SCCR Parish Blog

UPDATED: 30 January It looks like EWTN will be re-broadcasting its coverage of the March for Life on Sunday, 1/31, from 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.  If you prefer to read news coverage, the National Catholic Register always done a fine job.  Their article includes highlights of the top-notch pro-life speakers. The virtual March for Life is currently airing here on EWTN . It is worth watching. EWTN typically re-airs their coverage.  I will try to remember to post those re-air times or links if you would like to watch it later. 

  Prayers for Day 9  of the Novena 

  Prayers for Day 8  of the Novena 

  Quid hoc ad aeternitatem?   Until very recently, I had not heard of Fr. Francis Xavier Lasance .  But I would like to know more about him know.  He was a heroic and saintly priest of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati in the 19th and 20th centuries, who served as a pastor and chaplain in many areas of the Cincinnati and Dayton areas.  His cause for canonization has not yet been taken up, but I hope it soon will be. Fr. Lasance suffered terrible physical ailments almost his entire life, including almost constant debilitating headaches, but did not let that get in the way of his zeal to save souls. One of his favorite sayings was from St. Aloysius Gonzaga, a patron of youth who died young in a time of plague, and also suffered greatly:  Quid hoc ad aeternitatem?  This Latin phrase loosely translates as, "What does this particular thing matter in the light of eternity?"  That's a question we should all ask ourselves often when we pray about what we are doing and should be doi

  Prayers for Day 7  of the Novena 

  Prayers for Day 6  of the Novena 

  Prayers for Day 5  of the Novena 

  Prayers for Day 2 of the Novena 

  Prayers for Day 3 of the Novena 

  Prayers for Day 2 of the Novena 

  Prayers for Day 1 of the Novena 

 Novena Prayer for Life  (9 Days for Life) As we approach the March for Life in Washington, DC, on January 29th, where prolife leaders from around the nation are preparing to witness to the sacredness of life, please pray each day the novena that our U.S. bishops have been encouraging us to pray. You can watch the March for Life (a virtual event for the first time this year, due to Covid and security concerns) on the website above or on the EWTN Catholic cable channel and website. These prayers and actions have been carefully thought and and deserve the participation of all the Catholic faithful. I was a bit late getting this posted.  They recommended starting on January 21st and ending on January 29th, the Day of the March for Life.  But you can start any day.  The important thing is to pray nine days consecutively.  The tradition of novenas (9 day sequential prayers)  is an ancient one in the Church to express our fervent desire to ask the Lord's mercy for an important prayer in

 UPDATED: 22 January  I'm a little belated in posting this, but just wanted to thank all of our parishioners who have been so generous with their time and financial resources to engage in the works of mercy -- such as feeding the hungry.  In partnership with St. Vincent de Paul and New Richmond Area Ministries (NRAM), we have been continuing our ongoing efforts to feed the hungry through our food pantries, stationary and mobile, on an ongoing basis.  Each year, we also try to remember our families in need for the year-end holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas. For instance, on the St. Mary side, last November 24th we provided 20 Thanksgiving dinner baskets to needy families in the Bethel area.   On December 22nd, we provided 20 Christmas Dinner baskets to needy families as well. On the St. Peter side, together with the NRAM, o n November 20th, 90 boxes of food for a Thanksgiving Dinner were assembled at St. Peter's and then passed out the next day to the needy of New Richmond.

 UPDATED: 21 January to include Nine Days of Life Novena This is the last in my series of prolife posts for the week, in preparation for the National Day of Prayer and Penance for the Legal Protection of the Unborn. In conjunction with that special day, our U.S. Bishops have strongly encouraged all of the faithful to participate in the 9-Day Novena for Life.   (A novena is a nine-day consecutive prayer for an urgent intention).   In order to pray it together with fellow citizens from across the nation, they are recommending starting today, January 21st, and concluding on January 29th.   You can find information on that novena -- including prayers and suggested penances -- at respectlife.org. This year, there is a special urgency in praying the novena as we have just inaugurated a strongly pro-abortion presidential administration. On that note, Archbishop Gomez, the president of the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops (a collaborative body of all the American bishops), recently issued a

  Today marks the death of Mr. Joe Scheidler, sometimes called the godfather of prolife activists, at age 93. Mr. Scheidler was an extraordinary man.  He was interested in civil rights from a young age, bringing his students to the famous Selma, Alabama, march for the dignity of African Americans with Martin Luther King, whose holiday we just celebrated yesterday.  In the 1970s, he began to devote himself to prolife activism and worked tirelessly to save the unborn.  Because of his high profile, he was relentlessly attacked by pro-abortion activists such as the National Organization for Women who tried to bankrupt him in endless court cases.  He was not deterred. There is a short piece in today's National Catholic Register . I recommend reading about his role in the prolife movement as recounted by another prolife great, Dr. Monica Miglirino Miller, in her book, Abandoned: the Untold Story of the Abortion Wars or his delightful memoir, entitled Racketeer for Life: Fighting the Cult

  This year, due to Covid and security concerns, the March for Life event in Washington to witness to the sacredness of life and to protest the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision,  will be held as a virtual event rather than in person. They will still have pro-life speakers to witness online. The event, which typically drew hundreds of thousands of prolifers from around the nation each year, has been held every years since the 1970s. This year, the March for Life sponsoring organization will allow people to sign up to view their coverage for this virtual event to be held on Friday, January 29th. I recommend signing for that coverage at this website.   We will certainly need the encouragement and message of hope that their speakers will bring, in these increasingly challenging times for Christians and other prolifers.  

 UPDATED: 19 January 2021 Timothy Cardinal Dolan,  cardinal archbishop of New York, had this to say in his column when people accused Catholics of being "hung up on abortion."  While many people decry the polarization of our nation, and seek peace at any cost, in a way it must be so until we can resolve the most grave of injustices.   We can no more merely  "agree to disagree" on the question of killing life in the womb than the people in Germany could "agree to disagree" on the treatment of the Jewish people in the 1930s and 1940s or whether 19th Century Americans could agree to disagree on the question of slavery.   A nation which refuses to defend the life of her most vulnerable citizens is a nation with no lasting foundation and no lasting peace.  As Mother Teresa said, the greatest destroyer of peace is abortion.     However, we must always keep in mind that as we continue to promote the Gospel of Life, we can never use violence or immoral means to d

  This year, the Vatican's Congregation for the sacraments has asked parishes across the world to modify their Ash Wednesday procedures a little bit because of the ongoing Covid-19 Chinese flu epidemic.  Instead of tracing the sign of the cross on the forehead with ashes, they are asking the priests or other ministers of the sacrament to sprinkle ashes on the head of the penitent, in order to avoid direct contact. This may seem a little unusual (especially to American Catholics) but this is actually an ancient symbol of penance with deep biblical roots, and has been done as part of the Ash Wednesday devotion for a very long time in various parts of the world.  The photograph above depicts Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI receiving ashes this way while he was still reigning. The formula spoken with the administration of ashes will remain the same: Remember man that thou art dust and unto dust thou shalt return.    Or, in its original Latin, the traditional language of the Church: Memento,

On Friday, January 22nd, the U.S. Bishops have asked all Catholics to observe a special day of prayer and fasting for protection of unborn life. That is the 48th anniversary of the gravely unjust U.S. Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade, which prevented the States from legally protecting innocent life in the womb.  There is a special Mass for this intention at St. Peter at 8:30 a.m.   Please join us. There are many additional good ways to observe this day. I recommend any of the activities promoted by Cincinnati Right to Life . The U.S. Bishops link a lot of good information about this special day on their website, including a campaign to start a novena (nine days of continuous prayer, from January 21-29th).  You can sign up for that novena here .       

  Last year brought our nation countless acts of destruction and violence,with many people harmed and killed in riots and protests resulting from the death of George Floyd and related activism.  This year is starting out no better, as political activists have violently broken into the nation's Capitol building today in an apparent protest of vote counting for the recent presidential election.   There are reports now of one woman shot and at least injured in that melee.  Please pray to Our Lady, Queen of Peace, that as a nation we will be able to resolve our deep political divisions without resorting to violence and the destruction of life.  

 UPDATED: 9 January - to include my homily notes Baptism of Christ , Bartolome Murillo, c. 1665 The Christmas season ends this Sunday, January 10th, with the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord.   Here's a beautiful reflection on that from the Church's prayer book, the Breviary.  It's a bit complex, but reveals the power and importance of the sacrament of baptism in our Christian life and why it is such an amazing gift that we should never take for granted.   It reminds us just what it means to say that we become sons and daughters of God by baptism and how we belong to Christ, no longer the Evil One, once we are immersed in the sacred baptismal waters through the power of Christ's Cross.   It's from an ancient sermon by 3rd century martyr St. Hippolytus Below that reflection are my homily notes for my "quarantine homily" (the one I have to do in print while finishing my recovery from Covid). * * *  From a sermon on the Epiphany attributed to Saint Hippolytus

Today in most of the Church, we celebrate Epiphany (12th Night), 12 days after Christmas.  (In some dioceses of the U.S. this is moved to Sunday). There are a lot of beautiful carols about the Epiphany, not generally as well known as the Nativity (Christmas) carols. One enduring classic is As With Gladness Men of Old .  It has an interesting history.  It was written by one of the great 19th century English hymn-writers, William Dix, literally from his sick bed. Here is a contemporary version of that hymn (with on screen lyrics) and a traditional choral version .

St. Andre Bessette   Today (in dioceses like Cincinnati where Epiphany is transferred to Sunday) we celebrate the memorial of St. Andre Bessette, one of our modern and North American saints who lived in Quebec in the 19th and 20th centuries.  He is not well know in the U.S., but I think should be, especially in this holy year of St. Joseph . He spent much of his life encouraging thousands to develop a devotion to St. Joseph and was, like him, a shining example of the virtue of humility.  St. Andre (born Alfred) saw much suffering and tragedy in his life.  His father died in a work accident, his mother died of tuberculosis, he was sickly most of his life, he was barely literate, he was almost rejected by the religious community he wished to join (the Holy Cross Fathers and Brothers).  But he was allowed to become a brother doing menial tasks for the community.  Without complaint, he had an extraordinary love of the sick and the poor and brought hope and healing to countless thousands. 

  Since I have recently contracted Covid-19 and am temporarily in quarantine, I will not be able to hear confessions for at least one more week. If you would like to go to confession, here is the reconciliation schedule for St. Bernadette parish  in Ameila. Confessions : Thursday: 5:30-6:30 p.m. Saturday: 9-10 a.m. & 3-4 p.m. By Appointment Confessions will take place in the Parish Library I hope to find out soon when my quarantine will end and will keep you posted.  Of course, you may also contact other neighboring parishes which may be closer to you.   For your convenience, I will also try to post the schedule of confessions at neighboring parishes in our parishes soon.

  St. Peter Chrysologus was the bishop of Ravenna (Italy) in the 5th Century. His name means "he of the golden words" and he is sometime called the "doctor of homilies" because he was so eloquent in his preaching. Here's a beautiful rich  homily that ties together all of the Christmas mysteries: the nativity (birth of Our Lord), the baptism of Jesus by St. John in the Jordan, the magi coming with their gifts, Jesus changing water into wine at the wedding feast at Cana, and the holy Mass which brings the miracle of Christmas to every altar in every Catholic church.  All in just a page of two!  There's a lot to meditate on and unpack in here. Interestingly, in the Roman rite (the one we celebrate) all of these mysteries are observed in the Christmas season liturgies except the wedding feast at Cana.  Eastern Catholics work that into Christmas too.   This would be good for your prayer this Wednesday, January 6th, the feast of Epiphany.  (Some U.S. dioceses inc