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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
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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 From the Pastor: Happy Birthday, Dad!
After the censors got a hold of my column last week and chopped out half of it due to its “controversial” content, I didn’t want to put much effort into a column only to have it disappear again. So here is a reprint from 2018. This past week I went to my dad’s house for his birthday. We sang “Happy Birthday” and “Sto lat” (which means “100 years” in Polish) and he blew out the candles on the cake. He mentioned half-jokingly and half-ruefully that until he reached his 80’s he had always thought that wishing someone 100 years was wishing them a really long life but now he thinks 100 years might not be long enough after all! As a side note, I had to look up the proper spelling for “Sto lat” and found the Polish lyrics translated into English. I can say with certitude that one verse sounds like something that the men in my family would have made up, yet it was already a long treasured traditional song before these guys were old enough to alter it. It begins and ends as a cheerful song which, like a toast to the birthday boy, proclaims a wish that he live among us 100 years in health and happiness. How nice. But in the middle verse there is also a wish that anyone who doesn’t drink to this toast gets struck by lightning! There are some things so “out there” that you just cannot make them up. Such is not the case with the rest of this article, though. When I was about to depart, my dad took me aside and nearly begged me for one more birthday present. “Son,” he whispered (in the “hushed tones” of someone who is badly in need of new hearing aids) “if you want me to make it to my next birthday, you have to rescue me today. Please take your Aunt Irma with you. She is driving me absolutely crazy and I don’t think I can survive her much longer.” How do you tell your tearful 82 year old father “no” on his birthday, especially when everyone in the house (except Aunt Irma, who at that moment was quite happily inviting some telemarketer and his family over for the birthday celebration) heard his “whispered” plea? Seeing no way out (I wish I could honestly say, rather, “Seeing a beautiful opportunity to show my love to both my dear old dad and my aunt...”) I put on my happy face and called out to her, “Aunt Irma, I am going to Pensacola to spend Independence Day with Fr. Emmanuel. Would you like to come with me?” Before she could answer, dad already had her suitcase packed and in the car and was ushering her out the door with what sounded like a sincere (I see where I get it from) “Oh, you’re leaving already? I’m sorry you weren’t able to stay longer. Please do come again in another 82 years!” This man, who, even with his cane cannot walk 100 feet without stopping to rest, said all of that as he practically carried her out the door, down the driveway and to my car which was parked several houses away. He lifted her into the front seat, slammed the door and, leaning back against the car wiping tears and sweat from his face said, “I’ve never had such a happy birthday as I’m having right now. Take her far, far away and tell her I moved to Oregon if she asks. Now go before she figures out how to unbuckle her seat belt.” So off I went for an eight hour trip which turned into 10 (and seemed like 20) because of bathroom breaks, wildflower sightings (of which each supposed new variety must be smelled) and an occasional need to pull over for random things such as to stop her from ripping the GPS unit apart as she insisted on finding out how they folded up the map to make it fit into such a small plastic box. Along the way she sang Sto lat approximately 300 times, asked where we were going 250 times, and told me in more detail than human knowledge could possibly impart every aspect of the life, job and family situation of the previously-despondent telemarketer who was perhaps currently on his way to dad’s house to celebrate with the one person who was happy he called. When we finally arrived, since we were running late we had to almost immediately head out to the beach where we were going to watch the fireworks. Fortunately for everyone, Fr. Emmanuel was “fresh” and he and Aunt Irma had a wonderful time as she tried to figure out what side of the family he was from. He, of course, was constantly kept in stitches laughing, not knowing that she was serious. He played right into it, telling her that he and I were twins, and, as proof, said we both had the same name, Father, because our parents didn’t know that “twins” meant “two babies instead of one” and couldn’t come up with a second name under pressure. Right at that moment we entered the town of Gulf Breeze and a sudden look of clarity came over Aunt Irma. “I know this place,” she said in a reverent tone that was filled with either awe, fear, or bliss, and I couldn’t determine which. “It was the night of November 11, 1987...” and her voice trailed off and she hasn’t spoken about it since. You might want to look it up. The time, date and place might explain quite a bit about dear Aunt Irma! With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka From the Pastor: The Cancel Culture
Ever since covid tyrants started demanding that we worship at the altar of The Science™ politicians, media moguls, social media owners, and others have started flexing their muscles as they discover just how much power and control they have already usurped through fear and intimidation, and are testing the waters to see how much more they can get. The social media giants, for instance, have been growing bolder in their insistence that everyone must offer incense to the idol of The Science™ and have been canceling everyone who dares to question their chosen narrative. But more and more keeps coming out about how The Science™ is not actually “science” at all but is rather a religion all its own. Recently in the news, for instance, multiple medical doctors and scientists have been openly quoted as stating that they hold such strong (religious) views regarding The Science™ that they had previously put forth false and misleading statements regarding such things as hydroxychloroquine, ivermectin, or the possibility that the covid virus was manufactured in the Wuhan lab because they would rather get the facts wrong than give credence to President Donald Trump! Yet, after openly stating such things, I have yet to hear about even one being fired or reprimanded. They belong to the right religion, so they are not canceled, they are exalted. In the meantime, YouTube just removed a video in which Dr. Robert Malone, the man who invented the mRNA vaccine technology, discusses some of his concerns about their side effects and the CDC’s lack of true record-keeping and scientific risk-benefit analyses of the vaccines. It seems that social media knows The Science™ better than the man who came up with it in the first place. Twitter just suspended a news organization, National File, for reporting on a tweet from a woman who claimed her 13-year-old nephew died after receiving a second dose of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine. Reporting news that makes people question The Science™ must be silenced. And, of course, the cancel culture keeps expanding who they are willing to silence and block and censor because, well, because they can. In this article, I will give you my humble but well thought out and researched opinions on the new religion, The Science™. Unless “they” manage to somehow censor even a simple parish priest writing in his own church bulletin, you will find out just what With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka From the Pastor: Pray The Holy Rosary In Latin
About a year ago I was contacted via email by a young couple who were starting an online ministry of prayer, focusing solely on praying a daily Rosary in Latin. They asked if I would promote it. Well, sorry to say, I had a lot of other things to do at the time which seemed a bit more important, as we were just coming back from the Bishop’s mandatory covid lockout. I checked out their website and don’t remember much of anything about it. Like so many good things, it seemed to me like a great idea that would soon pass into oblivion. I mentioned it at Mass but didn’t give it much more thought. I never knew if anyone had ever gone online to join them. Then, just a couple of months ago, the couple emailed me again. Monday-Saturday nights they pray the Rosary in Latin at 9:30 pm and invite everyone to join them in this beautiful and powerful prayer. Since they are still active after a full year, the least I can do is promote it with a little bit more enthusiasm! Their website is now filled with (as I write this) 231 videos of the Rosary being prayed in Latin. They put forth a specific intention for each night’s prayer (they pray it Mon-Sat at 9:30 pm our time) and the intention for #231 was For the Jesuit Order, a great intention, indeed! The one prior to that was For Those Suffering From TV Addiction, another fantastic intention! The videos, by the way, are not of the couple or of any of those joining in. They simply give you the written words to the prayers so that, should you need the extra help, you can read along with the prayers as you learn to memorize them. Other pages of their website explain such things as their own permanent intentions as they offer up the Rosary (and they encourage you to have your own intentions, too), four reasons for praying in Latin (1. Latin is a beautiful part of Catholic Tradition. It is the official language of the Holy See and considered sacred by the Church; 2. Praying in Latin is a means of uniting Roman Catholics around the world; 3. Praying in Latin makes us better meditate on the sacred mysteries; 4. Hell abhors it.), why we pray for the Pope’s intentions and what they are officially supposed to be (a very helpful bit of information), the 15 promises that were transmitted to Saint Dominic and Blessed Alan de La Roche and compiled from their works, the reason they only pray the 3 original mysteries and leave off the optional set proposed by Pope John Paul II, and more. I give below a quote from one page, titled About Us, that I found quite worth reading. We are a Roman Catholic Prayer Apostolate. Fideles Armati means The Armed Faithful in Latin and we want to equip you with the weapon to fight against the powers of darkness: the Holy Rosary. We pray, firstly, to adore God, expressing to Him our love and loyalty. Secondly, we pray to thank God for His favors. We also pray to obtain from God the pardon of our sins and the remission of their punishment. Finally, we pray to ask for graces for ourselves and others. By praying the Rosary LIVE with us, the prayer of each one belongs to the whole group and make all together but one prayer, so that if one person is not praying well, someone else in the same gathering who is praying better makes up for his deficiency. In the same way, those who are strong uphold the weak, those who are fervent inspire the lukewarm, the rich enrich the poor, the bad are merged with the good. One who says his Rosary alone only gains the merit of one Rosary; but if he says it with thirty other people, he gains the merit of thirty Rosaries. This is the law of public prayer. How profitable, how advantageous this is! --Saint Louis de Montfort, Doctor of the Church (The Secret of the Rosary) So there you have it. The website is https://fidelesarmati.wordpress.com/ and once you get there the rest is up to you! I asked for some of their business cards and they generously sent me a stack which I have placed on the table in the back of the church. Please feel free to click the above link if you are reading this online or take one of their cards if you are reading this to keep yourself awake during my sermon. And, lest I forget as I write about our Blessed Mother and the spiritual bouquet of roses we shower her with as we pray the Rosary, today is Father’s Day in the secular world. Wikipedia brings up this little unexpected gem showing how the Catholic Church beat the secular world to the punch with this holiday. Father's Day is a holiday of honouring fatherhood and paternal bonds, as well as the influence of fathers in society. In Catholic countries of Europe, it has been celebrated on 19 March as Saint Joseph's Day since the Middle Ages. In the United States, Father's Day was founded by Sonora Smart Dodd,[1][2][3] and celebrated on the third Sunday of June for the first time in 1910. Yes, Fathers have always been important to Catholics! Happy Father’s Day! With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka From the Pastor: Let Us Repair Damage Caused By Sin
This week we celebrated the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on Friday and, by means of an External Solemnity, once again on Sunday. In 1928 Pope Pius XI promulgated an encyclical titled in English, On Reparation to the Sacred Heart, in which he commanded that an Act of Reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus be made every year on this Feast. Here are just a few of his closing words explaining what this Act is and why it should be done. Below this quote is the actual Act which we prayed on Friday and which I am asking you to pray again today. 20. These things being so, Venerable Brethren, just as the rite of consecration, starting from humble beginnings, and afterwards more widely propagated, was at length crowned with success by Our confirmation; so in like manner, we earnestly desire that this custom of expiation or pious reparation, long since devoutly introduced and devoutly propagated, may also be more firmly sanctioned by Our Apostolic authority and more solemnly celebrated by the whole Catholic name. Wherefore, we decree and command that every year on the Feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, - which feast indeed on this occasion we have ordered to be raised to the degree of a double of the first class with an octave - in all churches throughout the whole world, the same expiatory prayer or protestation as it is called, to Our most loving Savior, set forth in the same words according to the copy subjoined to this letter shall be solemnly recited, so that all our faults may be washed away with tears, and reparation may be made for the violated rights of Christ the supreme King and Our most loving Lord. 21. There is surely no reason for doubting, Venerable Brethren, that from this devotion piously established and commanded to the whole Church, many excellent benefits will flow forth not only to individual men but also to society, sacred, civil, and domestic... And this indeed we more especially and vehemently desire and confidently expect, that the just and merciful God who would have spared Sodom for the sake of ten just men, will much more be ready to spare the whole race of men, when He is moved by the humble petitions and happily appeased by the prayers of the community of the faithful praying together in union with Christ their Mediator and Head, in the name of all... Act of Reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus O sweet Jesus, Whose overflowing charity for men is requited by so much forgetfulness, negligence and contempt, behold us prostrate before Thy altar eager to repair by a special act of homage the cruel indifference and injuries, to which Thy loving Heart is everywhere subject. Mindful alas! that we ourselves have had a share in such great indignities, which we now deplore from the depths of our hearts, we humbly ask Thy pardon and declare our readiness to atone by voluntary expiation not only for our own personal offenses, but also for the sins of those, who, straying far from the path of salvation, refuse in their obstinate infidelity to follow Thee, their Shepherd and Leader, or, renouncing the vows of their baptism, have cast off the sweet yoke of Thy Law. We are now resolved to expiate each and every deplorable outrage committed against Thee; we are determined to make amends for the manifold offenses against Christian modesty in unbecoming dress and behavior, for all the foul seductions laid to ensnare the feet of the innocent, for the frequent violations of Sundays and holidays, and the shocking blasphemies uttered against Thee and Thy Saints. We wish also to make amends for the insults to which Thy Vicar on earth and Thy priests are subjected, for the profanation, by conscious neglect or terrible acts of sacrilege, of the very Sacrament of Thy Divine Love; and lastly for the public crimes of nations who resist the rights and teaching authority of the Church which Thou hast founded. Would, O divine Jesus, we were able to wash away such abominations with our blood. We now offer, in reparation for these violations of Thy divine honor, the satisfaction Thou didst once make to Thy eternal Father on the cross and which Thou dost continue to renews daily on our altars; we offer it in union with the acts of atonement of Thy Virgin Mother and all the Saints and of the pious faithful on earth; and we sincerely promise to make recompense, as far as we can with the help of Thy grace, for all neglect of Thy great love and for the sins we and others have committed in the past. Henceforth we will live a life of unwavering faith, of purity of conduct, of perfect observance of the precepts of the gospel and especially that of charity. We promise to the best of our power to prevent others from offending Thee and to bring as many as possible to follow Thee. O loving Jesus, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, our model in reparation, deign to receive the voluntary offering we make of this act of expiation; and by the crowning gift of perseverance keep us faithful unto death in our duty and the allegiance we owe to Thee, so that we may one day come to that happy home, where Thou with the Father and the Holy Ghost livest and reignest God, world without end. Amen. With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka From the Pastor: A Monstrance Proposal
Below is an article that I found years ago in a Catholic newspaper. (I think it was in The Wanderer but I don’t have pertinent information attached to the article. Sorry about that.) After all these years the humor remains on target. And, since today we celebrate the External Solemnity of Corpus Christi, it just begs for a re-reading. At a time when the Church is sunk deep in controversy, faithful Catholics everywhere should be prepared to step forward when asked and be bridge builders, heal rifts. This struck me especially when I read the recent article in (a Catholic newspaper) about Bishop (redacted) of (redacted) Fla., who has directed that eucharistic exposition should not take place except during what we neatly and concisely used to call “Forty Hours,” but which now must be referred to by this ear-catching title: the “annual Solemn Exposition of the Holy Eucharist.” Here is a rift. Catholics all over the country are getting into perpetual adoration, Forty Hours, and all other kinds of neat stuff. Other Catholics insist that Jesus is in the gathered community just as surely as He is in the “consecrated bread.” In fact, they think that focusing on the “consecrated bread” detracts from the focus which ought to be on the gathered community. How does one reconcile these two dramatically diverging views on the Eucharist? I have solved this dilemma. With apologies to Jonathan Swift, I call it “A Monstrance Proposal.” The actual concept, which I have copyrighted, is quite simple. You need first to envision the configuration of our parish church. It is large (seats 1,000), cruciform, but there was a renovation (O blessed word!) in 1975 which brought the sanctuary forward to the center of the cross, with the choir and organ in the old sanctuary area behind the altar. It was a very carefully done 1970’s renovation, and the result is truly appalling; but that is the subject of another article and we need to move along here. We understand that we need to emphasize the Presence of Christ in the gathered community at least as much as, if not more than, we emphasize Him in the Eucharist. To this end, we are removing the choir section of our church, that section behind the current altar, and replacing it with a platform on which we will build a 20-foot tall, six-seater monstrance – a monstrance capable of sitting six parishioners in the glass chamber. We will then begin perpetual adoration. Six parishioners at a time will take turns climbing up and sitting in the monstrance while the rest of us will take turns worshiping Them. Or their gatheredness. Or Jesus in their gatheredness. Or whatever. It’s all a bit fuzzy just yet, which makes me sure that we are on the right track. This is going to be Big. I am waiting for the call from Modern Liturgy magazine anytime now. I expect to be its centerfold. Why, you may ask, am I offering this proposal? That is an easy question to answer. On the one hand, you have the perpetual adoration people, on the other hand, the Jesus-in-the-gathered community people. Why have another liturgical argument? Make them both happy, I say!!! Take the gathered community, and stick Them in the monstrance. Then worship Their gatheredness. You want perpetual adoration?? Make Them present all the time and you can have perpetual adoration of Their gatheredness. Each hour of adoration sees a new crew of six climb into the monstrance, and two perpetual adorers assume the lotus position on the beanbags which have replaced pews and kneelers in our church. A devotional booklet of inclusive language campfire songs is available in the devotional booklet rack in the vestibule, conveniently placed between the soda machine and the tabernacle, just before you get to the unisex restroom. Each hour begins with the singing either of Gather Us In, our gathering song for every liturgy, or, for more traditional groups, the traditional thanksgiving hymn, We Gather To Gather To Gather Together. People are very receptive to the introduction of gathered/enhanced spirituality, as I like to call it, as long as it is presented in the context of the tradition. Our next step, for example, has to do with the bread plate, traditionally the “paten.” We will be reminding everyone how, years ago when we were in school, the good sisters (yes, this was years ago!) told us that when we were at Mass we should remember all those for whom we wished to pray, and “place them on the paten” as the priest presented it. Our next liturgical step comes right out of that tradition. We will be fashioning a very large bread plate, probably about 12 feet in diameter, and affixing it to chains hanging from the ceiling. At the presentation of the gifts during the Eucharistic Liturgy, four designated “gifts” from among our parishioners will come up and hop into the suspended bread plate, singing Make Us Your Bread Lord Jesus; Then Break Us Up and Pass Us Around. We expect this will be stunningly effective. There are still little kinks in our customs which need to be worked out (for example, on one’s way into church, if one passes by little gathered knots of parishioners, does one genuflect to Them, or is a mere bow sufficient?), but with a bit of goodwill everything will be worked out. It is all very exciting, as our people become a Eucharistic People to such an extent that they begin to wear little battery-operated sanctuary lamps in their lapels. I sense a new age of Renewal coming on…. With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka From the Pastor: Wine With Which To Please God
A while ago, before covid put an end to all such pleasures, I was enjoying an afternoon bar-b-que with some parishioners. Along with the wonderful company and food there were also some nice bottles of wine. The hosts were not only gracious to share the libations but also the stories behind several of the bottles, why they were chosen, what to expect them to pair with, and other such delightful information. We enjoyed the day and I went home fat and happy. A month or so afterward, a bottle of wine showed up with a note that said something along the lines of “I noticed that you really enjoyed this wine at the get-together. I thought it would be a nice wine to use for Mass if that is permissible!” Well, it is permissible. The requirements for the wine used at Mass are pretty simple. The wine must be made out of grapes and it must not be adulterated in any substantial way. Things that adulterate the wine in non-substantial ways include such additives as sulfites, which are naturally occurring but more are often added to fight bacterial contamination and oxidation. The use of sulfites is fine even in “Mass wine.” The grape wine may be either red or white. Color does not change the essence of the wine. The wine may be either sweet or dry, depending on the grape varietal used and the way it was fermented and processed. The wine may be purchased at the religious supply house and have a label that says “Altar Wine” (which is purely a marketing ploy and may actually be deceptive, as these companies supply goods not only for Catholics but also for other religious groups, some of which may not have the same requirements for their “service.” Think “grape juice” being acceptable to some religions.) Or the wine may be purchased at the local ABC or grocery store. It may come in a bottle, in a can, or in a box. As long as it is made of grapes and not substantially changed (for instance by adding distilled alcohol to it) it can be validly used at Mass. So now I had a bottle of wine which this man already knew that I enjoy and he was very happy to allow me to use it at Mass, both for me to enjoy and, in a manner of thinking, for God to enjoy as well, instead of just using “whatever” wine for the Holy Sacrifice. Of course, sipping a glass of wine at a gathering is quite a bit different than consuming the Precious Blood at Mass! For instance, before almost every Mass I have either recently brushed my teeth or used mouthwash. The flavor of the wine does not come through exactly the same way when paired with Scope instead of cheese and crackers! But I liked the idea of using a “better” wine at the most Holy Sacrifice. Another man did, too, as he heard of what was done, and he, too, brought in a wine he favored and asked that it be used at Mass. Since then I have occasionally thought about sharing this story with you but never actually got around to doing it. Until now. Do you have a favorite wine? Would it please you and do you think Our Lord would be pleased if you would have it used for the consecration? I am going to put this out there and see what transpires. We use about a bottle of wine a week (my sacristans will tell me later how much off my guestimate is!) so the wine expense is not a major line item in our budget. I tell you that so that you will know that I am not just trying to save a dollar! I could go to Trader Joe’s and get some Two Buck Chuck if saving money was the overriding factor. Instead, I want to offer you the opportunity to bring in a bottle of your favorite wine (pure grape wine only, please!) to be used at Mass. If you tape your name onto the bottle in a way that it will stay, I will be sure to read it at some point during the week and remember to pray for you during the Mass! I don’t know how to practically let people know whose bottle is being used at any one time, but at least God will know. Please don’t bring in more than one bottle, though, because if we don’t have room to store the bottles or if we get so many coming in that we cannot possibly use them within a reasonable amount of time, I will be forced to use them for our potlucks or other dinners, which will pretty much defeat the purpose of bringing them for use at the Mass. If you want to share a short story about why that particular bottle of wine is your offering to Our Lord (“It was the wine my bride and I drank as our first toast 50 years ago—different vintage, of course—and we pour a glass of it every anniversary.”) feel free to include that type of information as well. I will end this with a simple reminder that Monday is Memorial Day. It would be quite appropriate if you offered both a toast and a prayer for those who gave their lives defending our country. God knows who His “faithful departed” are. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace, Amen. May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen. With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka [From the Pastor: Thank You! Last week’s Priest Anniversary Bash was absolutely amazing! Food, music, people spread out all over the property, games for the children, multiple priests celebrating various anniversaries, and, of course, Jesus, Who showed up at Mass once again! When things were winding down late in the afternoon, one of the women said something so simple, so beautiful, so not-being-done(!): We should do this every month! As for me, I would be glad to attend, but realize that that is all I did: attend. I did not organize it. I did not set anything up. I did not take anything down. I did not-, did not-, did not- to just about every aspect of this luncheon coming together. But somebody did. A whole bunch of somebodies did. And here is where I would like to thank each and every one but I have no knowledge of who to thank. A good number of people were working on this for weeks and months. I saw dozens of people running around during the days immediately before the party, dozens more (or perhaps the same dozens) early on Sunday morning, still more dozens during the event and yet more dozens of people until everything was completely taken down and cleared up. There were men, women, boys, and girls, each taking a role in making it all come together so “effortlessly.” And, of course, hundreds of people who set aside their Sunday afternoon to spend the day at the parish. Thank you all! There is one person whom I absolutely must call out by name, though. She is near and dear to my heart and went above and beyond the call of duty. My mother, Carole, made the cake that mimicked our sanctuary, complete with altar rail, three steps to the altar, multiple levels on the altar, 6 candles on the top gradine, four on the bottom, a tabernacle in the center, altar cards and angels in their places, the missal, burse, veiled chalice, crucifix, rugs, altar boys kneeling in prayer, and yours truly celebrating Mass, with details down to my glasses and hair “style!” I did not take any photos of anything else, but I got a few of the cake and Mom. She struggled with this cake like you would not believe. Her arthritis constantly caused her hands to cramp up to the point of needing to stop due to pain. Making the figures and getting them to stay put took a lot of patience and prayer. She got some assistance from her other children at the end and had some knight in shining armor carry the cake to the car and then from the car to the social hall so that it arrived in one piece. And it was spectacular. [See the cake photos below this article] I wonder what she will pull off for my 50th!?!? With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka
 From the Pastor: 25 Years A Priest!
May 18, 1996 I knelt before the bishop and was ordained a priest. I cannot tell you with certainty why God allowed that to happen. My best guess is that I was so incompetent for the job that if I accomplished anything good and holy in my vocation it would simply prove that God exists, for it had to be He Who worked through me. I say this with no false modesty. I was far from a perfect Catholic man before entering the seminary and although God (directly and/or through others) corrected, healed, and formed me in some very important ways, I still did not exit the seminary anywhere near being a Saint. I am still, after 25 years, quite the sinner. But at least now I am striving, in a way I was not back then, to rid myself of sins with a seriousness that I never had in the past. I know that time is short and that eternity is llllloooonnnnnnggggg. I have battled demons of my own and those of others. Some I have, through God’s grace, conquered by means of a head on attack with the spiritual weapons provided by the Church and the brashness of a combatant who isn’t afraid of the outcome. Others I have learned to run away from, knowing that either they are too strong for me or I am too weak for them, for even Superman knows not to mess with Kryptonite, and I am no Superman! Whether fighting to win (which brings glory to God) or fleeing to win (which also brings glory to God), the fighter has greater determination to conquer his opponent the closer to the end of the fight he comes. I am now 25 years closer to the end of the fight, which, judging from the way the people of the world and the Church are behaving, may mean the Second Coming rather than my personal expiration date. Along the way I have learned some very important lessons from some of the most likely and unlikely of people. I would like to share a few stories with you here, so sit back and relax for a spell. I will only tell of one priest, whom I will call Fr. W, who is now deceased and of whom I was fondly reminiscing recently. He had moved to this diocese after retirement and was quite active in a parish to which I was assigned. He was about as liberal as you get but, unlike so many liberal priests, he didn’t want the Church to change Her teachings so that he could enjoy sin without pangs of conscious, but rather because he was convinced that liberality would open people up to willingly embracing the Faith rather than accepting it under obligation. Anyway, I learned several important priestly lessons from him. He was available to celebrate Mass at the drop of a hat. But one priest kept making excuses for why he needed Fr. W to take his place when the reality was that he had some, ummm, problems which shall go unmentioned here but which were pretty much common knowledge at the time. Fr. W one day had heard enough of this poor priest’s lame excuses for why he couldn’t say Mass and told him, “I will celebrate Mass for you anytime you simply ask. But if you tell me one more lie about why you can’t be there, I will never answer your calls again.” Lesson: It is fine to put limits or conditions on doing even something as important as celebrating Mass. In this case, the other priest was not yet capable of admitting his sinful activity, yet Fr. W held him to what he was capable of, namely, not inventing excuses in a pathetic attempt to cover the tracks of his immorality. He stopped “meeting him where he was” and started pushing him past his “comfort level” without demanding what he could not yet do. Babysteps. Fr. W. He was a packrat, or perhaps a term more familiar to the younger generation, a hoarder. Once when he was ill I went to his apartment to assist him. There were boxes piled floor to ceiling everywhere. Yet, in his closet, the closet of someone who seemingly never threw anything away, were, if memory serves me, only two pairs of black slacks, two black clerical shirts, and one pair of black shoes. His explanation for the sparse wardrobe was that (remember, this is a liberal priest!) no priest needs anything more than that. He said he never, in all his years as a priest, wore “civilian” clothes. Never. Lesson: When a priest loves being a priest, regardless of his liturgical or theological bent, he has no need or desire to “fit in” with the rest of the world, even in his manner of dress. I could probably fill several more pages of anecdotes of just this one priest and his impact on my own priesthood. I cannot possibly tell of all the ways clergy and laity have helped me stay on or return to the right path over the years. I thank God for all of them and all of you. Together we can and will become Saints. Now, one final lesson from Fr. W. He had, as older men sometimes do, bladder problems. Even in the middle of Mass he often had to excuse himself to use the little boys’ room. Although his sudden disappearances were strange for visitors, regular parishioners were very sympathetic and Mass would simply pick up as normal when he returned. Lesson number three: Always turn off your lavalier microphone when you leave the sanctuary. With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka From the Pastor: Parish Dedication to St. Joseph
Last Saturday, May 1, the Solemnity of St. Joseph the Worker, we had a Solemn High Mass instead of our usual 8:00 am Low Mass. During this proclaimed Year of St. Joseph, our Bishop, Gregory Parkes, had announced that he was going to consecrate the entire Diocese to St. Joseph on that day. He asked us to join in those prayers in whichever way we could, and this is how I decided to do so. The altar boys had been clamoring for a special Mass (ya gotta love their enthusiasm to serve!) and this gave us a perfect excuse to have it happen. What I held back from them was that they were going to be serving at the Mass wherein I was going to consecrate the parish to St. Joseph as well! I thought I would share the prayer of consecration with you for the sake of those who were not able to attend the Mass in person, as well as to provide a spiritual tidbit for the edification of all who have a devotion to this holy Saint. PRAYER OF CONSECRATION TO ST. JOSEPH O Glorious Patriarch and Patron of the Church! O Virgin Spouse of the Virgin Mother of God! O Guardian and Virginal Father of the Word Incarnate! In the presence of Jesus and Mary, in union with Bishop Parkes as he consecrates the Diocese of St. Petersburg to you, I choose you this day to be the father, guardian, and protector of Epiphany of Our Lord parish. O great St. Joseph, whom God has made the Head of the Holy Family, accept the clergy, staff, and parishioners, I beseech you, though utterly unworthy, to become members of your “Holy House.” Present us to your Immaculate Spouse; ask her also to adopt us as her children. With her, pray that we may constantly think of Jesus, and serve him faithfully to the end of life. O Terror of Demons, increase in us virtue, protect us from the evil one, and help us not to offend God in any way. O my Spiritual Father, I hereby consecrate this parish to you. In faithful imitation of Jesus and Mary, I place her and all her concerns under your care and protection. To you, after Jesus and Mary, I consecrate the parish buildings and property, each member’s home and property, our very body and soul, with all our faculties, our spiritual growth, and all our affairs and undertakings. Forsake us not, but adopt us as servants and children of the Holy Family. Watch over us at all times, but especially at the hour of death. Console and strengthen us with the presence of Jesus and Mary so that, with you, we may praise and adore the Holy Trinity for all eternity. Amen. Every year I try to read up a little more on St. Joseph before his two feast days, March 19 being the more ancient and well-known. There are plenty of Saints who have commented on this holy man and a few mystics who have been privileged to see and write about his life. Each writes a little bit differently about him, based on their prayers and spiritual reflections. The scriptures hold very little information about him, but that doesn’t mean that truly holy men and women haven’t been able to discern much, much more! One little delightful insight first came my way by means of St. Francis de Sales. He wrote that we have no relics of St. Joseph’s body, just as we have no relics of his blessed spouse, Mary! That we have no relics of Mary’s body is a great way of showing the truth behind the Assumption—body and soul—of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven. The members of the early church revered the bodies of the Martyrs and Saints with great devotion, awed that such people gave everything, including their lives, for God. We have relics of the apostles but none of the Blessed Mother. Why? Because her body is already glorified in Heaven! There is no skeleton in her grave from which to collect relics! We have no relics of St. Joseph, either! St. Francis de Sales believed that St. Joseph was also assumed body and soul into Heaven, uniting the Holy Family once again. And, although that is not a dogma of Faith, it is something held by other Saints as well. An online search quickly yields St. Bernardine of Siena, St. Vincent Ferrer, Servant of God Mother Cecilia Baij, Pope John XXIII, St. Gertrude the Great, and Saint Leonard of Port Maurice all ascribing to this belief. I will leave you with one quote from St. Francis de Sales, though he addressed this topic several times: Surely, when Our Lord went down into Limbo, St. Joseph addressed Him in this wise: “Be pleased to remember, Lord, that when you came down from Heaven to earth I received you into my house and family, that I took you into my arms from the moment you were born. Now you are going back to Heaven, take me with you (body and soul). I received you into my family, receive me into yours; I took you in my arms; take me into yours; I looked after you and fed you and guided you during your life on earth; stretch forth your hand and lead me into life everlasting. With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka  From the Pastor: No, This Is Not An Aunt Irma Story
I saw the following a while back from William Briggs, April 20, under the title, “God Catches Cooties From Man” and thought it was just satire. I was only slightly wrong. Every one of the listed speakers is actually a listed speaker! The only satire is the topic of each one’s talk. Read it and weep. So the Vatican is holding a health conference, promoting it using an image like the one in Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel, where God gives life to man. Only this time God has on a glove, and so does man, lest either man catch God’s cooties, or man gives his to God. It’s not clear. Name of the thing is Exploring the Mind, Body & Soul: Unite to Prevent, Unite to Cure. Sounds like any other busybody money-sucking virtue-signaling paper-shuffling NGO, no? All the best people are coming. Like Deepka Chopra, who will try to quantum heal the coroandoom by putting sick people into Schrodinger boxes in which they are both cured and dead simultaneously. Chelsea Clinton—yes, the CC—will deliver the talk “If you abort your baby, it can’t catch a disease”. Cindy Crawford, the model, will discuss the best outfits to wear to your vaccination. Thupten Jinpa, PhD, and President of the Compassion Institute will deliver meaningful looks of sympathy at the crowd. Some sources are reporting he might even sigh. Joe Perry from Aerosmith’s talk is titled “The best guitar picks for use in a pandemic”. Oligarchs like John Scully have been tapped to push their latest investments. CEO of Salesforce Marc Benioff is coming. The CEOs of Moderna and Pfizer will be there giving the joint talk “Blood Clots? What Blood Clots?” Finally, the Fabulous Fauci will come! He will decide on what he will say after hearing what he thinks the other speakers want to hear. This thing is huge. It’s well the organizers put the soul last in the title, because that element is scarcely represented, if at all. The discussion will be on “deeper meaning of human existence and seek areas of convergence between the humanities and the natural sciences”. If my reading of history is right, the deeper meaning of human existence is something the Vatican figured out a couple of thousand years ago. Nothing about panicking over diseases in that deeper meaning. But, things change. Which is probably why they don’t mention the name of our Lord in any of the material of this conference. If one were conspiracy theorist, one would say this has all the markings of our New World Order promised by so many. That was my introduction to an upcoming (really!) conference sponsored by the Vatican with the above photo taken directly from the website, https://vaticanconference2021.org/ where you can go to check it out yourself. Click on “Dignitaries and Speakers” at the top and you will see pages of people who are anti-Catholic, pro-abortion, new age, or just plain weird choices to speak at a “real” Catholic conference on any topic at all. Those listed above by Briggs are just a small sampling of such odd ducks for a Vatican conference on mind, body, and soul. After all, if they have strange ideas on what it is to be human in the first place, or lack comprehension of the value of each human soul and how it differs from non-human souls, how can they grasp a true unification of mind, body, and soul? How can they teach the Catholic Church anything of value regarding a “cure” in this life as preparation for eternal life if they don’t believe in eternal life? If they don’t believe in Jesus and His Church as the necessary means of eternal life? No, this is not satire, it is evil. God help us all. With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka From the Pastor: His Second First Mass!
Last Sunday Fr. Pierre Dorvil, the priest in charge of the Immaculate Conception Haitian Mission, celebrated his first Traditional Latin Mass here at Epiphany! I loved the description he used during his sermon, that this was his second First Mass. The First Mass of a priest is a very special Mass. Excitement mixes with nervousness. Joy and happiness and exuberance mark his entire countenance. None of his preparation for this celebration, neither his philosophy classes nor his theology classes, not his practicums nor “dry” Masses, not even his prayer(!) could possibly make him truly comprehend the magnificent gift God bestowed upon him just hours earlier at his ordination and which he was going to use for its ultimate end as he was about to offer back to God the gift of His Son’s Holy Sacrifice on the Cross. The new priest tries to comport himself and asks, “Am I not prepared? Of course I am. Yet, ABSOLUTELY NOT!” To stand in Persona Christi at his first Mass without dying of love shows how much grace God gives to the priest by not allowing him to fully comprehend what he is about to do! Still, at his first Mass, the priest embraces the Love of Jesus, that love shown while being crucified, to an extent that boggles the mind and expands the soul. Father Dorvil celebrated his First Mass in 1984. It was a Novus Ordo Mass, of course, and it was incredible beyond rational explanation. Yet here he was, nearly 4 decades later, after celebrating countless Masses, and he was celebrating just like he was newly ordained. This second First Mass was a Solemn High Mass in the 1962 Rite. Although the Novus Ordo Mass is the Mass which he fell in love with and which brought him into the priesthood, and although the differences between the “old Mass” and the “new Mass” are usually downplayed as if they are inconsequential, even to the point of officially calling them two forms of the same Rite rather than giving them their due by calling them two distinct Rites, priests who start in the Novus Ordo and then learn the Traditional Latin Mass can—and do—know better! This is why his first Solemn High Mass (TLM) could be such an important celebration as to put it on par with this very first Mass so many years ago. It was as important a Mass (not that each and every Mass in every Rite is not of infinite importance!) as his very first one! It took much preparation, physically, mentally, and spiritually. It evoked all of the fruits of the Holy Ghost as were first experienced oh, so many years ago as this holy priest, when he, with his newly acquired indelible mark of the priesthood, stood at the altar, his hands virtually glistening with the chrism oil with which his bishop had recently anointed them for this mission, brought the Sacrifice of Salvation to the present, bringing Heaven to Earth, and coalescing time and space within a single point, the point of Forgiveness; of Reparation; of Perfect Sacrificial Love. He was, in a manner of speaking, now being “born again” as a priest and he named it as such! A second First Mass! What a blessing it was for me (and, I hope, for you) to have been present to witness such a marvelous occurrence. Now that he has celebrated his first one, expect to see him quite often (when his pastoral duties allow) offer the Holy Mass. He is planning on celebrating daily Masses in the TLM as well as the occasional Sunday Mass. But Wait! There’s More! We have another local priest who has been preparing to celebrate his second First Mass as well! I have already announced it to many of you but I hesitate to put his name in the bulletin beforehand out of an abundance of caution. There are still many priests and bishops who, were they to get a sniff of a priest embracing Tradition, would put up so many roadblocks as to make it impossible for that priest to celebrate a TLM. That’s just the way it is. If all goes as planned, he will celebrate the TLM next month and then the cone of silence can be lifted. Finally, Josh Heiman, one of our home-grown seminarians still preparing for his first First Mass (which is still too many years away!), has been with us for a few weeks, acting as subdeacon for the Solemn Masses and praying for all of you, his friends, family, and benefactors, is leaving us Tuesday morning to return to the seminary. He is studying for the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, whose members use no Rite except the Traditional Latin Rite. He will probably have to wait for his second First Mass until he is able to celebrate a Pontifical Solemn Mass as a holy Bishop! Please keep him in your prayers as he continues his studies. If he becomes even half as holy as Fr. Dorvil, he will be still twice as holy as me and will be a priest worthy of the call. Be sure to wish him farewell and Godspeed before he leaves, and don’t forget to pray for him as he returns to his studies. May Our Lady keep him and all our young priests- and sisters-to-be under her protective mantle during their formation. We certainly are blessed with graces from Heaven around here, and you, the Faithful parishioners, are showing what God wants to do, and obviously can do, with any individuals and families ready to become Saints. Keep up the good work! With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka From the Pastor: Easter Fishing Trip
A group of men from the parish had planned an Easter Monday fishing trip on one of the party boats out of Clearwater. I have both great memories and not-so-good memories of party boat trips, missed trips, and canceled trips from my youth. On the “great” side, I remember fishing party boats (these are not “fiesta” type of parties, but rather large boats holding 30 or more people fishing shoulder to shoulder, as opposed to a “charter” fishing boat where only a few people are on board) out of Daytona Beach and catching plenty of amberjack. That was back in the 1970s and the fish were plentiful. Of course, if you have ever caught amberjack you know that they swim all over the place when hooked, and, with everyone fishing so close together, oftentimes the person with a fish on the line would tangle a dozen more lines before he either got the fish up to the boat or it broke off. A lot of time was spend getting untangled! Every once in a while two people on opposite sides of the boat would each hook a fish and their fish would then tangle with each other, resulting in two men straining to pull in what seemed like a monster fish when the reality was that they were each trying to reel in the other man’s line! The stronger of the men would “win” but generally at least one of the fish had broken free by the time the fight was over. The “not-so-good” memories were not really bad memories of fishing but rather of other things associated with the trip. For instance, one time the weather was absolutely terrible out at sea. We were on an all-day trip, so there was plenty of time for the captain to search for a place to fish that was not directly in the storm. But in the meantime, we were all forced to sit in the cabin, where we were crowded together like sardines. And then people started getting sick. The smell and sounds of children and adults losing their breakfasts, the humidity from all of the body heat and breathing, plus the up and down and rocking motion of the boat was, well... sickening. I don’t think I got seasick but I certainly got sick of other people’s seasickness! The groans and moans and green faces, the... sorry, to be too descriptive would not make for a good article. But just let me say that even the crew got sick just from being in the cabin helping the sick passengers. The only two people onboard who remained unfazed were the ship’s captain (he was up in his own place and not breathing in the fumes or seeing and smelling and hearing the rest of us!) and my grandfather, a life-long fisherman and boater himself. He just serenely took it all in and remained just as nonchalant as could be. He was always my fishing hero. Of course, we eventually found a place to fish. The waves and wind were both strong but not so much that we were in danger of falling overboard, so the boat stopped and we were all able to get outside. Only about half of the people were able to fish, if I recall correctly, and the rest were just miserable for the rest of the day, staying inside (the worst place to be) because they were too seasick to move. We managed to catch a lot of fish, but grandpa outcaught everyone, as usual. We also had at least two times when we arrived at the dock only to be told that they had no record of our party making reservations. After getting up at 4 in the morning to get out to the boat, bringing all the cousins and uncles from Michigan out for a fishing trip, that news did not go over too well. But there was nothing to do about it! The boats were all fully booked and, most likely, someone slipped a few extra bucks to someone to get aboard and we were left behind. And onetime our boat simply left early and, though we were there on time, we were stuck looking at an empty slip instead of a boarding plank. Oh, those were the good ol’ days before social media or any other real way of complaining, so they could get away with whatever they pleased. Anyway, back to the Epiphany men’s trip. They asked if I would like to join them for a half-day trip. I had to respond in the negative because I had two morning Masses and confessions and Adoration. Fishing and priesthood just don’t work out too well now that we are supposed to be catching men rather than fish! So they asked Fr. Mangiafico if he wanted to come. Instead of saying “yes” he said, “Tell Fr. Palka that I will celebrate his morning Masses for him and he can go.” So on Easter Monday, I had to wake up extra early in order to celebrate a private Mass before the morning Masses began, then drive to Clearwater through the morning traffic, and, wait, it sounds like I am complaining! Nope, this is fishing. This is how men become strong enough to be real Catholics! We sacrifice sleep, comfort, eating, and other things just to perhaps catch some fish which would have been more cheaply purchased at leisure from the market. And we love it! We brought the fish we caught to the restaurant at the dock and had them cook lunch for us. We feasted on Easter Fish and enjoyed every minute and every mouthful. Thanks, Father M! Thanks men of Epiphany! With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka From the Pastor: So Many New Parishioners!
This Triduum and Easter was glorious in so many ways! Not only did we get a chance to commemorate Our Lord’s Passion and Death and then celebrate His Resurrection without having to lock the Faithful out of the church, but we had the opportunity to introduce these Traditional Rites to many people who had never experienced them before! As one person told me, “These were stolen from us last year. This year we won’t miss any of these services!” This exuberance had already been tangible through the whole of Lent, with daily and Sunday Mass attendance growing to new levels, with the Friday Stations and Soup having well over 100 people staying for the simple meal after each weekly prayerful Way of the Cross, and with ever greater participation in both our adult and children's groups and activities. And then came Easter, when we, for the first time, broke the 1000 person mark in Mass attendance. As thrilled as I am that all of you are here, I also see problems arising from such a quick influx of people new to the Traditional Latin Mass (and other sacraments in the Traditional Form), so I want to address some issues here. Please note that I am doing this, not to chastise anybody, but rather to inform everybody! Just like we don’t want all of the people who are fleeing the covid-communism of Michigan and New York to simply move to Florida and then vote for the same things that made their previous states such terrible places to live, so we don’t want new parishioners coming in and then trying to make this parish become just like the one they came from! Exterior signs of the interior reverence and devotion which should be given to God at Mass are important, but old habits are hard to break. I know! It takes practice to really pray the Mass rather than just show up for the “entertainment” (you know, the “What will I get out of it?” mentality of so many modern Catholics). First of all, put away your watch! A Sunday Low Mass (the silent Mass where the people come to full, active, conscious, participation through silent prayer rather than through busy-ness and vocal activity) generally takes slightly more than an hour. The High Mass, due especially to the fact that almost everything said aloud is chanted rather than recited, will normally run longer than 90 minutes. There are no “shortcuts” such as a shorter Eucharistic Prayer, or options to skip the Confiteor if the priest says the Kyrie! Everything is for the Glory of God, not for the “get in and get out” mentality of men! Giving God the bare minimum, even of time spent at Mass, leads to complaining (and often refusing) if He asks anything “extra” of you. That leads to the second point, which is that the Mass is more properly described as “the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass” to remind us that Mass is not just a chintzy, meager meal where we sit around passing time until we can (finally!) get a piece of bread and a sip of wine and go home. It is the Wedding Banquet of the King’s Son, the vows of which He proclaims from the Cross upon which He gave His life for His Bride, the Church. Past, present, and future space and time come together, as the one, perfect, sacrifice of Jesus upon the Cross is made manifest to us here and now. If you were physically present at the crucifixion, you wouldn’t be counted among the Faithful if you kept checking your watch and proclaiming, “Would you hurry up and die, already? I don’t want to waste my whole day with You!” No, rather you dress appropriately for the Nuptial Banquet, you pray appropriately at the foot of the Cross, and you make the whole day hallowed between your drive time to and from the church, prayers in preparation for Mass, prayers during Mass, prayers of Thanksgiving after Mass (not racing to be the first to the donuts!), and staying for social gatherings when the formal prayers are complete (outside of the church, of course, recognizing the clear distinction between “church” and “social hall”). Finally, donuts are for eating after Mass, not before or during! Canon Law has shortened the Eucharistic Fast to a short one hour before the reception of Holy Communion, although you can always follow the previous rule of a 3-hour fast, or the even earlier fast from midnight if you are strong enough. Technically, the sixty-minute fast means that at a High Mass you could probably be scarfing down that glazed cruller in the pew during the Gospel and still fast for an hour before you receive Holy Communion! Don’t do it! You should also put an end to the “Novus Ordo normal” practice of feeding children (other than infants, of course) while in the church. “But Father, I can’t keep my children still and quiet during Mass unless I give them Goldfish or Cheerios or raisins!” Your elders can teach you how! Teach the children (a great way to learn yourself!) the glories of the TLM rather than reinforcing their childish manner of acting! For the Love of God, teach them to sit still and be quiet and pray! Don’t teach them to eat every time they “have nothing else to do” or you are setting them up for eating disorders in a few short years. Remember that nearly everybody else around you was as lost as you are when they first started attending TLMs. What seems difficult and foreign now will soon become “normal” to the point that you wish you had never been deprived of Tradition in the first place! With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka |
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