Be Doers of the Word

08-29-2021Letter from the PastorFr. Don Kline, V.F.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

It has been said that Mark Twain saw overly pious Christians as being a bit phony. One of the famous stories that validates his concerns happened at a dinner party where a man cornered Twain and said, “Before I die, I am going to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. When I arrive, I will climb Mount Sinai, and from the very top I will boldly proclaim the Ten Commandments.” Twain replied, “I have a better idea. Why don’t you stay right here at home and obey them.” While the story reveals Twain’s sarcastic side, it also points to today’s readings which invite us to look at the difference between talking and doing. The letter to James reminds us that we are to “be doers of the word, not only hearers.” And Jesus turns to the prophet Isaiah in today’s gospel to make the point that “these people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.”

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Reflecting Heaven Part 18: One God and Three Persons

08-25-2021Reflecting HeavenFr. Don Kline, V.F.

“As on the day of our Baptism, when our whole life was entrusted to the “standard of teaching”, let us embrace the Creed of our life-giving faith. To say the Credo with faith is to enter into communion with God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and also with the whole Church which transmits the faith to us and in whose midst we believe: This Creed is the spiritual seal, our heart’s meditation and an ever-present guardian; it is, unquestionably, the treasure of our soul” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 197)

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To Whom Can We Go?

08-22-2021Letter from the PastorFr. Don Kline, V.F.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

We hear in today’s Gospel: “Many of His disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied Him.” The reason: They heard His teaching and what it demands of them. Tragically, they could not accept it. The Sacred Scriptures tell us that many of Jesus’ followers walked away because they found His teaching “too difficult”. Jesus then focuses on His closest followers. Looking at Peter, Jesus asks him, “Do you also want to leave?” Peter responds “no”, but then he asks Our Lord this important question: “To whom can we go?” Peter seems to be saying, “When I look at the other possibilities, you are still the best option. Among all the choices out there, you are my first choice.”

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Reflecting Heaven Part 17: Baldachinum of the Altar

08-18-2021Reflecting HeavenFr. Don Kline, V.F.

Baldachinum of the Altar, a dome-like canopy above our current altar, has a very long and esteemed history in church sanctuaries. These massive structures can be fashioned out of wood, stone, or metal, and are usually erected over the high altar of larger churches. The baldacchino is usually supported on four columns, though sometimes suspended by chains from the roof.

It has been suggested that the name “baldacchino” comes from Baldocco, Italian form of Bagdad where the precious cloth canopies were made as part of the structure. The same structure was previously called ciborium, from the Greek kiborion (the globular seed-pod of the lotus, used as a drinking-cup) because of the similarity of its dome top to an inverted cup.

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Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

08-15-2021Letter from the PastorFr. Don Kline, V.F.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Today, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary into heaven. The Catholic Church teaches that the Virgin Mary “having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.” This doctrine was dogmatically defined by Pope Pius XII on November 1, 1950, in the Apostolic Constitution Munificentissimus Deus, while exercising papal infallibility. But this feast has long been a belief in the Church.

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Reflecting Heaven Part 16: The Stations of the Cross

08-11-2021Reflecting HeavenFr. Don Kline, V.F.

Each Friday during Lent, many in our parish, and around the world, gather to trace the footsteps of Jesus on his Via Dolorosa (Sorrowful Way), the Way of the Cross, or Via Crucis. I have been deeply moved and inspired at St. Bernadette over the years by all those who have prayed the Stations of the Cross.

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Giving > Receiving

08-08-2021Letter from the PastorFr. Don Kline, V.F.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Mother Teresa knew that it is in giving that we receive, dying that we are born to eternal life. She was called to live the words of St. Paul: “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” I just wanted to thank you, the extraordinarily generous stewards of our community who remained stalwart supporters of our beloved parish, even when your jobs and livelihoods could have been in pandemic jeopardy. I was so inspired by you. May God bless you for your generosity!

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Reflecting Heaven Part 15: Notes on the St. Bernadette Sanctuary Renovation

08-04-2021Reflecting HeavenFr. Don Kline, V.F.

Litany of Loreto: This litany to the Blessed Virgin Mary was composed during the Middle Ages. The place of honor it now holds in the life of the Church is due to its faithful use at the shrine of the Holy House at Loreto. It was definitively approved by Pope Sixtus V in 1587, and all other Marian litanies were suppressed, at least for public use. Since then, several Popes have added titles to the Litany, as only they may do.

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God’s Plan for Joyful Marriage - To Have, To Hold, To Honor

08-01-2021Letter from the PastorFr. Don Kline, V.F.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

This past week was designated Natural Family Planning Awareness Week because it was fifty-three years ago on this day that Pope Saint Paul VI issued his encyclical Humanae Vitae (On Human Life). In this papal letter, Paul VI provided instruction on the responsible transmission of human life, describing the nature of married love as designed by God and echoing the Church’s unchanging teaching on the immorality of contraceptive behavior.

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