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From the Pastor: Oops! And Other Things
It is not a good idea to be one’s own proofreader, but that is a necessary thing most of the time. In my article about the 1962 rules of fast and abstinence, I somehow inserted part of the “partial abstinence” rules into the “complete abstinence” rules. The corrected version with the correction in bold, is this (although I am my own proofreader once again, so I may have to do yet another correction!): COMPLETE ABSTINENCE, which forbids the eating of meat, and soup or gravy made from meat, is required on: all Fridays, Ash Wednesday, Holy Saturday, the Vigil of the Assumption, and the Vigil of Christmas. (Current: only Ash Wednesday, Fridays of Lent, and Good Friday.) People who read the “oops” version knew something was wrong when “complete abstinence” allowed meat eating! Nicely, they didn’t bring it up to me, probably because those who point out typos and other little mistakes in the bulletin usually hear my response, “Thank you! We need a volunteer with your talent to take on the task of putting the bulletin together each week. When can you start?” That is usually the end of the complaints! Of course, this one was more than a little typo, so I am glad to print a retraction. Don’t eat meat or meat products on days of complete abstinence! On a different topic, some of the newer parishioners didn’t understand the complete intent of the ECCW’s “Prayers and Pennies for Sisters and Semmies” cans which we encouraged them to take home. A few cans came back the first week. One man I spoke with thought that it was just a collection, like the Bishop’s Catholic Ministry Appeal, so he put some money in it and handed it right back. I pointed to the photos on the can showcasing the young men and women from Epiphany Parish who are currently in various stages of formation. Currently, we have four men and five women studying, praying, and discerning their Religious vocation in various Religious Orders. Both the number and the individuals vary year to year as some discern that Religious life is not their calling, others eagerly enter to begin the process, and some “graduate” through ordination or vows. We ask for prayers for them all year but during Lent, we put a special focus on them with these containers. We ask that you place the can in the middle of the dining room table, or your “prayer space” in your house, or wherever the family gathers on a daily basis where they can talk about vocations, pray for those in formation, donate money to their expenses as they continue their discernment, and, while doing so, perhaps even discuss personal vocations among family members. Seeing others joyfully in formation to be Brothers, Sisters, or Priests helps instill a sense of longing to listen to God’s call and answer in a way pleasing to Him. The vocation of most people will be married life. Seeing that as a vocation helps to ward off temptations to enter marriage for the lesser reasons to get married, such as “just doing what everyone else is doing,” or “I never heard of any other options,” or just plain ol’ lust. (It can also remind husbands and wives that their marriage is a chosen vocation, not to be treated lightly or discarded when married life seems too hard) Seeing people from our own parish (and most parishes don’t have anyone at all in formation, so we are very blessed in this regard) who have made the leap of faith to say “Here am I, Lord” and give up all worldly desires in order to love Him above all things, is quite a way of seeing a religious vocation as a blessing to be accepted joyfully! So, pray daily for these young men and women, talk about vocations, and pray that the donation you make for this appeal will help the Church and the world more than any of us can possibly imagine. As an aside, it seems that a good number of cans in previous years never came back. Please remember that we have to purchase these cans, so every lost one has a financial cost. A can returned empty is better than a can thrown away. Since I mentioned the Bishop’s Catholic Ministry Appeal above, now is a good time to once again thank all of you who donated to it last year. We met and exceeded our goal and the Bishop will use that money (for the projects you chose) for diocesan expenses that he explains in the literature he sends to all registered parishioners each year. This year’s CMA is underway already. It is a yearly collection so it never actually disappears. Kind of like an electric bill. And just about as important to pay, I might add, except this one pleases the Bishop more! Our assigned goal, pledges, and donations are listed each week elsewhere in the bulletin. This year’s goal has only modestly increased, to $128,653.00. Allow me to gush over how welcome this is compared to the past few years’ drastic increases, the same way government officials exuberantly tout the current decrease in the increasing rate of inflation. Our increase shows that we are a strong parish. The smallness of the increase shows that other parishes may finally be rebounding from their ghastly (and largely self-inflicted) covid numbers, which is a great relief for everyone who cares about the souls lost due to clerical mismanagement of the Church during those past years. Perhaps the lost sheep are finally returning to the fold. Anyway, your CMA donations can be made online or via the envelopes in the back of the church if you haven’t already used the one sent to you in the mail. With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka From the Pastor: Must I Give Up Something For Lent?
I am constantly asked about rules and regulations for what to give up for Lent. Must I give up something every day? What about Birthdays and Holidays? How about Sundays? If I give up something and then eat it (a food I gave up) or do it (an activity I gave up) is it a mortal sin or a venial sin? Can I get a dispensation for eating/doing something I gave up but didn’t take into account “this” particular day or circumstance? Can I exclude those times/dates/circumstances in my own determination of what I am giving up or is that cheating? I am sure that not only do you get the picture (and these questions are by no means exhaustive) but that you have probably at least thought about asking something similar even if you never actually did ask! This shows one of the problems that arise when traditions are changed instead of being held onto dearly. I have a calendar in front of me from The Seraphim Company, Inc. that has, on the page labeled, “Calendar Guide and Information,” a subheading of, “Fast and Abstinence.’ In this section, they list the traditional rules (1962, I am guessing) and the current rules. Should you choose to read further, where I list them, you will see that the rules changed drastically. You can find the current rules in these three documents: Pope Paul's Constitution Poenitemini, Code of Canon Law (cc. 1249-1253), and the USCCB's Pastoral Statement on Penance and Abstinence. Without space here to quote these documents in full, I will simply reproduce for you the traditional fast and abstinence as listed on the calendar, interspersed with the current one in red, and offer a few comments and suggestions.
You don’t need 20/20 vision to see that the changes have drastically changed Lent by removing most of the former Lenten penance. Yet in the Bishops’ document cited above, they state that with these changes, “we hope that the observance of Lent as the principal season of penance in the Christian year will be intensified. This is the more desirable because of new insights...” Yes, their new insights are that Lent becomes more penitential if it becomes less penitential! While you may keep the traditional practices, you would be without sin if you kept the current practice of doing almost nothing penitential for Lent. But would you be benefitting to the same degree? I think not. And the majority of Catholics in this society instinctively know it. That is why they choose other penitential practices to voluntarily undergo during Lent. Giving up sweets, alcohol, TV, or Social Media, for instance, is not listed anywhere that I know of in the current regulations. So we are all left on our own to figure out how to make Lent (or any other time of the liturgical year, for that matter) more spiritual than the very basic and, dare I say, even pitiable, current penitential requirements of the Church. All of that leads back to the answer to the above questions. Choose something that will make you more holy and do your best. The Church seems to have abandoned you to your own devices, so choose wisely, challenge yourself, and take on whatever penance you think will help your soul conquer your bodily impulses. That is what will allow you to have a good and holy Lent and, ultimately, through the grace of God, to help others and yourself to become Saints. With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka From the Pastor: Battling Demons
The diocese recently offered priests and deacons an opportunity to learn a little about the proper procedure for expelling demons from people and places. It was quite helpful to get clarity on some of the “whats” “whys” and “hows” of demonic obsession, oppression, and possession. Most of the time the priests, deacons, and, I would dare to guess, bishops, have had absolutely no training in any of this and so we just have to wing it when needed. Sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes it can even make a bad situation worse because the demons know the limits of our authority to command them. If we even inadvertently overstep the boundaries of our authority, they cease obeying us. One memorable time when a couple of priests and lay people, in a massive crowd of others who were already deep in prayer, had to “wing it” on the spot took place during a pilgrimage to Lourdes, France in the fall of 2010. The feast of Our Lady of Lourdes just happens to be next Sunday, so I thought that pulling out an old article I wrote about it at the time might be interesting to you today. Last week I told you of the gift of prayer time which our stop at Lourdes afforded us. The Torchlight Marian Procession showed us in a very vivid manner why this time of intense prayer was so essential. Nighttime at Lourdes brings about a very inspirational gathering of all the pilgrims down at the Grotto where the Blessed Mother appeared to Bernadette. Pilgrims carrying lit candles are invited to join the procession as a statue of Our Lady is carried along the path leading to the Basilica. The night we first went down to join in this prayer there were thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of pilgrims present. There were so many people, in fact, that joining the procession was completely out of the question. We could not even get halfway into the square in front of the Basilica, let alone get anywhere near the Grotto, before we became part of the pack of pilgrims forced to simply stand in one place, pray, and wait for the procession to come to us. Off to our right in the distance, a stage was set up with huge speakers that broadcast the Rosary prayers. Large screens showed videos of some sort every once in a while which I guessed were meditations on the particular mystery upon which we were meditating. Trees were blocking my view so I never got a good look at the stage or screen but I didn’t bother vying for a better spot since I was not there for “movie night.” And, as it turned out, the place I was standing was where I was most needed. Huge gatherings of people reverently praying often bring out evil along with the good. Mentally unbalanced people, looking for attention and knowing pilgrims will treat them with love and compassion, often act out in strange ways. Demons, who cannot tolerate this prayerful love of God and neighbor, also manifest themselves as they attempt to either escape this “torment” or at least disrupt it and discourage people to the extent of their wicked abilities. We were witness to one such case that night. A woman came running through the crowd, which parted much as the Red Sea at the touch of Moses’ staff, wailing, flailing, spitting, cursing, and retching. For no apparent reason, she stopped very near to where we were standing. It seemed that the strength we garnered in prayer was going to be put to the test. I asked the Blessed Mother and St. Bernadette to use the prayers of all of us gathered to help this poor woman. As I extended my right hand in prayer over her, I closed my eyes to try to block out all distractions and began exorcism prayers. It was next to impossible to determine if this woman was mentally unbalanced or truly possessed but either way, she needed our help. I prayed for her deliverance from this spiritual or mental evil that was afflicting her and I could hear several women in our group continually praying the St. Michael prayer. For a long time, she acted like a wild animal in a cage as the hand of God kept her planted in this one place so that we could pray over her. But eventually and quite suddenly she became calm, as if demons had been expelled and she was finally at peace. Less than a minute later the police arrived to find, not a wild, out-of-control troubled woman in danger of hurting herself and others, but rather a rational, peaceful woman at least seemingly joining the crowd in prayer. After determining that there was nothing they could or needed to do, the police quietly left and the woman remained with us and “with it” for the duration of the Rosary. Had she been possessed and was now free of demons? Had she been cured of mental illness? Or was she simply acting and knew when to stop the act so that she wouldn’t be arrested? Though we may never know for sure, without our prior time of prayer the first two of these possibilities may have been impossible to accomplish. With prayers for your holiness, Fr. Edwin Palka |
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