Thursday, October 30, 2003
Dear parishioners,
Faithful citizenship calls us not just to exercise our responsibility to vote, but to make choices in the light of the Gospel. Since Leo XIII (Rerum Novarum 1891) the Church has more explicitly developed its social teaching. Common themes and directions have emerged including the value of all life and the dignity of every human person as created by God, God’s special concern for the poor and the vulnerable, and God’s entrusting of the world to us as stewards. Our right to vote brings with it the responsibility to choose in the light of the Gospel and our lived experience as disciples.

Peace and Blessings,
Fr. Richard
Wednesday, October 22, 2003
Dear parishioners,

This morning at the 10:30 AM Mass, we are delighted to have Bishop Thomas Curry as presider. Bishop Curry will officially install Fr. Richard as the pastor of St. Barbara Parish. In our name, and in the name of the entire Archdiocese, Bishop Curry will welcome Fr. Richard and pray that Christ will strengthen him to “always be a loving father, a gentle shepherd, and a wise teacher” in leading us to Christ. After Mass, you are invited to congratulate and welcome Fr. Richard at a reception in the garden.

Friday of this week, we celebrate “All Hallows’ Eve” (Halloween), a tradition that began more than 1000 years ago. Huge bonfires were lighted on hilltops to welcome the dead, good or bad, who, as legend has it, would return home for a bit of comfort by the warm hearthside. Any stranger was welcomed into the home. Who knew? Maybe the stranger was really a dead relative. People dressed up like the dead to make the good ghostly visitors feel welcome and to scare away those who were not so nice. All of this was tied to the Christian belief in Christ’s resurrection and the day of resurrection for all who die. Happy Halloween! May all of your ghosts come from heaven!

Blessings,
Pat
Wednesday, October 15, 2003
Dear Parishioners,

Today the church throughout the world celebrates “Mission Sunday.” Our parish Mission Statement reads that “St. Barbara Parish is an all-inclusive Catholic faith community, rooted in the Franciscan tradition of Christian hospitality and courtesy toward all people.” Courtesy or cortesia is an ideal from the medieval romance tradition of courtly behavior. It is the gracious behavior of the lord or lady who, having everything, freely gives to all. Our artistic tradition so often images the saints with an infant Jesus, presenting the Lord to the person looking at the image. One of the ancient and revered titles of the Blessed Virgin Mary is “the Christ-bearer.” This is who we are as Church, all of us “Christ-bearers” freely giving what we have freely received. Courtesy, in part means that everyone who meets us would feel like Kings and Queens by how they are received . . . rather like the Three Kings at Bethlehem. God has reserved nothing in sharing divinity with us through the Incarnation. How blessed and rich we are.

Fr. Richard