SCCR Parish Blog

We are hearing more bad news from the U.S. Supreme Court.  In a narrow 5-4 ruling today, they held that a pro-life Louisiana law designed to protect the health and safety of a mother was "unconstitutional." The four reliably pro-abortion justices were joined by Chief Justice Roberts (sadly, a practicing Catholic) who did not want to overturn precedent. But precedents aren't absolute.  For example, Supreme Court precedent in the past held that slaves were not worthy of the same rights as freemen.  That unjust precedent was of course overturned, as Roe v. Wade should be, since it is based on the completely faulty assumption that the government has no duty to protect innocent life. The two justices nominated by the current President voted in favor of the pro-life law.  This is certainly a reminder that an important factor in deciding who to vote for as President is what kind of Supreme Court justices he will appoint.  This one vote difference on the Co...

We are busy getting ready to move offices in the parish. But in between moving, I will try to add a few things about the Church and racism, as that continues to be in the news.  Please check back later for updates. The first thing to note is that the Catholic Church is not a "Johnny come lately" to this issue.  She has always taught that there is one human family, descendants of Adam and Eve, and that the common bond of being brothers and sisters in Christ by divine adoption means that our ethnic differences should not be a source of division.  She has also taught that each person has a right to be  treated in accord with his or her inherent dignity, being made in the image and likeness of God. As just one example, the Popes have condemned the institution of slavery since before the Europeans arrived in the New World.   Long before there were politically organized abolitionist movements, for instance, the Church had been on the forefront of insisting that ...

UPDATED: July 6th. On the weekend of July 4th and 5th, we were privileged to welcome a visiting priest from the Archdiocese's Mission Cooperative Program.  Fr. Cyril from the Diocese of Moshi in Tanzania, Africa.  That's near the famous Mt. Kilimanjaro.   (He is currently a graduate student at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh.)  The quote above is from Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, reminding us that sharing the Gospel with every nation and those in greatest need is at the core of who we are as the Catholic Church. Tanzania is one of the most economically poor nations in the world, with most of its population living on less than $1 a day. Please read this brochure for more information on the Diocese of Moshi and what we can do to help. If you were not able to contribute at Mass last weekend, but would like to help, please send you contribution to the parish office marked "Tanzania mission appeal."   Thanks for your support.

We will have two special Masses coming up over the next couple of weeks.  This Wednesday, June 24th, is the solemn feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, observing the birthday of the greatest of Jesus Christ's prophets.  We will have Mass at 9:00 a.m. at St. Peter's.  On Saturday, the 4th of July, we will have a 9:00 a.m. Mass at St. Mary's to pray for our nation on her Independence Day.

UPDATED: June 27th.  To include the letter of St. Thomas to his daughter, Margaret. Our U.S. Bishops have asked us to reserve Religious Freedom Week from June 22nd through June 29th.  We have to be aware that our most precious freedom -- the freedom to worship God publicly according to our conscience -- is under attack.  Each year seems to bring new challenges.  This year proves no different.  The recent Supreme Court ruling declaring that Title VII requires recognition of transgender and homosexual "rights" will almost certainly cause lawsuits against Catholic organizations because of their belief in the nature of the human person, and likely result in attempts to suppress their religious freedom. Here's some background reading on some topics in religious freedom from the U.S. Bishops' conference website. I also recommend reading about two of the patron saints of religious freedom, St. Thomas More and St. John Fisher. Well worth the read also is the letter from...

During the recent quarantine period, when many people were not able to go to Mass at all due to government shutdowns and bishops ordering the temporary suspension of the sacraments, many people became used to watching Mass on television or over the Internet via livestream.  Many of the bishops encouraged this as the "next best thing" to attending Mass in person. That is fine.  We do what we have to in times of crisis to nourish our faith. But it's come to my attention that now many people have become confused by this, and are asking if there's any real difference between watching Mass on television and attending in person. The answer is a resounding, "Yes." I've included an article below from a recent post on a good Catholic blog on the liturgy entitled newliturgicalmovement.org . It helps explain that difference between the two. Please note:  At this time in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, the obligation to attend Mass has still been waived for all of th...

As many people know, the topic of racism has become a very hot topic in the light of recent events. So it is good to know what the Church has always taught about this topic, from the beginning, since this is not a new problem.  The Church has had 2,000 years of experience in dealing with all of the problems that have plagued sinful mankind since the first sin of Adam and Eve. That teaching is summed up in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The relevant section is copied below and at this link ). This includes some Scripture references and various writings of the saints and church documents, such as those written in the 1960s at the Second Vatican Council. The Church does NOT take a stand on particular political solutions to the problem.  That is something that Christians can disagree on but should work out together harmoniously in accord with the common good, guided by these universal truths. However, the principles and guidelines are not negotiable, since they come from th...

The Archdiocese has recently published a very good 3-minute video of the ordination of three new priests for service to the Archdiocese. You will hear snippets from Archbishop's Schnurr homily and see a few scenes from that ordination Mass.  There are many powerful symbols in that ordination ceremony, including the men about to be ordained priests lying prostrate (on the ground, face down) before the altar, symbolizing that they are dying to themselves as they become "another Christ." In the photo above, after the bishop consecrates the men with prayer and laying on of hands, all of the other priests concelebrating the Mass also lay hands on them, showing that they now share in the one priesthood of Jesus Christ, the great High Priest. You may recognize Fr. Christopher Komoroski.  He was at our South Clermont parishes several weeks when he was still a deacon, to practice his preaching. I had the privilege of "vesting" Fr. Andrew Reckers (helping him put on his ...

  About 750 years ago, Pope Urban commissioned St. Thomas Aquinas, one of the finest minds of all time, to write special prayers for a new feast day he wanted to institute: the feast of Corpus Christi (the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ).  St. Thomas was a prayerful friar, a contemplative man, and a brilliant and prodigious author and poet.  He wrote poems, songs and essays about the Blessed Sacrament which are still sung to this day.  (They have also been translated from his original Latin to almost every language of the world). Here is a sampling. St. Thomas prayer of preparation before Mass St. Thomas prayer of thanksgiving after Mass Corpus Christi poem (sequence)  - (Lauda Sion) -  YouTube video Corpus Christi poem (sequence) - text Panis Angelicus hymn (text, in English and Latin) Panis Angelicus hymn (YouTube video) [sung by the late and great Luciano Pavarotti] and another version with the angelic-voiced Mirusia O Sacrum Convivium Prayer =====...

I'm a little late in posting today's Sunday prayer service for those not able to attend Mass in person today, from our friends at the Magnificat devotional magazine.  Today is Corpus Christi, the special feast day honoring the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.  The photo above shows a traditional Corpus Christi procession, an ancient tradition of bringing the Blessed Sacrament out in the streets, to make our faith public, with a priest carrying Our Lord in a monstrance (gold cross-shaped vessel).  Part of the tradition is for girls to throw rose petals in the path before the monstrance to honor Jesus Our King.

Every time the Mass is celebrated, there is a miracle that occurs on the altar (mere bread and wine become the true Body and Blood of Christ even though this is not visible to the senses).  But many people are interested in a different kind of Eucharistic miracle: the ones that have happened throughout history where the Lord does in some way make visible to the senses the reality of what happens at Mass.  Carlo Acuti is an Italian teenager who died of leukemia about 14 years ago.  He will soon be beatified (major step on the way to being declared a saint by the Church).  He was a computer programmer and used his talents to compile a website describing the Eucharistic miracles throughout the world, country by country.

Thanks for your patience as we begin to gradually restart things in the parish office and facilities.  The Covid restrictions have been challenging for all of us. We are finding from experience in the first couple of weeks that reservations for daily and Sunday Masses will no longer be necessary because we are not at capacity.  So effective immediately, we will not be using the reservation system regularly.  The only current exception is for the Sunday Mass at St. Peter's, this weekend, June 14th, 8:30 a.m.  That is due to a First Communion.   If you plan to attend then, please make sure to call or email Debbie in the office first (before noon on Friday). We will also be reopening the parish office to walk-in visitors with some restrictions soon.  At least for a little while, for the protection of the staff, we will ask you to wear a mask if you plan to visit the office in person.  We will also be asking you to ring the doorbell when you arrive. W...

I am updating my monthly scam alert.  Several parishioners have recently reported getting emails with my name requesting that I email back because "I have a favor to ask."  This is a scam.  Just mark it as junk or spam in your mailer program. The first clue is the fake email address.  The fake address is something like: frjames.sccr.parish@gmail.com. If you ever receive any email from the parish office, it will come from this address:     sccr.parish@outlook.com Any other address is a scam. Also, I will never ask for favors or financial requests by email.  I would always ask a favor in person and do not make ANY financial requests by email.

Over the next couple of weeks we will be making a few changes to the parish offices for the region. Most parishioners will not be affected much by the changes, but we wanted to keep you posted. We will be consolidating most of the parish office operations into the St. Mary office in Bethel.  This is what almost all of the two-parish regions of our diocese have done for quite some time now: locate the rectory (priest's residence) in one parish and the parish office in the other.  This provides for more efficient operation and avoids duplicating expenses. The rectory will remain at St. Peter.  We will be converting the current St. Peter office on the lower level of the rectory into a small apartment for Patrick, our seminarian in residence, who will live here from August of 2020 to May of 2021. Debbie will be working four days a week at the office in Bethel.  We'll post those hours soon.  Currently, it's 7:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. weekdays except Wednesdays. Except for...

The Holy Trinity (God being three Persons but one God, distinct but indivisible) is one of the central mysteries of our faith -- and in some ways the hardest to understand, because it goes to the depths of the mystery of Who God is -- which our human minds can only grasp in limited ways. It's very hard to depict in art -- but of course Christian artists have tried in many ways over the years, such as in the traditional depiction above of Jesus the Son of God seated by the right hand of God the Father (depicted as an old man holding the orb [the world] in his hand) and the Holy Spirit depicted as a dove hovering between them. For those who prefer the "lesson plan" approach, The Catechism of the Catholic Church has a very good section to help us understand God the Holy Trinity .  I recommend reading and studying that, because it is impossible to try to communicate that in a 10-minute homily!  Plus, it has footnotes and references for further reading, if you really want to d...

For those of you who are unable or unwilling to celebrate Mass with the parish community this weekend, our friends at the Magnificat devotional magazine are providing this home prayer service for Trinity Sunday (June 7th), including the Sunday readings, prayers and a reflection.

Thanks for your patience while we are continuing to make the celebration of Mass flow as smoothly as possible with ongoing health and distancing restrictions. After the first week, it has become clear that we will NOT need reservations for daily Mass.  Our capacity has been more than adequate. So if you would like to come to daily Mass at either parish, please just show up.  The usher will help seat you. However, we will be continuing to ask you to make reservations for the Sunday Masses (including Saturday evening) for a little while until we are sure we have enough capacity. One reason is that we will be having some First Communion Masses coming up soon and we will need to reserve pews for family members.  We will notify you soon by all-parish email when those First Communion Masses will occur, in case you want to shift to Saturday evening. Also, for those of you signing up online, please note that the online system may inaccurately indicate that seats are not available...

Founded in 1821, the Archdiocese of Cincinnati is now almost 200 years old.  As we prepare to celebrate the bicentennial of the Archdiocese, Archbishop Schnurr has asked us to share his pastoral letter reflecting on our past and setting spiritual goals for our future. You can also read more about his theme "Radiate Christ," which will be featured in The Catholic Telegraph .

[UPDATED:  Had wrong link to the letter.  It's fixed now] Archbishop Schnurr has asked the pastors to share this letter with the faithful regarding the recent violence in reaction to the death of George Floyd.  In that letter, he provides deatils on how the faithful can join him to pray  for peace this Wednesday, June 3rd.

This Sunday, June 7th, we will be celebrating the solemn feast of the Holy Trinity. Here is a great modern hymn to the Trinity,  Sing Praise to Our Creator.  (This was sung at the National Catholic Shrine in Washington, D.C.)