The Parish offices will be closed on Monday, May 31 in observance of Memorial Day.
 
God of power and mercy,
you destroy war and put down earthly pride
Banish violence from our midst and wipe away our tears,
that we may all deserve to be called your sons and daughters.
Keep in your mercy those men and women
who have died in the cause of freedom
and bring them safely
into your kingdom of justice and peace.

We ask this though Jesus Christ our Lord.
R/. Amen

 

From Father Woods
                                WHO HELPS?

Have you ever met a seminarian preparing for the Priesthood? Met a retired Priest? Have you or a loved one been a patient at a large hospital in Washington and needed a Priest? Has anyone you know received tuition assistance to a Catholic school? Ever consider how many Catholic nursing homes, low-income housing facilities, and daycares there are? Who provides the chaplaincies at prisons and colleges?

The common thread in all these things is the Annual Appeal of the Archdiocese of Washington. Too often we think of being Catholic as belonging to a parish. But the word Catholic means universal. We are part of the larger Church that is the diocese in union with Rome. In addition to all the things done by parishes, even larger things are the responsibility of the Archdiocese. How can we possibly meet these responsibilities? Once a year we take up a collection to do all the things an individual parish could never do.

Sadly, some people use giving or not giving to the Appeal as a demonstrate of their affection for or disagreement with the Archbishop. At times people will say, “I don’t like what Bishop so-and-so did or said so I’m not giving to the Appeal!” “I want all my money to stay in the parish!” Well, who does that help or hurt? The hungry, poor, uneducated, sick or victimized people don’t know anything about Church politics. All they know is that they went to the Church for help and the Church either provided or denied them that love, attention or assistance. The Archbishop makes no money on his own, so he only has what we give him to share with others.

This doesn’t mean we only give out money or food (which, of course, we do). We have structures in place to help put people back on the road to recovery and stability. We have access to medical care, housing, and shelter. We provide assistance for post-abortion trauma, the mentally ill, and the handicapped. The Catholic Church remains the largest non-governmental provider of assistance in the Washington metropolitan area. The numbers of people who participate in or benefit from the work of the Church is staggering.

That’s why we have the Appeal every year. The needs never stop coming in. Every Catholic should be proud of the Church’s work and feel like they share in it. It would be great if each of us would look at the Appeal literature and then dedicate ourselves to praying for one group of people affected by our charity each day. Whether we donate to the Appeal or not, we are all part of the Church and it’s the Church’s work that helps so many people. The Appeal allows us to do together things a parish could never do on its own.

Pope Francis has constantly reminded us that Jesus was born poor and came to serve the poor. He demanded that His disciples love one another and lift up those who need help lifting themselves up. Charity is not just a characteristic of goodie-goodie people. For the Christian, charity is a demand. It is the only way to follow Jesus. This charity takes many forms as we love our families, friends, coworkers and strangers. Pope Benedict XVI reminded us that anything beautiful is a reflection of the glory of God. Charity is beautiful. The annual Appeal is the Church at her most beautiful as the bride of Christ and mother of humanity.