Pastor’s Column: Years ago, as a young priest still in his twenties I was asked by a young husband and father if I would be his spiritual director.  This meant meeting with him one on one once a month to help him grow his prayer life, so that he could grow in closeness to the Lord.  I hesitated having received little training and because I knew my own fears and weaknesses.  I was always a talker and struggled to listen well, this would require a lot of time and patience and I was already lacking in both.  Later as more people (men and women, old and young) came to ask me to be their director I saw how God used this call to stretch me in areas where I too needed to grow,  and he continues this in all the many ministries he has called me too.

Some years ago, at the height of my spiritual directing, Fr. Mark Ivany came to me and said we needed to recruit more laity to be directors.  After all, most priests have not been trained and lack the time to direct.  I was against it at first believing only priests were called to this particular ministry.  Then I went on a silent eight-day retreat (I highly recommend silent retreats to all of you) and I was feeling overwhelmed by all the requests for spiritual direction coming to me.

The Lord had me meditate on a passage of scripture in the Old Testament where Moses was feeling overwhelmed and his father in law Jethro came to him and said, “What you are doing is not good. You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone. Listen now to me and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. “. He then instructed him to recruit people who could help him.  The Lord made clear that is what he wanted me to do.  He then started to show me people he wanted to use in this ministry who He had already placed in my life.  It was beautiful and I was given Peace and Joy!  The two signs of the working of the Holy Spirit.

This week Fr. Ivany will run a program to train lay and clergy spiritual directors. He already did one in DC.  He was hoping for 15 or so people and got about 50.  The same program is now going to take place this week at St. Mary’s Ryken and the numbers are near 50 again.  Pray for those who are generously taking three days out of their schedule to train and who will help share this beautiful transforming ministry with us priests and deacons in the coming years.  The Harvest is indeed abundant, and the laborers are few.  Pray that God sends us more!

Your brother and father in Christ,

Fr Scott

Pastor’s Column: When I first arrived at St. Cecilia and St. Peter Claver I felt like a deer in headlights. I had never been a pastor of souls before, and I had never been responsible for a parish. I was feeling overwhelmed. Amid the interior storms that swirled about in me, there was one person I felt I could always turn too, her name was Ada. At both parishes, there were people ready to set up and help but they had lives, families and jobs.  Ada was there almost every day, or at least a phone call away.  Having gone from high school to college seminary, I had never learned how to cook. And soon with many, many people trying to meet with me from early in the morning till late at night, I didn’t have time too.  Ada always made sure that I had food in the rectory and often insisted on making me food with her own hands.

When people called from either parish, Ada could not only tell me who they were, but she could tell me about their family, personality and why they might be calling.  She knew most of the parishioners of both parishes and would often stay far later then the hours she officially worked to help those in need. She truly saw her work as a parish secretary as a ministry to the people of God.

Ada almost always had a smile on her face and infinite patience with those who called, even those upset because we could not always fulfill their requests.  She was often the one who would tell me I needed to take a day off or go on vacation, though she very rarely took vacation herself.

Often when I was unsure about a decision I had to make; I would consult Ada.  Even on her few days off, she and Joe would usually be at daily mass at St Cecilia’s or St. Peter Claver’s on Saturday mornings.

A few short years ago, she expressed the desire to retire so she could spend her remaining years spending more time with Joe, their kids and grandkids.  She was there for all her successors whenever they needed help.  She still stayed very active in parish life in so many ways.  Ada was a woman filled with faith and love.

Everyone who has spoken to me since her passing has talked about the huge hole that we all feel in our lives with her absence.  Yet everyone has expressed that while they feel sadness for Ada’s family and friends, they don’t for Ada.  She lived a good and holy life filled with joy and grace.  She always said when it was her time, she wanted it to go quick, and that she got. But an added blessing to us all was that she left us on the feast of the Queenship of Mary, which was perfect as she had a huge devotion to Our Lady.

We were blessed to know her, blessed to have seen her example of love, marriage, motherhood, and discipleship. Well done good and faithful, Servant. Go home to rest in the Fathers arms. Pray for us!

Your Brother and Father in Christ,

Father Scott

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

My name is William Bolin, and I’m the new Campus Minister at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. Additionally, I will be starting a Catholic ministry at the College of Southern Maryland. I was born and raised in Silver Spring, Maryland, and was homeschooled through high school. Previously, I was in Seminarian for the Archdiocese for five years, studying philosophy at Saint John Paull II Seminary, and theology for a year at the Pontifical North American College in Rome. When I discerned out of formation, the opportunity to serve Southern Maryland under the guidance of Fr. Scott proved incredibly attractive! By God’s grace and timing, here I am.

Firstly, I would like to offer you all my sincere gratitude. As Fr. Woods told many of you last Sunday, I am blessed to be the FIRST full time college minster in this area! This blessing is the direct effect of your generosity in the Archdiocesan appeal, and your openness to growth in college ministry. I look forward to continuing the growth of the Catholic community at St. Mary’s, and to start a foundation of one at CSM. Being full time, I will get to spend ample time striving towards our goal: bringing the students to Christ!

Secondly, I would ask for your prayers and support as we begin this ministry. There is lots of room to grow in both colleges, God willing! In the few days I have been here, I have already been blown away with your generosity. Please, if you think you may have something to offer our ministry —ideas, places to meet, volunteering, food, etc.—let me know!

I look forward to meeting you all around the parish this year. Please keep the ministry and me in your prayers! You’ll be in mine.

God bless,

William Bolin

Queenship of Mary

August 22

In this feast, particularly cherished by the Popes of modern times, we celebrate Mary as the Queen of Heaven and Earth.

Pope Pius XII in the Papal Encyclical Ad Coeli Reginam proposed the traditional doctrine on the Queenship of Mary and established this feast for the Universal Church.

Pope Pius IX said of Mary’s queenship: “Turning her maternal Heart toward us and dealing with the affair of our salvation, she is concerned with the whole human race. Constituted by the Lord Queen of Heaven and earth, and exalted above all choirs of Angels and the ranks of Saints in Heaven, standing at the right hand of Her only-begotten Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, she petitions most powerfully with Her maternal prayers, and she obtains what she seeks.”

And Pope Pius XII added the following: “We commend that on the festival there be renewed the consecration of the human race to the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Upon this there is founded a great hope that there will rejoice in the triumph of religion and in Christian peace…

…Therefore, let all approach with greater confidence now than before, to the throne of mercy and grace of our Queen and Mother to beg help in difficultly, light in darkness and solace in trouble and sorrow…

. . Whoever, therefore, honours the lady ruler of the Angels and of men – and let no one think themselves exempt from the payment of that tribute of a grateful and loving soul – let them call upon her as most truly Queen and as the Queen who brings the blessings of peace, that She may show us all, after this exile, Jesus, who will be our enduring peace and joy.”

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/queenship-of-mary-343

Summer Helper Column

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

In today’s Gospel from Luke, our Lord teaches His disciples to pray. In doing so, He focuses upon a particularly significant virtue in prayer: perseverance. Our Lord’s use of the parable of a persistent man asking his reluctant friend for bread gives an emphatic spotlight to this virtue of perseverance and its value in the spiritual life. We are told in this story that the reluctant friend gives the bread to the man not on account of their friendship but due to his perseverance in asking even though “the door has already been locked” (Lk 11:7 NABRE) and he and his entire family are already in bed. This story emphasizes the reality that between two imperfect human persons sometimes it is only persistence that results in an answered supplication. Immediately afterwards, Christ proclaims some of His most familiar words: “ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” (Lk 11:9). There is a parallel between the locked door of the reluctant friend and the door which God answers when we knock in prayer. In drawing this parallel, our Lord stresses that if perseverance is able to so move the reluctant, irritated, and imperfect friend to unlock his door to give the beseeching man the bread, how much more generous will a perfect and completely understanding friend to us, our Lord Himself, open the door and give us what is good for us and what we need for salvation and happiness if we are persistent in asking. Christ completes this teaching on the intensity of the generosity of the Father with unambiguous and explicit words: “What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish? . . . If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?” (Lk 11:11,13). Let us persevere in our daily commitments to prayer because, no matter what struggles and sufferings we find in our lives, God bestows abundant graces not only to endure such trials but to even find joy in the midst of them: a joy that comes from intimacy with our Lord. But, as the Gospel says, we must persistently ask for such abundant graces.

 

-Fr. Scott’s summer helper

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

My name is Michael Weiler. I am new at the parish and a summer helper for Fr. Scott. I am a rising junior and going to Chopticon High school in the fall. I enjoy getting a chance to talk to our Lord every morning in adoration and telling him how the day before went. The overall big thing I learned this summer is to trust in God even in the toughest of times, and what trusting in God means to me is He has our back better than anyone we know. I recently went through one of the hardest times of my life losing my Mom, and I’ve started praying one decade of the rosary every night to get closer and talk to Mary, our Mother. I don’t know why I started doing it but all I know, right now, is that it makes me feel better.

I would love to meet more of you and talk whenever. I am a very open person and love to talk to new people so feel free to come up and say HI!!!

 

God bless you,

Michael Weiler

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

My name is Carson Phillips and I am currently a rising sophomore at Ave Maria University. My brothers and sisters, I am so blessed to have become a member of this community, under the guidance of Father Scott your prayers and help have impacted my life and for that I am eternally grateful. My friends I have been extraordinarily humbled these last few months, as I realize that our Lord is real and constantly interacting with his creation. The reality of God is easy to preach about, easy to write about, easy to become a tool to validate our life choices; but this is not who God is. The Godman Jesus Christ walked this earth alongside his beloved creation, not just as an example or a validation but rather to form a real and personal relationship with all men through the cross. Christ shows himself to us through his crosses, and this is something I have been running from my whole life and through your prayers and presence I am beginning to allow our Lord to show me who he is, and what he desires of me. Ever sense I joined the Church I have been hiding from our Lord, plagued by guilt caused by doubt or questions, but my friends I have learned that our Lord desires our questions and he yearns for us to wrestle with him like Jacob. My brothers and sisters I invite you to wrestle with God, allow him to reveal your wounds and crosses so that you can come to know who he is. For our faith cannot just be on our minds, it cannot just be in our words and actions, but our faith must be rooted in Christ who loves us forever within our hearts. I am so proud of this community; may the love of Christ ignite our hearts.

 

God bless you,

Carson Phillips

Youth Group Summer Fun

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

This year’s youth group camping trip was a success. The Via Christi Youth Group traveled to Rocky Gap State Park to enjoy a week of fun and retreat. The Park offered beautiful scenery with plenty of outdoor activities to enjoy, all within the beautiful mountains of Flintstone, MD. Kids went to the lake where they enjoyed the beach and water activities, from beach volleyball to sail boating. The park offered many hiking trails as well.

Each day began centered in Christ with Mass in the morning. Following breakfast, kids had their choice of several outdoor activities like fishing, sailing, kayaking, swimming, volleyball, football, and hiking. Some preferred to relax in the shade while playing card games and enjoying conversation. An hour of adoration followed each dinner as kids wound down their day by refocusing on Christ’s presence in the Eucharist. Nighttime allowed for some campfire fun like making smores while some played songs on the guitar.

Several parents and young adults worked hard to provide a safe and fun environment for the youth. There were even some families who joined, deciding to take the opportunity to enjoy a family vacation together.   Overall it was a week of great company and many joyful memories that the Lord blessed us with.  We look forward to making next year’s camping trip experience even better, by God’s grace.

 

God bless you,

Chris Harris

Youth Minister