stellar past history, no priest or bishop would hesitate to tell all Catholic men to renounce their membership immediately and forbid any Catholic from joining the group, for their very souls would be in grave danger. Yet political parties have vastly more importance in the lives of us all than the K of C. How any Catholic can even belong to a political party whose platform currently holds out as “good” those just-mentioned grave evils is beyond my understanding. How any Catholic can justify supporting any candidate who belongs to such a political party is as bewildering as a Catholic supporting a KKK member or a PP director. Those who participate in or cooperate with mortal sin and die unrepentant do not go to Heaven but rather face “the eternal death of hell” (see the Catechism of the Catholic Church, especially paragraphs 1852-1869). All other political positions and means for achieving peace, prosperity, and the common good are for nought if salvation is lost. For what shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of his soul? Pray for the conversion of politicians and voters and for holy boldness among the clergy. With prayers for your holiness, Fr. Edwin Palka From the Pastor: Our Lady of Good Health
This coming Tuesday, September 8, a day on which both the Novus Ordo and the Traditional Latin Mass liturgical calendars are in sync (although the prayers and scripture readings differ), is the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Logically enough, the celebration of her birth falls nine months after the celebration of her Immaculate Conception on December 8. This same date is also a special feast on a local Catholic liturgical calendar in India. It is the feast of Our Lady of Good Health. I had never heard of the apparition of Our Lady under this title until sometime around 2012 when a holy Religious Sister from India introduced me to it. I have worn a medal of Our Lady of Good Health ever since and I call on her for protection against colds, flu, and now the covid virus. She has blessed me with such graces of health that I have never since been too sick to celebrate Mass, a good thing since I have not had an associate pastor during all this time! The internet can reveal more information than I can give here but I will give you a short version of the apparition to whet your appetite. I will shamelessly copy and paste directly from the website of the church of the apparition, velankannichurch.com. Sometime during the sixteenth century, Our Lady with her infant son appeared to a Hindu boy carrying milk to a customer’s home. While he rested under a Banyan tree near a tank (pond), Our Lady appeared to him and asked for milk for her Son and the boy gave her some. On reaching the customer’s home, the boy apologized for his lateness and the reduced amount of milk by relating the incident that occurred on his way. On inspection, the man found the milk pot to be full and realized that something miraculous had happened. That man, also a Hindu, wanting to see the place where the apparition occurred, accompanied the boy. When they reached the tank, Our Lady appeared once again. On learning that it was Our Lady who appeared to the boy, the residents of the local Catholic community became ecstatic. The tank where the apparition took place is called "Matha Kulam" or Our Lady’s tank. Some years later Our Lady appeared again. This time to a crippled boy who was selling buttermilk near a public square on the outskirts of the same village of Vailankanni. She asked him for buttermilk for her infant Son and the boy complied. Our Lady asked the boy to inform a certain wealthy Catholic man in the nearby town of Nagapattinam of her appearance. Not realizing that his crippled leg was miraculously cured by Our Lady, the boy rose up and began his journey. The man also had a vision the previous night in which Our Lady asked him to build a chapel for her. Together, the man and the boy returned to the site of the miracle. This time Our Lady appeared to both. The man erected a thatched chapel for Our Lady at the site of Her second appearance. This chapel became a holy place of veneration to Our Blessed mother and She was called henceforth, Mother of Good Health ("Arokia Matha"). A few years later, Our Merciful Mother rescued a few Portuguese merchant sailors from a violent storm, which wrecked their ship. When the merchants reached the shore of Vailankanni they were taken by local fisherman to the thatched chapel. To give thanks and pay tribute to Our Lady, they built a small permanent chapel on their return trip. On subsequent visits they improved on it. The merchants dedicated the chapel to Our Lady on September 8th to celebrate the feast of her nativity and to mark the date of their safe landing to Vailankanni. If you go to the above-mentioned website you will find much more information about the feast (the celebration actually starts August 29 and continues through the actual feast day). You can also see the chronology of the church building as it progressed from a tiny little chapel to a majestic shrine basilica. A novena to Our Lady of Velankanni (as She is also known), photos, prayer requests and personal testimonies are also just a click away. Strangely (or not?), not a word of covid is mentioned on the site. The following day, September 9, another beautiful feast, though not on any liturgical calendar whatsoever, is celebrated in both Novus Ordo and Traditional Latin Mass parishes, namely, “Buy a Priest a Beer Day.” Notice that it is not called, “Buy your own Priest a Beer Day”, so feel free to buy one for just about any priest you wish. I would bet that even the Eastern Rite priests you know would appreciate you dropping off a beer or quaffing (a word I seldom get to use) one with them. If you buy one for a Traditional priest, I suggest a full-bodied, flavorful dark beer such as a stout or porter, whereas for a Novus Ordo priest a more fitting choice might be something light and fruity. (Chuckle or wince or groan, whichever you prefer!) Along similar lines, remember, men, that the Holy League is resuming our “2nd and 4th Thursdays” meeting schedule the day after that, on Thursday, September 10, at 6:00 pm. Come for some manly prayers, catechesis, and camaraderie. If any of you don’t know what this is, just come and find out, even if you will be running late after work. Holy Mary, Our Lady of Good Health, Our Lady of Velankanni, pray for us. With prayers for your holiness, Fr. Edwin Palka From the Pastor: Covid Infection Rate Of Just .77?
Last week I was reading a news article about New Jersey’s Governor Phil Murphy chastising his people for not fully participating in “contact tracing” for covid. Evidently 52% of his people who might have maybe been possibly in the presence of someone who may or may not have covid refused to give the government a list of all of the places they have been and the people with whom they have been in contact for the prior two weeks or more so that they and everyone they implicate in those answers will then be forced to “voluntarily” self-quarantine for an additional two weeks after the others also produce their own list of contacts. Go figure. “It is highly disturbing, to say the least” he is quoted as saying, while I find it highly disturbing that his government is trying to shame people into revealing such personal information. This comes on the heels of the governor of Ohio and dozens of professional athletes being told that their tests came back positive for covid, only to find, through a different test or closer examination of the same test, that it was only a false positive. (Of course, those “important” people were able to get nearly immediate results from their covid tests and were only in panic mode for one day or less before they got the desired but not necessarily any more accurate negative results, whereas “real” people often have to wait longer than the recommended quarantine length of days to find out if they tested positive or negative and never get the chance to verify if it was an accurate diagnosis either way.) But there was something in the article which caught my eye and which I don’t remember ever hearing about from any source before. The following two sentences made me say, “hmmm...!” “It also could explain why New Jersey has had a hard time recently in keeping its transmission rate below 1.0, which is considered too high. That means every person with the coronavirus is spreading the disease, on average, to at least one other person.” Did you know that the transmission rate of this pandemic virus in coronavirus hotbed New Jersey is below 1? I hear news stories constantly that indicate that each person infected with covid is responsible for dozens, perhaps hundreds, of new cases and deaths! A quick search shows the following news stories: One single person in a meeting in Boston resulted in more than 99 covid cases in Massachusetts alone; One covid positive person at a Georgia funeral resulted in more than 100 infections and several deaths; An Arkansas pastor infected 30 churchgoers including 3 who died; 23 Clemson football players got it from one person; the list could go on and on. As I pointed out in a recent bulletin article (August 2) the slant in the news is fomenting fear and outright panic as if every person with covid will infect dozens, if not hundreds, of other people, and (insert scream of horror, shame, and guilt here) kill everyone’s grandma. But this New Jersey article about how bad the people are behaving by not disclosing where they have been for weeks, who they have spoken with, which restaurants and stores they have entered, which form of transportation they have taken, and so much more that the contact tracers demanded that they reveal, tells us that, on average, each covid-ill person has spread it to less than one other person! I wanted, of course, to see how many others we Florida covid-ill grandma killers infect. I knew that it must be far and away a larger number, since we are all (at least in this area) forced to wear masks, cannot visit loved ones in nursing homes or enter hospitals for sick calls, and restaurants still cannot serve more than a minuscule number of masked and isolated customers. Surely we must be the ones infecting dozens and hundreds if we so much as think about coughing! But no, as of August 27, Florida has an “infection rate” or “transmission rate” of just .77! Here is a “brain teaser” puzzle for anyone reading this. If 80% of all covid cases come from so-called “super spreader” individuals (a google search shows this to be the statistic) and the average Floridian (including those in the 80% statistic) passes on covid to slightly more than 3/4 of a person (that is, for every four infected people, only three more will get the virus), then, in reality, the chances of a Floridian with covid passing on the virus to even one person is X. Solve for X. The number must be very small. During the 2 weeks that a person could be (will be! according to the panic-inducing news media) highly infectious he/she may have gone to church two Sundays (extra days if a daily communicant), gone to the grocery store even more often, visited (in close contact for extended periods of time) family and friends, gone out to eat, exercised near others, etc., yet, although you would think from news stories that that person would have infected everyone in each building or within sight while outside during every single one of those encounters, he/she most likely has not, according to statistics (not pie-in-the-sky wishful thinking), made even one other person sick! If anyone solves the above problem, please let me know and I will put the X number in on our webpage. If I am not thinking this through properly, let me know that as well, for I will need to correct my false inferences. With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka From the Pastor: A/C and Other Information
This week’s news; good or bad, you decide. You all have been very busy getting in touch with your favorite airconditioning companies and at this time we are inundated with technicians crawling around in our attic. Thank you very much! None of them have so far been able to give us a written quote, though, because this is a much bigger job than we first expected. The old compressor units definitely have to be replaced, which we already knew, since they use the old freon refrigerant, which is now illegal to use. But along with replacing the compressors, the air handler, too, needs to be replaced. It takes up a very large chunk of real estate in the church attic and most likely was manufactured up there, as it is too large to be taken out through any of the openings to the attic. It is set up for freon, too, obviously, but also uses an old Westinghouse motor, the likes of which are no longer in production. That huge motor, by the way, is what produces the loud humming sound that can be heard in the church even though it is on the far top side of the social hall! The electrical box also fails to meet current codes (things have changed since the 60’s!), so it needs to be replaced. And, while we are at it, the old boiler, which is our heating system, will probably be removed (it fails multiple times each winter and boiler technicians are more scarce than hens’ teeth) and heat strips installed in the A/C units, something unusual of when this old boiler was installed. The A/C techs, therefore, have to get multiple specialized people together to figure out how to bring this all together. I will let you know what they come up with but be prepared for a large estimate. Fortunately, St. Joseph Vietnamese Mission helps us with expenses like this since they share the property. Or, maybe not. Fr. Chien has given me permission to announce that they are planning on moving out of Epiphany and into their own church building! They are raising funds for the purchase of an existing Lutheran church in the Town and Country area of Tampa. They have a contract on the property but are awaiting final approval from the Diocese. The diocesan finance committee doesn’t meet until the end of next month but everything so far looks like they will grant approval for the purchase and move. Please pray for them as this is a huge step for them and the first time that they will not be “renting” space from another parish but rather taking on full responsibility for their own church. As we look toward the near future, our Catholic schools will be opening up this Monday, August 24. We don’t have a school anymore so we are not directly affected by that but I am using it as a sign that other groups at the parish level can re-start as well. The Saturday morning Adult Cathechism class will resume on Saturday, September 5 from 10:30 - 12:00 noon. That is 30 minutes later than before but we have such a long line for confessions on Saturday mornings that the old 10:00 start time simply is no longer feasible. We may have to meet in the church to keep being anti-socially distant from each other if everyone who used to attend comes back, plus we may get some new faces! For those of you new to the parish, this class is simply an on-going explanation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. We go through a few paragraphs or a few pages each week, depending on how much detail I get into and how many questions there are, and simply pick up each week where we left off the last time. The classes are recorded and the Unknown Church Gremlin posts them online so you can listen to any past lessons or any that you miss. You need to bring in your own copy of the Catechism, but there is no charge for the class. Even so, I offer a double your money back guarantee that you will enjoy the class and learn while you are there. Simply come whenever you can and don’t come when you can’t. The Holy League men’s group will also begin meeting once again on the second and fourth Thursdays of each month, beginning at 6:00 pm on September 10. I will give the following information for the sake of the new members of the parish. It is for men only. We begin at 6:00 in the church with Adoration and confessions. Most men cannot get here right at 6, but don’t fret if your workplace is not close. Come when you can make it. Men trickle in during this prayer time and then, after Benediction, we move to the social hall for a teaching about the Faith. We are currently nearing the end of the Catechism of St. Pius X, which can be found online for free or purchased in book form for about ten dollars. After that we have social time, which we will have to figure out how to make work while remaining anti-socially distant from each other. This social time with other men who also want to be saints is extremely important. Libations, cigars, and sometimes food has been available, to be freely indulged in or avoided as each man sees fit. Finally, be sure to sign up to Flocknote (how we communicate via email or text) and register with the parish if you have not yet done so. With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka From the Pastor: Tutorial on Receiving Holy Communion
If the following article seems strangely familiar to you, congratulations! You actually read it less than two months ago! I usually don’t re-run articles for at least a few years, but this helpful tutorial just ran over the 4th of July weekend and I see that I need to run it again. It really is helpful for the person receiving Our Lord to know how to do so properly as well as being very helpful for the one distributing Holy Communion when everyone knows what to do. This is either a reminder or a tutorial on how to -- and how not to -- receive Holy Communion at a Traditional Latin Mass. It is a reminder for those who have been attending for a while and a tutorial for all of the new people, whom we are welcoming by the busload, it seems! Due to the covid “condition red” we are experiencing, there are a few guidelines from the diocese to which we must adhere. First of all, by now everyone knows the drill about staying 6 feet away from everyone who is not in your household. The lines in the aisles are reminders of how great a distance that is and we ask you to stay back from the person in front of you in the Communion line. Of course, you don’t have to stay away from your family members, so everyone else sees you bunched up like a normal family going up to Communion during normal times, and they have a tendency to revert to normalcy as well. How can I put this? We are asked to refrain from being normal in oh, so many ways! Stay back! Have some fun with it. Bring a six foot stick and... no, no, no, not at Mass. Leave that for the grocery store. Ok, so you have now approached the front of the church and there is an altar rail, or Communion rail, in use. Please be anti-social there as well. It is permitted to kneel down together as a family, you know, side by side as if you like each other, but leave a gap between you and any non-family member who is already kneeling at the rail. I know, you don’t breath out of your ears, so it seems silly to have to stay away from people to your side when “they” claim that the anti-social distancing is to keep you from breathing virus globs into other people’s eyes, nose, and mouth, but then they also want you to avoid what? Ear to ear infections? Or perhaps they are worried that there are aliens among us with breathing apparatus on the side instead of in front. Laugh at it if you will, but then just do it. If you cannot kneel due to physical infirmity, don’t panic. Stand at the rail and I will still give you Holy Communion. Or, if you are in a wheelchair, come to one end or the other and I can easily step down to give you Our Lord. Holy Communion is distributed from the priest’s left to right and he will be accompanied by an altar boy holding a paten. I will hold the Host before you and give you a blessing. While I am doing that, tilt your head slightly back, open your mouth and stick out your tongue slightly past your bottom lip. Don’t stick your tongue out all the way unless you can keep it straight instead of reaching down toward the floor à la Gene Simmons of the old rock band, Kiss. There is no safe way to place a host on a tongue which is pointed downward. You do not say “amen” or “howdy Father” or anything else as you do at the Novus Ordo Mass. Please don’t wait until the Host comes close to your mouth before you open up and reach out with your tongue. People who do that usually also lunge forward with a licking motion. If you stay silent and still and already have your mouth open and tongue slightly out, you will not lick me. If you are a “licker” you will lick the back of either my index finger or thumb. That doesn’t normally affect anyone else, since I grab the next Hosts with the dry pad side of my thumb and finger, but the next “licker” will get a mouthful of whatever you put on my fingernail, and if there was a licker before you, you got what s/he left behind! Seriously, though, don’t speak or lick or lunge. It’s been a long time since I have been licked, but some of you give my reflexes a workout! When kneeling it is quite natural to keep your hands folded with palms together in front of your breast but please don’t do that at the altar rail. The paten must go under your chin to catch the Host or particles of the Host that may fall. If your fingers are in the way, the paten cannot do its job. Also, if you wear a mask, please, for the same reason, don’t leave the mask under your chin. The mask is supposedly only protecting others if you have the coronavirus and if you do, the virus will be concentrated on the mask, which then gets transferred to the paten when it touches it, which then passes it on down the line to every other mask or fingers that get in the way and, finally, to the priest as he purifies it. So please take your mask off completely before receiving Our Lord. And that’s enough for today’s lesson. With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka From the Pastor: Special Blessings on the Assumption
This coming Saturday, August 15, we celebrate the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Of historical value is a special blessing given that day to herbs, fruit, grain, and other produce. This blessing takes place in the church before Mass begins and is done, of course, in Latin. The Sancta Missa website includes this helpful explanation: This blessing comes from Germany, and formulas for it are found as early as the tenth century. The blessing of herbs was reserved only to the feast of the Assumption. Herbs had not our restricted English meaning but included all kinds of cultivated and wild flowers, especially those which in some way had a symbolic relation to our Lady. The people brought herbs to church on her feast not only to secure for themselves another blessed object, but also to make of the occasion a harvest festival of thanksgiving to God for His great bounty manifested in the abundant fruits of the earth. The herbs were placed on the altar, and even beneath the altarcloths, so that from this close contact with the Eucharist they might receive a special consecration, over and above the ordinary sacramental blessing of the Church. Below is a slightly abbreviated English translation of the blessings I will bestow upon all such produce brought to the church before Mass that day. You may note that the blessing asked for (and therefore given by God, for He gives what is asked) includes “healing of sick bodies” and “keep[ing] away disease and adversity” as well as being “a protection against diabolical mockery, cunning, and deception” which things are truly desired and needed during these pandemic and demonic times! Note also that the blessings extend also to the animals who will use/eat them and are even powerful when the produce is simply “kept, carried, or otherwise used” before or instead of being eaten! So, for physical and spiritual health in this life as assistance in getting into Heaven, bring your herbs and fruit next week! BLESSING OF HERBS on the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary P: Our help is in the name of the Lord. All: Who made heaven and earth. P: Lord, heed my prayer. All: And let my cry come unto you. P: The Lord be with you. All: And with your spirit. P. Let us pray. Almighty everlasting God, who by your word alone brought into being the heavens, earth, sea, things seen and things unseen, and garnished the earth with plants and trees for the use of man and beast; who appointed each species to bring forth fruit in its kind, not only for the food of living creatures, but for the healing of sick bodies as well; with mind and word we urgently call on you in your great kindness to bless ✠ these various herbs and fruits, thus increasing their natural powers with the newly given grace of your blessing. May they keep away disease and adversity from men and beasts who use them in your name; through Christ our Lord. All: Amen. P. Let us pray. God, who through Moses, your servant, directed the children of Israel to carry their sheaves of new grain to the priests for a blessing, to pluck the finest fruits of the orchard, and to make merry before you, the Lord their God; hear our supplications, and shower blessings ✠ in abundance upon us and upon these bundles of new grain, new herbs, and this assortment of produce which we gratefully present to you on this festival, blessing ✠ them in your name. Grant that men, cattle, flocks, and beasts of burden find in them a remedy against sickness, pestilence, sores, injuries, spells, against the fangs of serpents or poisonous creatures. May these blessed objects be a protection against diabolical mockery, cunning, and deception wherever they are kept, carried, or otherwise used. Lastly, through the merits of the blessed Virgin Mary, whose Assumption we are celebrating, may we all, laden with the sheaves of good works, deserve to be taken up to heaven; through Christ our Lord. All: Amen. Let us pray. God, who on this day raised up to highest heaven the rod of Jesse, the Mother of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, that by her prayers and patronage you might communicate to our mortal nature the fruit of her womb, your very Son; we humbly implore you to help us use these fruits of the soil for our temporal and everlasting welfare, aided by the power of your Son and the prayers of His glorious Mother; through Christ our Lord. All: Amen. P. And may the blessing of almighty God, Father, ✠ Son, and Holy Spirit, come upon these creatures and remain always. All: Amen. With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka From the Pastor: Not Denying Virus, Decrying Lies
This week I read a supposed news article put out by News Channel 8. The small headline was simply “BY THE NUMBERS” in all caps, followed by the real headline three times as large, “How likely are you to contract* coronavirus in Tampa Bay crowds?” I am going to print most of the article below minus all but Hillsborough County data. Note that has been updated once at the time I write this. After you read it, I will comment a bit more on something that should have been caught and corrected by the writer or the editor the first time or, at the very least, should have been corrected in the update. It is so blatantly wrong and repeated so often that it could only be put there on purpose in order to bring even more hysteria to the readers. Posted: Jul 28, 2020 / 04:04 PM EDT / Updated: Jul 29, 2020 / 08:30 AM EDT TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — How great is your risk of contracting* COVID-19 in a crowd in the Tampa Bay area? As most businesses in the state reopen and coronavirus cases continue to surge in Florida, that’s the question many want to know. Scientists in Georgia now have a database to assess the risk of contracting* coronavirus after attending events of various sizes. The database assesses the risk for every county in the country. Using public health data, researchers with the Applied Bioinformatics Laboratory at the Georgia Institute of Technology developed the interactive map to account for widespread gaps in U.S. testing for the coronavirus. The virus can easily spread between people who display mild or no symptoms of illness. Risk assessments change daily, but WFLA.com took a look at the risk of contracting* coronavirus in the Tampa Bay area counties as of Tuesday, July 28. ...Hillsborough Risk with 10 people: 41% Risk with 50 people: 93% ...[I]n assessing the risk of events with at least 100 people – such as a concert or wedding – the database found residents of most Tampa Bay area counties had at least a 99% risk of becoming ill* with coronavirus. “The issue of understanding risks associated with gatherings is even more relevant as many kinds of businesses, including sports and universities, are considering how to reopen safely,” said Professor Joshua Weitz from the School of Biological Sciences. OK, now back to my commentary. According to this article and based on its statistical numbers, every single person in our parish should have already contracted the coronavirus many times over while at our church, while at the grocery store, and while at the XYZ YOUNAMEIT place. Yet that hasn’t happened. How could the numbers be so far off? I clicked through to the Georgia database this story is supposedly based on and discovered something that was easy enough to spot. It wasn’t small print. It wasn’t written in a foreign language. It wasn’t typed out in code. It couldn’t have been missed by anyone with journalist credentials or even a 5th grade reading and comprehension level. Therefore I have to conclude that it was seen, understood, and completely twisted for the purpose of causing panic in those who are already stressed out about the coronavirus. Here are the first two written sentences of the database page. “This map shows the risk level of attending an event, given the event size and location. The risk level is the estimated chance (0-100%) that at least 1 COVID-19 positive individual will be present at an event in a county, given the size of the event.” Did you see it? These data are showing the risk that one person in the crowd could be sick with covid. NOT the percent chance of people getting sick. WFLA indicated above at least 6 times (I marked them with *) that the data were showing, and I quote from the opening sentence, “your risk of contracting COVID-19 in a crowd”. Yes, YOUR risk (scared you, right?) of contracting the virus, not the risk that one person out of that crowd might be infected with the virus! Is this a big deal? You betcha. Even if one person is infected in the crowd, you may not be anywhere close to him, may not touch any surface he has touched, may not breathe any air he has breathed. It may very well be that absolutely NOBODY will get sick from that one statistical person in the crowd. But that is not a scary story. YOU WILL DIE IF YOU GO TO A WEDDING is a scary story. But it is not a true story. (Oops, it rather indicates that each person attending a wedding with 100 people has a 99% chance of becoming ill of this disease so deadly that we have had many of our moral and civil rights taken away. I don’t want to be accused of exaggerating here!) This is not an isolated example. They are, to put it biblically, Legion. Is it any wonder that thinking people are so skeptical of our “unbiased” media, our tyrannical politicians, and our “experts” of all sorts? Is it any wonder that they look at such things as “mask mandates”, wherein millions of people in this area have been forced to wear masks in public places for six weeks now with no subsequent drop in covid “cases” that have an incubation period of 2 weeks maximum, and doubt those who say that masks are effective? Ask the Boy Who Cried Wolf where constant public lies will get you even when you finally tell the truth. With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka From the Pastor: Helping Fellow Parishioners
During the midst of this covid panic, the economy has taken quite a hit. Anyone who owns a large corporation that was deemed “essential” (including our governments, local and national) has no worries about it since they are thriving. The Mom & Pop businesses, though, were deemed worthless and have been forced to close, have had unsustainable restrictions forced upon them if they were able to reopen for an undetermined amount of time before the next closure, and have generally been put through the wringer. Many have been destroyed and many more are struggling to survive. But have you noticed that as I have been writing about this, that actual people have not been referenced? Yet for every business that gets mentioned, many, many real people have their livelihood at stake. I am not writing about some theoretical cosmic goo called “business” but rather about rea- life shops, corporations, and institutions which somebody or many somebodies (real people) worked hard to devise, to build, to manage, and to make successful. Each business employs real people with real needs who do real work for real recompense. Until they are deemed worthless, that is. I know, the word “worthless” was not used directly, but it was surely implied. There were seemingly only two types of businesses addressed by the politicians as they separated those that would stay open and those that would be forced to close. The “open” or “essential” businesses were the ones the politicians owned or the ones which owned the politicians. The “closed” or “non-essential” (worthless) businesses were the ones they were not relying on for re-election. If I am wrong on this or if their calculations were incorrect on this, the politicians who closed the majority of small businesses will all be voted out of office this fall. If I am correct, the incumbents will, by and large, retain their seats even though they have destroyed livelihoods, degraded the majority of hard-working people, inflicted grave harm on countless families, and basically ruled as tyrannical kings and queens. We shall see. But this article is not specifically about the political evil which we are still experiencing. That was just a starting point to remind you that real people had their lives disrupted. Real people who need to pay their rent or mortgage, who need to feed themselves and their children, who need to keep their health insurance, who need to, well, support themselves and their families. And some of those real people are among us right now. I have heard from and prayed for a number of parishioners whom I believe to be very competent in their field of work who have lost their jobs during this time of economic turmoil and fear. I have offered encouragement to them when they were getting down and congratulations when they have gotten new jobs. I have even (with the help of other parishioners who know how to do such things) helped a couple find temporary assistance when things got really bad. But recently, as yet another parishioner said that he lost his job, I retorted with a smart aleck remark that I should start putting notices in the church bulletin to see if other parishioners might be hiring. Catholics helping fellow Catholics when the need was great, after all, is how the Knights of Columbus got their start, so maybe this is not a bad idea at all. I am not sure the best way to put this out in a church bulletin but I am willing to give it a go and see how it works. The man I made the comment to is Alex Folkerts. You know him from the choir and from chanting the 6:30 am Mass several times a week. But he is also a computer programmer. I don’t know what exactly that means so I asked him to give me a few sentences to pass on. “I'm a seasoned, full-stack developer working in Agile software development with 6 years experience with Java, 6 years C# .NET, 3 years React.js, and 6 years Microsoft SQL. I've developed several key features in my previous position, developed multiple cross-product integrations, developed and enhanced REST apis, and implemented full unit and integration testing from the front end to the back end.” I still don’t know what he does, but if any of that makes sense to you and you need his skills, or if you know someone who may be hiring such a programmer, please let him know. Contact me if you don’t know how to reach Alex. You might also know the Smith family (five children visible and one on the way). The husband/father manages a Lakeland print shop (https://mailpro.org/) which is struggling right now because families, neighborhoods, and businesses have not been able to engage in normal activities, many of which ordinarily require printed materials such as business cards, flyers, brochures, booklets, postcards, wedding invitations, and whatnot. If you have any printing needs, you might consider using his business over one of the big box stores. I am sure there are others reading this right now who might also benefit from a bulletin mention. If so, send me a few lines about what you do, your skills, etc. and I will get it into future bulletins. If you are in a position of hiring, you know that an active Catholic’s work ethic, based on Catholic morality, will be (or should be, at least) better than your average Joe Sixpack. Plus, they have to face you at all parish functions, so they know they better do right by you! With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka From the Pastor: A Strange Start To Priesthood!
This past week I got my official invitation to the 2020 priest ordinations for our diocese. I feel sorry for the three men who will be ordained under such strange circumstances. Most men in Florida, regardless of which diocese they are going to live in once they are ordained priests, complete their studies at our Regional Seminary, St. Vincent de Paul, in Boynton Beach. Each diocese schedules the priest ordinations in such a way as to allow classmates to attend each other’s ordination either before or after their own. It is a good system allowing men who lived and studied together and became great friends to participate either as deacons or priests as their classmates around the state get ordained. Until this year. The coronavirus threw a monkey wrench into the whole system. I do not know how the other dioceses are handling the issue but I see no way that the guys will be traveling from one diocese to the other to the other as their classmates get ordained in empty cathedrals. The risk of exposure to the evil virus and then missing out on one’s own ordination will probably force the men into at least a couple of weeks of self-quarantine, so each will be ordained without being surrounded by their closest seminary friends. The men from the St. Petersburg diocese normally get ordained on the third Saturday of May. This year it was transferred, due to everything being shut down at that time, to August 15. Now, that being the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, it seems that at least our three men getting ordained (Deacons Joshua Bertrand, Connor Penn, and Mark Woodke) get a great consolation prize, so to speak, for having to wait for this great sacrament. May the Blessed Mother always cherish these priests as special to her! But even with the postponement, things didn’t get back to normal. With still-rampant fears of a coronavirus outbreak, the ordinations will not be “open to the public.” Only select family and friends of each of the three Ordinands will be allowed access to the cathedral. Even people who normally attend each ordination, such as permanent Deacons and diocesan staff will not be present but will instead be invited to watch it livestreamed. Priests of the diocese can attend but must remain anti-social at all times. I cannot imagine how they will get the priests vested while keeping them apart from each other. The vesting room is always jam-packed with priests both literally and figuratively bumping into one another, renewing old friendships, catching up on everything, and yelling across the room to get each others’ attention. Priests will also be seated 6' apart from each other in the cathedral and will be wearing matching white masks during the Mass. During the time of “laying on of hands” the priests will have disinfectant given to them to use before placing their hands physically on the heads of the newly ordained priests and then again to disinfect their hands after touching the new priests. I wonder if they will have to disinfect between each one? Then, after the Mass is concluded, there will not be a reception, which is where all of the people present for the ordination line up to congratulate the priests and to humbly knee and ask for his “first” blessing. I understand the thinking behind these changes. After all, which bishop wants to see the worst case scenario emerge where one infected person takes out not only the three new priests but also every priest, deacon, and seminarian throughout the entire diocese, not to mention all of the parish and diocesan staff members?!?! Even so, I cannot help but pity these three men. During the lockdown, we had several weddings with basically the same limitations. Bride, groom, family, and wedding party. Nobody else except the priest. No rehearsal dinner, no wedding reception afterward, and no travel for a honeymoon. I am sure none of those brides ever dreamed of their wedding in such a manner! We also had several funerals with the same limitations. In fact, several priests lost their mothers during the lockdown and, though priests usually turn out in droves for the funeral Mass for the mother of a priest, none were able to attend except the one burying his own dear mother. And now the newly ordained are forced to experience that type of strange upheaval of normal life, perhaps showing a glimpse of what their entire priesthood will be like. Empty seats where there should be crowds. Anti-social behavior where there should be bear hugs and slaps on the back. Fear of being either infected or infectious where a common sense “stay home if you are sick” mentality used to be sufficient. Face masks covering up and hiding from sight the exuberance of those few blessed enough to be in attendance. And, most sadly of all, nobody to bless when the aroma of the chrism oil is still fresh on the newly consecrated hands of the new priests. It is difficult to determine if they are the new lepers or if the rest of the Church is. The ordination Mass will be livestreamed for all who wish to view it. For the past few years this was done because not everyone could physically travel to or fit into the packed cathedral. This year it is being done to keep people out of an empty cathedral. What awaits these men in their priesthood? With such a strange beginning, expect the unexpected! Pray for them. They will need your support more than any of us can know! With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka From the Pastor: Clean Air at Epiphany!
I was reading something recently from a priest who was describing his vacation a few years back. He wrote about how nice it was to be able to just sit in “somebody else’s” church and read his breviary without anyone breathlessly running up and exclaiming, “Father, we’ve run out of toilet paper in the restroom!” I think that every priest who reads that line can respond with a knowing smile. It happens all the time. Everywhere. Although bathroom tissue disappears faster than food in a house full of teenagers, and church toilets cease to function with the same regularity as cell phones ringing during Mass, not every parishioner who sees a problem expects Father to fix it, though. In fact, one of the sweetest melodies in a pastor’s ears might be words to the effect of, “Father, I see a need at the church and I am ready, willing, and able to tackle it. May I help?” Such an angelic song was being sung not too long ago by one of our parishioners after the covid lockdown took place. Don Reagan approached and introduced himself (probably with a Handshake of Death™ which didn’t kill either of us since we were not yet so intellectualized as to know how dangerous such a thing is) and said that he works for a company (Stan Weaver and Company, 4607 N Cortez Ave., Tampa, FL 33614, 813-879-0383) that installs, among other things, air purification systems in air conditioning units throughout the area. With an increasing worry about a particular coronavirus floating around, he thought that a few ionization air purification units might be a good thing for the church to have installed in her A/C system. He pointed me to a webpage (https://globalplasmasolutions.com/) so that I could check out what he was talking about. After poking around a bit I found the description of “How Ionization Works...” to kill off viruses, odors, mold, particles, allergens, and bacteria. This is what it said: “GPS’ NPBI technology works to safely clean the air inside industrial, commercial and residential buildings. The patented technology uses an electronic charge to create a plasma field filled with a high concentration of + and - ions. As these ions travel with the air stream they attach to particles, pathogens and gas molecules. The ions help to agglomerate fine sub-micron particles, making them filterable. The ions kill pathogens by robbing them of life-sustaining hydrogen. The ions breakdown harmful VOCs with an Electron Volt Potential under twelve (eV<12) into harmless compounds like O2, CO2, N2, and H2O. The ions produced travel within the air stream into the occupied spaces, cleaning the air everywhere the ions travel, even in spaces unseen.” And certified to be ozone free, to boot! Now, I don’t know much about air purification and I am just a bit gun-shy about buying cure-all snake oil from the back of an average peddler’s wagon, which is what this sounded like. This company claims that it tests for (and finds great reductions in, of course!) Norovirus, Tuberculosis, Human Coronavirus, MRSA, Legionella, Staphylococcus, Clostridium Difficile, and E. Coli. It really sounds either too good to be true or a fantastic system to have installed. But which is it? I might not be the sharpest knife in the drawer but I do know the value of two old sayings, “Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth” and “Follow the money.” What I haven’t revealed until now is that Don did not come up and say, “Father, have I got a deal for you! Act now and I’ll throw in an extra magic doohickey for free! Just pay shipping and handling...” Rather, he said something like this, “This is my parish, and this system is something that I know works. I want my parish to have the cleanest and healthiest air in the Diocese. If you allow me, I will have this installed at no cost to the parish.” He didn’t attach any strings, he wasn’t looking for me to write about it in the bulletin as I am doing here, he wasn’t looking for an advertisement or for a payment or a reward of any sort. He will probably be a bit embarrassed that I am even including his name in this article, but I believe he deserves a pat on the back. A couple of weeks ago three of these GPS Auto-Cleaning Needlepoint Bipolar Ionization Air Purification Devices units were installed in the church A/C ducts. There was no fan-fare, no advertising banner hung up, and no photo op for a company guy. Just another one of many parishioners who saw a need, had the ability and desire to help out, and asked a simple question. “May I help you, Father?” You all really are a great congregation! Thanks for all that you all do without looking for any earthly reward. Oh, I guess I better make this clear so that nobody freaks out. Even with the air purification system, we are still disinfecting all the pews, door handles, and other touchable surfaces before people come in for Mass; we still encourage anti-social distancing, wearing of masks for those who wish, frequent hand washing, and other mandated or recommended precautions. And remember, though I might jest about the Handshake of Death™ I have tried very hard to refrain from the natural impulse to reach out my hand in greeting. How strange it is that we have dozens of new families at Epiphany whom I have never shaken hands with or picked up their babies. What strange times in which we are living! With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka From the Pastor: Update on Fr. M. and Tutorial on Receiving Holy Communion
To get right to the point, Fr. Mangiafico is in Largo Medical Rehab in Indian Rocks Beach. Although quite apologetic, they will not allow me to enter the facility to visit him. I was able to deliver some cards to him when I went. I figured it is much more difficult to say “no admittance” to me in person than over the phone, but they did so anyway. Please continue to keep him in your prayers as he recovers from his strokes. Next on the agenda is either a reminder or a tutorial on how to -- and how not to -- receive Holy Communion at a Traditional Latin Mass. It is a reminder for those who have been attending for a while and a tutorial for all of the new people, whom we are welcoming by the busload, it seems! Due to the covid “condition red” we are experiencing, there are a few guidelines from the diocese to which we must adhere. First of all, by now everyone knows the drill about staying 6 feet away from everyone who is not in your household. The lines in the aisles are reminders of how great a distance that is and we ask you to stay back from the person in front of you in the Communion line. Of course, you don’t have to stay away from your family members, so everyone else sees you bunched up like a normal family going up to Communion during normal times, and they have a tendency to revert to normalcy as well. How can I put this? We are asked to refrain from being normal in oh, so many ways! Stay back! Have some fun with it. Bring a six foot stick and... no, no, no, not at Mass. Leave that for the grocery store. Ok, so you have now approached the front of the church and there is an altar rail, or Communion rail, in use. Please be anti-social there as well. It is permitted to kneel down together as a family, you know, side by side as if you like each other, but leave a gap between you and any non-family member who is already kneeling at the rail. I know, you don’t breath out of your ears, so it seems silly to have to stay away from people to your side when “they” claim that the anti-social distancing is to keep you from breathing virus globs into other people’s eyes, nose, and mouth, but then they also want you to avoid what? Ear to ear infections? Or perhaps they are worried that there are aliens among us with breathing apparatus on the side instead of in front. Laugh at it if you will, but then just do it. If you cannot kneel due to physical infirmity, don’t panic. Stand at the rail and I will still give you Holy Communion. Or, if you are in a wheelchair, come to one end or the other and I can easily step down to give you Our Lord. Holy Communion is distributed from the priest’s left to right and he will be accompanied by an altar boy holding a paten. I will hold the Host before you and give you a blessing. While I am doing that, tilt your head slightly back, open your mouth and stick out your tongue slightly past your bottom lip. Don’t stick your tongue out all the way unless you can keep it straight instead of reaching down toward the floor à la Gene Simmons of the old rock band, Kiss. There is no safe way to place a host on a tongue which is pointed downward. You do not say “amen” or “howdy Father” or anything else as you do at the Novus Ordo Mass. Please don’t wait until the Host comes close to your mouth before you open up and reach out with your tongue. People who do that usually also lunge forward with a licking motion. If you stay silent and still and already have your mouth open and tongue slightly out, you will not lick me. If you are a “licker” you will lick the back of either my index finger or thumb. That doesn’t normally affect anyone else, since I grab the next Hosts with the dry pad side of my thumb and finger, but the next “licker” will get a mouthful of whatever you put on my fingernail, and if there was a licker before you, you got what s/he left behind! Seriously, though, don’t speak or lick or lunge. It’s been a long time since I have been licked, but some of you give my reflexes a workout! When kneeling it is quite natural to keep your hands folded with palms together in front of your breast but please don’t do that at the altar rail. The paten must go under your chin to catch the Host or particles of the Host that may fall. If your fingers are in the way, the paten cannot do its job. Also, if you wear a mask, please, for the same reason, don’t leave the mask under your chin. The mask is supposedly only protecting others if you have the coronavirus and if you do, the virus will be concentrated on the mask, which then gets transferred to the paten when it touches it, which then passes it on down the line to every other mask or fingers that get in the way and, finally, to the priest as he purifies it. So please take your mask off completely before receiving Our Lord. And that’s enough for today’s lesson. With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka From the Pastor: Important Update
Several weeks ago I told you that Fr. Mangiafico and I were taking turns celebrating Masses. We were making sure that we were never in the same building at the same time and even staying away from people who had attended Mass or confession with the other priest, so that, should somebody either of us was in contact with be infected with the coronavirus, we would not be in a position of both having to quarantine for two or more weeks at the same time. That scenario, which we were attempting to avoid would, obviously, shut down everything, including Masses, confessions, and Adoration, at Epiphany. Whichever of us took the 7:30 am Mass one week would take both the 10:30 am and 1:00 pm the next week (because confessions after the 10:30 would overlap with the other priest being in the church getting ready for the 1:00 Mass). Last Sunday I had the 7:30. But just before 10:30 I got a frantic call. “Fr. Mangiafico is not here yet!” I got myself over to the church, hoping that he was just caught in heavy traffic and, though arriving too late for the 10:30 Mass, would be here very early for the 1:00. Some of the people tried reaching him as I prepared for Mass, but he didn’t answer his phone or emails. After Mass I expected to hear that he had arrived late, but he still wasn’t here and wasn’t answering his phone. There were no reported accidents along his route. I took the next Mass and confessions and when I finally finished I headed back to the rectory to get my phone (left behind in the rush) and called. Thanks be to God he answered! But he sounded like he just woke up and I could not understand a word he spoke. I called emergency and sent EMS to his house. He had suffered a series of strokes and is now in Largo Medical hospital. Please pray for him! The first three days the hospital allowed one vistor per day. The fourth day they, due to covid panic, eliminated all patient visitations. He is supposed to go to rehab and may be there by the time you read this. He has full use, it seems, of his arms and hands, legs and feet, but not his mouth. His speech consists only of mumbled sounds and he is not swallowing properly. He can write and asked for prayers through the intercession of St. John Chrysostom, the priest with such eloquence in speech that he was called “Golden-mouthed.” The covid panic is such that Pinellas, Hillsborough, and Pasco have all enacted “must-mask” decrees inside all public buildings. We are still exempt from those regulations (though you are most free to wear a mask if you wish) as long as we remain at an anti-social distance from non-family members. I cannot be your mother, telling you where to sit, stand, and kneel, carrying both a measuring tape and family ID reader with me to enforce those mandates. I ask you to self-police in this regard. Please do not remove the blue tape and sit in a closed off pew. Please remember that we must keep you out of the church and hall until we have sanitized everything with alcohol after the previous Mass. Please do not congregate together laughing and carrying on outside the church doors making the congregation of St. Joseph Vietnamese Mission run the gauntlet to exit the church. If you notice, almost every one of them wears masks and then they have to brush past you if you crowd around the exits. It takes 10-15 minutes after they leave for us to be finished sanitizing, so there is no reason for you to be near the doors while they are still in the building. Please notice the blue “6 feet lines” on the floor keeping you at the regulated distance while standing in line for Holy Communion. Following these mandates keeps us from being fined or closed down. Starting next week our Knights of Columbus will be assisting in reminding you of these things. Please be courteous to them. And remember, you still have the dispensation from your Sunday obligation if you have any qualms about being here for any reason. Finally, and this is a direct result of the preceding two paragraphs, if you are sick, please take extra precautions! Coughing, sneezing, and nose blowing is pretty standard stuff in a normal year. But not this year. Things will only get worse if the panic remains constant throughout the summer. Even when taking precautions, colds and flu get passed around. You will second guess your own symptoms, plus everyone around you will assume the worst, believing that if you dare leave your house you are a heartless, selfish murderer. Even if the covid test (which you will take) comes back negative after 6-10 days of your self-quarantine, you may be retested and retested until it finally shows a false positive! Then what? Contact tracing and, perhaps, emptying or even closing of the church? I don’t yet know what I will do if I get the sniffles. Being the only priest at a parish, I have had to celebrate Masses with such a bad flu that I couldn’t stand for the whole of the last Mass. But with a covid possibility could I even show up for Mass? Until Fr. Mangiafico recovers, I have no backup. Would you attend Mass offered by a coughing priest under these circumstances? I hope we never have to answer these questions! With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka From the Pastor: Corpus Christi Sequence
Last week we celebrated Corpus Christi on Thursday, the actual day of the celebration, and then on Sunday we celebrated the External Solemnity of Corpus Christi for the sake of those who could not make it on Thursday. I had mentioned on Thursday that it would behoove everyone to get a copy of the sequence (written by St. Thomas Aquinas) and read and study it. Although you will probably find a beautiful poetic translation in your missal, I want you to be able to compare it to a more literal translation, for it is very difficult to translate and keep the same meaning and doubly difficult to do so while also trying to keep a rhyme and meter in a foreign language. So here is one from Abbot Gueranger’s “The Liturgical Year”, a classic commentary on the Masses on the Church’s liturgical calendar of old. It isn’t as melodious as some other translations you might find, but it is powerful in Catholic teaching about the Eucharist! Praise thy Saviour, O Sion! praise thy guide and shepherd, in hymns and canticles. As much as thou hast power, so also dare; for he is above all praise, nor canst thou praise him enough. This day there is given to us a special theme of praise -- the living and life-giving Bread, Which, as our faith assures us, was given to the twelve brethren, as they sat at the table of the holy Supper. Let our praise be full, let it be sweet: let our soul’s jubilee be joyous, let it be beautiful; For we are celebrating that great day, whereon is commemorated the first institution of this Table. In this Table of the new King, the new Pasch of the new Law puts an end to the old Passover. Newness puts the old to flight, and so does truth the shadow; the light drives night away. What Christ did at that Supper, that he said was to be done in remembrance of him. Taught by his sacred institution, we consecrate this bread and wine into the Victim of salvation. This is the dogma given to Christians -- that bread passes into Flesh, and wine into Blood. What thou understandest not, what thou seest not, that let a generous faith confirm thee in beyond nature’s course. Under the different species, which are signs not things, there hidden lie things of infinite worth. The Flesh is food, the Blood is drink; yet Christ is whole under each species. He is not cut by the receiver, nor broken, nor divided: he is taken whole. He is received by one, he is received by a thousand; the one receives as much as all; nor is he consumed, who is received. The good receive, the bad receive, but with the difference of life or death. ‘Tis death to the bad, ‘tis life to the good: lo! how unlike is the effect of the one like receiving. And when the Sacrament is broken, waver not! but remember, that there is as much under each fragment, as is hid under the whole. Of the substance that is there, there is no division; it is but the sign that is broken; and he who is the signified, is not thereby diminished, either as to state or stature. Lo! the Bread of angels is made the food of pilgrims; verily it is the Bread of the Children, not to be cast to dogs. It is foreshown in figures: when Isaac is slain, when the Paschal lamb is prescribed, when Manna is given to our fathers. O good Shepherd! true Bread! Jesus! have mercy upon us: feed us, defend us: give us to see good things in the land of the living. O thou, who knowest and canst do all things, who feedest us mortals here below, make us to be thy companions in the banquet yonder above, and they joint-heirs, and fellow-citizens with the saints! Amen. Alleluia. With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka From the Pastor: The Extra 1:00 Mass Not Always TLM!
I want to thank all of you who are making the sacrifice to attend the extra Mass we have started up at 1:00 pm on Sundays. The first week about 140 attended (it was a First Holy Communion Mass for the children who were locked out of their most special Mass during the Covid panic), most of whom would have normally been at the 10:30 Mass. (As a side note, we had a number of children who were not able to make it to their re-scheduled First Holy Communion date, so we will welcome them at the 1:00 Mass on June 28th as they receive Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament for the first time!) The 10:30 Mass that first Sunday back had about 180 people at it. That low number allowed for mandated anti-social spacing in the church. 114 people attended the 7:30 that day as well, about normal for that Mass. Last week, with no First Holy Communion bringing people specifically to the 1:00 Mass, we still had just over 80 people there. The 7:30 was about the same, so the rest of the people attended the 10:30, overflowing into the social hall once we reached the limit in the church. I am going to continue offering the extra Mass as long as it is needed and as long as people continue to make the sacrifice to attend what is admittedly not the most convenient Mass time. If everyone from the 1:00 Mass attended the 10:30 Mass either of the two weeks it has so far been offered, both the church and hall would have been maxed out to capacity and people would have been standing outside for the entire Mass. I do have to remind you that, no matter which Mass you attend, you have to wait outside or in your car until after we sanitize the pews, doors, etc., between Masses. Congregating in the social hall or near the doors is not allowed. Things are not normal. And when things are not normal, it should not be a surprise when even more abnormal things occur. During this time when we are just getting back to Sunday Masses and are trying to figure out what kind of Mass schedule will allow for the Covid limits on the congregation, I received a letter which I had already given up on getting. Long ago I had offered to celebrate Mass according to Divine Worship, the Missal used by the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter, since they did not have a priest of the Ordinariate anywhere in our diocese. The Ordinariate is composed of members of the Anglican, Episcopal, or Methodist churches who have converted to Catholicism. They retain the use of their own missal and many other traditions and they have their own bishop. My bishop, Gregory Parkes, and the Ordinariate bishop, Steven Lopes, agreed that I can celebrate Mass for the Ordinariate once per month for the next year and see if their community can be built up in this area. It is a Catholic Mass and is very much like the Traditional Latin Mass except that it is done in English. It also, strangely, uses the Novus Ordo readings even while keeping the Traditional calendar. Of course, I now have the problem of already having added in an extra Mass for the TLM community on Sundays and I just cannot see adding yet one more Mass, rushing through it to get done before St. Joseph Vietnamese Community comes in for their Sunday evening prayers and Mass. So on the first Sunday of every month the 1:00 pm extra Mass will not be a TLM but will be an Ordinariate Mass. The first one will be on July 5 and will continue each first Sunday. Again, it is Catholic, and all Catholics fulfill their Sunday obligation (which is still not an obligation due to the coronavirus dispensation given by Bishop Parkes) by attending this Mass. So come if you like! One more note of interest for you. Fr. Mangiafico and I are taking turns with the Masses and will not be assisting at each other’s Masses due to the possibility of Covid Contact Tracing. Should somebody who attends Mass later turn up with Covid we don’t want to both be told that we must quarantine for two or more weeks at the same time, which would eliminate all Masses at Epiphany! By staying away from each other and by avoiding being with the same people at the same Mass, even if one of us gets quarantined, the other can take over all the Masses. Is this being overly cautious? Maybe, maybe not. After a deacon who attended a deacon ordination Mass in Georgia was found with Covid, three parishes canceled Masses because the pastors had been at that Mass. Since shortly after this thing began, somebody calls the police on us every week, sometimes several times a day. What do they think we are doing that’s illegal or expect the police to do? I don’t know. Complaints and photos from inside our church have also been sent to the bishop. It seems that somebody wants to stir up trouble and we can take steps to avoid at least this one thing. So if you attend Mass with Fr. Mangiafico, don’t then come to the rectory looking for me or vice versa. You could then be the link to us both being in quarantine. Sheesh! What a world we live in. With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka From the Pastor: Belief in the Trinity
This weekend we celebrate Trinity Sunday. Belief in the Blessed Trinity, that is, in the reality that God is Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, three Persons in One God, is absolutely essential to our Catholic Faith. Yet it is such a profound mystery that even contemplating it for one’s entire life will never allow for a complete understanding. It is the essence of God, after all, and we are just puny brained humans. Created in His image and likeness, no doubt, but not All Knowing like He is. Yet still, in order to more fully know, love, and serve Him in this world so as to be happy with Him forever in the next, many a man has attempted to understand and explain this mystery as well as possible. Many have done so incorrectly, falling into heresy. Many have done so well, but even the best still falls short. St. Augustine, for instance, wrote 15 books on the Trinity and still ended with a prayer that basically said (and I am grossly paraphrasing here), “I wrote a whole lot of intelligent words but still failed to fully grasp and explain You due to my ignorance. Sorry about that, Lord.” St. Athanasius, on the other hand, has a creed attributed to him in which, in just a relatively few words, he gives his best shot at summing up the Trinity, or at least our belief in the Trinity. It, too, is incomplete, but at least it is brief! Today is a good day to read this, multiple times, perhaps, and come to a greater understanding (or at least appreciation of) the Most Holy Trinity. Enjoy. Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the Catholic Faith. Which Faith except everyone do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly. And the Catholic Faith is this, that we worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity. Neither confounding the Persons, nor dividing the Substance. For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Ghost. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Ghost is all One, the Glory Equal, the Majesty Co-Eternal. Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Ghost. The Father Uncreated, the Son Uncreated, and the Holy Ghost Uncreated. The Father Incomprehensible, the Son Incomprehensible, and the Holy Ghost Incomprehensible. The Father Eternal, the Son Eternal, and the Holy Ghost Eternal and yet they are not Three Eternals but One Eternal. As also there are not Three Uncreated, nor Three Incomprehensibles, but One Uncreated, and One Incomprehensible. So likewise the Father is Almighty, the Son Almighty, and the Holy Ghost Almighty. And yet they are not Three Almighties but One Almighty. So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God. And yet they are not Three Gods, but One God. So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, and the Holy Ghost Lord. And yet not Three Lords but One Lord. For, like as we are compelled by the Christian verity to acknowledge every Person by Himself to be God and Lord, so are we forbidden by the Catholic Religion to say, there be Three Gods or Three Lords. The Father is made of none, neither created, nor begotten. The Son is of the Father alone; not made, nor created, but begotten. The Holy Ghost is of the Father, and of the Son neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding. So there is One Father, not Three Fathers; one Son, not Three Sons; One Holy Ghost, not Three Holy Ghosts. And in this Trinity none is afore or after Other, None is greater or less than Another, but the whole Three Persons are Co-eternal together, and Co-equal. So that in all things, as is aforesaid, the Unity in Trinity, and the Trinity in Unity, is to be worshipped. He therefore that will be saved, must thus think of the Trinity. Furthermore, it is necessary to everlasting Salvation, that he also believe rightly the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the right Faith is, that we believe and confess, that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man. God, of the substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds; and Man, of the substance of His mother, born into the world. Perfect God and Perfect Man, of a reasonable Soul and human Flesh subsisting. Equal to the Father as touching His Godhead, and inferior to the Father as touching His Manhood. Who, although He be God and Man, yet He is not two, but One Christ. One, not by conversion of the Godhead into Flesh, but by taking of the Manhood into God. One altogether, not by confusion of substance, but by Unity of Person. For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one Man, so God and Man is one Christ. Who suffered for our salvation, descended into Hell, rose again the third day from the dead. He ascended into Heaven, He sitteth on the right hand of the Father, God Almighty, from whence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. At whose coming all men shall rise again with their bodies, and shall give account for their own works. And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting, and they that have done evil into everlasting fire. This is the Catholic Faith, which except a man believe faithfully and firmly, he cannot be saved. With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka From the Pastor: A Different Way
Have you ever had a friend whose comments on Facebook always come across as bossy, too blunt, haughty, or even cruel, even when you know that they never meant any offense? People like that can be completely oblivious as to how they come across, even when they have it pointed out to them on a regular basis. They are, in a manner of speaking, tone deaf to their own words and, even reading them again and again, will not see why others don’t get what they write and how they write and what they meant when they wrote. That does not mean that they are bad people, in fact they may actually be your best friends and you enjoy everything else about them, so you, knowing them outside of their social media comments, can overlook this fault. Others, though, not knowing them or, after getting upset with their comments one too many times, just cannot stand them. Blocked. Defriended. Enough is enough. After setting this stage for you, what if the tone deaf person was your pastor? What if it wasn’t Facebook comments that he just couldn’t get right but rather it was his bulletin articles or his homilies? Yes, this is about me. I have been reminded once again by very well meaning and loving people, that I am tone deaf to what I write and preach. I can come across as giving vinegar rather than a refreshing drink of everlasting water, or as purposefully trying to raise a ruckus, or even to incite people’s wrath against, well, you name it: protestants, muslims, atheists, priests, bishops, the Pope, or the Church. I see myself as pointing out obvious and sometimes not so obvious disagreements in doctrine, Scripture interpretation, liturgy, and other issues, not to put the others down but to warn against indifferentism and other dangers to the one, true Faith. I don’t see publicly disagreeing with religious superiors about non-doctrinal issues as being disobedient or as biting the hand that feeds me, but others see it as being anything but Catholic and as being unfaithful, and certainly unloving. I read my words and hear my voice and believe that, while knowing that I am not coming across as sweet and cuddly, I am striking a good balance (usually--I really screw up royally once in while and know it) in laying out facts and opinions, moral goods and moral evils, apologetics for the Faith, lives of the Saints, and encouragement to grow in holiness. And even when people tell me that they don’t interpret me in the way I expect them to, I am tone deaf about what they see and hear. I really don’t want to be this way. I want to be able to hear constructive criticism, understand it as it is given, and change in such a way as to actually come across the way I already think I should be coming across. So today I am putting this in writing so that you can hold me accountable to it. That doesn’t mean that I am going to compromise the Faith, saying that sin is not sin or that everybody is going to Heaven no matter what they do or believe. No, I still have a duty to be fully and faithfully Catholic in all things but I will try to find a way to do it without being a jerk. There is bound to be someone reading this who is thinking, “But Father, I like the way you preach and the things you write!” and to you I say, “Thank you for the kind words that I just put into your mouth! But I am pastor to everybody else, too, and I must find a way to be ‘all things to all men, that I might save all’ as some famous guy once said. (Or did that come across as too cutesy, instead of just attributing the quote to St. Paul in 1 Cor. 9:22?) In the past few weeks I have used this space to vent my frustrations with Bishop Parkes specifically and many other bishops generically in their response to the coronavirus. I should not have done so and I am sorry to have forced my frustration upon you, adding to your own issues during these stressful times rather than helping alleviate your problems. I can’t put the toothpaste back into the tube, as the saying goes, but I can refrain from squirting out the next batch without purpose. I have written the bishop an apology directly, but it wasn’t until being called on the carpet that it even occurred to me that he might be very hurt by my writings. That is how tone deaf I really am. Now I apologize to those of you whom I have hurt due to my lack of taking your concerns seriously enough if you have come to me with issues of this kind. These are not empty words, I truly am sorry. I ask for your prayers in this endeavor to change. Just as I cannot imagine that Ernest Hemmingway could write a novel that sounded like William Faulkner had written it or that Ernest Borgnine could replace Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca, neither do I expect that my writing and preaching will resemble anyone else’s but my own no matter how much I try to change. So please don’t expect me to become a clone of your favorite writer or homilist. But expect me to become better at being me. And hold me to it. With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka From the Pastor: The Safest Mass!
As the Covid-19 scare continues everyone is trying to figure out which “system” works best for opening up closed businesses. The Church is no different than businesses in this regard. How can we celebrate Mass with the least possibility of spreading around a very virulent virus? I have been trying to piece together what would be the ideal form of Mass for battling this virus. Any bishops who wish to use my findings are most welcome to do so. First of all, some people worry that the virus can be aerosolized, or sprayed through breath, so the obvious solution is a Mass without a choir. That is not ideal for big celebrations, solemnities, and other great festivals, but it is not unworkable. The virus in its airborne form travels fewer than 6 feet unless the person infected sings, shouts, talks loudly, or otherwise projects his voice in a lung-emptying manner. There should be no singing (nor any verbal responses) from the pews, either, since if a choir can infect others, so much more can several hundred “active participants” spread the virus. With singing and speaking being eliminated the virus will not travel anywhere near six feet from the infected breather. Bishops are suggesting using only every other pew, to give the virus time to fall before hitting a person. But it will not travel 6 feet if it encounters a “roadblock”, such as the crook of your arm, or another solid obstacle. The virus will seemingly stop at the barrier and stick to it. Barriers are good but we don’t need plexiglass in the pews. We can simply use every pew, not every other one, so that the clothing on the backside of the people in front of others becomes barriers! The person behind you will, if infected, cover your back with the breathed-out virus, keeping it from going any further. You don’t touch your back so you won’t infect yourself and you become a virus filter for everyone else. Friction, which you will have every time you sit or adjust yourself in your pew, car, or Lazyboy, evidently kills the coronavirus, as does laundering clothing, so the filter is self-cleaning! Also, unless the infected person breathes through his ears, he will not infect the people on either side of him, so there is no reason to sit six feet apart from him. In fact, the closer we pack the people in, the better the chance that the human filter in front will do all the dirty work, as fidgeting, moving around, and turning every which way would be eliminated in a tightly packed congregation. The priest should face away from the people so that he can neither give nor receive the virus. The altar boy should also not hold the missal for the priest, as each would then be breathing directly into the face of the other. Rather, the missal should remain always on the altar and the priest should say the prayers and read the readings facing away from everybody. The few times the priest should turn to address the people, he should be far from them, perhaps with the sanctuary marked off with a barrier of some sort, like an altar rail, and should keep his head humbly facing slightly down in order to force the virus particles to the floor more quickly. A homily could easily be dispensed with under such circumstances, like the Tridentine (but not Novus Ordo) liturgical rules allow, eliminating the only major time an infected priest would spew his viruses toward the people or vice versa. Obviously, a safe Mass would also have no sign of peace (even turning to wave makes people breathe towards each other) and no hand-holding at -- or even congregational recitation of -- the Our Father. At Communion time the people could approach the barrier (altar rail) and, since they don’t breath sideways, kneel (so that they are not standing face to face with the priest) side by side to receive Holy Communion on the tongue without saying a word, not even “amen.” The priest could give the Benediction to each person using a whispered prayer, virtually eliminating any chance of viruses escaping his mouth. It is much better that only one person, the priest, distribute Holy Communion rather than increase the odds of having an infected distributor by employing extraordinary ministers. Also, since the hands are the main carriers of the virus to the eyes, nose, and mouth of the uninfected person, distributing Holy Communion on the tongue eliminates all possibility of the priest touching a virus-laden hand and passing it on to every other person from that point forward. It goes without saying that the priest should be the only one consuming the Precious Blood and should purify the sacred vessels himself. Formal prayers after Mass, which break the utter silence of the congregation up until then, would be recited by the people on their knees with bowed heads and in subdued voices. Time spent afterward in silent thanksgiving not only would spread no virus but would give people the chance to depart whenever they finish rather than uniformly in an unsafe group jostling each other, fighting for the exits as the Mass ends. It should be clear by now that the safest form of Mass is a crowded Traditional Latin Low Mass. Worldwide, only it should be celebrated until such time as we can, perhaps in stage 2, transition into an occasional High Mass or, in stage three, Solemn High Mass. By then, we should all be inoculated against all other unsafe forms of Mass and liturgical abuses will depart with the coronavirus! With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka From the Pastor: Happy Mother’s Day!
The churches in the Diocese of St. Petersburg are about to open up for public Masses again. Tomorrow. Not today. So today I want to show you excerpts of what Bishop Parkes wrote about the opening of the churches to the public celebration of Mass (you can read the whole thing on our website). There are some very good guidelines in here. Guidelines, note well, are not Canon Law. Some bishops have overstepped once again their authority and mandated (mandates are beyond guidelines) certain things that are overly oppressive and some that actually contradict Church law. Not here. Our bishop did a good job with these, using words like “should” and “recommended” instead of “must.” Anything in here that I might have done differently is simply a matter of prudential judgment, not a matter of right or wrong, good versus evil. So read them well, and get ready, for the Mass is coming back! 1. General Provisions a. Inform all persons at greater risk that they are dispensed from the obligation to attend Mass. The same should be told to those who are feeling sick or experiencing respiratory symptoms as well as those who may be fearful of gathering in large groups too soon. b. Parishes currently live streaming Masses for those who are at risk or sick should continue doing so. c. Place hand sanitizers near the entrances to the church. Those entering and exiting the building are to perform hand hygiene. [Note: Bring your own, as there are none on the store shelves for us to purchase.] d. Regularly clean and disinfect commonly touched surfaces in the church (see Page 5). e. Face coverings are highly recommended. f. Parishioners should be encouraged to bring their own hand sanitizer and face coverings. g. It is recommended that hymnals and missalettes be removed for the time being. The parish could provide one-time use service sheets with music, use projection screens or provide online worship aids to the parish webpage that are accessible by cellphones. 2. Limiting the Size of the Congregation & Social Distancing (25% of capacity) [125 for Epiphany in the church. Additional in the hall, though space is limited there. Outdoors there is plenty of space, though your vision will be blocked by walls!] b. Distancing: The faithful are to be reminded to maintain a 6-foot distance from each other at all times. c. Delineating Areas: -Seating within the worship space may be limited to every other pew... In areas where the faithful would normally stand (e.g. to receive Communion or waiting to go to confession), place tape on the floor to indicate proper spacing between persons. -Station ushers at the entrances to “direct traffic” and to remind people to keep 6 feet apart when entering and exiting the building. -If all available spaces are filled, do not admit additional people to the church building. -Encourage the people to maintain social distancing everywhere on the church property (on the steps, in the parking lot, etc.). d. Families/Households: Members of a single household do not need to practice social distancing and may sit together. [There are many guidelines for the Mass itself which are applicable only to the Novus Ordo which I will omit here, but here are some that you may find interesting.] -The faithful should remove face coverings before receiving Holy Communion. -(Pastors may need to designate a special Communion station for those who prefer Communion on the tongue.) Beyond that, Bishop Parkes is now allowing baptisms and confirmations to take place once again. We missed our First Holy Communion date and our Confirmation date for children. We also missed Holy Saturday, the day when we traditionally bring adults into the Church through Baptism, Confirmation and Communion. We can now start to plan those celebrations. Oh, yeah, I almost forgot. Happy Mother’s Day! With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka From the Pastor: A New World Order Without God
This week it became illegal to be outside from 9:00 pm until 5:00 am in Hillsborough County. According to the Tampa Bay Times E-Newspaper on Thursday, “The penalties for violating the curfew are the same as those in place for the safer-at-home order. It's a second-degree misdemeanor carrying a fine of up to $500 or up to 60 days in jail.” Did the Wuhan virus turn all of our government officials into Chinese Communist government officials? Can you imagine getting fined $500 for stepping outside to smoke? Going to jail for two months for taking your crying baby for a nighttime walk or drive to calm him down and to allow the rest of the household to get some shut-eye? Of course, those are two silly extreme cases and nobody would ever get fined or jailed for either one, right? Right? You cannot say “right” with certainty anymore. One month ago, this would have been seen as preposterous. Today, not so much. The mayor of Tampa, according to the same article, wanted the curfew but thought it should start two hours later. Big whoop. “Castor said she doesn't want people to get 'wrapped up around the axle' of details like dog-walking. She hopes they'll focus on the larger picture the need to keep practicing safe behaviors to slow the virus.” So she doesn’t mind the house arrest if it starts when she thinks it should start, and thinks we shouldn’t get worried or upset about getting in legal trouble for night-time dog walking as if it is no big deal! And for what purpose is this martial law imposed upon us? To “slow the virus.” Note: not to “stop” the virus. Not to “eliminate” the virus. Simply to “slow” the virus. For what purpose? To make sure everyone gets sick at the most convenient time for the hospitals? To make sure everyone gets sick at the most convenient time for those who want to instill more communism and socialism into government? Certainly not for MY convenience! I would rather have been sick two weeks ago so that by now I would either already be dead (highly unlikely, as the death rates keep inconveniently staying waaaaay below the predictions of all of the “experts”) or already recovered. But as it now stands, I and all of my fellow priests (save one, who picked up the virus while traveling before this lockdown went into effect) are all safe and snug in our little rectory cocoons. We have not been exposed to the virus. We have not gotten sick from it. So what happens when the world and churches, which have been following, rather than leading the world, open up again? Everyone who has been sick will probably (if this is like most coronaviruses) be immune to it for maybe three years, as we experienced with SARS. But those who have been sheltered and sequestered and curfewed will be exposed all at once and will start getting sick all at the same time and we will start the whole shutdown and panic all over again. Only those who carry proof of immunity will be allowed back out in public. “But Father,” you might be thinking, “you are only a priest and not a government lackey. How could you possibly know what is happening? Shouldn’t you trust the government leaders? You stick to protecting man’s soul and they will stick to protecting man’s body.” Horsefeathers! “Flattening the curve” has absolutely nothing to do with caring for man’s body, his life, or his health. It is simply, as government is wont to do, procrastinating and kicking the can down the alleyway to be dealt with at a future time. “Trust us!” they say, “We will have a vaccine for you (developed from aborted baby body parts) in another 18 months or so. You can resume normal activities then.” Even a fool can see that there will no longer be a “normal” then. Communism will rule, tyrants will have complete control, and the Church, which has all but carried the water for the government team up to this day, will be dissolved, with only the remnant remaining underground. This week a protestant minister, whose entire congregation was fined $500 (each) after having come to services in the church parking lot, where they stayed in their cars with the windows rolled up and listened to his sermon on the radio, won a quick ruling from a judge who said that religious rights cannot be trampled like that. The local government is appealing and still threatening more $500 per person fines for every occupant of each vehicle which drives up this Sunday. Attorney General William Barr issued a statement that "Religious institutions must not be singled out for special burdens." The protestants and the seculars are outshining the Church leaders! To date (this is being written Thursday, April 16) only one Catholic Bishop, Peter Baldacchino of Las Cruces, New Mexico, has once again allowed “public” Masses to be held. But even he has gone along with the absurd government rule of allowing no more than 5 people (including the priest) to congregate at any one time! Yet he is the epitome of Courageously Living the Gospel among bishops. Will some or many of the Catholic laity and priests of Las Cruces get sick? It seems possible, even likely, though nearly infinitely less so at Mass than at the grocery store, even though Mass will get the blame. Some tiny percent will even die. But sickness and death afflict everyone, even without an atheistic, police state takeover of their lives. Why would any Catholic prefer deferred illness and death with neither sacraments nor liberty? With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka From the Pastor: Happy Easter?
For the past week, I have been making sacramental home visits to parishioners. So far, I have visited parishioners in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Hernando, and Manatee counties and have traveled 663 miles while giving people the ability to go to confession and receive Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament according to the old Rite of Distribution of Holy Communion Outside of Mass. (On occasion I have turned on the radio when driving, only to find a constant stream of gloom and doom, death and destruction, superficially all about the coronavirus but in reality all about a raw power grab by government and quasi-government officials. So, instead of filling my head with pure sewage, I pray the Rosary as I drive. Lots and lots of rosaries!) I now bring a sheet with me that gives the people all of the prayers they need for this Rite, and I have it in both Latin and English. I am required to say my prayers in Latin, of course, but the people may say theirs in English if they are not conversant in Latin. Most have given the Latin a shot, as they are familiar with the prayers because they hear them and/or recite them at the Mass and at Adoration, just before the Benediction is given. Doing the visits outside has been working out quite well. The weather has remained pleasant, never going above the mid 80’s and so far most people have shade for their makeshift alar-table and for a confession spot. There are, of course, bugs and creepy-crawlies in many of those places and I have had many critters pestering me as I sit to hear confessions. If I don’t die of the coronavirus, I may just get West Nile disease, Zika, or Equine encephalitis from the mosquito bites! One particularly fun episode occurred in a yard where small spiders were finding my cassock particularly worthy of exploration. If you have ever flicked a spider off of your clothing you will know that they often put an anchor of web down before they go flying off, and swing in an arc on that new web strand, slowing down and landing quite gracefully when they near the ground. One particular spider, when I flicked him off my sleeve, landed on a nearby log only to have a lizard immediately slurp him up and chomp on his freshly delivered lunch! It’s the little things like that which make these home visits memorable in ways I never imagined when I first announced them. Because the visits have been, so far, made during Lent, I have been bringing with me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich each day. Not that the sandwich is a penance, but in the old rite every day of Lent, excepting Sundays, is a day of fasting. Although two small collations are allowed, no meat may be taken until the later full meal, hence the PB&J sandwich snack. Many people have offered me a bottle of water, but, since I am not entering into the houses, I cannot put in what cannot come out, if you get my drift! One of the best, most loving acts of kindness offered was something that under normal circumstances would have seemed more than a bit strange. One family asked if I needed anything and then said, “We haven’t been able to find any toilet paper and are just about out, but if you need some, Father, we will give you a roll!” Now that might be as close to the “Widow’s Mite” story being lived out as I have ever seen! By the way, another family more recently sent me off with a couple of bags of food and, yes, toilet paper to give out to anyone who comes to the church in need. We have also had others drop off canned and boxed goods for the same purpose, and there have been people coming needing food and paper supplies. It really doesn’t matter if the grocery stores are still open as “essential” businesses when the government says your job is not “essential” and forces you into unemployment and home imprisonment. Oh, but I forgot. This article is about Easter! So let me tell you how my Easter went. You have to remember that I needed to write this before the Feast actually occurred in order to get it into the bulletin, but this is what might have actually happened. Like many other elderly Floridians who live at home by themselves, my Aunt Irma spends most of her time doing crossword puzzles and playing Candy Crush (whatever that is). She rarely reads or listens to the news, she cooks for herself rather than going out to eat, and, like so many other Catholics, she usually only goes to Mass on Christmas and Easter. So, in her normal-life self-isolation, she had no earthly idea that the bishops had canceled all public Masses for the last month and into the foreseeable future. She woke up early on Easter Sunday morning, took her best dress and Easter bonnet out from under piles of mothballs in her old trunk, and happily drove down to her local parish church. She thought it was odd that there was no traffic on the road but she knew something was amiss when there were only three other cars in the church parking lot. There were five puzzled people standing at the locked church doors when she finally made it up to the entrance. They were discussing the sign posted in the front. “Happy Easter! Leave your monetary donation to St. Nonfide Catholic Community in the basket. Go home and watch us on... Oops! I ran out of space. Sorry about that. Happy Easter, I guess. With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka |
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