May 16, 2010
FROM THE PASTOR’S DESK

FEAST OF THE ASCENSION OF THE LORD

The theme of forgiveness runs all through the Scriptures of the Easter season. Today as Jesus ascends to the Father, he says to the disciples, “Repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached to all the nations.” Two thousand years later much of our world is still looking for that forgiveness. Some folks have discovered that there is money to be made by stirring up conflict. Think of the coarseness of reality TV or the screamers on talk radio and TV, or the attorneys and advocacy groups that profit from keeping pain active and alive. The last thing they want is for people to forgive and forget. So what about us? Is our attitude shaped by the culture around us or by our faith?

To be sure there is a place for legitimate anger and for seeking redress of grievances. But there comes a point where anger may take over our lives and we become victims all over. One of the sad realities of life is that when we get hurt we sometimes respond by hurting ourselves further.

Pope John Paul II set a high standard for forgiveness both when he forgave his assailant and when he used the Jubilee Year 2000 as an occasion to make apologies to many groups for harm done to them by church members. And he took some heat for these stands from within the church.

Wasn’t our nation stunned after the attack on 10 Amish children in 2006, when a crazed gunman killed five and seriously wounded five others before killing himself? But even more stunning was the reaction of the Amish community, which reached out to the killer’s wife and children, extended compassion and mercy and invited them to come to the children’s funerals. How could they do this? They believe that their faith calls them to such forgiveness, that God’s forgiveness of them is conditioned on their forgiveness of others, as we say in the Lord’s Prayer. And they make a distinction between forgiveness which they readily extend, and pardon or reconciliation which depends on the attitude of the offending party. In other words we offer forgiveness. Whether the other is ready to admit guilt and make amends rests with them. Surely their heroic compassion makes Jesus more believable. May we all receive a fuller measure of his Spirit of forgiveness.        –Fr. Peter

WHY CATHOLIC? “GRADUATION”

Along with our graduates today we recognize all those who took part in our Why Catholic? program        
for adults and teenagers over the past four years. As Jesus commissioned the first disciples before he
ascended to heaven, today we feel confident in commissioning those who have deepened their faith through the Why Catholic? formation program. We especially thank the leaders of this program:

Mary Anderson
  Naomi Bennett
DeeDee Clark
Mary Clayton
Mary and Bob Gioia
Arthur Lyons
Marjorie McDonald
Dorothy Stokes-Wallace
and the Franciscan brothers who led the Youth Edition of this program for our teenagers:
            Brother David Sheehan
            Brother Augustine Lieb
            Brother Joshua Finn
            Brother Jonathan McElhone
            Brother Zyg Mazanowski

CRAB FEAST

Our annual Crab Feast for the benefit of the Lucielle Fitzgerald Outreach Center will be held on Saturday, July 24, from 1:00 to 5:00 pm at Columbus Gardens. Tickets are $50 each or $450 for a table of ten. Tickets are available now in the church office and the outreach center.

KINGS DOMINION TRIP

St. Wenceslaus Youth Group is sponsoring a bus trip to Kings Dominion Amusement Park on Saturday, June 26. The trip is open to children and adults. The $56 cost includes coach bus transportation and park admission. Space is limited. Call DeeDee Clark at 443-802-9006.

YOUNG ADULT BOWLING NIGHT

Check the church bulletin board for details of the Young Adult Bowling Night this Friday, May 21.  Rumor has it that Fr. Peter has challenged all his fellow young adults (18 to 35) who are willing to test their bowling skills against his.