Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Today we celebrate the solemnity of All Souls Day. It is a day for us to focus on the importance of praying for all those who have died. Why do we pray for the dead? When we die, don't we all go straight to heaven? What need do they have for our prayers?
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us that "all who die in God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven" (par. 1030). The Church derives this teaching from both Sacred Scripture (1 Corinthians 3:15, 1 Peter 1:7, and 2 Maccabees 12:46) and Sacred Tradition [St. John Chrysostom (407), St. Gregory the Great (604), the Second Council of Lyons (1274), the Council of Florence (1439), and the Council of Trent (1563)]. The name given to this final purification is "Purgatory."
Who goes to purgatory? As mentioned above, those who die in God's friendship, but who still lack perfection, go to Purgatory where they undergo this process of final purification. Once this purification has been completed, they are then ready to experience the fullness of God's glory in heaven. Even good people who die go to Purgatory. The perception of Purgatory as a kind of punishment is a false perception. Purgatory is purification, not punishment. Think of a Brita water filter and how it strains out the impurities in the water. That is similar to what Purgatory does for souls. It perfects those who are in relationship with God.
If we spent some time reflecting upon our deceased relatives and friends, we would likely discover that many of them died in relationship with God but without the perfection necessary for heaven. Thus, many of those souls are in Purgatory.
Since there are many souls in Purgatory, we have a responsibility to pray for them so as to help them in their final purification. Our prayers offer them assistance on their journey toward eternal life. What a beautiful gift! Even death does not destroy our relationship with those who have died. Rather, we are still in communion with them and can help them in their relationship with God. Then, when they have reached their final destination in heaven, they can in turn pray for us and help us on our journey toward heaven. Sounds like a really good deal to me!
Brothers and Sisters, throughout the month of November we will be praying in a special way for all of our deceased family members and friends. A book of remembrance has been placed in the narthex of the Church for us to write down the names of these people who may still need our assistance with final purification. I invite you to join us in providing spiritual assistance for these souls. May the souls of the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace!
Peace in Christ,
Fr. Will
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
This week I am proud to present to you a financial snapshot of the 2013-2014 fiscal year. As you can see from the chart below, we had a great financial year. This is due to the generosity of our parish families and excellent financial planning by our Director of Finance and Operations and Parish Finance Council. St. Mary Magdalene continues to grow in so many ways. This past fiscal year we gained over 500 families and are currently one of the largest parishes in the Diocese of Phoenix. As our parish continues to grow, so too do the services we provide. As we move forward through our new fiscal year, let us pray for continued generosity from our parish families so that we can fulfill our mission of witnessing the love of Jesus Christ through evangelization, catechesis, and the celebration of the Sacraments.
Peace in Christ,
Fr. Will
| June 30,2014 | Budget, 2014 | |
| Plate Income | $1,644,462 | $1,262,144 |
| Building Fund | $295,521 | $206,500 |
| Other Income | $128,008 | $93,700 |
| Total Income | $2,067,991 | $1,562,344 |
| Total Expenses | $(1,460,124) | $(1,302,618) |
| Net Income Total | $607,867 | $259,726 |
*As of June 30, 2014 St Mary Magdalene had 3,933 registered families, this is an increase of 531 families within the fiscal year.
*The balance on the bond loan is $3,443,999.84 as of June 30, 2014. The original bond loan amount was $4.1 million
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
In today’s Gospel (Mt. 22:1-14), Jesus tells a parable of a very generous king who has invited a large number of people to be a part of his son’s wedding feast. What a beautiful invitation! Weddings are familial celebrations. The king has invited complete strangers to be a part of his family for this special celebration. Unfortunately, not everyone appreciated the value of this invitation. Many invited were too preoccupied with their earthly business to appreciate the grace offered to them. Instead of coming to the feast, they ignored the invitation altogether. This is the first scorning of the king’s invitation that we see. The second scorning of the king’s invitation is found in the man who came to the wedding feast but decided not to prepare. He came to the celebration as if it were no big deal, refusing to put on the appropriate wedding garment. The Catholic theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar offered the following commentary on this man’s behavior:
The second form of unworthiness…is that of the man who strolls into the Eucharistic Celebration as if entering a pub. Why should I get dressed up? The king should be happy that I come at all, that I still communicate, that I bother myself enough to leave my pew to stuff a bit of bread in my mouth…Perhaps only after being tossed out it will occur to him what he has missed out on because of his lackadaisical behavior. (Light of the World, 135).
This man responds to the invitation, but not in an appropriate manner. He responds half-heartedly to a whole-hearted gift. How often do we behave the same way with the Mass? How often do we respond to the Lord’s invitation to share in the wedding feast of His Son with half-heartedness? Do I treat the celebration of the Eucharist as something different, something special, or as if it were just another daily activity? Do I prepare for Mass, or do I rush into it? While at Mass, do I seek to participate, or do I expect to be entertained? Do I go to confession when I have gravely sinned so as to receive Holy Communion in a state of grace, or do I treat the Eucharist like it is just another piece of bread?
Brothers and sisters, Christ’s invitation to us is something special. We must treat it accordingly. Our loving God has invited us to be recipients of great graces in the Eucharist. May we respond whole-heartedly to this invitation with utmost respect and reverence.
Peace in Christ,
Fr. Will
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
One of my favorite Church documents is the Second Vatican Council's Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, more commonly known as Gaudium et Spes. In paragraphs 22-24 of Gaudium et Spes, the Church invites us to gaze upon the Cross of Jesus Christ as a kind of mirror revealing to us our true nature and identity. As we gaze upon Christ crucified, we see how we were created to love. It is in selfless giving that we discover our true identity as human persons and authentic fulfillment. The sacrifice of Christ demonstrates to us that we were not made to take, but to give.
In today's first reading (Isaiah 5:1-7), the prophet Isaiah uses the image of a vineyard overrun by wild grapes. The vineyard owner did all that he could to create a vineyard that produced good grapes, but the bad grapes took over. This image is an image of God's people. God has done all that he could to produce good fruit in us, but we have decided to take control of God's vineyard and have allowed it to be overrun by wild grapes. This is what happens when we decide to replace God's plan for humanity with our own. God has created each and every person for selfless giving. The more we seek to make a gift of ourselves to others the way that Christ made a complete and total gift of Himself to us on the Cross, the more we discover our true identity. We experience fulfillment only when we are willing to give of ourselves as Christ gave of Himself. When we act contrary to this nature, we end up lost, broken, and confused. We end up becoming like wild grapes…
Our modern culture has bought into a dangerous philosophy that distorts the proper understanding of human nature. We live in a world that presents our human nature as a blank slate to fashion in our own way. In other words, I make myself into who I want to be, rather than receive myself from the God who created me. I have taken God's vineyard as my own, and I have forgotten that it has been given to me as a gift. This is part of the reason why our culture finds things like abortion, contraception, and the redefinition of Marriage acceptable. Since the marital embrace is a human action, it is therefore subjected to whatever I want it to be. If I don't want it to be inherently unitive or procreative, I can alter it to become what I want it to be. If the consequence of the marital embrace is not what I want, then it can be discarded at my own pleasure and convenience. In other words, it is only a human person if I want it to be a human person.
The problem with this terrible philosophy is that it is an illusion that only produces wild grapes. There is an authentic human nature given to us as a gift, and we will continue to live an unfulfilled life until we discover it. Our faith professes that this nature can be found in its fullness when we come to know, love, and serve the person of Jesus Christ. Only in Him do we find our true selves. Only in God's plan for our humanity is good fruit produced in us. Let us pray today that God gives us the grace to trust in His plan for us since He knows us better than we know ourselves.
Peace in Christ, Fr. Will