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From the Pastor: Celebrating Epiphany!
Last Sunday we celebrated our big Epiphany Luncheon and it was a tremendous event. The tables in the hall were decorated absolutely beautifully, although that beauty also kept quite a few families from staying there during the preceding Mass because the parents were afraid that they would spend all of their time policing their children’s hands to keep them out of the salads and dining utensils! That certainly made for one crowded church as so many people decided that it was easier to stand for the Mass! It seems to me that it was worth it to be in the church, though, as the choir outdid themselves (no small feat, for they are always superb). Plus, there is just something special about seeing such a prayerful yet excited crowd of fellow Catholics joining together to pray the Mass before celebrating our parish feast day with a feast. On the downside, I did have a report that several pregnant women were standing the whole time and none of our men got up and gave them their seat. It is possible that there were gentlemen who made the offer and were politely turned down but it is also possible that men are no longer taught the simple courteous act of sacrificing a seat for a lady. “Women’s lib” has certainly wounded our sense of chivalry in many such areas. I put this out there not so much to scold anyone but rather to remind the men to be gentlemen and treat all women, especially the elderly and those with special needs (pregnant, or carrying two infants while corralling 4 others, or hobbling on crutches, etc.) as if they are “ladies” rather than just “one of the guys.” Now, for the sake of those who may be reading this online and are not part of Epiphany parish, please let me explain that “pregnant women” at Mass, although an anomaly at many other parishes, are a common feature around here. Now, back to the feast. After the big Mass, the choir led the congregation in singing Christmas Carols while the last of the festive preparations were being made. The classrooms were all set for fine dining, the hot chocolate booth was loaded with plenty of mini marshmallows, candy canes, whipped cream, caramel and chocolate sauces, and sprinkles, the catering tents were staffed and supplied with copious amounts of lasagna and gluten-free spaghetti. I didn’t know that the spaghetti was gluten-free until near the end of the day but once I found out it explained why so many people didn’t even know that spaghetti was an option! I hadn’t been through the food line so I had just assumed that the trays were side by side and people were given a choice. Instead, those who had specified that they wanted/needed a gluten-free meal when they purchased their tickets were given the “secret knowledge” of the hidden food. I never did find out if they had a secret handshake or special code word they used but somehow they figured it all out. There was also an option for a vegetarian (maybe vegan?) meal but I only saw one person who got that. It looked like we had just enough food to feed the volunteer workers, who gave up sitting down and enjoying the meal so that they could serve the rest of us. They really deserve a lot of thanks and extra prayers! Those who set up the tents, tables, chairs, and other things also took them all down again by the end of the day. It was a lot of work done by a lot of workers and they made it all look like it wasn’t work at all. What a blessing to have such a great group of people here! Thank you all. Last week I let you know that I will be gone for a vacation during the month of March. Since I don’t know what to do or where to go where I don’t need jabs or a suffocation device on my face, people have been making suggestions. Two families have suggested Utah. I checked online for the weather. Whereandwhen.net was the first search result for “weather in Utah in March.” The red banner across the top said boldly, “very bad weather.” It said to expect 19 days under 32 degrees with a mean temperature of 38℉. No thank you! I didn’t need to bother reading further about why the weather was listed as bad. Freezing bad is bad enough. Yes, I am a spoiled Floridian. Somebody, knowing my desire for good weather and the ability to breathe freely, said that I should go to Texas. That is a good choice. But I don’t know exactly what to do in Texas. I have only been there one time, in the heat of summer, visiting my sister who was working on a Master’s Degree somewhere near Dallas. I only remember a few details. First of all, it was extremely hot. (Yes, I complain about heat as well as cold. Go figure.) I remember the oak trees having stunted growth, and seemed to be only about 8 feet tall. And the only lakes were man-made. What else is there in Texas? Anyone know? Finally, one of you suggested that I go to Richmond, New Hampshire. Teens and twenties for overnight temperatures all month long with 1.6-3.5 inches of rain and/or snow during the month. Hmm... That sounds lovely. Not! That actually made Utah look pretty good! Keep the suggestions coming, though. I have already have said, “It’s too cold. It’s too hot.” Maybe in response to the next suggestion I will, like Goldilocks, say, “This one is just right!”. With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka
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From the Pastor: More Water Needed!
Right off the bat, I need to apologize to all of you who were not able to receive any special Epiphany Holy Water! Our newest water jug, at 125 gallons, which I thought would be sufficient, was shown to be woefully lacking in capacity. I had 15 gallons in two smaller containers as well as the large one, all filled to the brim. But they were all empty before even the daily Mass people could fill their containers the next morning. On Epiphany Eve (January 5) we held the traditional Exorcism and Blessing of the Holy Water. Many people brought their own salt to be exorcised and blessed and quite a few even brought their own filled 5-gallon water jugs. Smaller containers were brought in empty to be filled from the large fonts. Several people had asked, “Don’t you exorcize and bless salt and water every week? What is different about this salt and water, then?” The answer to the first question is, yes, I exorcize and bless salt and water and mix them together and pray even more prayers over them every week. We use a lot of holy water around here! Unlike “new” blessed water, which is often just “made” by a priest or deacon making up words of blessing, or, worse, using the non-blessing blessing from the “new” Book of Blessings, to make our “regular” holy water I first exorcize salt and then bless it. Then I exorcize water and bless it. Then say a prayer as I mix them together. And finally, pray again, each prayer building on the others and asking that the water and salt will be sanctified, that it will drive away all sorts of evil spirits and physical evils, bring blessing to things and people, and even that it protect, nourish, and heal those who would use it. The power of that “old rite” Holy Water is even more apparent when compared to the “new rite” “holy water” which does not use salt, does not exorcize the water, does not sanctify the water, does not ask for demons and other evils to be driven away, does not do much of anything except ask that those sprinkled be “refreshed” and “renewed.” Heck, the priest doesn’t even make a single sign of the cross over the water as he prays this ridiculous prayer! But to answer the second question posed above, even this powerful “old rite” holy water pales in comparison to the “old rite” Epiphany Holy Water! For on this one day the choir chants beautiful hymns, psalms, and prayers. The priest adds additional exorcisms preceding the “regular” exorcisms and blessings. He even chants all of his prayers (recto tono, or in a single tone, probably because priests generally won’t be able to chant as well as the choir!). All of this is done with solemnity beyond the usual blessing. It took just about an hour instead of the usual 4 minutes of blessing, giving some idea of how much more effort and ritual goes into making this a special offering to God and, as He is never outdone in generosity, receiving special graces from Him as a result. Unfortunately, this special blessing is missing from the new rituals, so few priests know anything about it, let alone how to do it. I know this quite well, for I never knew about it until recent years. One pastor asked for information about it this year, with the desire to do it at his parish next year. His parishioner is taking some information back to him. But all of the “old rite” blessings are required to be done in Latin, so I am not sure if he and his choir will be able to pull it off. And, since it doesn’t exist in the new rite, it is not found in English except in the “unofficial” translations supplied in the old rite books. In the front of those books, though, it states quite clearly that the blessings are “invalid” if done in the vernacular. Anyway, word is out that this is a powerful sacramental, and people came out in droves to get the water. Since our parish is growing and even people who don’t attend our parish come for things like this that they cannot get at their own parish (begging the question: so why are they not Epiphany parishioners?), we will have to exorcize and bless even more water next year! Now, for something completely different. Fr. Vincent Cappuano, SJ, who used to assist here and teach at Jesuit High School, has offered to come and take over my duties for the month of March. Everything has now gone through the proper channels, his superior and our bishop have both agreed to it, and, unless covid panic ruins everything, I will be gone for the entire month! Of course, there is no place to go, for I do not wish to wear a face diaper as I travel or relax, so visiting relatives in Michigan, Massachusetts, or Chicago is out of the question. Taking a cruise is impossible without multiple jabs and coverings. Even campgrounds are full. But rest assured that I will still find someplace to prop myself up against a tree and read a book or wet a fishing line. I have no problem not responding to emails and phone calls even now, so on vacation, ha! just try to reach me! It is important for you to know that this is happening because if I just disappear as Lent begins, the grapevine might erupt with wild speculation about why I am absent, where I got sent, or other such talk. So now you have two months’ notice that all is well. With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka From the Pastor: Epiphany Water Blessing!
The secular calendar has turned from 2021 to 2022. We have an Epiphany Parish calendar coming out soon (I blame both the backlog of ships off the California coast and the new covid strain for the delay in getting them to you, even though neither is accurate). You should be able to pick one up on the day we celebrate the External Solemnity of Epiphany, January 9. We only had 800 printed up but, with the uptick in numbers the last few weeks, that now looks like a low number of copies! If you were at the 10:30 Mass last Sunday, you saw the reality of that statement. I already had the sacristan put in 50 more hosts than normal, as our numbers have been remaining about 800 in attendance (total for all Sunday Masses) for the month rather than our previous normal of around 750. But even that wasn’t enough. As I saw the people at the halfway point of the church line up, I realized that I was already more than halfway through the number of Hosts in the ciborium and I started breaking them in two. But as the line seemed to extend longer and longer, I asked Fr. Manfiafico to start doing so as well. By the time we were finished, we were quartering them. Even so, we only had a few pieces of Host left when the last person received! It turns out that we set a record last week, with over 900 people at the Masses and 654 at the 10:30 alone. And, since the church only holds 500 people, that means that the rest were relegated to watching on tv in the social hall. Not a good situation but a great problem to have! Although I just mentioned that we will celebrate our parish feast day as an external solemnity on January 9 (which the rubrics allow, in case you were wondering), we still have to follow the proper liturgical calendar for Epiphany, which falls yearly on January 6. We will have the regular 6:30 am and 8:00 am daily Masses on Epiphany itself. But there is also a special blessing of water that occurs the evening before Epiphany. Each year the crowd grows larger as more people participate in it. On Wednesday, January 5, at 6:30 pm we will once again have this solemn exorcism and blessing of salt and water. Last year so many people brought water to be blessed that we filled tables all the way across the front of the church, then filled the space under the tables, and finally filled the floor down the sides of the sanctuary as well. Each water bottle had to have the lid removed, then, when the exorcism and blessing of the salt was complete and the exorcism and first blessing of the water was finished, I added salt to each of the water bottles before giving them all a final blessing. Although I had servers to assist, my fingers had blisters from opening and screwing shut water bottles and there was water and salt all over the floor of the church! Needless to say, it also took quite a bit of time. This year we are doing something a bit different. You may still bring in your own salt to be exorcized and blessed. But, unless you are bringing in 5-gallon or larger bottles of water, bring them in empty. Yes, empty! This year we have a beautiful, cedar-covered 125-gallon water vessel which I will exorcize and bless in the usual way, and then you can fill up your empty water bottles from the large container. We made sure that standard 1-gallon milk jugs fit under the spout, so don’t think that you can only get 2 or 3 ounces. If you will use the water, bring a container. In years past, we blessed many extra bottles of water so that people could pick some up on Epiphany or the following Sunday if they missed the actual blessing ceremony. This year, the large container will be available until it is completely emptied. On the day of Epiphany itself, January 6, we have the blessing of chalk (to be used to give your homes the special Epiphany blessing), gold, incense, and myrrh (recalling the gifts of the Three Kings) and, of course, houses. I will put out sheets for you to use for the annual house blessing so that you know what to do with the chalk and water. Also, although it is still a month away, while you are thinking about special blessings (each of which you will find on the parish calendar) February brings us the extra special blessing of candles on Candlemas Day (February 2) so get your candles ready to bring in. The blessing and candle procession will be at 8:00 am, followed by the Mass for the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The following day, St. Blase (or Blaise) brings not only the well-known and beloved blessing of throats but also a blessing of bread, wine, water, and fruit for the relief of throat ailments (to take to those who cannot make it to Mass—the wine and water can be used, obviously, even later in the year when someone gets a sore throat or other ailment) plus another blessing of candles! This candle blessing the day after Candlemas has long been helpful for all of those who forgot about the first blessing until it was too late yet didn’t want their candles to “go to waste” by being unblessed, so they could take them to church the very next day while it was fresh on their minds! With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka From the Pastor: Christmas Was... Questionable
This Christmas was one full of questions. I hope I don’t bore you with this article dealing with a few of the questions and answers. Even though I am writing this column before the staff takes off for Christmas so that we can get the bulletin ready for the weekend, I can assure you that these questions and answers are as genuine as the questions written about in the recent dubia which brought them all on. To the proposed question: When Pope St. Gregory the Great codified, in the 6th century, what is now often called the Traditional Latin Mass, did he understand that it was going to cause nothing but dissent and loss of Catholic Faith for the next 1500 years? The answer is: Affirmative. Explanatory note: Pope St. Gregory the Great, when he standardized the Mass in the same substantial form as it was to be celebrated until the Great n’ Only Council™, showed us how evil his plan was by mandating that it be celebrated in Latin and that it use, in its more solemn forms, Gregorian Chant. Now it is quite apparent that these three things,1) Standard rubrics and texts to be followed precisely; 2) Latin as the language used; and 3) Gregorian Chant used for sung Masses, show that he certainly planned to undermine the faith of the people of God and to assure that it could never to be accepted by anyone after 1969. Although he cleverly covered his tracks by stressing missionary work and converting, through those efforts, millions of people on every continent who didn’t speak Latin or chant Gregorian in their everyday lives, he must have known that the Church could not really please God by having priests reverently offering up the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and allowing the people to, with full, active and conscious participation, spiritually take their place at the foot of the Cross as the Son of God paid the price for man’s Salvation. Gregory’s nefarious plan was to allow millions of poor, ignorant savages to become holy and die in a state of grace and thereby get to Heaven, as a long-tern “punk” of the far superior in every way (intellectually, physically, emotionally, and—needless to say—spiritually) elites of our times. Now that we are in on his “joke” we can laugh at the stupidity of our forefathers, cast off their silly rubrics, their humility, their holiness, and their sacraments, and get to Heaven without any effort or thought. To the proposed question: Well then, did all of our beloved Saints really become Saints if they celebrated a “bad” Mass and had other “defective” sacraments? The answer is: Negative. Explanatory note: We now know, through our superior intellectual superioritiness, that the only people who were ever in danger of going to hell are those who question covid lockdowns, the delights of sodomy, or female ordinations. Oh, and those who now celebrate or attend the Traditional Latin Mass and avail themselves of other sacraments and blessings which were in use before the pre-Great n’ Only Council™. So, technically, nobody should really be proclaimed a Saint, since we all (exceptions listed above) will get to Heaven no matter what we do or don’t do, believe or don’t believe (exceptions listed above). To the proposed questions: Is Heaven really worth striving for, then? Do sacrifices such as prayer, penance, and almsgiving have any moral or theological value? Is God worthy of our love, worthy of us giving up everything in this world in order that we may be united with Him in the Beatific Vision? The answer is: What a nincompoop you are. Explanatory note: We don’t believe in any of that stuff anymore. You must be a plant from the TLM group. With prayers for your holiness Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka [The above dubia is meant as satire. Should anyone reading this (or having it read/paraphrased/misquoted to them, as they are probably incapable of such intellectual endeavors as reading and understanding what was written) please take a coloring book and teddy bear to your safe spot and sound off on twitter until you feel fully affirmed in your lack of faith and sense of humor.] From the Pastor: What To Expect For Christmas
No, this is not about toys under the tree or coal left in stockings. This is about what to expect here at Epiphany this Christmas. Let me begin with the big questions on the minds of all of the new parishioners. “Why is the church not yet decked out for Christmas? Why is the Nativity set in the rear of the church rather than in front of the altar?” And, from the parishioners who have been here longer, “Where is the inflatable dinosaur with the Christmas present in his mouth? Where are the 3000 lights and mixture of all sorts of plastic, rubber, and wicker statues, figurines, and animals which used to be out front?” As for the answers, the Church is decked out for Advent, not Christmas, since this is Advent Season. Believe it or not, Christmas did not really start 3 weeks before Halloween or the day after Thanksgiving. We are now preparing for the Christ Child to show Himself at His Nativity, not celebrating it as a done deal. As for the Nativity set, there is only one place forbidden to put it in the church building according to church liturgical documents: in the sanctuary. But, since almost nobody celebrates Mass from in front of the altar anymore, that space is considered “wasted space” which needs to be filled with something. So during Lent it often contains a desert scene with a cactus, sand, perhaps a cow skull, and either a tumbleweed or a coiled, dead grapevine. Easter usually has the space filled with lilies and sometimes baskets of colorful eggs. Autumn brings cornucopia horns of plenty, with pumpkins and other squash, and colorful leaves scattered in front of the altar. Advent, of course, fills that space with the forbidden manger scene and dozens of poinsettias and flowers. After all, modern sanctuaries are mostly devoid of anything beautiful, so kitschy items try to make up for the lack of artistic and religious content. The infamous dinosaur out front, along with the many various mismatched objects and multitude of lights, all went away with the St. Joseph Vietnamese Mission when it became its own parish. I haven’t been by their new church to see it recently but I assume that they have it all decked out in all its splendid gaudiness as always. Years ago we had come to an agreement that their community got to decorate the outside however and whenever they chose and our community took care of the inside. That was necessary because they were used to decorating the sanctuary and entire front of the church in such a way that it was impossible for a Latin Mass to be celebrated, with trees and flowers and statues and blinking lights and other objects not only causing distraction but also taking up the spaces where the priest and altar boys needed to stand, sit, and move. Our compromise worked well enough, and I have heard a few people nostalgic for the missing waterfall out front pouring over the plastic tarps draped around their Nativity set. Anyway, last Christmas was our first with the two communities split from each other but because of the covid stuff nothing was “normal” anyway and we struggled to get into a Christmas pattern. This year we are basically starting over and trying to figure out what to do and when to do it. There are no flowers allowed in the church during Advent (except Gaudete Sunday), so we have limited the “decorations” to plain green wreaths and some greenery where flowers normally are found. The social hall will be decorated later this week. Our “flower lady” had to step aside due to family issues so we are looking for someone to step forward and take on the monumentally prayerful task of making flower arrangements for the altar and statues. Any takers? As for the Mass schedule, on Christmas Eve, Friday, December 24 we will have a Novus Ordo Mass at 5:00 pm. Midnight Mass will start at midnight and will be lit by candles. It will be an absolutely beautiful high Mass. Christmas morning we will follow the Sunday schedule of low Mass at 7:30 and hIgh Mass at 10:30, although there will be no confessions following either Mass. The normal Saturday morning Adult Catechism Class has been canceled that day, too. Fr. Tuoc will celebrate a Novus Ordo Vigil Mass at 5:00 pm on Christmas day which will be an anticipated Sunday Mass for the Feast of the Holy Family. But if you know anyone who somehow missed Christmas Mass, they can technically attend that Mass and it will “count” for either Christmas or the Sunday after Christmas (but not both). The Sunday Mass and confession schedule will be as normal on December 26. Of the normal group meetings that take place on Sundays, none have asked us to take them off the schedule, so they remain on the calendar as of this writing. Will they really be meeting that morning? I doubt it but you never know. Just because I will be barely functioning doesn’t mean that everyone else is in the same boat. Monday, December 27, is the Feast of St. John the Apostle and Evangelist, and there is a special blessing of wine after Masses that day. January 1 is not a Holy Day of Obligation this year since it falls on a Saturday. We will have the normal 8:00 am Mass but will also add an extra 10:30 high Mass for those who need a little extra time to get moving that day. The office will be closed from December 24 through January 3, so plan accordingly. With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka From the Pastor: Barefoot! Thunk! Oh Yeah!
Last Sunday started out with a bit of panic before the early Mass. We were expecting a visit from good ol’ Saint Nicholas, who had promised to visit all of our good little boys and girls and bring some treats for them. The children had been instructed to place a shoe out on the picnic tables and, during Mass, Saint Nicholas was going to place in each shoe a bit of gold, Odor Eaters, or candy for the children, as he saw fit. But with only 6 minutes to go before Mass, only three shoes were sitting out. Panic set in, as people thought that the children were going to miss out on this holy visit and that the holy visitor would miss the children. But by the time Mass was done, we had shoes galore filled to overflowing with heavenly treats. It seems that many of the families forgot to bring an extra shoe (or 10 for some of our larger families!) and a simple announcement that it was all right to take off one of the shoes they were wearing and go half-barefooted for Mass this special day was all it took for the “shoe tables” to fill up. And, since we had over 800 people (combined) in attendance at our Sunday Masses, St. Nicholas was not disappointed in the numbers of children to whose faces he could bring many smiles, for we have more children than most parishes he visits. I will get to more about number of people at Mass later in this article. At the 10:30 Mass we didn’t have problems with shoes but rather with the holy water sprinkler (called an “aspergillum”). We begin our prayers with the Asperges at this Mass, and, kneeling in front of the altar and beginning the chant, “A-a-sper-er-er-ge-es-may” I usually sprinkle the altar three times before sprinkling myself, the servers, and the congregation. But this time as I sent the holy water toward the middle of the altar, the top of the sprinkler flew off and hit the altar dead center with a resounding, “THUNK”! We found out later that the ball on top, which holds and disperses the Holy Water, has a threaded rod screwed into the handle on one side and into a nut at the top of the ball on the other, holding it all together. Somehow, it broke in two right in the middle, leaving me with the handle and the bottom half of the ball in my hand and the top piece on the floor somewhere in the sanctuary. My MC dutifully went and got the Holy Water sprinkler that I use for blessing objects outside of Mass and we continued, after that short delay, as if nothing had happened. But I was certainly thanking God that the accident occurred as I was sprinkling the altar instead of some little old lady or child. (There might have been a few altar boys that could have used a good conk on the head, though, but don’t tell them that I said so!) That “backup” sprinkler is constructed differently and instead of having an aspergillum which is dipped into a bucket of water (also called a “stoup” or an “aspersorium” for those of you who may need that information to win at Jeopardy one day), it contains water within its own bulbous handle. Fortunately, I had blessed some items earlier in the day and, realizing that it was almost out of water, had filled it up completely before Mass began! It does send more water flying than the usual one, so if you got sprinkled last week, you probably got really wet! Now, as for the numbers of people at Mass, I have been waiting somewhat impatiently for the new Mass counts to come out for the diocese. As you know, pastors have to report their weekend attendance to the diocese twice a year, in February and October. Last year being the dreadful “covid year” the attendance was down considerably for the February count in all but one parish—ours. We increased our numbers even in the midst of worldwide panic. Of course, since everyone was thinking that they were all going to die, it seems to me that every parish should have had a great increase in Mass attendance (not to mention longer confession lines!) as people prepared to meet their Maker. But was last February’s count just a fluke? Not at all. The October count is now public. Epiphany was once again up in the count. In October of 2019 (pre-panic), we counted 412 people at our combined Masses. During the 2020 panic year, we had 627 in the pews in October. This year we moved up to 753. Fortunately for the other parishes, we are not the only parish with increasing numbers. In fact, two other parishes have now joined us in having numbers above the 2019 counts. According to the diocesan statistics, as of October 2021, Most Holy Redeemer is at 101.1% of their 2019 attendance and St. Anthony the Abbot in Brooksville is at 111.0% of their 2019 count. You may or may not know that St. Anthony the Abbot now has a Traditional Latin Mass on Sundays and Tuesdays or Wednesdays (depending on the season), a factor which I am sure explains their uptick in numbers. And at Epiphany, we are up 182.8% from 2019! Not too shabby for—as I was told when I was sent here by the now-retired Bishop Robert Lynch—a Mass that nobody wants, at a parish to which nobody will go! Full details can be found on the chart hanging in the social hall. Enjoy! With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka From the Pastor: Big Celebrations This Week!
As you are all quite well aware, this week brings us one of the two Holy Days of Obligation of the month of December. This Wednesday, December 8, is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. We will have our usual morning Masses plus one extra high Mass at 7:00 pm. Just as a “heads up” for anyone new to Catholicism, the Immaculate Conception is not Jesus’ Conception! This feast comes just a few weeks before Jesus is born and oftentimes new Catholics think that it is strange that we would celebrate His Conception right before we celebrate His Birth. But that particular feast is named the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary—which really confuses the newbies since it names Mary and not Jesus! But a few seconds of thought put into it and it all makes sense as on that day the Archangel Gabriel told Mary that she was to conceive the Savior, she said “Fiat” and, Lo and Behold, Jesus was Conceived in her Immaculate womb. Our Lord’s Conception was celebrated nine months (not just a few weeks) before His Birth, so we already celebrated it on the 25th of March. At this week’s feast, we celebrate the conception of Mary, who was given the singular grace to be preserved from even Original Sin from the moment of her conception, hence, the Immaculate Conception. Her birth is celebrated nine months after the Immaculate Conception, so we will get to it on September 8. Oh, and the second December Holy Day of Obligation, in case you weren’t thinking too clearly due to reading this while shopping online, is Christmas! The next big celebration, which, due to our parish’s sterling reputation as one having nothing but good little boys and girls, will be celebrated a bit early, is St. Nicholas’ feast day. The actual date for his feast is December 6 but he will make a special visit to us a day early, on Sunday, December 5. If you are reading this online before coming to Mass that day, don’t forget to have the children bring an extra shoe (with their name written inside) to lay on the tables next to the church. St. Nick likes to leave special gifts in children’s shoes during Mass! Then there is the special Rorate Caeli Mass which you have all been waiting for! This coming Saturday, December 11, the morning Mass schedule changes. The 8:00 Mass (and confessions and Adoration which normally follow) have been canceled and instead, we will have a glorious candlelight Mass at 6:30 am followed by some—what else?— sugary snacks. The Rorate Mass is a traditional Mass in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Advent. It actually can be celebrated on multiple days throughout Advent but we limit ourselves to just one. All is dark in the church with the exception of the altar, which is lit by as many candles as we can safely fit on it. Rorate Caeli (or Coeli) desuper et nubes pluant justum, aperiatur terra, et germinet Salvatorem (Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain the just: let the earth be opened and bud forth a Savior) are the opening words of the Introit of the Mass. They are taken from Isaias 45:8 and have, quite obviously, been seen as a prophecy about Our Lord’s birth. So, as we heard from St. Paul just last week, “now is the hour for us to rise from sleep”! For some of you living far away, you will have to rise very early, but “now our salvation is nearer than when we believed” and the early start to the day will be worth it! All of the altar boys, schola members, and sacristans will have to get there even earlier than you and they are the ones begging for this Mass every year! So set your alarm right away so you don’t forget. Since I still have a small space left to write, now is as good a time as any to announce that last month we hired our new Youth Director (or Facilitator or Apostolate Coordinator whatever “new and improved” title they are officially called nowadays). Her name will soon be, if it is not already, well known throughout the diocese as well as at Epiphany, as she will be the very best Youth Director around. Jamiee Salcido has already been working for a long time with the high school youth group and will continue to do so. She is also working with the already-established Young Adult group, and they are planning on ramping things up so watch for that group to start advertising more and more functions. And, starting in January, Jamiee will be starting up an all-new Junior High Youth Group! So, for all of you with children in that age range, start paying attention to announcements, bulletin blurbs, Flocknote emails/texts, and other modes of communication. We have long had requests for activities aimed at this age group but have never had someone willing to lead the group full-time. Now we have one! She will need plenty of help, so be quick to volunteer. Those who volunteer will no longer have the worry (and a justified one at that!) that if they do just one project for the middle school children then they will be “stuck” as their leader forever, for that position is now filled. Of course, as in all positions dealing with children or vulnerable adults in the Church, volunteers must undergo Safe Environment Training put forth by the diocese (now done online at your convenience) and pass the fingerprint scrutiny, which helps to assure that the children are in good hands. With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka From the Pastor: Thanksgiving Day With My Family
Here I am the week before Thanksgiving having to type out this bulletin article in order to get the bulletin printed for the following Sunday before the office staff goes home for the holiday. I am fortunate in the respect that I have much practice in writing about future events before they actually happen, especially when it comes to outings with my family, so that I don’t have to wait an extra week before letting you all know how things went. So here is my Thanksgiving story. Several weeks before Thanksgiving we received a letter from Aunt Irma. She is living in Michigan under the covid dictator who has abused, berated, threatened, and punished the populace into submission to the new religion-superstition commonly called Fauciism, and her Stockholm syndrome was showing itself in full color. In her letter, she stated that she would not attend any family gathering unless all family members, even the ones who would not be present (which makes as much sense as anything else dealing with the jab, since the official battle cry is, “Your lack of vaccination is making my vaccinations fail!”) were double or triple jabbed with the genetic engineering experimental thingamabob. Because she, being a Whitmer victim/survivor, was so full of self-righteousness, and because she correctly believes that she is the favorite matriarch of our family, she was sure that we would all dutifully agree to get sterilized—I mean inoculated with the thing that can only be called a vaccine because “experts” changed the definition of a vaccine after they started injecting guinea-people with it—before her arrival. How silly! While we would miss her terribly, the general thinking was simply, “I get dibs on the extra turkey drumstick!” So while we were all gathered at my sister’s house having a few libations, munching on way too many appetizers, and grousing about the lies and fear being pedaled all day every day by the government, media, woke corporations, and the USCCB, the last person in the world whom we expected to arrive came bursting through the door, dutifully wearing her two masks, plastic face shield, and a tee shirt emblazoned with “Your body, My choice! Mandate now!” Aunt Irma was in the house! After she had realized that she could not Michiganize any of us into taking “the jab that makes you fear non-jabbed healthy people” (none of us Floridians, by the way, were condemning the others for either having or lacking proper jab id, for we all just sighed in exasperation at those who did the opposite of what we did—kind of like normal people used to do—instead of canceling them) she concocted her own special plan for covid safety: she just got herself jabbed and jabbed again and then again and again and again. She counted out how many relatives she suspected to be going without the injection and then she simply went from pharmacy to pharmacy getting “boosted” for each one who rejected the shot. She said that she had received 17 boosters, but that she had lost count around 12 and might have been off by one or two after that. But she was convinced that, temporarily, she need not fear the unvaxed, for her extra vaccinations canceled them out. She figures that will change soon enough, though, and she expects to face lockdowns once again this winter back home, because by Christmas her state will probably be manding an 18th shot to be considered “fully vaxed.” She is, of course, OK with that because, well, you know, “the science.” There was one problem that she hadn’t managed to solve, though, and that was the non-vaccination status of the turkey. In her now-altered mind (from too many hours watching CNN, which did countless more damage than 17 booster shots) she “knew” that covid had come from eating unvaccinated bats in Wuhan, and she figured that a turkey is just a much larger version of a bat, so she was petrified that she would catch covid if she ate the turkey. And she loved the rest of us so much that she made a big deal out of the “fact” that we, too, were all going to die if we ate that sickly winged creature. It didn’t help at all that my brother-in-law had mentioned that he brined the bird overnight, which Aunt Irma equated with the infamous Chinese wet market. We really wanted to just be able to have a great feast in peace with the family, but we were at a loss as to what to do to pacify her. Somebody pulled out a vaccination card and tried to pass it off as the bird’s “safety inspection covid label” but it still had his name on it, so Aunt Irma wasn’t fooled. We were just about at wit’s end, unable to get her to change the topic and unwilling to listen to any more “you’re all going to die and you’re trying to kill me, too!” nonsense when one of the kids remembered watching her dad prepare the turkey. Not only did he brine it, but he injected a slurry of spices deep within the meat using a rather large syringe. She brought that out to show Aunt Irma that the turkey had indeed been vaccinated before it went into the smoker and she witnessed her daddy inject it multiple times, so it must be fully, not just partially, vaccinated! That did the trick. Aunt Irma, full of enough vax to make up for each of us, was happy to eat a rather large, wet market bat/bird thing for Thanksgiving, since it, too, was fully vaxxed. A win for “the science” and a win for the family. With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka From the Pastor: Thank You For Giving!
There are dozens of volunteers at Epiphany who go about their “duties” without drawing attention to themselves or to the work they are doing. It almost seems that the tasks get done by elves in the middle of the night. Some of the tasks take place even in the midst of crowds at the church but are done in such a way that nobody seems to even notice the workers. Today, the weekend leading up to Thanksgiving Day, I wish to point out a few of the things that fall into this important category. I do this for several reasons. First, to thank those who so tirelessly and selflessly give of themselves in taking on necessary or desirable or helpful jobs here at the church, not for recognition but simply out of love for God, His house, and His children. Another reason I want to point out these works of charity is to help others see what kind of things are available for them to do, or to give ideas as to what other kinds of things might be done. People are often hoping that they can help out at the church but are afraid of stepping on other people’s toes, so they don’t do anything. Others look at something and think to themselves that the parish would be at least a little bit better off if only “this” or “that” were done but are afraid of doing it, assuming that if it was always “this” way, there must be a reason far better than that nobody ever did it! As I am writing this, I am going to refrain from mentioning names, since some of the people really don’t want to be named and praised publicly (God knows their names and will reward their efforts and that is enough) but also because I am a coward! I know that I will forget quite a few people and you never know whose feelings will get hurt, so it is easier to just be general and let everyone fill in their own name where it belongs. Let me start with the Sunday food folks. The coffee not only doesn’t brew itself, it also doesn’t stock itself in our pantry! We have volunteers who bring in, at their own expense quite often, all of the food and drinks that can so easily be taken for granted. Coffee, milk, juice, cream, sugar, tea, napkins, donuts, bagels, cream cheese, and even home-made goodies don’t just magically appear all nicely set out for the after-Mass crowd, but rather many people work very hard to make it all happen and then stay and clean up afterward. Of course, many people cannot help out with the food and drinks because they have to rush off to one of the many groups which meet after Mass. But of course those groups are run by volunteers, too! It takes a lot of people a lot of time and energy and often money to run the American Heritage Girls, the Troops of St. George, the Council of Catholic Women, the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, and all of the other groups which meet and fulfill needs at the parish. And even within each group there are a lot of tasks which may seem small but which are absolutely necessary to get done and there are countless people who, while not “in charge” of the group, are extremely beneficial to it running properly. Just as a means of showing this, taking a look at the Holy League, there are men who have “jobs” to do and have basically taken charge of doing them every meeting. The men who light the candles, who set out the monstrance, who lead the chanting and rosary, who put away the humeral veil, who lock the doors, who collect the prayer sheets, and so many other little tasks, which, if not done, would lead to chaos or to the overworking of just one man (me!) and the eventual end of the group. Every group which meets here has people who do those “little things” that make everything run “effortlessly” for everyone else. Then there are those who sing in the schola, who show up for practice at church, who practice at home, who chant for funerals, for special Masses, for Sunday Vespers, and other seemingly endless times when hymns are appreciated. Of course there are altar boys (and altar men!) who serve each liturgical event and men who train them and schedule them, plus sacristans who set up and clear away all the necessary items. And the lady who launders the liturgical linens and the young ladies (DOVES) learning to sew those same linens and the ladies who are teaching them about care of God’s house. There also has been a very visible change in our outdoor area, too, as plants and shrubs and trees and grasses have appeared and disappeared in ways that make the whole landscape look much more beautiful. Unassuming workers have been toiling in hot, humid weather all for the Glory of God and for the edification of the rest of us. Obviously, I am not able to even list all of the groups and individuals who make this church run so well but I am thankful for each and every one of them. If you were reading this and thinking something like, “I never thought about who did that” or “I would be able to assist in this” feel free to join those who are already working in the Lord’s vineyard! Volunteer for something that only you can do or that anyone could do but isn’t being done! And thanks for doing it! With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka From the Pastor: Advent Calendars!
Some of you may think that this is a bit too “Novus Ordo Priest-y” so, if you are squeamish in this way, just skip the rest of the article. But for the rest of you, realize that I am not the “rigid traditional” priest that is so often the stereotypical picture painted of any priest who celebrates the Traditional Latin Mass. You may, if you wish, now shrug your shoulders as if to say, ‘oh, well, let’s see what he has to say” and then continue reading. Now that the Karen’s have left the room, I want to tell a tale about searching for Advent Calendars. Let me begin by addressing the origin of these calendars, for, just like the Advent Wreath, they come to us, not from Catholic tradition, but from Lutheran tradition. Yes, those who are no longer supposed to be reading this could very easily be calling me “Little Francis’ right about now, for, although I am not suggesting that you commission a statue of the heretic priest (Fr.) Martin Luther, I have absolutely no qualms whatsoever about using, in your family home, one of his (or at least his followers’) Advent Wreaths or Advent Calendars to prepare for Christmas! Here is a small summary from Wikipedia of what an Advent Calendar is: “An Advent calendar is a special calendar used to count the days of Advent in anticipation of Christmas. Since the date of the First Sunday of Advent varies, falling between November 27 and December 3 inclusive, many Advent calendars, especially those that are reusable, often begin on December 1, although those that are produced for a specific year often include the last few days of November that are part of the liturgical season. The Advent calendar was first used by German Lutherans in the 19th and 20th centuries.” So, although Luther himself was long since dead and judged before the first use of these calendars, they still come from his line of protesters. To my way of thinking, though, that does not disqualify them from being very useful for Catholics! I remember old Advent calendars which had tabs that children would pull back each day of Advent as they counted down the days to Christmas. Behind each tab was a scripture verse to look up in the bible and read, a chore or some nice thing to do for someone that day (i.e., “Make your bed before being told to do so.”) and—and this was the absolute best part—a piece of candy to eat after the first two things were accomplished! These calendars were simple, they taught children how to use a calendar, how to tell how many days until Christmas, how to look up bible passages, and how to connect “doing something good” to “preparing for Christmas”. So toss aside the protestant roots, Catholics, and climb aboard! But a strange thing has happened recently. After many years of not even thinking about Advent Calendars, I started to see them pop up every once in a while. I even managed to buy some for my nieces and nephews a few years ago when they were younger. But as they grew in popularity again (or, at least, as I started noticing them again) they began to lose all sense of their purpose: to prepare for the birth of Jesus. The calendars started to have snow scenes and winter activities drawn in the place of scenes of Bethlem, the Star, the manger, the Magi, and the Holy Family. No longer do they have bible verses or chores to help you live a Christian life, but, rather, they count down to nothing and contain nothing of substance inside. Oh, sure, the candy may still be there, but that used to be just the reward for learning about Christ’s birth or for being good on account of His love. A few years ago a parishioner brought me an “adult Advent Calendar” of beer. I am certainly not complaining about it, for it was a fun calendar which brought a lot of “holiday cheer” at the rectory! But it wasn’t holy as the Advent Calendars of old. This year I found in my email a company selling three different Advent Calendars with chocolate pieces, so I eagerly clicked to see if they were the old-fashioned kind. Before I tell you what they looked like, I want to point out that they had no price on or around the button that said “purchase” so I couldn’t see how much they cost unless I put them into the “shopping cart”! I wasn’t about to do that, so I checked more closely and found, in small print up at the top under the photo of the calendar, the words “Pay in full or in 4 interest-free installments of $18.75 with ShopPay”! Yes, $75.00 for tiny chocolate pieces in an “Advent Calendar” that (as you have probably already guessed) except for the name “Advent Calendar” didn’t mention or even show anything to do with Jesus, Christmas, Advent, or, get this, even winter! Yes, these were completely and utterly devoid of anything except for numbers set up in calendar fashion for which, I suppose, people actually shelled out a lot of money in order to “feel good” about themselves as they entered into the “holiday” shopping season. After seeing this, I did something that I suggest that only the strong of heart do. Google “Advent Calendar 2021” and see what pops up! Advent Calendars featuring wine, cosmetics, Harry Potter, Disney, jewelry ($499!), Star Wars, dog treats, and more, but no Infant Jesus. Covid is certainly not the worst disease we are facing today. How sad... With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka From the Pastor: Vocations! November 7-13 is National Vocation Awareness Week. The diocese was nice enough to send out, through their new Gulf Coast Catholic newsletter, a reminder of this fact. In the article, there was a link to a “resource page” of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops website. Oh, what joy it was to see such great information about how to encourage vocations! After perusing their page and its links, I came away overly excited about how many new vocations I could get from Epiphany if only I followed their lead! By gosh and by golly, I think I will just share the “good news” with you and show you a smattering of what our national bishops’ conference puts out to really encourage vocations. (Please note the sarcasm. Do not torture your children with the USCCB vocation helps.) From what sounds like it should be a great link, “Recommended Reading List for Discerners”, we find a childish blue/pink image of a priest and a religious Sister that wouldn’t even be attractive to a 5 year old child, let alone a teen or young adult discerning a vocation. Shockingly, the priest has a collar and the Sister is in habit and they are both in the now-politically incorrect traditional colors for their own proper “gender”.  The book list continues beyond what I show above, and, while I don’t recognize all of the writers, there is one in particular who deserves a dishonorable mention. Sr. Joan Chissiter. Should any young lady come to me with a book of hers and say, “Father, this book has changed my life. I want to become a nun!” I would call for an exorcist. I don’t want to be cruel but she can no more lead a woman to a true religious vocation than Fr. James Martin can lead a gay man to chastity. Another link I clicked led to a “vocation homily” for priests to use this weekend. It wasn’t as bad as the image above but it sure didn’t have any meat on the bones, either. We currently, from Epiphany families, have five men and two women in formation for a Church vocation plus one man recently ordained a priest and one woman recently vowed as a Sister. None of them, I dare say, made their decision to dedicate their lives to God and His Church based on a childish image or a homily that, for National Vocations Awareness Week no less, mentioned marriage before the priesthood and consecrated life as a “universal vocation to holiness.” But what do I know? I am just the oddball pastor of those kooky people who want to take the Church backward to something evil, like a time of booming vocations from truly holy Catholic families! As a side note, after our last All Souls Day Mass, one of our young girls asked a very good question. “Why was the tabernacle veiled in purple instead of black like everything else?” Do you know the answer? We never cover the Blessed Sacrament with black! So even on All Souls or any other Requiem Mass, the tabernacle is covered with either violet or white. The same with the pall over the chalice. The chalice veil itself is black, since it is removed before the consecration and not replaced until after the purifications. But the stiff square pall which keeps the bugs and other undesirable objects out cannot be black since it protects (covers) the chalice when it is empty, when it is full of wine, and when it contains the Precious Blood. If we had an altar frontal piece, it, too, would be violet for these Masses, since the altar itself symbolizes Our Lord Who is seen as the True Priest, the Lamb Sacrificed, and the Altar upon which the sacrifice was made acceptable to the Father. How strong a symbol for Jesus does the Church see in the altar! Even I, the priest standing in persona Christi, wear black for a Requiem, yet the altar, much like the Real Presence in the Eucharist, cannot be covered with black. And now you know. With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka From the Pastor: No More APA!
Yes, you read the title correctly. The Annual Pastoral Appeal is no more! We still owe this year’s APA amount but the way the diocese is now going to be financed (remember, the diocesan expenses need to be paid from the collection baskets of all the parishes, since they cannot pass the basket around the workplace to pay the bills!) is being completely revamped. Below is from a memo I received recently explaining part of the change. More will be coming explaining all of this in the near future. Memorandum Enclosed please find the 2022 Catholic Ministry Appeal Goal Worksheet for Epiphany of Our Lord Parish, Tampa, detailing each GL account/subaccount, and the reported amounts for Epiphany of Our Lord Parish, Tampa, for the 2020-2021 fiscal year used to calculate the goal. As communicated at the launch in August and the training workshop in September, for the first year, these goals have been set using the new, simplified formula for reporting revenue for looking at parish assessable revenue: Offertory Plus Donations Less School Support up to $100,000 =Assessable Revenue Times 14.0% = Catholic Ministry Appeal Parish Goal Please remember — this is a goal. It is intended to be challenging, yet attainable based on past participation in the APA. Every parish is expected to put forth a “best effort” toward the new Catholic Ministry Appeal. If a parish puts forth a “best effort” implementing the recommended timeline, communications and activities but does not achieve its goal for the appeal, it will not be responsible for paying the shortfall. Our job is to provide you with the tools you need to be successful. Please visit the Parish Resource Page at www.dosp.org/fakecatholicministry/fakewebpage to download and view all we have created to date, and what is in process. If you find there are additional materials you need that will help you implement a strong appeal, please do not hesitate to contact me by phone at 555-555-5555, ext. 5555 or by email at 007@dosp.org. (Webpage, phone number and email changed to protect the privacy of the person who wrote the memo!) Thank you for your partnership in spreading the Gospel and building up the Kingdom of God! That was the first page of the memo. The second page was a simple graph showing how much money the parish takes in (through the collection basket and other donations) minus our current $7510 exemption for Catholic School Support. Since we just included all of that information in the bulletin two weeks ago, I won’t reprint it here. They took the total of those calculations and multiplied it by 14% and came out with our “New and Improved!” Parish Catholic Ministry Appeal Goal of (gulp) $94,368. Our current (2021) APA is “only” $66,878 of which $46,189 has been paid so far. I expect that we may get a last-minute burst of donations and actually reach our goal again this year, much as we did last year, when we came right down to the wire before the money was paid. This new way of calculating our “goal” has led to a pretty hefty increase but there is a huge difference between the goal of APA and the goal of the new Catholic Ministry Appeal. The APA goal was mandatory. If we didn’t have donations to cover it, the shortfall came out of the parish savings. The Bishop got his money one way or another. The new CMA is “best effort” rather than mandatory. This means that as long as I preach about it, encourage you to willingly give to it, explain where the money you give is going, etc., if we fail to meet the goal, the bishop simply gets what we have given rather than taking the remainder from our savings. I will be giving more information on this new system/process in a few weeks. The priests have at least one more zoom meeting with the bishop coming up soon to help us understand how this simplified process works. I can tell you right now that the bishop is going out on a limb with this, taking a leap of faith in making the contributions voluntary. If the people don’t give, he has to cut out programs, personnel, or other overhead costs. I’ll explain more later. With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka From the Pastor: Are You Registered?
As part of what our building committee is doing to prepare a proposal for our new church, we have had to check on the number of registered parishioners. After all, we are trying to show the bishop that we need a larger, not just a more beautiful, church and that we need a larger, not just a newer, social hall. It is true that we do count the numbers of people in the pew every week so we have those statistics showing our growth, but when it comes to parish registration, which is generally a sign that the person or family plans to remain with the parish, not just visit it when convenient, we are not showing quite so much growth. The diocese showed that in 2015 we had 261 families registered at Epiphany. That is a very strange number, considering that they also showed the Mass count at 87 people in attendance for the Saturday Vigil and Sunday Masses combined! But as of 2021 the diocese only lists us as having 449 registered parishioners even though last weekend we once again broke the 800 person mark for Mass attendance. I have to scratch my head at these numbers and wonder if they really have any meaning since they show that in 2015, even if each registered family consisted of only a single person, 174 families didn’t show up each Sunday. The newest numbers seem to show that, assuming most who are registered actually do show up each Sunday, our families average less than two people, a statistic I find hard to fathom. As meaningless as these stats seem to be, they also show, on paper anyway, that we have only doubled the number of registered families in the past five years while at the same time adding about 700 more people to the congregation each Sunday. So why am I writing about this when I am pointing out that the numbers don’t add up? Because I wish they did! I know that there are people who, for very good reasons, remain registered at a former parish. I have spoken with a number of you over the years and agree that there are times when that should be the case. But I imagine that there are many times more people who just never got around to registering as a family or as an individual, not knowing any particular reason why they should. Many probably think that since they contribute, they are automatically registered, which is not the case. Others have just never thought about it at all. And, while I normally don’t really care about how many people are “on paper” as opposed to in the pew, for the sake of our proposal going to the bishop it certainly will not hurt to have as many people registered as actually consider themselves members of Epiphany! Will it be a statistic that makes or breaks the proposal for a new church? I doubt it very much. But we need to show the reality to the bishop that we truly are a growing parish, that people are not just popping in to see a “show” and will go back to their old parish when the newness wears off. So this weekend you will find parish registration papers just about everywhere: in the back of the church, in the social hall, and in the restrooms (ok, maybe not there). Please fill one out if you have not registered. If you are unsure if you are registered, just fill it out and put a note on top to that effect. If you have changed addresses, email, phone numbers, marital status, or number of children since you registered, this is a great time to update that information. Simply fill out the form and leave it this week, bring in the completed form to the office during the week, or place it in the basket next Sunday. Other things that the building committee members are spearheading include the following: — The land survey is still being done. Stakes and pink ribbons mark various things all over the place. The survey is not only going to show exact property lines but also the number and type of trees, the land elevation differences, and maybe other stuff of which I am not aware but which will be needed before we can obtain permission and permits to build. — A “wealth survey” is underway, studying how much money it is realistic to expect that we can raise from our congregation and from other outside donors. How they get all the information is as much a mystery to me as the already-mentioned parish registration statistics. But it is scary how much public information is available that they are able to mine for this purpose. — Preliminary diagrams of the new church have been printed, revised, revised again, re-re-re-revised, and will continue to be revised as we dream about sizes, shapes, heights, and placement of various necessities of the building (and a few desirable extras as well). — Marketing ideas and other such things are also on the agenda as we look to “sell” the project to the general public and possible outside donors. — Other various and sundry details are being hashed out, looked into, brainstormed, and generally tossed around as we try to make certain that all of this is being done for the glory of God, the conversion of sinners, and the salvation of souls. I ask your continued prayers for our parish and for our building committee members as well as for our bishop, who needs to see the value in what we are doing and why we are doing it. With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka From the Pastor: Abbot and Costello!
It’s time for a little levity. This was sent to me a while back, unattributed, unfortunately. AwakenWithJP just released a similar but even better skit on video, using life jackets. Funny guy. I’ll post it on the webpage. (For those reading this on the webpage, click this sentence for the video!) ABBOTT AND COSTELLO’S ‘WHO’S BEEN VACCINATED? Bud: ‘You can’t come in here!’ Lou: ‘Why not?’ Bud: ‘Well because you’re unvaccinated.’ Lou: ‘But I’m not sick.’ Bud: ‘It doesn’t matter.’ Lou: ‘Well, why does that guy get to go in?’ Bud: ‘Because he’s vaccinated.’ Lou: ‘But he’s sick!’ Bud: ‘It’s alright. Everyone in here is vaccinated.’ Lou: ‘Wait a minute. Are you saying everyone in there is vaccinated?’ Bud: ‘Yes.’ Lou: ‘So then why can’t I go in there if everyone is vaccinated?’ Bud: ‘Because you’ll make them sick.’ Lou: ‘How will I make them sick if I’m NOT sick and they’re vaccinated.’ Bud: ‘Because you’re unvaccinated.’ Lou: ‘But they’re vaccinated.’ Bud: ‘But they can still get sick.’ Lou: ‘So what the heck does the vaccine do?’ Bud: ‘It vaccinates.’ Lou: ‘So vaccinated people can’t spread covid?’ Bud: ‘Oh no. They can spread covid just as easily as an unvaccinated person.’ Lou: ‘I don’t even know what I’m saying anymore. Look. I’m not sick. Bud: ‘Ok.’ Lou: ‘And the guy you let in IS sick.’ Bud: ‘That’s right.’ Lou: ‘And everybody in there can still get sick even though they’re vaccinated.’ Bud: ‘Certainly.’ Lou: ‘So why can’t I go in again?’ Bud: ‘Because you’re unvaccinated.’ Lou: ‘I’m not asking who’s vaccinated or not!’ Bud: ‘I’m just telling you how it is.’ Lou: ‘Nevermind. I’ll just put on my mask.’ Bud: ‘That’s fine.’ Lou: ‘Now I can go in?’ Bud: ‘Absolutely not?’ Lou: ‘But I have a mask!’ Bud: ‘Doesn’t matter.’ Lou: ‘I was able to come in here yesterday with a mask.’ Bud: ‘I know.’ Lou: So why can’t I come in here today with a mask? ….If you say ‘because I’m unvaccinated’ again, I’ll break your arm.’ Bud: ‘Take it easy buddy.’ Lou: ‘So the mask is no good anymore.’ Bud: ‘No, it’s still good.’ Lou: ‘But I can’t come in?’ Bud: ‘Correct.’ Lou: ‘Why not?’ Bud: ‘Because you’re unvaccinated.’ Lou: ‘But the mask prevents the germs from getting out.’ Bud: ‘Yes, but people can still catch your germs.’ Lou: ‘But they’re all vaccinated.’ Bud: ‘Yes, but they can still get sick.’ Lou: ‘But I’m not sick!!’ Bud: ‘You can still get them sick.’ Lou: ‘So then masks don’t work!’ Bud: ‘Masks work quite well.’ Lou: ‘So how in the heck can I get vaccinated people sick if I’m not sick and masks work?’ Bud: ‘Third base From the Pastor: Bits and Pieces
This week’s column is just a few bits and pieces of stuff. Nothing too important, just random thoughts and happenings. So if you are pressed for time, just skip the rest of this column. Really! Last week I was traveling down Highway 301 in a section where it is a four-lane divided highway. There were three cars in front of me and the front car kept hitting the brakes for no apparent reason. We were traveling about 35 mph in a 45 zone at the time. When there was a break in the left lane traffic which kept whizzing past, I pulled over to pass the aggravating constant-braker. Unfortunately, the car I pulled behind was driven by someone who felt the need to brake every time the car to the right put on the brakes. So now in the right lane was the slow-driving brake-loving car followed by the two other cars which had previously been in front of me now blocked in by the “I brake for brake lights” car I was now stuck behind in the left lane. I wasn’t in a hurry to get to my destination but what an aggravation. Fortunately, I had the rosary playing and it is very hard to even mentally say bad words about bad drivers while praying along with John Paul II in Latin. I read an article this week claiming that Archbishop Listecki of Milwaukee, WI, and chairman of the Committee on Canonical Affairs and Church Governance within the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, sent a memo to the bishops of the USCCB with this quotation in it. “Recently, the Committee on Canonical Affairs and Church Governance was made aware of instances where it had been discovered that a woman living under a transgendered identity had been unknowingly admitted to the seminary or to a house of formation of an institute of consecrated life.” Sadly, I could not help but think, “Unknowingly? Give me a break!” long before I thought about how terrible a situation that is for all involved. Color me cynical, but I don’t believe that the bishop(s) who took in the transgendered (read: mentally and spiritually ill and physically mutilated women) seminarians were fooled for a minute. He never mentioned which bishop(s) got snookered so I am not making a judgment on any particular bishop(s) but simply by my own observations, I can assert that past unfaithful bishops seemed to prefer that femininized men and even openly homosexual men rather than masculine (read: normal) men study to become priests. (Of course, that makes me wonder if I was a token masculine seminarian or if I am more feminine than I imagine!) Perhaps current unfaithful bishop(s) thought they found a way around the Church teaching that only males can validly receive Holy Orders and wished to “ordain” a few fake males to set a precedence for ordination among women who wouldn’t then have to hide the fact that they are female. But whether my speculation is correct or not, the Archbishop also wrote that “Some members of the Committee on Canonical Affairs and Church Governance observed that a bishop could consider requiring a D.N.A. test or, at a minimum, certification from a medical expert of the bishop’s own choosing, to assure that an applicant is male.” Yes, we may have to DNA test to see if the person we so closely scrutinized before allowing entrance into the seminary is really a male. Doesn’t that say something pretty damning about our (or at least somebody’s) entrance qualifications and procedures which we put men through before we accept them into the seminary? This coming week is our Annual Diocesan Priest Convocation. I love going to those things. The talks are sometimes very good, often pretty average, and sometimes really bad but getting together with other priests and spending time being able to talk with them over meals and leisure time instead of just saying “hello” before or after meetings is worthwhile. I purposefully missed one when the topic was too terrible to sit through and another one when the “spiritual director” was personally known to me to be anything but capable of leading us in spiritual matters. But usually, I go and enjoy myself. Instead of canceling daily Masses as most parishes do, I have often been able to get great priests to come and give a Parish Mission so that I can leave my people in good hands. It is much easier to get a good mission preacher in October than in Lent! But covid did away with that once again this year, as bishops refused to allow the priests I had asked to come to travel to give missions due to an amazing amount of fear of covid. Let me be blunt: priests and bishops who are afraid of illness and/or death—especially now that the dangers (and lack thereof) of covid are well-established to not be a second Spanish Flu—are of the same ilk as those who would recruit transgendered seminarians. As it turns out, our topic for this year’s convocation is something like “Why are the people not returning to church after being told by Church leaders that the Catholic Faith is non-essential.” I couldn’t sit through four days of that topic even if a mission preacher was available. There really isn’t any connection to any of the above stories. Unless, that is, the two bad drivers were actually two bishops driving alone with double face masks on, so afraid of death that they wouldn’t even approach the speed limit, hit the brakes constantly “just in case” there was danger, and were both on their way to recruit transgender seminarians to take to their respective convocations. Hmmm... With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka From the Pastor: Ember Days of September
This Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday are the Ember Days of September in the 1962 liturgical calendar. They are non-existent in the new order calendar, but that doesn’t mean that they are not to be taken seriously. In the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Pastoral Statement on Penance and Abstinence dated November 18, 1966, they have this to say under the subheading “Vigils and Ember Days”: 17. Vigils and Ember Days, as most now know, no longer oblige to fast and abstinence. However, the liturgical renewal and the deeper appreciation of the joy of the holy days of the Christian year will, we hope, result in a renewed appreciation as to why our forefathers spoke of "a fast before a feast." We impose no fast before any feast-day, but we suggest that the devout will find greater Christian joy in the feasts of the liturgical calendar if they freely bind themselves, for their own motives and in their own spirit of piety, to prepare for each Church festival by a day of particular self-denial, penitential prayer and fasting. If you recall, it is this document that also removed the obligation to abstain from meat on Fridays outside of Lent and Good Friday, leaving it up to each individual Catholic to choose whichever penance they found most edifying on those other Fridays. That change went over exactly like the Vigil and Ember Days change. You would be hardpressed to find anyone, even among clergy, who “for their own motives and in their own spirit of piety” takes seriously the four sets of Ember Days in the old calendar if for no other reason than since the issuance of this 1966 Statement the USCCB has failed to issue any guidelines for when Ember Days are now to be celebrated! There are no Ember Days listed in the new liturgical calendar, so how are Catholics, even those who want to “freely bind themselves” to the old ways, to do so? The answer is simply, “Follow the 1962 Mass!” We are the only parish in the diocese that does so. Although there are other parishes where the Traditional Latin Mass is celebrated according to the 1962 Missal of Pope John XXIII, the others do not have those Masses daily and therefore, it is not on the radar for most of the parishioners who only attend Sunday Mass in the venerable Rite. But here we not only have the 1962 Mass offered daily, so that all of the Ember Days will be celebrated, but we have also, for the past few years, put out a parish calendar listing such things so that even those who cannot attend the Ember Days’ Masses can still see that they are being celebrated and can willingly (for there is no obligation even for us) follow the penitential practices behind those days. Many people will think that the current rules removing obligations from such things as Friday abstinence and Ember Day fasting with partial abstinence (meaning meat can only be consumed at the one allowed meal that day) is a very pastoral—even holy—thing to do. After all, if good things are done out of piety instead of out of obligation, so the current thinking goes, it is much more pleasing to God and more virtuous. But that is not the traditional way of looking at this topic. Pope St. Leo the Great explains this in several sermons on Ember Days! “Although it be lawful for each one of us to chastise his body by self-imposed punishments, and restrain, with more of less severity, the concupiscences of the flesh which was against the spirit, yet need is that, on certain days, a general fast be celebrated by all. Devotion is all the more efficacious and holy, when the whole Church is engaged in works of piety, with one spirit and one soul. Everything, in fact, that is of a public character is to be preferred to what is private; and it is plain, that so much the greater is the interest at stake, when the earnestness of all is engaged upon it. As for individual efforts, let each one keep up his fervour in them; let each one, imploring the aid of divine protection, take to himself the heavenly armour, wherewith to resist the snares laid by the spirits of wickedness; but though he may act bravely in his own private combats, yet will he fight more safely and more successfully, when he shall confront the enemy in a public engagement; for in that public engagement, he has not only his own valour to which to trust, but he is under the leadership of a King who can never be conquered, and engaged in a battle fought by all his fellow-soldiers; so that, being in their company and ranks, he has the fellowship of mutual aid.” Another September he again preached on these Ember Days, “God has sanctioned this privilege, that what is celebrated in virtue of a public law is more sacred than that which depends on a private regulation. The exercise of self-restraint which an individual Christian practices by his own will is for the advantage of that single member; but a fast undertaken by the Church at large includes everyone in the general purification. God’s people never is so powerful as when the hearts of all the faithful join together in the unity of holy obedience, and when, in the Christian camp, one and the same preparation is made by all, and one and the same bulwark protects all...” Oh, how different was our theological understanding of such things as “obedience” and “obligation” in years past! With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka From the Pastor: Large Numbers at Daily Mass!
Six years ago when I first came to Epiphany, the daily Mass was held in the rectory chapel. I know that not many of you remember that since the chapel Masses were only attended by a handful of people. Between 2 and 6 people in the pews was the norm for the first week or so. But then the Masses started to get crowded. The chapel only fits about 24 people in the pews and there were days when we had “standing room only” crowds for the Traditional Latin Mass. It wasn’t long before we had to move to the church to accommodate everyone. Then, for Lent that first year, some parishioners asked for a 6:30 am Mass to be added so that they could attend before work. (The TLM was at 9:00 am, set at that time because there had already been an 8:00 am daily Novus Ordo Mass which had continued to be celebrated by the other priests living at the rectory.) When that Mass started we averaged about 12 people at the early Mass and anywhere between 10 and 35 people at the 9:00 Mass. The early Mass was much more consistent as it was for those who made it a part of their workday, whereas the later Mass was attended more by retirees and by homeschool families. Just two or three families coming on any particular day made for a large swing in attendance, as there could be 3, 5, or 8 people all coming as a group instead of individuals! But the other priests were not always able to celebrate the 8:00 Mass due to other commitments, so I was having to celebrate all three Masses those mornings. When Lent was over, the people begged that the 6:30 remain, and, since I could not continue to celebrate three daily Masses on a regular basis, I made the decision to change the 9:00 am Mass to 8:00. Since the two different 8:00 Masses were celebrated in different places there was no conflict in the schedule and if there was no priest for the 8:00 Novus Ordo Mass, the people could always come to the TLM at the same time just a few steps away. As time went on, the Latin Masses grew. We are a “commuter parish” and when I see that people are driving not only from Tampa but also from other areas of Hillsborough county as well as from Pasco, Pinellas, and even Polk counties, I am amazed by our crowds! For our last First Friday, we had more than 20 people at 6:30 and over 75 people at 8:00. On First Saturday (we drop the 6:30 Mass on Saturdays) we had well over 100 people in the congregation. On the feast of Mary’s Nativity, we again had around 75 people at the 8:00 alone, although the potluck following the Adoration and Confessions after Mass might have been a factor bringing in people, too! The number of schola members who show up to chant the 6:30 am Masses is up, too, as now we often have 3 or 4 men chanting. Even the FSSP and ICKSP priests are envious of a daily chanted Mass! So why am I writing about the daily Mass count? Because most of you don’t know how many or how few people attend daily Mass. It might surprise you to find out that we total more than 50 people showing up even on “slow” days for Mass. You know how many people show up for Sunday Mass, since you have seen it go from a partially full church to a crowded church, even to an overflowing church at the 10:30 Sunday Mass. But because of work schedules, school schedules, or other good reasons, you have never been to a daily Mass outside of Holy Days of Obligation. So I wanted to show that there are “die-hard Daily TLM Catholics” who find the time, energy, and gas money to come at least occassionally during the week. So why is that important? For two reasons. First, to encourage those of you who have thought about coming to daily Mass but figured it might be too much of a burden, or who figured that nobody else came, either, to change from “thinking about it” to “doing it.” Sometimes it helps to know that people drive from Dade City, Palm Harbor, Tarpon Springs, and other far-flung locations to attend Mass, and it might give you the impetus to at least attempt it once or twice a week yourself! The second reason is that we have finally put our building committee together to see about the possibility of building a new church and other needed buildings. Those who only come to Sunday Mass may sometimes forget that we must plan for other things as well, such as daily Mass, meeting space, storage (a big necessity!) classrooms, bathrooms, play areas, and many other “non-Sunday-Mass” things that go on in a parish. We will soon be coming up with plans for our property to present to you and to the bishop (not necessarily in that order!) to see if we can get enough support for such a major undertaking. We will have to find a way to pay for it, of course, but more than finances are involved. We will need a place to celebrate both daily and Sunday Masses, to hold meetings, to play, to pray, and, for the priests, to live while the destruction/construction takes place. Pray for us as we plan it all out! With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka From the Pastor: The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
This Wednesday, September 8, we celebrate The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. We will have a special high Mass at 8:00 am instead of the usual low Mass at that time. Below is an excerpt from The Golden Legend as it describes some early scholars’ attempts to outline the lineage of Our Lady. What they describe is not Gospel. Some authors will refute some of what is written here, as, for instance, Fr. Leonard Goffine in The Church Year states that Luke’s Gospel contains the lineage of Mary rather than that of Joseph. The uncertainty does not detract from the theory! The nativity of the blessed and glorious Virgin Mary, of the lineage of Judah and of the royal kindred of David took her original beginning. Matthew and Luke describe not the generation of Mary but of Joseph, which was far from the conception of Christ. But the custom of writing was of such ordinance that the generation of women is not shown but of the men. And verily the blessed Virgin descended of the lineage of David, and it is certain that Jesus Christ was born of this only Virgin. It is certain that he came of the lineage of David and of Nathan, for David had two sons, Nathan and Solomon among all his other sons. And as John Damascene witnesses that of Nathan descended Levy, and Levy engendered Melchion and Panthar, Panthar engendered Barpanthar, Barpanthar engendered Joachim, Joachim engendered the Virgin Mary, which was of the lineage of Solomon. For Nathan had a wife, of whom he engendered Jacob, and when Nathan was dead Melchion, which was son of Levy and brother of Panthar, wedded the wife of Nathan, mother of Jacob, and on her he engendered Eli, and so Jacob and Eli were brethren of one mother but not of one father. For Jacob was of the line of Solomon and Eli of the line of Nathan, and then Eli of the line of Nathan died without children, and Jacob his brother, which was of the line of Solomon, took a wife and engendered and raised the seed of his brother and engendered Joseph. Joseph then by nature is son of Jacob by descent of Solomon. That is to wit, Joseph is the son of Jacob, and after the law he is son of Eli which descended of Nathan. for the son that was born, was by nature his that engendered him, and by the law he was son of him that was dead, like as it is said in the History Scholastic. And Bede witnesses in his chronicle that, when all the generations of the Hebrews and other strangers were kept in the most secret chests of the temple, Herod commanded them to be burnt, wishing thereby to make himself noble among the others. If the proofs of the lineages were failed, he should make them believe that his lineage appertained to them of Israel. And there were some that were called dominics, because they were so nigh to Jesus Christ and were of Nazareth, and they had learned the order of generation of our Lord, a part of their grandsires' fathers, and a part by some books that they had in their houses and taught them forth as much as they might. Joachim spoused Anne, which had a sister named Hismeria, and Hismeria had two daughters, named Elizabeth, and Elind. Elizabeth was mother to John Baptist, and Eliud engendered Eminen. And of Eminen came S. Servatius, whose body lies in Maestricht, upon the river of the Meuse, in the bishopric of Liège. And Anne had three husbands, Joachim, Cleophas, and Salome; and of the first she had a daughter named Mary, the Mother of God, the which was given to Joseph in marriage, and she childed our Lord Jesus Christ. And when Joachim was dead, she took Cleophas, the brother of Joseph, and had by him another daughter named Mary also, and she was married to Alpheus. And Alpheus her husband had by her four sons, that was James the Less, Joseph the Just, otherwise named Barsabee, Simon, and Jude. Then the second husband being dead, Anne married the third named Salome, and had by him another daughter which yet also was called Mary, and she was married to Zebedee. And this Mary had of Zebedee two sons, that is to wit, James the More, and John the Evangelist... But it is marvellous for to see how the blessed Virgin Mary might be cousin of Elizabeth as it is tofore said. It is certain that Elizabeth was Zachary's wife, which was of the lineage of Levi, and after the law each ought to wed a wife of his own lineage. And she was of the daughters of Aaron, as S. Luke witnesses, and Anne was of Bethlehem, as S. Jerome says, and was of the tribe of Judah. And then they of the line of Levi wedded wives of the line of Judah, so that the line royal and the line of the priests were always joined together by cousinage... And our blessed Lady was of both lineages, and so our Lord would that these two lineages should entresemble together for great mystery. For it appertains that he should be born and offered for us, very God, and very king, and very priest... There is, of course, too much to reproduce here. But I hope you enjoyed reading about one possible explanation for Jesus’ “brethren” and a bit about His family ties to biblical characters and even apostles. There is always more to read and learn... With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka From the Pastor: First Friday and First Saturday
This week concludes with the First Friday and the First Saturday of September. Many Catholics have never heard of the great “First” devotions and many others who have heard of them have never really understood them or known the difference between them. Today I want to either introduce you to these devotions or else remind you of them, as the case may be, and encourage you to participate if at all possible in both of them. The 9 First Fridays devotions are the older of the two, dating back to the holy St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-1690) while the 5 First Saturdays devotions go back only(!) about a century, to Sr. Lucia dos Santos, one of the Fatima visionaries, on Dec. 10, 1925. A short explanation of both: St. Margaret Mary Alacoque spoke with Our Lord, as many true mystics of the Church have done since biblical times (for those skeptics who don't believe that this happens, ask how they explain Chapter 26 of the Acts of the Apostles, wherein we read: Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? It is hard for thee to kick against the goad. And I said: Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord answered: I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. But rise up, and stand upon thy feet: for to this end have I appeared to thee, that I may make thee a minister, and a witness of those things which thou hast seen, and of those things wherein I will appear to thee, Delivering thee from the people, and from the nations, unto which now I send thee: To open their eyes, that they may be converted from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and a lot among the saints, by the faith that is in me.) One of the messages she received from Him came in the form of a promise. “I promise you, in the excessive mercy of my Heart that my all powerful love will grant to all those who receive Holy Communion on the first Friday for nine consecutive months, the grace of final repentance; they shall not die in my disgrace nor without receiving the sacraments; my divine Heart shall be their safe refuge in that last moment.” — Our Lord to St. Margaret Mary Now I don’t know about you, but this sounds like a pretty good deal to me! It is not magic but is a call to holiness, a call to make a sacrifice to attend a (usually) non-obligatory Mass on a particular Saturday for nine consecutive months, along with a request for prayers in honor of and in reparation to Our Lord’s Sacred Heart, that is, the seat of His Love. Twelve Promises have been culled out of St. Margaret Mary’s writings, although they never appeared in a list anywhere, for those who fulfill this simple, holy request. 1. "I will give them all the graces necessary in their state of life." 2. "I will establish peace in their homes." 3. "I will comfort them in their afflictions." 4. "I will be their secure refuge during life, and above all in death." 5. "I will bestow a large blessing upon all their undertakings." 6. "Sinners shall find in my Heart the source and the infinite ocean of mercy." 7. "Tepid souls shall grow fervent." 8. "Fervent souls shall quickly mount to high perfection." 9. "I will bless every place where a picture of My Heart shall be set up and honored." 10. "I will give to priests the gift of touching the most hardened hearts." 11. "Those who shall promote this devotion shall have their names written in My Heart, never to be blotted out." 12. "I promise thee in the excessive mercy of my Heart that my all-powerful love will grant to all those who communicate on the First Friday in nine consecutive months, the grace of final penitence; they shall not die in my disgrace nor without receiving the sacraments; my divine Heart shall be their safe refuge in this last moment." The Five First Saturdays were explained, not by Jesus but by His Mother Mary, to Sr. Lucia. “See, my daughter, my Heart encircled by thorns with which ungrateful men pierce it at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude. Do you, at least, strive to console me. Tell them that I promise to assist at the hour of death with the graces necessary for salvation all those who, in order to make reparation to me, on the First Saturday of five successive months, go to Confession, receive Holy Communion, say five decades of the Rosary, and keep me company for a quarter of an hour, meditating on the … mysteries of the Rosary.” These five First Saturdays are to battle five blasphemies against the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the seat of her Love. First: blasphemies against the Immaculate Conception 2nd: blasphemies against her Virginity 3rd: blasphemies against the Divine Maternity, refusing, at the same time, to receive her as the Mother of mankind 4th: those who seek publicly to implant, in the hearts of children, indifference, disrespect, and even hate for this Immaculate Mother 5th: those who revile her directly in her sacred images Find more online! Come and join us for these Masses of devotion. With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka From the Pastor: Building Committee Needed!
Two weeks ago I passed on information that Bishop Parkes wanted you to know, namely, that he supports the people of Epiphany and, as our Traditional Latin Mass community continues to grow, that we can put together a committee to explore building a larger (and “real”) church and other facilities. Today I want to put out word that I am searching for active parishioners to be a part of that committee. I already have a few members who worked together a few months back to get some preliminary work done. As you already know, they brought in a civil engineer to survey the situation and see if it was even feasible to build on the small parcel of land we currently have. It is important to note that the land next to us and behind Epiphany Arms, although owned by the parish, is currently leased to the Federal Government for the use of that subsidized elderly housing facility. We may be able to use part or all of the open field but, then again, we may not be able to. Many questions still need to be answered. For the committee, we will need people knowledgeable about construction, especially actual Church architecture and construction, so that we do not wind up with modernist junk that doesn’t fulfill its liturgical purpose but serves primarily to show off how anti-traditional church architecture can be. Acoustical engineers can be of great importance in this as well, or so it would seem to me. We also will need to build a parish social hall as—get this—a stand alone building instead of one whose use interferes with liturgical functions in the church! Plus, depending on whether we can save or have to destroy the old rectory to fit the buildings on our property, we may need new living quarters for the current and future priests, for we will need extra parochial vicars soon enough, too. Oh, and don’t let me forget that we need office space and classroom space and more and more and more... Of course, we will also need people who know about landscaping so that we don’t just have a bunch of buildings surrounded by weeds and concrete. And we will need input from, though they may not need to be on the committee, musicians, liturgists, catechists and others who actually use the church, hall, office, and classroom spaces and can make sure nothing important is overlooked. An example of things that need good input from many people is bathroom facilities. Absolutely, they should not be in front of the church where people have to walk past the sanctuary to get to them. But how about in the classroom/meeting room building? Do we have them in all of the rooms or only some? Do we also include, or exclusively create, outside bathrooms? Or do we have only bathrooms down a common hall? If all of the bathrooms are inside, it means that all outdoor activities must also include unlocking buildings, giving access to even “undesirables” who may wander about at will while everyone is occupied outdoors. But having outdoor bathrooms also gives access to others when nobody is around. Or else everybody who has any activity must also have a key to lock and unlock bathrooms, not just buildings, before and after each event. Oh, there are so many more issues just with this one seemingly little problem! So we need people who have knowledge and experience and common sense to be on the committee. Fortunately, all of our parishioners live close enough that they are able to walk here for the many meetings which will be necessary. What? This is a commuter parish? See, some things I forget. Yes, it will be quite a commitment of drivetime plus meeting time to be onboard with this. And the pay, well, volunteers at the church only receive their reward in Heaven, so gas and other expenses are all part of what you must consider before raising your hand to join. And, once we get going, we will probably also discover that many, most, or even all of the meetings must take place during the workday in order to get with those upon whose jobs we depend to undertake this project, such as those from the diocese’s construction office, those in the city permit department, and many others of whom I am not yet aware. That also may be a hardship for some who would otherwise be great for the committee. I had the opportunity to build a new school building at my last parish. This project, since it involves more than just a school building, will be even more complicated. It will be a lot of work for everyone involved. But don’t let that stop you. Imagine if you have the skills we need but you want to just let others take the hard job of planning it all out. We could wind up with a church that looks like (insert just about any Florida Catholic church built after 1950 here and gasp at the thought)! Or we could wind up with classrooms/meeting rooms without any sort of storage. Or a social hall without a kitchen. Or worse. My dream, though, instead of building a new church, is to bring a big, beautiful, closed church from up north and transport it block by block down here, having, of course, to add air conditioning to make it usable. All we need to make this work is people with the necessary skills (especially prayer!) to do this for God’s glory and man’s salvation. Let me know if you wish to be a part of the team! With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka From the Pastor: Strange Things Happened
If I were posting on social media and using clickbait headlines (for the older folks, clickbait is the online version of those sensational tabloid headlines that have just enough truth to allow denial of outright lying, but with enough of a slant toward something so extremely bizarre and impossible that people’s curiosity is peaked enough that they buy the paper), I would have titled this article something along the lines of “Skin painfully rips off priest’s scalp. Is hospital visit to blame?” It’s kinda true but sure doesn’t tell the whole story. So let me fill in some of the details. It is true that I visited someone in the hospital. But that is quite common (outside of the recent Year of Covid Fear) and nothing particularly spectacular happened during the visit. No exposure to chemicals, no bite from a gamma radiation mutated spider, no accidental needle stick, or anything of the sort happened. Just prayer for the sick. But afterward I was hungry and realized that I hadn’t yet had anything to eat. It was Friday so I couldn’t just stop for a drive-thru hamburger and I didn’t know if I had both peanut butter and jelly and fresh bread at home. Fortunately, there was a Publix right around the corner so I stopped in to see if they had any ready-to-go fish at the deli. They did. I had them bag up a few pieces and a couple of shrimp and got back in the car. As I was buckling up I saw directly in front of me in the next aisle an amazing sight. A priest dressed in a cassock was putting on a helmet and was about to get on a motor scooter! I couldn’t just let him get away without finding out who he was, so I jumped out and headed quickly across the way. He spotted me and called out something to the effect of, “A priest in a cassock? Don’t you know that that is illegal?” We introduced ourselves and he asked if I was SSPX. The answer of, “No, I am a diocesan priest” floored him! Then he turned the tables by stating that he belongs to a traditional Carmelite order. That floored me, since he was in a black cassock instead of brown Carmelite robes. “Can you imagine me driving this scooter with a brown cape flowing out behind me?” he asked with a laugh. The members of his order wear the cassock for reasons that were never made clear, unless each of them rides scooters! He is an American but is on mission in Spain, and was just back for a quick visit to his brother, who lives in the area. We talked for almost two hours out in the baking sun. Numerous people stopped by to ask questions and comment on this strange but glorious sight. Catholics and non-Catholics alike found it a powerful witness to the priesthood. Were we hot? Yes. Were we sweaty? How could it be otherwise, barring a miracle? Was it worth it? Absolutely. I learned about an order that I had never before heard of and he met a diocesan priest who actually was able to identify a holy card with St. Simon Stock receiving the Brown Scapular from Our Lady and properly identify the brown and white striped habit he wore as the very traditional and long-since changed Carmelite habit. We solved most of the problems with the Church and the world in the parking lot that day, or at least gave it a good shot. But, and this brings me back to the click-bait headline, my poor head got very sunburned that very sunny afternoon. As I write this, the skin has been peeling off and raining down like an old, shedding iguana with a bad case of dandruff. It has been very painful this whole week to brush my long, flowing locks. I had to use my blow-dryer on the “cool” setting, since the heat was too much, and even my curling iron was used more sparingly than usual. Or maybe I just spent too much time out in the sun and am imagining that I have a need for any of those wicked contraptions. Anyway, if my head seems a bit more pink and splotchy than normal, now you know why. If it weren’t for global warming this probably would never have happened. Or maybe I should blame covid instead. Either one or both of those two must be at fault for my tender noggin. But that wasn’t the only strange thing that happened last week. And not the only strange thing that involved clergy, either. I also had a nice visit with a religious brother and a priest and all three of us were in cassocks! They probably would have been a bit embarrassed to be seen with me, with my head all flaky like it was, but a saturno covered it up nicely. Hmmm... Come to think of it, the other priest was wearing a fedora, so maybe he had encountered the mystery parking lot priest, too! There is something in the air right now that is bringing the cassocked clergy together. I don’t know for certain what it is. Maybe the end is near. Maybe the Great Tribulation is about to start. Maybe Mary’s Immaculate Heart is about to Triumph and usher in a period of great conversion and peace. But for me to meet and greet and spend time with three cassock-wearing clerics from three separate orders all in the span of a few days says that something big is up. You might want to keep your beeswax candles handy! With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka From the Pastor: What Did The Bishop Say?
Last week I let you know that Bishop Parkes was returning from his vacation and wanted to speak with me about the last Church document regarding limitations to be placed on the Traditional Latin Mass. Your prayerful support was overwhelming! Thank you! Parishioners were praying at the church all day, especially at 3:00, the time our meeting was to begin. Other people had written to me, saying that they would be praying from home or even at work, knowing that this was a very important time for our very existence as a parish. The word was out on social media and people from other parts of the country (plus California, which seems to be some sort of society from outer space, or, at least, I hope that there is no place like that—so terribly governed—on Earth) got in touch with me to assure me of their prayers even though they would not be directly affected by the outcome of the big pow-wow (can I still use that term or is that now considered “cultural appropriation” by the PC police?). When I got to the Pastoral Center the lady answering phones and greeting visitors got to talking about her parish “back home” on the east coast of Florida, where she was before moving here. Her last parish had a Traditional Latin Mass and she loved the pastor, who was in the seminary with me so many, many years ago. I told her that I believed her parish (Holy Spirit in Lantana) had just made the news in a good way. I was showing her a photo of one of their priests giving Holy Communion to a wheelchair-bound young boy, who, out of love for Our Lord in the Eucharist, had pulled himself out of his wheelchair and knelt so that he could receive his First Holy Communion humbly on his knees! Just as I was showing her this photo, who walked into the building but a family from Epiphany, inquiring about the possibility of being able to go to the chapel to pray for the success of the meeting! What a great surprise and a powerful witness of Faith! Of course, the chapel was locked, but they were able to stand outside of it in the 94-degree heat (only 97% humidity, though!) and pray while I was ushered into the comfort of an air-conditioned office. The first thing that the Bishop said after greeting me was something like, “I hope you know that the people of Epiphany have my full support.” That set the tone for the rest of the meeting. Deacon Rick Wells was the only other person present and was in his official capacity as Chancellor of the Diocese. Although the Bishop said that at another time we may argue with each other about the tone and purpose of the Moto Proprio, for the time being, he simply wanted to let me/us know that any “worst-case scenarios” that might be conjured up in people’s minds was all just useless anxiety. He showed me a stack of hand-written (he was impressed!) letters and emails that awaited him upon his return from vacation and commented that most of them were very respectful and showed the best side of people writing to their Bishop concerning the “fate” of their parish. I don’t know that he will be able to respond to each of you, but at least know that he has seen what you sent. If you should want to write another (or a first) letter thanking him for his support for not only our parish but for the other priests and people who are nourished at local Traditional Latin Masses, I am sure he will be pleased. One of the things he mentioned about one of the letter writers brought up a topic which I never expected to be broached that day: the possibility of building a new church and social hall and, if need be, rectory. Somebody evidently blamed him for us having a run-down, ugly church! He wanted to know if I was letting the facilities fall apart and then blaming him! That led to a discussion about how much money should be invested in a building that might be torn down soon anyway, about the lack of land for expansion, and other such things. He wound up giving me the green light to get together with the beginnings of a parish building committee and having someone(s) from the Diocese come down and give even further input into what we may be able to do on site. Plus there was talk about looking for any open land within the parish boundaries and even the possibility of the Diocese already having property elsewhere where there may be a need for a new parish and perhaps we would be able to... well, yes, that was all discussed, though not in great detail, but there was also a follow-up email from the Bishop in my mailbox the next day. He wanted to be clear: He did not give permission for us to build, but only to begin the process of inquiry in earnest. Of course, I understood that, but if he was worried about it being taken wrong, I figured I better pass it on to you, too, so that nobody misinterprets it as a green light to start raising money! In that same email he also wrote something that we had not discussed the previous day: that there would soon be a document written up dealing with more specifics about how to respond to the Moto Proprio in this diocese. So don’t stop praying quite yet! With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka From the Pastor: What Will Our Bishop Do?
As I announced last weekend, Bishop Parkes is on vacation. In response to the latest motu proprio Traditionis Custodes (Jailers of Tradition) regarding the Traditional Latin Mass, he authorized me to continue as normal but wanted to speak further about it upon his return to the Diocese. He returns on Tuesday of this week and the appointment is already set for that afternoon. 3:00 pm, the time of our Lord’s death; the time of Divine Mercy. I heard that last week we had a number of people in attendance who had never been to the Traditional Latin Mass before but wanted to show their support. We also had one lady call and leave a voicemail of support as well. If any of you are reading this, please know that I am very grateful for your love and compassion! Somebody asked me how many of my fellow priests have gotten in touch with me in a like manner. Sadly, but not surprisingly, not a single one who doesn’t already celebrate the TLM. The people, if not the priests and bishops, usually get the answer to “Why?” if they simply attend a Traditional Latin Mass 3 or 4 times. Some get it before they even hear a Mass. (I like the term, which is only found in old books, “hear Mass” more than I like “attend Mass” as is found everywhere these days, including my own sentence at the beginning of this paragraph!) As an example, last month after our parish Confirmations (without a Mass but followed by Benediction) were finished one of the sponsors, who had never been to a TLM parish before, approached me with awe. “I have never experienced anything like that before in my life!” she gushed. I thought that maybe she had never been to a Confirmation before. Or maybe she had never been to a Benediction (something that I hear from cradle Catholics on an all too regular basis). But no, that wasn’t it either. “Every time I go to First Holy Communions or Confirmations or even Mass,” she said, speaking of her Novus Ordo experiences, “the people are noisy and boisterous and spend their time beforehand just talking and laughing as if they are in a local park. But here they were silent and prayed even though we started 40 minutes late!” She was absolutely thrilled over something that should be common practice yet everyone knows is absolutely not found in Novus Ordo parishes. For those of you who were not there, we were set to start on time except that there was a huge accident on the interstate. Several families were caught in it and couldn’t get to an exit to bypass the mess. I made the decision to wait for them so that their children would not have to wait another year to get Confirmed. It took quite a while for all of them to get to the parish and during all of that time the people remained silent and prayed. I had exactly zero complaints about the delay, as everyone knew that they would have wanted to be treated in the same way had they been unavoidably caught in the traffic jam. Yes, the Faith and demeanor of our families are impressive to first-timers even though disparaged by so many antagonists (now given cover by a new document that even the fully Novus Ordo George Weigel calls “theologically incoherent, pastorally divisive, unnecessary, cruel — and a sorry example of the liberal bullying that has become all too familiar in Rome recently”) who unjustly label them (you/me) as “misfits” or worse. I have, of course, been watching with great interest the writings of bishops throughout the world regarding the implementation of the document in question. Although the Church usually moves slowly, the document was to be implemented “immediately” even though the bishops were assumedly not privy to its contents before its promulgation. I have been amazed by the speed at which bishops and even bishops’ conferences have put out written responses. Some have been pastoral and some not. I have been encouraged to see that even some bishops who do not seem to care very much for the Traditional Latin Mass still care about the members of their flock who avail themselves of this Mass of the Ages. They are, for now at least, indicating that they will not abandon, disparage, or run roughshod over this most marginalized of all sub-groups of Catholic Faithful. One bishop in particular caught my attention. Bishop Paprocki of the Diocese of Springfield, Illinois. Citing Canon Law (Church law) paragraph 87.1, he dispensed the parishes in his diocese already celebrating TLMs from needing to adhere to Traditionis Custodes. Our bishop, being himself a canon lawyer, may even do something similar (hint, hint: this is something to pray for!) or may even go further and dispense those who may wish to celebrate this Mass in the future. We shall see. In the meantime, I am left with this burning question. If the TLM must be abolished because using only the Novus Ordo all Catholics will supposedly be united. But last year I celebrated a monthly Mass according to the Ordinariate missal. Is that next on the chopping block? There are other Latin Rite usages as well. Will they be denounced and squashed as dis-unifying Rites? Will the many and various Easter Rite Catholic Churches all be forced to become Novus Ordo for the supposed sake of “unity”? Or is “lack of unity” a disingenuous lie and the current animosity and insult is rather solely reserved for the Traditional Latin Mass and those who grow holy by participating in it? Inquiring minds want to know. With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka From the Pastor: Thank You!
This past week has been a doozy. The Catholic Enrichment Week (sort of like a Vacation Bible School except Catholic and Educational instead of generic Christian pablum of singing cutsie songs with hand gestures) was our largest yet. The volunteers who worked hard at this are truly a few steps closer to Heaven. Thank you! Also, thank you parents for trusting us with the Catholic formation of your children. It is a long drive for most of you. It takes a long time through heavy traffic to bring your children here and pick them up later, and you only did it because you trusted that it would be worth it for them to learn about Jesus’ Apostles. I also especially appreciate those who went through the Diocesan-required Safe Environment Training and Fingerprint Background checks so that you could take an active supervisory role. We couldn’t do anything like this without you! The first afternoon of the CEW we had a strong storm that came through here. Lots of very close lightning, strong winds, and extremely heavy rain. Then 10 minutes later it had passed by. But not before destroying two out of the three tents we had set up for some shade for the daytime activities. We didn’t have anything like that even during the recent tropical storm. Fortunately, it blew through after the children had all gone home. Thank you, Lord, for such good timing! Of course, like all typical Florida thunderstorms, it was a very localized squall, and those who had to clean it all up couldn’t figure out why there was so much damage since none of them had any major storm at their houses. I just happened to have been home when the storm passed by so I could figure it out. But shortly after that, I was on my way out to a convent in Riverview where I was leading a retreat for the Sisters, so there may have even been multiple unseen short storms that came by. I certainly kept hitting them along the drive. Each lasted only about 1/2 to 1 mile and then abruptly ended. That’s the nice thing about these outbursts: if you can just keep moving, you will soon come to clear weather again! The retreat was focused on the three Evangelical Counsels, or the three Counsels of Perfection, namely Voluntary Poverty, Perpetual Continence (commonly named “chastity” or “celibacy”), and Obedience as explained not by me but by St. Thomas Aquinas in his Summa Theologica. Some of you who are new here may not realize that we currently have two of our young ladies in the early stages of formation with the Sisters and Sons of Jesus the High Priest whom you see at 7:30 am Mass on Sundays and 8:00 am Mass on weekdays when they are not teaching school. This retreat theme was chosen so that they could get a better understanding of what those three vows mean, why they are so important that they are virtually essential, and how those vows can teach them the perfections which are possible here on Earth in this life. It is humbling as a secular priest to be teaching this to those already in and those soon to take vows since St. Thomas makes it very clear that the Religious who take vows are in a State of Perfection (that takes a lot of explaining, as you can probably imagine) even before being perfected, whereas the secular priests—who take promises rather than vows—are not in that same state. Through the grace of God, the Liturgical Calendar gave me some great examples to use in explaining these three Counsels. St. John Gualbert, Abbot, began the week. Although he became an abbot, he was never in Holy Orders, not even the minor ones. He lived out his vows with heroic virtue nonetheless and, as his title of “Abbot” indicates, was elected the Superior of his monastery and even founded many others. Then came St. Bonaventure, a Franciscan and contemporary of St. Thomas Aquinas, a Dominican, which allowed me to explain some differences in how different “Orders” live their vows as they strive for perfection. Next up came St. Henry II, a King and Emperor, who died in the year 1024. Although a layman, he always wanted to be a priest and once, even though already Emperor, begged admission to a monastery with a promise to be a simple monk. He could point to his current life to prove that he could live the three vows. 1) He used all of his money for the glory of God and to help His people placed under his care. In fact, he spent so much money building up the Church and assisting people to get to Heaven that his own brother raised an army to depose him, feeling that the money rightly belonged to the royal family rather than the family of God. Henry won the battle, by the way. 2) He and his wife, St. Cunigunde, remained, by mutual consent, virgins even after marriage, so he had already proven himself capable of celibacy. 3) He was obedient to no secular power but was completely at the service of the Pope and Our Lord. The Abbot accepted his clearly demonstrated ability to live the Evangelical Counsels and immediately put him under obedience to return home and remain King and Emperor! Add to that daily Masses, confessions, Adoration, sick calls, urgent appointments, and whatnot, and you have some idea of my week. I wouldn’t trade this “job” for anything in the world! Thanks for letting me be your pastor! Now if only I can find time to do some laundry... With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka From the Pastor: Survivors of the Storm
If you are reading this I can make the assumption that you are a fellow survivor of the storm. Which storm? The one that, according to news reports ahead of time, was to prove that global warming, global cooling, and/or climate change were all man-made evils that were going to destroy the world. That was before they realized that it was not going to grow into a level 8 himicane (they/he/she/it felt too masculine to be called a “her”icane). I had gotten a few “disaster” type news articles coming in on my phone when the storm first formed but I didn’t pay much attention to it. That changed when I started getting emergency messages from the Diocese. Emergency messages came via my church email, my personal email, and my cell phone. On the cell phone I received both phone recordings and text messages. I was told/shown emergency contact information for all of the “big” players in the diocese. I was told/shown corrected emergency contact information after the first set of information proved to contain old numbers or personnel who no longer worked for the diocese. All of that showed that our emergency network was working well enough to reach me but it also made me think that a really big storm must be on the way. I got reminder messages about how to secure the church, the office, the documents of the parish, and the grounds. I was reminded to give the staff swimming lessons and “Jesus loves you” floaties to keep them safe. (I made up that last one just to see if you are paying attention.) I dusted off the old TV set and turned on Bray News 9 to see the weather report. I figured there must be a bad storm brewing and I needed to see when to batten down the hatches. Of course, I had to wait through 7 minutes of commercials before the weather man/girl/woman/thing (these new trans words make it hard to know what to call people these days) came on with a very generic report about it being hot with a chance of rain in the afternoon (no kidding, people get paid to tell us that!) and that the tropical storm update would come later. So much for a weather update about the most killer storm of all time! So I waited. And fell asleep before the next commercial finished. I woke only to have to sit through two more 9 minute periods of commercials in order to finally hear that a tropical storm was coming and that the British model said it would fall apart over the mountains of Cuba but the American model showed it missing the mountains and continuing to build strength once it got over water again and would affect Tampa soon afterwards. Rain squalls would begin Monday morning and continue to increase. The eye of the storm would hit late Tuesday, maybe as a category 1 hurricane, and give us storms all day Wednesday. But get this: for the first time in my recent memory they said it would not be a major issue for us even though it was expected to come directly over us! No gloom! No despair! No agony on me! No deep dark, depression, excessive misery... (come to think of it, recent years’ storm reports seem to have been plagiarizing Hee Haw). No, calmly they said that we could expect a storm surge of only one to three feet, 2-4 inches of rain, and some strong winds. I was shocked. It was a storm report that could have been taken from my childhood years when they told the truth instead of engaging in sensationalism. Even so, I prepared for a storm by bringing an umbrella to Mass Monday morning. (Lotza preparation!) I didn’t need it. I was supposed to do a house blessing in Lakeland on Tuesday. I spoke with the parishioners and we agreed that if the storm got bad, we would reschedule. I would know how bad the storm was by their presence or absence at the 8:00 Mass. If it was safe for them to come to Mass, it was safe for me to go bless their house. Of course, with zero storm winds or rain, they showed up on Tuesday. I still didn’t need the umbrella, which was a good thing, since I had left it at the church the day before! Once in Lakeland, with good driving weather all the way there, we had time for lunch and a house blessing and a bunch of story-telling before a squall came. Heavy rain, strong winds, and I knew it was time to leave. By the time my doggie bag was packed, it had passed. I had no more inclement weather the whole drive back. We had no heavy rain the rest of the day and no indication of heavy rain overnight. If there was a nighttime storm, it wasn’t bad enough to wake me up. Wednesday was about the same, with a few light sprinkles but not even our typical afternoon thunderstorm. I received more text messages, automated phone calls, and emails from the Diocese asking me to “press 1 if everyone is safe.. press 2 if you need assistance...” and even a real phone call from a real monsignor asking about my well-being and the condition of the property. I am really not sure how I survived this terrible man-made disaster, but I did. And somehow you did, too! I would thank God, but everyone knows that He only gets blame for bad things, not credit for the good... With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka |
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