Historic St. James at Sag Bridge Church 10600 S
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Historic St. James at Sag Bridge Church 10600 S. Archer Avenue | Lemont, Illinois 60439-9344 (Ph) 630.257.7000 | (Fx) 630.257.7912 | E-mail: [email protected] |Website: www.historicstjames.org Facebook: https://Facebook.com/Saint James At Sag Bridge September 3, 2017 Twenty-Second Ordinary Sunday Mass Schedule WEEKENDS: Saturdays: 5:00pm Sundays: 8:00, 9:30 & 11:30am HOLY DAYS: 8:15am & 7:00pm WEEKDAYS: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday 8:15am & Fridays 6:00pm Wednesday: Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament at 5:00-7:00pm, w/Confessions at 6:30pm & Mass at 7:00pm. CONFESSION SCHEDULE: Saturdays, 9:30am-10:00am Wednesdays, 6:30pm Otherwise by appointment BAPTISMS, WEDDINGS & FUNERALS: Contact the rectory office (630.257.7000). SICK & HOMEBOUND PASTORAL CARE: Please notify rectory. RECTORY OFFICE HOURS: Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu & Fri: 9:30am to REMINDER 1:00pm. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 4TH LABOR DAY FIRST SATURDAYS: Beginning in MASS IS AT 8:30 AM June until October there will be an 8:30am Mass. Page Two September 3, 2017 FROM THE DESK OF THE PASTOR, FR. THOMAS KOYS, M.A.,S.T.L. The universal eternal truth we hear when we open So, does this example mean that I am in favor of our minds to the great treasures of the Catholic faith smashing the statues of the Confederate soldiers? By shed light upon our modern issues. Here is another no means. What needs smashing is the belief in the example of how accurate this statement is. St. Augus- institution of slavery, not the institution of love for tine, whose feast we just celebrated (Aug 28) wrote and willingness to fight for one’s home land. It’s a the following. very good example to consider to accept the fact that people can be complicated. It is a mark of wisdom to “Many pagans have these abominations (statues to see that people can have multiple motivations. To their pagan gods) erected on their estates. Do we carry St. Augustine’s insight further, if the statues march in and smash them? The first thing we try to that are being attacked were statues that unambigu- do is to break the idols in their hearts. When they too ously praised slavery, it would be a much different become Christians, they either invite us in to perform story. If Richmond, Virginia had a statue, for in- this good work, or they get in first with it before us. stance, of a slave owner whipping a slave, it would The thing we have to do now is pray for them, not get be noble to smash it. But there are no statues of slave angry with them.” owners whipping slaves in the South. Why, because, as St. Augustine says, that “idol” has already been So, how is this related to events in the news to- smashed in the hearts of all Americans. day? It would be very wrong to make the comparison between ancient pagans and the Southerners of the Now, here is a point you will never hear on the Confederacy during and after the Civil War, in the news. It is a political fact, that the Southern States, sense that the South was a pagan culture. The South which were once predominately Democratic are now was preeminently a Christian culture. However, it predominately Republican. It is crucial to ask why. Is was predominately Christian in the Protestant sense it not obvious, that Southern Republicans have con- of Christianity. The power of St. Augustine’s words verted from the Democratic party, because, amidst a is found in the patient understanding attitude that number of reasons, the Republican party has become Christians are supposed to have with those that op- the part of the dignity of unborn children? Once this pose them. I’m sure that St. Augustine knew and hard truth is swallowed, a different twist on the loved many good pagan citizens of his day. Referring “dignity of the human person” immerges. If this to the smashing of a pagan statue as a “good work” makes any sense to you, please ask Fr. Koys for a can cause the modern college educated person to copy of his book, “The Ashes That Still Remain.” seek out the nearest “safe space”. But St. Augustine’s constant devoted affection and friendship with all the Thanks to all who contribute to the Maintenance pagans of his town demonstrates the fact that what fund. A new air conditioning condenser was installed Augustine wants smashed is the false ideologies of over the summer. the pagan gods. He wouldn’t want one finger on any pagan harmed. Twenty-Second Ordinary Sunday Page Three Heralds of the Gospel until we are given the grace by God to be such; and we won’t be given that grace until we want it. So let us start wanting it. The other pre-requisite, before we can even get started, is to get into the mindset of proclamation. There is only one Truth, that of Jesus Christ and His Church, and we should not allow ourselves to be infected with the heresy of indifferentism, the idea that every “truth” is somehow valuable. We have to be forthright, and we must not give an inch when it comes to the truth of the faith. Talking of which, I just love this story about Blessed Dominic: “[When a IF WE WANT CONVERTS, WE MUST BE AS UNCOM- Protestant minister] followed Barberi along a street shouting out various PROMISING AS BLESSED DOMINIC BARBERI arguments against transubstantiation, Barberi was silent, but as the man was about to turn off, Barberi retorted: ‘Jesus Christ said over the conse- Article taken from Catholic Herald England crated elements, ‘This is my body.’ You say ‘No. It is not his body!’ Who Like Blessed Dominic, we have to tell it like it is, without coward- then am I to believe? I prefer to believe Jesus Christ.’” Like Blessed Dom- ice and without apology. inic, we have to tell it like it is, without cowardice and without apology. Something similar is happening today in certain quarters, as readers of On Saturday the Catholic Church in England celebrated the memorial the Catholic Herald will have noticed. Bishop Philip Egan of Portsmouth, of the Blessed Dominic of the Mother of God, the Passionist beatus for example, has met challenges to the Catholic faith head on. This can- better known as Dominic Barberi, whose major claim to fame is that he not have been easy at all times for His Lordship, and he has had the received the Blessed John Henry Newman into the Church. He is not equivalent on the stones and mud that Blessed Dominic endured thrown yet a saint, which means that his cult is only celebrated in this country at him, but he has stuck to his guns. As a result (and yes, I do think there where he spent a significant part of his pastoral labors; but even in is a direct connection between the two) the diocese of Portsmouth now England he remains too little known. Every saint has something to has 14 young men entering seminaries this year, the highest in living teach us, and Blessed Dominic is no exception. Newman had this to memory. say about him: Father Dominic was a marvelous missioner and a preacher filled with PRIEST USES HIS KAYAK TO REACH HURRICANE VICTIMS IN zeal. He had a great part in my own conversion and in that of others. TEXAS His very look had about it something holy. When his form came within sight, I was moved to the depths in the strangest way. The gaiety and Fr. David Bergeron of the Companions of the Cross is an associate affability of his manner in the midst of all his sanctity was in itself a director of Houston’s Catholic Charismatic Center. Marooned three holy sermon. No wonder that I became his convert and his penitent. miles from home on Saturday night by the flooding caused by Hurricane He had a great love for England. Harvey, the priest spent the night in his truck. On Sunday morning, he Blessed Dominic was known for his kindness and his sense of humor. decided to journey to the Center by kayaking and portaging when he He even cracked the odd joke. But it was zeal that was his chief char- reached dry road. A keen kayaker, he already had a vessel on hand. acteristic, which drew souls to God. He actually believed with all his When Fr. Bergeron found some people stranded along his route, he heart what he wanted other people to come to believe as well, and his tried to buy some wine so he could celebrate Mass with them. He was converts knew it. That was why there were so many of them. foiled by local laws prohibiting alcohol sales before noon on Sundays. Blessed Dominic’s life in England was remarkably short, less than a Instead, he bought some food for fellow priests and while in his kayak decade, and he was not a young man when he ministered here, but escorted a swimmer to safety. his efforts certainly bore fruit. Most of his energies went into preaching The French-Canadian Bergeron found his interview with ABC a teacha- retreats and holding missions. The retreats were important for the ble moment and explained that his mode of transportation was akin to clergy, religious and seminarians, who would, in their turn, pass on the methods used by French priests before him. what they had heard. They would be pretty full on “total immersion” “I guess this is the way the Americas were evangelized as well,” he told experiences with sermons, periods of silence, prayers and devotions the ABC reporter, “with the canoe and this is a kayak.