July 25, 2021
Dear Friends in Christ,
In the U.S., we celebrate National Grandparents Day on the 1st Sunday after Labor Day (this year Sept. 12th). But Pope Francis announced the institution of World Day for Grandparents & the Elderly, which will take place each year on the 4th Sunday in July, close to the feast of Saints Joachim and Anne (July 26th), the grandparents of Jesus. So this Sunday, July 25th, we give honor & pray for all grandparents & the elderly. See p. 7 for a prayer.
“Recalling the upcoming feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple – when the elderly Simeon & Anna encountered the child Jesus & recognized Him as the Messiah–Pope Francis said, ‘the Holy Spirit even today stirs up thoughts & words of wisdom in the elderly.’ The voice of the elderly ‘is precious,’ he said, ‘because it sings the praises of God & preserves the roots of the peoples.’ The elderly ‘remind us that old age is a gift and that grandparents are the link between the different generation, to pass on to the young the experience of life.’”
“The Holy Father said he instituted the World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly because ‘grandparents are often forgotten, and we forget this wealth of preserving roots and passing on’ what the elderly have received. He emphasized the importance of grandparents and grandchildren getting to know one another, because ‘as the prophet Joel says, grandparents seeing their grandchildren dream,’ while ‘young people, drawing strength from their grandparents, will go forward and prophesy.’”
This week, July 25-31, is National Natural Family Planning Awareness Week, an educational campaign of the USCCB to celebrate God’s vision for marriage & promote the methods of Natural Family Planning (NFP). NFP is a general title for ethical, natural, safe & effective methods for family planning, both achieving & avoiding pregnancy in marriage. The date for this week highlights the anniversary of the papal encyclical Humanae Vitae (July 25th) which articulates Catholic beliefs about human sexuality, conjugal love, and responsible parenthood.
NFP is a topic that cannot be explained in a “sound byte.” People do not always understand the differences between artificial means of contraception & NFP. People confuse NFP, a scientific based process which does take into account the unique nature & variations of a woman's menstrual cycle vs. the inaccurate Rhythm (or Calendar) method. See p. 8 for an attempt to discuss NFP & an excellent YouTube video on NFP. I am amazed how health conscious we are about foods & especially medicine, but at times we may not be as knowledgeable about chemicals used in artificial contraception versus none with NFP. I challenge all to become more informed on this Church teaching which is both beautiful & challenging!
As I announced last weekend at the Masses, great news with DSF! In your great generosity, we have exceeded our mandatory DSF amount of $138,000. Thank you for your generosity & for meeting my challenge that we would have met our amount by mid 2021. My original challenge was that we have met it by actual payments plus the future pledges to be paid out during the remaining half of the year. But you have exceeded that challenge since we are at $139,754 in actual payments with $26,978 in pledges to still come in.
For this year alone, any amount over our mandatory goal comes back 100% to our parish. That is the Cardinal’s incentive due to COVID economic challenges. Normally, only 50% returns to the parish. So our parish will benefit tremendously when the remaining pledges are paid in full. Plus, the Cardinal has 1 more incentive for new pledge givers. The parish in each vicariate with the highest % increase in participation in 1st time DSF givers, based on reported number of households, will receive a $5,000 bonus check. Since we will now receive 100% back in our overage, I encourage people to make a donation to DSF for the 1st time. Let’s try to secure that $5,000 bonus check!
In my original challenge, I promised you would not have to hear me pleading for more money. From now on beyond this bulletin thank you & explanation, I will keep you informed of our DSF future payments in the DSF updates in the bulletin.
Let us continue to pray for one another & our parish, Church, families, nation & world.
St. Maximilian Kolbe, pray for us!
Fr. Lawrence W. Jozwiak
Pastor
“The Cross is the school of love.”
—St. Maximilian Kolbe
“There is no greater love, than to lay down one’s life for one’s friend.” John 15: 13