6/18/2023

On our Staff Day of Recollection on Friday, June 9 we each received a bag of notes / letters from you in the parish community. It was very moving to hear from you – thank you for your kindness and encouragement. Needless to say for most of us it was the highlight of the day. THANK YOU!
I want to wish all fathers out there a Happy Father’s Day! We are blessed with some outstanding families in this parish with great examples of what a father should truly be. It makes a difference, a big difference, both now in the behavior of your children and in the future as those children enter adulthood. Thank you for making the sacrifices and being there for your children, our children.
Fr. Karl Barmann is coming on June 26th as a Senior Priest in Residence and will settle in, then take some time off July 6-10.
I am taking a vacation July 15–29.
Suffering is something we have as a result of Original Sin. It was not so originally, but things changed for all humanity when Adam and Eve sinned. Primarily, suffering and death entered the world, and we humans live with a tendency or desire to sin which theologians call “concupiscence.” God dealt with Original Sin and its effects not by blotting them out, but by suffering the effects in His passion and death, then conquering them in the Resurrection. Ever since Christ embraced our fallen state and underwent His passion and death, suffering has had a dignity, a way of showing solidarity with Christ, and an effectiveness in alleviating the stigma of suffering by suffering with and for others. We try to alleviate the suffering of others as a sign that we care for them, just as Christ gave dignity to suffering by suffering and dying for us. While medicine cannot indefinitely postpone death, it can mitigate the suffering attached to dying in many cases, and the corporal and spiritual works of mercy are honored as ways to show solidarity with those who are suffering. In all this discussion it is important to distinguish the sin from its effects. Humans have no cure for sin – we can only turn to God and seek forgiveness. We are helpless before the scourge of sin. But the suffering caused by sin is something we can take on ourselves, and suffer-with (com-passion) others, can perhaps lessen in others. Suffering with Christ and for others by taking on their burdens is the basis of praying for the souls in purgatory, is the basis of showing our love for others, is the basis of indulgences. We do not have the power to forgive sin—but we can mitigate it’s effects. We often call that penance. Thus we pray for the living and dead or the lives of the unborn, we fast for the sake of others, we unite our sufferings with Christ’s for the sake of someone or some cause. We cannot earn forgiveness, but we can, by uniting ourselves with Christ, help others and reduce their burden or punishment due to their sins. It builds discipline and character in those who practice mortification and prayer. That is why we pray the Rosary (e.g. for the dead, for the unborn, etc.); that is why we have Eucharistic Adoration during which we can pray for others (living or deceased). That is also why it is a good practice to pray for those you are not getting along with – whether it softens the heart of the other person or not, it is often true that it softens the heart of the one saying the prayers. This is a beautiful spiritual connection we have as members of the Body of Christ. It is also a positive way to embrace our sufferings, and make them fruitful in the Kingdom of God.

Father Albert, O.S.B.