Welcome back to Ordinary Time! With the conclusion of Vespers (Evening Prayer) this Sunday, the solemnity of the Baptism of the Lord, we concluded the Christmas season and entered into the first week of Ordinary Time. As the legendary Malcom Reynolds said, “Oh, I long for a little dullness”! Though I love the holiday season, I, too, am ready for a bit of regularity and routine.
With the beginning of the new year, our routine across the parish family is seeing what I hope will be some newfound stability. After six months of discernment, I made my final decision on the new weekend Mass schedule, which took effect on January 1. Each of the three regions of our parish family – west (Saint Anne parish & Saint Thomas the Apostle mission), central (Queen of Angels & Saint Joseph parishes) and east (Saint Mary Star of the Sea parish) – there are Saturday confessions & a vigil Mass and every church has at least one Sunday Mass.
Over the next many months – and indeed the remaining two and half years of Partners in the Gospel – we will be moving forward with the larger vision of what it means to be a parish family. To my mind, this first involves two major focal points: (re)building up individual parish ministries & leadership and discerning together how we actually become one parish here on the Olympic Peninsula. I have a lot of thoughts on those two points, so look forward to a long-form reflection on that in the near future (I’m shooting for the end of the week).
In the meantime, I want to encourage you to consider this reality: a parish only exists because of its parishioners. The work of the parish is the work of the people who are members of the community. The pastor, vicars, and staff exist to empower and facilitate the work God wants all of His people to join in undertaking. As we celebrated this Sunday, our participation in Jesus’ baptism means that we join Him in His life, His ministry, His Passion & death, and – one day! – His resurrection.
In order to hear God’s call, we need to present ourselves to Him – and we need to open our hearts (often closing our mouths in the process ;-)) to listen for and hear Him! We don’t have to wait; our prayer for God’s guidance can begin here and now, as He walks with us in the ordinary (but no less wonder-filled) day-to-day life of our parish family and those in our community with whom we are called to share His Gospel.
January 12 – The last day of Christmas! But before we enter the first week of Ordinary Time, we have one last celebration: the solemnity of the Baptism of the Lord. How surreal it must have been for Saint the John the Baptist – despite understanding his role (‘I must decrease, He must increase’) – to be baptizing the One Whom he knew to be his Creator and Lord! Among other things, I imagine he was humbled, awed, and grateful for how the Father placed him in the plan for our salvation. We, too, are called to share in those sentiments (and more!), as we consider Jesus’ baptism and our own. Monsignor Charles Pope (always good for insightful and inspiring commentary) shared his homily for this year’s celebration at his website.
January 13 – Today’s memorial of Saint Hilary of Poitiers appropriately follows the celebration of baptism of the Lord. A bishop of the fourth century, he took up the defense of our understanding of Jesus’ divinity against the heresy of Arianism (which claimed that Jesus’ was only human – a creation of God rather than one with the Father and the Holy Spirit). When the emperor ordered all bishops to condemn Athanasius (another defender of the faith), Hilary was banished. So ardent – and convincing – was he that the Arians eventually begged the emperor to send him back home rather than debate those who exiled him! Read more about him at the Vatican City State website.
January 15 – This week we celebrate two hermits (read about the other in my pastor’s notes, linked below) – today’s Saint John Calibita (also called John Calybite – the ‘hut-dweller’). Though born into a wealthy family, he was deeply inspired by spiritual books and eventually took on a life of extreme poverty. Before taking vows, he asked his parents for a Gospel, which his parents had made specially for him. But after several years away, he wished to see his parents again. Gaining permission from the monastery, he took up a life as a beggar near the gates of his parents’ home – who themselves did not recognize him, though they sent him food. When the Lord revealed that he would die in three days, he asked the stewart to send a message to his mother, asking her presence. He thanked her for the charity he had received and gave her the Gospel that they had given him – she only recognized it with her husband later. They both warmly greeted him before his death and built a church & hostel at the site of his burial- they themselves were buried there as well. Read more about him at Wikipedia.
January 18 – The name of Saint Priscilla (or Saint Prisca) is likely one that many Christians will recognize….but wonder how they know her! In his letter to the Romans (Romans 16:3) names them as co-workers in Christ Jesus and in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 18:24-28) we see her and her husband Aquila guiding Apollos in more accurately proclaiming Christ to the Jewish people. Read more about her at the University of Notre Dame.
Priests celebrating their anniversaries this week
- Rev. C. Vincent Peterson (January 12, 1974)
- Rev. Yungi Park (January 13, 2021)
HI. I don’t read this column as much as I should, but really appreciate your commentary and bios on the saints. This heroic virtue which the saints demonstrated we should all aspire to, with the gifts God has given us. Recall that the only sin not forgiven are our sins against the Holy Spirit; God trying to turn those gifts granted us, with our sweat and resolution, into fruits for our community and world.
Regarding the chalk — ours has been over our doors since 2021 with this date and year. Do we need to re-up so to speak?
Hello Mike and welcome to the comments section! There’s no ‘should’ with reading the blog; I’m just glad you stop by from time to time – it is my hope that when folks do, it’s helpful.
On the chalk front, the prayer, blessing, and marking of doors is meant to be re-done each year. I suppose you could just wipe out the ’21’ at the end of the former year’s mark and put in ’25’, but if were me I’d just wipe out the old entirely and write in the new!
So far, so good!
Father, I see where you have posted some sites of interest. Are you aware of Father G and his “Beyond These Stone Walls”? Father G (Father Gordon MacRae) has been in prison in New Hampshire for the past 30 years on an abuse charge of which he is not guilty. He has been offered parole but refuses to accept it on the grounds that, in doing so, he would accept being guilty which he isn’t. His podcast comes every Wednesday to those who subscribe.