33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time; November 13, 2022
From Father Nathan...
Dear Friends at Saint Frances Cabrini Parish and Saint Mary’s Immaculate Conception Parish:
Praised be Jesus Christ! With this column, I offer a brief “Part II” of election commentary after last week’s article about the challenges of discerning what candidates for office to support as informed by Catholic teachings.
Ideological issues, such as abortion, immigration, war, and traditional marriage all being what they are in the hierarchy of values that Catholics are asked to carefully consider when voting, polling data suggests that none of these issues made the difference in this most recent election. Not surprisingly, what is foremost on everyone’s mind these days is economics. In times of prosperity, one might say, everyone has the luxury to argue about social issues; in lean times, everyone simply wants to know how they are going to pay for food and gas, and the other problems of the day can wait. Hence, in our current moment, it might be said that the outcome of the election is a reflection of the population’s view on the economy more than anything else.
While not surprising (we all need to eat), this raises a few interesting reflection questions for a person of faith and for students of political philosophy. For one, Americans largely subscribe to the notion that policy directions on key ideological issues should be determined by the democratic process rather than by appealing to transcendent moral laws. In other words: for example, the question of the nature of laws about abortion in our nation is not settled by opening up the Bible, but is instead supposed to be solved by majority electoral opinions. “Right” or “wrong” is for most Americans a function of “who won.” In the face of this mode of decision-making, in a situation where the majority of voters chose candidates based on inflation rates, can it truly be said that whoever is now in power truly has a mandate to make legitimate rulings about our pressing ideological issues when voters did not choose them based on those issues? This is a complex argument to make in a brief column space, but the basic point is that the whole situation brightly underlines the deeply self-contradictory flaws in our American system of politics and governance. A society that has eliminated its own ability to appeal to higher sources of moral authority for the crafting of its own laws that govern human behavior is destined to be one that retreats further and further into a schizophrenic dysfunctionality.
On a related point: no one can be blamed I suppose for worrying more about their pay checks and inflation than they do about ideological social issues in a voting process. So much of life is indeed governed by the principles of self-preservation. Additionally, it would be false to claim that who we elect has no bearing at all on our economic situation. Office-holders do influence economics to a point.
All that being said, it is a curious phenomenon of our modern times that we place such tremendous faith in the electoral process to soften our daily materialistic miseries. We all really believe that if we just vote for the right people, and install the right batch of leaders, that we are going to arrive at lasting solutions to our problems. This might be termed the “tinkering” mindset of modernity. If we just keep “tinkering” enough with medicines, machines, systems, processes, structures, objects, persons, etc, then we will be happy. We place an enormous amount of faith in this mindset and in these modern processes and systems to solve our problems.
In response to this, any honest political scientist or economist would tell us that whoever is in public office actually has very little control over day to day economic conditions contrary to what we might think. History suggests that much of it has a mind of its own, and that most of our election rhetoric on this point is a fabrication. Moreover, a historian or a Christian would explain that for the vast majority of human history, general populations of areas or realms would have found it laughable to think that if they changed their kings, emperors, or rulers that it would fix all of their problems. Most people just accepted their miseries and life conditions as a given, and their rulers they accepted because they had no control over them, and they did not delude themselves with a tinkering mentality about life.
In those prior eras, everyone placed faith in God and in the Church, and above all in Heaven, as the way out of their problems because everyone knew that life on a fallen earth is unavoidably hard. Of course we can work to improve things around us, like developing medicines to relieve aches and pains for example, but no one should have over-blown ideas on our ability to make ourselves happy in this world. In Christian societies and cultures there were tons and tons of problems, but everyone dealt with them through the lens of Biblical faith, and this kept things in right perspective. Faith in ourselves has replaced faith in God in the modern world. An honest person, a Christian, ought to be able to see with every passing year that it is not working.
A time will come for us in the modern world when all of the modern faith we have placed in politics, and material wealth, and economics, and science, etc, etc, will evaporate as we realize more and more that all of our tinkering is not really fixing anything. A catalyst for this will be our ever increasing crunch for resources, people, and wealth to satisfy all of our boundless appetites. The Lord explains over and over in the Gospels that all of the material comforts in the world are not going to make us happy, yet it is easy to ignore these points while the culture labors under the illusion that we can buy happiness, enabled by (for now) the resources to satiate our desires. Too many elections governed by economically driven voting behavior rather than by foundational issues of ideology and justice will eventually hollow out a society and lead us to the inevitable dead-end.
Where is God in all of this? Unfailingly he is the consistent and patient teacher who walks with our world, always saying the same thing, often watching us ignore it, ever ready to forgive, and continually giving us the freedom to learn things the hard way. Through it all he does have a plan, and fortunately that is not something we control with elections. It is something we accept and trust with faith, hope, and love.
AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT FROM FATHER KEVIN
I recently received official notice that I will be the temporary administrator of Saint Frances Cabrini and Saint Mary’s Immaculate Conception Parishes effective January 1, 2023 until our new shared pastor arrives in June, 2023. I am honored and humbled to undertake this responsibility. I will continue to love and to serve you to the best of my ability, trusting always in the grace of God.
-Father Kevin Harmon
-Father Kevin Harmon
Readings for the week of November 13, 2022
Sunday: Mal 3:19-20a/Ps 98:5-6, 7-8, 9/2 Thes 3:7-12/Lk 21:5-19
Monday: Rv 1:1-4; 2:1-5/Ps 1:1-2, 3, 4 and 6/Lk 18:35-43
Tuesday: Rv 3:1-6, 14-22/Ps 15:2-3a, 3bc-4ab, 5/Lk 19:1-10
Wednesday: Rv 4:1-11/Ps 150:1b-2, 3-4, 5-6/Lk 19:11-28
Thursday: Rv 5:1-10/Ps 149:1b-2, 3-4, 5-6a and 9b/Lk 19:41-44
Friday: Rv 10:8-11/Ps 119:14, 24, 72, 103, 111, 131/Lk 19:45-48
Saturday: Rv 11:4-12/Ps 144:1b, 2, 9-10/Lk 20:27-40
Next Sunday: 2 Sm 5:1-3/Ps 122:1-2, 3-4, 4-5/Col 1:12-20/Lk 23:35-43
PHOTO PICK UP
Please pick up your photo from the Mass of the Faithful Departed after Mass on November 20th.
COUSINS SUBS ON PARADISE DRIVE
will donate 15% of all sales this Wednesday from 3-8pm to Little Saints Early Center.
ANGEL TREE:
At Christmas we connect with the people we love. But what if you are a child with a parent in prison – feeling lonely, abandoned and hurt?
Through Angel Tree you can connect a child with their parent behind bars and offer joy and hope to a prisoner’s family.
Saint Mary’s will again be doing Prison Fellowship ANGEL TREE on November 20th after Mass. You can pick an Angel from the tree, register it with a volunteer, purchase gift indicated and return gift by December 4th. Gifts will be delivered to the prisoner’s children with a message of love and good news of Jesus in the name of incarcerated parents.
ARE YOU INTERESTED IN BECOMING AN USHER?
We would love to have you join us! Training Provided!
Please contact Ed at 262-343-1074.
SCRIP:
SCRIP is available after Sunday Masses in the lobby.
CHURCH CLEANING:
Our next church cleaning is November 26th at 7am.
Many hands make light work. Call Beth at 338-5600 if you have any questions or are interested in helping.
FULL SHELF FOOD PANTRY:
Thank you for your support of the Full Shelf Food Pantry.
We will be highlighting a needed item each month.
November: Cake/Brownie mixes and frosting.
MINISTRY OF THE MONTH...Saint Vincent DePaul Society
The purpose is to grow in spirituality and the mission is to help the poor. Neighbors in need of rent, energy payments or other necessities call the SVDP store. The information is passed onto a member, known as the Vincentian. The member calls the neighbor and makes an appointment for a home visit. Visits are made in pairs. Once needs are addressed, prayers are shared with the family. At meetings we have a short spiritual study and discuss any issues that need to be addressed. Meetings are held in the Holy Angels church basement at 6:30 pm on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of each month. Anyone interested is welcome to come. You can contact Jean Gorman (262-338-3453) Mary Moll (262-334-3459) or Steve Wolf (262-251-7689) for more information.
Today is Saint Frances Cabrini's Feast Day. How many institutions did she establish in her life?
67
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52
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72
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ANSWERS TO LAST WEEK'S QUESTION...
- Saint John Lateran Basilica is considered the Cathedral of the Diocese of Rome.
Click the Logo Above to visit our web information about
this exciting and vibrant ministry with our friends in Honduras.
TWINNING ONLINE FUNDRAISER
We're hosting an online fundraiser for Amigos Unidos Grade School Education Program, and we'd love for you to join us! From now through December 31st, we're partnering with SERRV International, a Fair-Trade nonprofit organization working to empower over 8,000 artisans and farmers around the world with fair and vital employment. Shop 1000+ handcrafted products and foods at serrv.org?a=AmigosUnidos and Amigos Unidos will earn 20% of your purchase! You can view the products online or peruse the catalogs in the San Gaspar room. Thank you so much for your support! Contact Karen Gresser at 262-707-4962 or email at lv2camp55@gmail.com if you have questions about our online fundraiser.
CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS
STAY CONNECTED WITH US!
A Ministry of the Catholic Parishes of Washington County that Educates and Empowers those with Special Needs in their Faith.
Click the Journey Logo for more info.
COMMUNITY NEWS & EVENTS
Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity
invite Catholic Single Women 20-35 to discern and discover in-person or on-line. For more information visit https://fscc-calledtobe.org or call/text Sister Julie Ann at 920-323-9632.
Casa Guadalupe Volunteer Opportunities
Read to Succeed, Childcare, and Homework Help needed.
Contact http://www.casaguadalupeonline.org/ to learn more.
Enchantment in the Park volunteers needed from Thanksgiving through Christmas
CLICK HERE to sign up
Grief Support Groups-
GriefShare will meet in the Holy Angels Office every Tuesday
from November 15 through February 7, from 6:30pm-8:00pm
(Loss of a Spouse and Surviving the Holidays on November 12)
or
5th Avenue Methodist Church; 323 S. 5th Avenue in West Bend
First Thursday of the Month 6:30pm-8:00pm
Questions? Call 262-306-2691
or
FORMED.org offers a Catholic program titled
“Grieving with Hope” for free and can be done at home.
Interfaith Caregivers
Connecting Seniors with Caring Volunteers.
This organization provides local opportunities for both volunteers and recipients. They bring non-medical care, such as light housekeeping, grocery shopping, transportation, or just a friendly visit to Seniors who could benefit from resources necessary to remain independent. To register as a volunteer or recipient, call them at 262-365-0902.
Worldwide Marriage Encounter-
Promotes experiences for couples who want to
make their good marriage even better. Visit http://www.wwme.org/ for details.
Retrouvaille-Help for your Marriage
Please call (414) 502-7685 or email: Milwaukee@HelpOurMarriage.org or visit the website at http://www.HelpOurMarriage.org
St. Dymphna Mental Health Group
1st and 3rd Mondays of the month at 1pm
Saint Mary's of the Hill Parish
Contact Kim Geisler at 262-229-0821 or mikey28.max@gmail.com
Normal Mass Schedule
Sundays: 7:30am, 9:30am
12:00pm (Español)
Monday through Friday: 6:15am
Sundays: 7:30am, 9:30am
12:00pm (Español)
Monday through Friday: 6:15am
*Signing for hearing impaired at the 9:30am Mass on the 2nd Sunday of the month
**Low-Gluten Hosts Available at Mass for persons with this specific medical need. Present yourself to the priest-celebrant at any Mass by coming for Communion at the very end of the Communion line as the last communicant. Inform the priest as you approach him for Communion that you need a low-gluten Host.
Normal Confessions and Adoration
Thursdays from 5:30pm-6:30pm
Thursdays from 5:30pm-6:30pm
Normal Parish Office Hours
Monday - Thursday 8am - 4pm
Friday 8am - 12Noon