What -22° fahrenheit does to a cup of coffee
After two weekends of various forms of sickness, I am so relieved to be back on my feet for weekend Masses in our parish family. Thank you to everyone who has prayed for, sent consolation notes, or taken time to offer words of support as I recover from whatever sinus & throat nastiness I managed to take home with me from Minnesota. I’m still taking cough drops like its going out of style, but things are approaching something like normalcy.
Setting aside sinus/throat stuff and the -22° fahrenheit temperatures (uuuuuuugh!), my time in Minnesota was a combination of blessings & challenges. Whenever we are confronted with sorrow & death, our natural reaction is both lash out against the wrongness of it all while also clinging to what is good, true, and beautiful. I am so grateful for our funeral rites, that give us a ritual by which we can walk through those emotions together, despite the turbulence in our hearts and souls. If you would, please continue to pray for the repose of my grandmother Connie and the consolation & peace of all of her loved ones.
Minnesota has been on our minds for other reasons as well – with plenty of lashing out, though decidedly less prayerful responses or recourse to the good, true, and beautiful. I’m not going to try to speak to what is going on, what should be going on, or what shouldn’t be going on. Honestly, I don’t trust that it is even possible for us who are not involved to know the truth of things. But I have found myself convicted in what I can understand: the response of my own heart. I have caught myself tempted to take sides, condemn various characters in a given story (or the whole thing), and generally allow contempt and cynicism to color my heart.
There’s only one person who gains from that cycle: the devil.
Did you know that we have rites & rituals for practically everything? There are special votive Masses that may be offered in times of civil disturbance, for example. There are prayers of reparation for evils committed by others. There are devotions – most especially the rosary! – that can be offered privately or communally for the benefit of anyone, or everyone. Our faith gives us so many rituals by which we can walk through this valley of tears together – and together with Christ.
Saints & celebrations
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- January 25 – Conversion of Saint Paul – Scripture attests to the skepticism with which early Christians met Saint Paul’s conversion – and who could blame them for doubting that the one who was seeking out and killing Christians was now one of them? And yet not only was he, but became one of the greatest. May we pray for such a conversion for ourselves and for all – especially those who (currently) are set against us. Read about this memorial at Aleteia.
- January 26 – Saints Timothy and Titus – Paul mentions these two saints as being particularly faithful and good friends of his, to boot. Read about them at Franciscan Media.
- January 27 – Saint Vitalian – Reigning as pope in the seventh century (657-672), Saint Vitalian’s pre-papal life is relatively unknown, but he spent much of his papacy attempting to resolve the Monothelite controversy – an effort that outlived him but eventually triumped. Read about our 76th pope at New Advent.
- January 28 – Saint Thomas Aquinas – One of the greatest Catholic minds, Aquinas helped the Church articulate many (many!) important aspects of Her faith. Even hundreds of years later, his writings and thought help inform and form the minds & hearts of Christians everywhere. Read more about him at Word on Fire.
- January 29 – Saints Papias and Maurus – Today’s saints are likely little known to modern Catholics, but in the 17th century Papias & Maurus were known such that they were portrayed alongside no less personage than Saint Gregory the Great! Both were disciples of Saint Benedict and it is the Benedictines who have a little more to share about at least one of them, Saint Maurus. Read about him at their website.
- January 30 – Saint Hyacinth Marescotti – Sometimes people pursue religious life for all the wrong reasons, and today’s saint fit that bill! A fan of the good life and spurned by the one she loved, Marescotti’s life changed when she fell ill and began to truly open herself to the Lord. Upon her recovery, she embraced humility, austerity, and works of charity. Read about her at uCatholic.
- January 31 – Saint John Bosco – Catholic education is something that we perhaps take for granted in our time, but it wasn’t always so. Today’s saint – affectionately known as Don Bosco – saw the need to care for & educate delinquent children and began what became a religious order (the Salesians), named after Bosco’s own favorite saint, Saint Francis de Sales. Read more about him at Patheos.
(No pastor’s insert this week)
Priests celebrating their anniversaries this week
- No anniversaries this week – pray for vocations!
Remembering our deceased priests
- Peter Van Holderbeke (January 18, 1901)
- Fr. John D. Lynch (January 20, 1990)
- Msgr. Philip H. Duffy (January 21, 1987)
- Fr. Regis Maniouloux (January 22, 1919)
- Fr. Terrence Caraher (January 22, 1932)
- Fr. Edward T. McCarthy (January 22, 1962)
- Fr. Robert S. Dell (January 22, 2014)
- Fr. Thomas E. Quinn (January 22, 2025)
- Msgr. Theodore Ryan (January 23, 1960)
- Fr. D. Harvey McIntyre (January 26, 1992)
- Fr. John J. Bowman (January 26, 2024)
- Fr. Charles DeDecker (January 27, 1926)
- Msgr. Michael O’Callaghan (January 27, 1981)
- Fr. Joseph P. O’Shea (January 28, 2011)
- Fr. Kevin R. Coyle (January 29, 1988)
- Msgr. John Murphy (January 30, 1985)
- Fr. John J. Hartnett (January 31, 1967)
- Abp. Alexander J. Brunett (January 31, 2020)
Glad you are feeling better. Glad to have you back.