Parish Update from Fr. Sebastian
-
Dear Parish Family,
I pray that Our Lady has watched over and blessed you during this month of October which in particular is dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary. This powerful feast day was celebrated on Wednesday of this week and I encourage all of you to dedicate time in your private prayer to that of the rosary. The prayerful recitation of the rosary showers the soul with life giving grace and will transform the world.
This coming weekend we celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of La Leche and Bishop Estevez has stated that all parishes in the Diocese of St. Augustine are to observe the Feast in their Sunday Masses. Our Lady of La Leche is a close to so many of us and we are blessed to have the beautiful National Shrine in St. Augustine. It is incredibly fitting that we celebrate this great Feast in Respect Life Month. Mary gave all she had to bring the Christ Child into the world. She endured great suffering and sorrow so that all us would be given the gift of eternity with Jesus. I encourage all of you to call to mind Our Lady of La Leche in your daily prayer life. I can think of no greater advocate for the unborn than the Lady of La Leche.
As we have previously mentioned this month is also Respect Life Month and I want to thank Fr. Briggs for the beautiful homily he preached last Sunday which was Respect Life Sunday. Fr. Briggs has been kind enough to share a copy of the homily and it has been placed below for. You of course may also listen to the homily by visiting our parish YouTube page at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=RLD2wy8-mFQ In the last email that was sent we shared some resources with you regarding the role of conscience while voting. This week we are happy to share with you a letter published by Bishop Estevez that continues this dialogue on the role our Faith plays in voting. I encourage to share this email with friends and family and continue to pray for our country.
Sincerely Yours in Christ,
Fr. Sebastian
HOMILY OF FR.BRIGGS
The Parable of the Tenants depicts the grand fresco of the history of salvation, where God’s immensely generous love meets the tragedy of the hardened human heart. The repeated sending of the servants by the master of the vineyard is a clear evocation of the prophets, sent by the Lord on several occasions, to make the people return to the path of justice. Their deaths become a Leitmotiv of biblical literature, so much so that Nehemiah — retracing the story of the fathers in a beautiful prayer found in the ninth chapter of his book — speaking of our ancestors, says, They were contemptuous and rebelled against you: They cast your law behind their backs. They murdered your prophets who bore witness against them to bring them back to you[1]. Saint Matthew takes up the thread of the rejection of the prophets, which reaches its peak in the killing of his Son, the last one sent. The sin of the winemakers, then as today, is not to recognise the prophets, to remain closed as they were — as we can be! — bricking ourselves up with the soulless walls of complacency, of fear, of apathy, of cowardice, of the so-called “tolerance” of our all-too-relativistic society. We see in the parable that then as today, those who awaken consciences, announcing the return to God as the foundation of all human co-existence, are perceived as enemies. And so, without endorsing any political party or candidate — which we of the cloth should not and, in fact, are even forbidden, as our sphere is informing the moral conscience of our people and not their civic responsibilities — we nevertheless profess on this Respect Life Sunday the absolute necessity for us Catholics to oppose so-called pro-choice movements or politicians of any party. Our duty to uphold the right to life must not be superseded by any other superficial loyalty or any other sectarian interest. In recent years, the lashing out against the Church in the US has increased in its intensity, turning from criticising her in the media and online to labelling Catholics as discriminatory in various ministries like adoption services or healthcare.
Within the last several months, this has even turned into physical violence against our symbols, church buildings, and people, as frequently occurs in places like France, parts of Africa, and elsewhere in the world. The protection of religious liberties — and pre-eminently the right to life — should always be a focus of the Catholic, but especially as we are quickly approaching the national election on November 3, as noted by Archbishop Aquila of Denver, among the premier concerns for Catholics when they vote are: Who will protect human life at every stage? Who will protect natural marriage and the family? And finally, who will defend
religious freedom, protect consciences, and the right of people to live out their faith in every sphere of society?[2] The US bishops reaffirm in particular that “the threat of abortion remains our preeminent priority because it directly attacks life itself, because it takes place within the sanctuary of the family, and because of the [sheer] number of lives destroyed. While we note not to dismiss or ignore other serious threats to human life and dignity, such as racism, the environmental crisis, poverty, and the death penalty, we must renew our commitment to protect the most fundamental of all human rights: the right to live”[3]. Indeed, the Holy Father recently expressed that if we fail to protect life, no other rights matter: He said, abortion is not primarily a Catholic or even a religious issue, it is first and foremost a human rights issue. Again, as the Archbishop eloquently states, “A society that has no common belief in God, and therefore in each person’s identity as his beloved son or daughter, will become less human and less tolerant. When there is no God, something or someone becomes god to fill the void, leading to tragedy, and eventual societal collapse”[4]. And this is the hope left us in today’s parable, hope which is stronger than facts: The people that Jesus announces for the future, and which will take the place of the decrepit institutions led by the high priests and scribes, are the people of little ones and of the poor, the excluded and the distant, a people that will produce the desired fruit. “Now is the time for us to stand up for the place of full-throated Catholic belief in public life and the valuable contributions of people of faith to society”[5].
[1] Neh 9:26.
2 S.J. Aquila, “Religious freedom is on your ballot”, 25 Sept 2020.
3 J.F. Naumann, Statement on the observance of October of Respect Life Month, 24 Sept 2020.
4 S.J. Aquila, “Religious freedom is on your ballot”, 25 Sept 2020.
5 S.J. Aquila, “Religious freedom is on your ballot”, 25 Sept 2020.
Election Statement from Bishop Estevez
My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
As election day in our country approaches, people have been asking for guidance as they consider the candidates and their votes. While the Church and its clergy cannot endorse a particular candidate or political party, we do have a responsibility to encourage you to understand the issues in the context of Church teaching and to help you in this area of the ‘proper formation of your conscience’.
This election, at both the federal and state level, will shape the future of our nation for generations to come. Some would prefer that Catholics and others of faith remain silent, or they will say that such beliefs have no place in public square. Such views run contrary to our fraternal bonds and commitment to the common good as equal and valued citizens. Since politics is about securing justice in society, it is a fundamentally moral activity. As Catholics, our belief is that there are fundamental truths about the human person and society that are accessible to both faith and reason. We therefore have a right and a duty to participate in the public square in a way that reflects these truths, both for the good of our community and for the glory of the God who created us.
Let each citizen remember at the moment he is offering his vote that he is not making a present or a compliment to please an individual – or at least that he ought not so to do; but that he is executing one of the most solemn trusts in human society for which he is accountable to God and his country.
—Samuel Adams, The Boston Gazette on April 16, 1781
When the Declaration of Independence was penned, three rights were deemed unalienable, given to all human beings by their Creator and, therefore, unable to be taken away from someone or given away by someone else. They areLife, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. That they were written in this order was no mistake—even the Founding Fathers knew that the right to life surpassed all others in importance: without the right to life, none of the other rights could be protected. The right to life was, and is, preeminent.
On this issue of preeminence of the right to life – and its source in our Creator - the Founding Fathers and the Church are agreed. Yet issues of life are under attack, and they appear in our national conversation and laws in terrible ways, as threats to the unborn (abortion), and as threats to the vulnerable, the disabled, and the elderly (euthanasia or assisted suicide). The Church teaches that abortion, euthanasia, and assisted suicide, as direct attacks on innocent human life, are all intrinsically evil—always and everywhere profoundly immoral. And preeminent among these is the most fundamental threat to the beginning of life itself—abortion. Pope Francis has made it clear that if we fail to protect life, no other rights matter. He also said that abortion is not primarily a Catholic or even a religious issue: it is first and foremost a human rights issue.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
—The Declaration of Independence, July 4th, 1776
All too often we hear people say: As a matter of faith I am against abortion, but I cannot impose my belief on others. It is not a matter of imposing a belief, but of being committed to the truth about human life, which, as biological science confirms, begins at conception. Those who argue otherwise are not committed to reason, but to the false belief that there are some human beings not deserving of the protection of our laws.
By our Baptismal Call, and in our prayer to the Father, all children of God are pledged to seek God’s Kingdom and fulfill His will, on earth as it is in heaven. We vow that we will strive for perfect integrity in submitting our will to the will of God. We cannot with integrity pray the words of the Our Father, or say “Amen” when receiving the Eucharist, and then be passive on the issues that destroy God’s creation. This is true for all people of faith, elector, and elected official.
There are some who will claim that, by focusing on the preeminent issue of abortion, the Church is promoting single-issue voting that will tend to support a particular candidate or party. The Church will always act to promote the dignity and value of every human life from conception to natural death. We care about both mothers and their children, born and unborn, as well as the poor, the immigrant, the sick, the disabled, the elderly, those who are marginalized, and those on death row. We seek to promote a Culture of Life through our teaching and through our ministries, some of which are threatened by the extreme positions taken by some on issues of life and the family.
As you endeavor to be an educated voter with a properly formed conscience as regards the issues we face as individuals, families, and as one nation under God, you can count on the prayers of your Shepherds. The political parties and their candidates have provided you with information that they believe will help you to understand their positions on issues that are important to you and for the good of the country. The Church engages in this political process by providing you with the faith context by which to judge some of these positions. This is a difficult time in our nation and a critical time to not only exercise your right to vote, but to do so with the utmost integrity.
Most Reverend Felipe J. Estevez
Bishop of the Diocese of Saint Augustine
October 7, 2020
[2] S.J. Aquila, “Religious freedom is on your ballot”, 25 Sept 2020.
[3] J.F. Naumann, Statement on the observance of October of Respect Life Month, 24 Sept 2020.
[4] S.J. Aquila, “Religious freedom is on your ballot”, 25 Sept 2020.
[5] S.J. Aquila, “Religious freedom is on your ballot”, 25 Sept 2020.
