October 25, 2020: 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Dear Parishioners:

My prayers are for all of you, especially to stay healthy and to continue to readjust to the “new normals” that we are experiencing.  I ask everyone to continue to be patient and prayerful during these times. Work, school, relationships, an already-long political season, uncertainty about finances, stressed relationships might all have us struggling to stay calm these days.  We need to make sure that we are continuing to pray, especially with our families and loved ones; prayer supports and gives hope in uncertain times.  It gives us strength to wake up each morning and be ready to tackle what has to be done for that day.  It would be great if we prayer not only for our needs, but the needs of our friends, neighbors and our country.  The Lord knows what is best for all, so praying for His Holy Will to be accomplished would be best and it is a simple, yet powerful prayer.

As for the upcoming elections, both national and local: of course, neither the Church nor I will ever endorse any particular candidate, I would simply ask that Catholic voters will vote according to their fully formed Catholic consciences.  For decades, this has been the Church’s stance on selecting a candidate to vote for.  The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) provides a guide in order to help Catholics form their consciences based on Catholic teachings and it is called, “The Challenge of Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship.”  It is included in this bulletin as an insert and I would ask you to prayerful read it, as it covers many of the issues with which Catholic voters are concerned. https://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/faithful-citizenship/upload/Forming-Consciences-Faithful-Citizenship-bulletin-insert.pdf

Finally, in a few weeks we will go to the polls (or the drop-off boxes), and I want to simply remind you all that as important as this and every election is and hopefully everyone will vote, God needs to be in charge of our lives more that any politician.  Our trust must always be in Him who can grant us salvation and peace, not an elected official.  Recall, in the Old Testament, the Israelites complained to God that they wanted a King (1 Samuel 8), a leader who would lead them, especially because all the other nations had a king.  The Lord warned them that a king will never treat and lead them as well as the Lord would.  God was their King, but they insisted on giving their allegiance to an earthly King and the Lord relented and gave them what they wanted.  Ultimately, the Jews paid quite a price for selecting an earthly king over their Heavenly King.  As badly as we want or hope a certain politician will win office, let us always remember that our ultimate allegiance needs to be to God and realize that Jesus is our King.

Psalm 146, written almost 3,000 years ago, makes this point very clear.

Psalm 146

Hallelujah!
Praise the LORD, my soul;
I will praise the LORD all my life,
sing praise to my God while I live.
Put no trust in princes,
in children of Adam powerless to save.
Who breathing his last, returns to the earth;
that day all his planning comes to nothing.
Blessed the one whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the LORD, his God,
The maker of heaven and earth,
the seas and all that is in them,
Who keeps faith forever,
secures justice for the oppressed,
who gives bread to the hungry.
The LORD sets prisoners free;
the LORD gives sight to the blind.
The LORD raises up those who are bowed down;
the LORD loves the righteous.
The LORD protects the resident alien,
comes to the aid of the orphan and the widow,
but thwarts the way of the wicked.
The LORD shall reign forever,
your God, Zion, through all generations!
Hallelujah!

King James Version

Many blessings to all!

Fr. Marc A. Vicari,
Pastor