January 31, 2021 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time %%+($ ,RL,XS,L,!'+#%$ YOU ARE INVITED TO A FOUR WEEK PREKLENTEN STUDY ON THE LECTIO DIVINA METHOD OF PRAYER WHEN: FRIDAYS; FEBRUARY 5 AND 12 TIME: 7:00pm (AFTER THE ROSARY AT 6:00P) LOCATION: IN THE CHURCH PLEASE CONTACT ME, JUDY WILLIFORD, IF YOU ARE INTERESTED [email protected] or 586.441.5075. You can purchase the book at www.amazon.com Year end contribution statements are available. If you would like a statement, please complete below and drop in the collection basket: NAME: SUNDAY FEBRUARY 7th ADDRESS: 12:00 NOON IN THE SOCIAL HALL You will be riveted to your seat as you watch this beauful story of St. Bakhita from the Sudan. Page 2 St. Basil Bulletin Musings From Mary Kay Dear Ones, Today’s Gospel (Mark 1:2128) tells of Jesus entering the synagogue at Capernaum and teaching the people. He even ordered an unclean spirit to leave a man possessed. The people were astonished that he taught with such authority and even unclean spirits obeyed him. Jesus’ teaching is always consistent. There is no division between his actions and his words. Whatever he said or did was a reflection of his love. Are my actions always in harmony with my words? Am I imitating Jesus so that I may become who I was created to be? I believe that Pope Francis also teaches with authority. We can learn a lot about our lives in this current moment from the Pope’s writings. Pope Francis published the Encyclical, “Fratelli Tutti” on October 3, 2020. I mentioned it in one of my bulletin articles and promised you would hear more about it later. “Later” is now here. Fratelli Tutti: On Fraternity and Social Friendship is the last installment in a trilogy of writings by Pope Francis. (I encourage you to find these documents on line and read them. Most are 85 to 100+ pages so I don’t encourage printing them out. You can also find them in a religious goods store.) First, Evangelii Gaudium (Joy of the Gospel) focused on repairing the Church. Next, Laudato Si (Praised Be) examined repairing the planet. (You’ve heard a lot about this from me. We even had a fourweek Saturday class on this document that some of you attended five years ago.) Now, Fratelli Tutti (Brothers and Sisters All) explores building a culture of peace and dialogue in order to work together to care for each other. The great need for this has been highlighted by the pandemic we have been suffering under for the past 10 months. In eight chapters (92 pages), the Holy Father offers a remedy against selfdestruction and despair, which includes an openness to love, charity and kindness, and a rejection of war, nuclear weapons, and the death penalty. Like Laudato Si, Fratelli Tutti is a social Encyclical, where the Pope applies the moral teachings of the Church to the social and economic challenges of the current day. Like Laudato Si, this Encyclical is inspired by the life of St. Francis of Assisi, who responded to the Church and the world of his time, and is structured using the threepart SeeJudgeAct method. What are the great ideals but also tangible ways to advance those who wish to build a more just and fraternal world in their ordinary relationships, in social life, politics and institutions? This is the main question that Fratelli Tutti intends to answer. In the background of the Encyclical is the Covid19 pandemic which, Francis reveals, “unexpectedly erupted” as he “was writing this letter”. But the global health emergency has helped to demonstrate that “no one can face life in isolation”. The urgency of his teaching on fraternity became even more clear given the inability of countries to work together to resolve problems that affect us all. We need a rebirth of “universal aspiration to fraternity”. What do you know about the life of St. Francis of Assisi? How did he address the challenges of his time? Next week: Chapter One: Dark Clouds Over a Closed World Have a blessed and joyous week, Sister Mary Kay Homan, OP Faith Formation PRAYER PARTNERS Thank you to all who have chosen to be a Prayer Partner. Our Candidates are grateful for your support as they prepare for their Sacrament. God bless you! Ready to return to inperson classes? Children who are doing Home Study are all welcome to return to inperson classes as you are ready. Just give us a call to let us know that you are coming. MISSED SACRAMENTS We are happy to offer Sacramental Preparation for anyone who has missed a Sacrament: (Baptism, Reconciliation, 1st Communion or Confirmation). We have classes for children, teens, or adults. Please call the Religious Ed. office for information. Mary Fortunate DRE 586 7725434 [email protected] St. Basil Bulletin Page 3 Fr. Eric’s Exposé: The Purificaon of Mary (The Presentaon of the Lord in the Temple) I want to welcome Bernard and Charles Perzyk to St. Basil the Great, as they have recently registered! The Feast of the Presentaon of Lord in the Temple takes place on Tuesday, February 2nd and it is also known as the Feast of the Purificaon of Mary (and also as “Candlemas”). A parishioner shared something with me wrien about the Blessed Virgin Mary’s purificaon that I found very insighul. She shared a passage with me from Dr. Sco Hahn’s book Joy to the World on the Jewish law requirement for women who recently gave birth, to come to the Temple for the rite of purificaon. As you will see in the following passage, it was not suggesng there is something “dirty” about childbirth, but rather, was meant to emphasize the dignity of the act of bearing a child! The passage is on pages 132R133 in the book: “There was a second rite required forty days a er a child was born, and that one was prescribed for the mother. The law required the child’s mother to offer sacrifice for the sake of purificaon a er childbirth. This does not mean (as modern readers somemes misread this passage) that the law considered sex or womanhood or childbirth to be “dirty” or sinful. No, just as the priest had to purify the holy vessels every me they were used in the Temple liturgy (a er pouring wine libaons, for example, or splashing sacrificial blood upon the altar), so a woman who gave birth also had to be purified following the holy use of her sacred body (in giving birth to a new child). Purificaon at once acknowledges the holiness of the vessel and renews that holiness so that it can once again carry out God’s sacred purposes. A er the vessels are purified, they may be used again by the priests in the sacred liturgy of the Temple; a er forty days, the woman’s body is purified so that she can be united with her husband in marital communion. The profound analogy between the Temple and the body is very important to understand, here and elsewhere in Scripture (see John 2:19R21; 1Corinthians 3:16; 6:19; 7:14R15; 2 Corinthians 4:7; 5:1R10; 6:14R7:1). Blood, moreover, was rightly considered a life force (see Levicus 17:11). As such it was T like life itself T a gi from God. It was said to “defile” a body the way the scrolls of Scripture (according to the ancient rabbis) “defiled” the hands that touched them. Human beings who have contact with the holy are made profoundly aware of their unworthiness, as we see many mes in the Scriptures (see, for example, Daniel 8:17R18; Luke 5:8). Mary was sinless. She was “full of grace.” In no way did she need to be cleansed of sin. Yet she knew that grace was a divine gi she could never merit on her own. In her humility, she submied to the law requiring purificaon.” This passage from Dr. Hahn reveals the deeper meaning of the purificaon rites that were instuted by God, through Moses, for the Israelites, and helps us realize all the richness of what the Lord had given the Israelites in order to prepare them for the fulfillment of the Temple sacrifices in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass! God bless! In Christ through Mary, Fr. Eric Fedewa Page 4 St. Basil Bulletin UNLEASHING THE GOSPEL AT ST. BASIL THE GREAT The Invasion of Eastern Spiritual Practices into Society A Look at “Mindfulness” Over the past several years, I have noticed that Eastern spiritual practices have been invading every aspect of our society. My medical insurance company and hospitals send me emails, pamphlets and directories containing “wellness,” “holistic,” “natural,” “nontraditional,” and “selfcare” techniques, suggestions, advice, and strategies. And now some forms of these practices are even invading our School District as well. During the past school year (20192020), we were mandated to implement a program called Calm Classroom. This was the new solution to the District’s everincreasing student behavior problem. Calm Classroom consisted of a loud voice piped into the classroom, guiding the students through a “Body Scan Meditation, (derived from a Buddhist practice)” and breathing exercises. We were to stop what we were doing,no matter what it was sit down and practice this technique for five minutes in the morning and again in the afternoon. I asked to opt out of the program or at least to turn off my classroom speaker, but I was told this was not optional! All K8 students were to participate even though parents were not consulted about involving their children in this practice.