Pastor's Corner, May 31, 2015

Dear Parishioners and Friends,

As the weather get warmer there is a tendency to begin dressing more “informally” for Mass. Sometimes I see people come to church dressed in ways that would be more appropriate at Dorney Park and Wild Water Kingdom. Please don’t misunderstand me. I want many people to come to Mass. But the way we dress should not be a distraction to others and it should reflect where we are and what we are doing.

Let’s get one thing straight – God loves us no matter how we are dressed. However, we dress well for Mass not because we want God to love us more but because we love him. Dressing nicely and modestly shows the depth of our love for Him.

Think to yourself, if I’m going to visit someone very important (God), who loves me deeply (He gave His life for me), and I am participating in an act of divine worship and will receive God in Holy Communion, how should I dress? Our Sunday attire should be different than what we normally wear at home or on the soccer field or on the beach because what we do in Church is more sacred and more important.

Isn’t coming to church more important than going down the shore? Doesn’t Our Lord deserve a little respect? Is not His house a sacred place in which we encounter our brothers and sister in the faith? Is not church the place where we do something so beautiful and holy that we could not but wear special clothing that reflects what we are doing and the love we have for God?

In Christ,

Msgr. Baker

Am I ashamed of the Gospel?

Professor Robert George of Princeton University gave a prophetic speech at last year's National Prayer Breakfast on May 13, 2014 entitled "Ashamed of the Gospel?". Among the challenging yet inspiring remarks are:

"The days of socially acceptable Christianity are over... Powerful forces and currents in our society press us to be ashamed of the Gospel—ashamed of the good, ashamed of our faith’s teachings on the sanctity of human life in all stages and conditions, ashamed of our faith’s teachings on marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife. These forces insist that the Church’s teachings are out of date, retrograde, insensitive, uncompassionate, illiberal, bigoted—even hateful... To be a witness to the Gospel today is to make oneself a marked man or woman...These teachings are not the whole Gospel—Christianity requires much more than their affirmation. But they are integral to the Gospel—they are not optional or dispensable. To be an authentic witness to the Gospel is to proclaim these truths among the rest."

If you would like to read the text, go to: 

http://thecatholicbeat.sacredheartradio.com/2014/05/15/robert-george-am-i-ashamed-of-the-gospel/

If you would like to see the video of his remarks, go to:

http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2014/05/ashamed-of-the-gospel

Pastor's Corner, May 24, 2015

Dear Parishioners and Friends,

I am pleased to tell you that our parish welcomes two new deacons who have been assigned to the Cathedral parish by Bishop Barres. Since today is the Solemnity of Pentecost, we can invoke the Holy Spirit to come down upon these two men and help them be great instruments of His power among the People of God.

Deacon David Anthony, a transitional deacon (God willing he will be ordained a priest next year) who was ordained on May 16, is 26 years old. He is originally from Bethlehem and is the son of Michael and Susan Anthony. Deacon Anthony is a graduate of Liberty High School and attended Lehigh University and Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio, before entering the seminary. He is a member of Notre Dame of Bethlehem Parish.

Deacon Isidro Gonzalez, a permanent deacon like Deacon Hassler and Deacon Snyder, is 49 years old. Along with 46 other men, he was ordained a permanent deacon by Bishop Barres on April 25. He and his wife Zylkia are from Bethlehem and have been parishioners of Holy Infancy Parish, Bethlehem. Deacon Gonzalez is the father of two and grandfather of two. He is a bank assistant vice president for Wells Fargo in Reading, PA.

We whole-heartedly welcome them to our parish and I am sure we will all be well served by their ministry among us.

In Christ,

Msgr. Baker

Pastor's Corner, May 17, 2015

Dear Parishioners and Friends,

There is good news about vocations to the priesthood. According to a recent survey by Georgetown University’s Center for Applied Research, the number of anticipated new priests in 2015 will be 595: a potential 25% jump over last year’s priestly ordinations and confirmation that the trend shows new ordinations have been rising overall since 2005.

Interestingly the study found that regular prayer and devotion to the Eucharist were key aspects of most men before they entered seminary: 70% had regularly prayed the Rosary, and 70% joined in Eucharistic adoration before they entered the seminary.

This good news does not reach replacement levels, however. Even though the Catholic population in the US continues to grow, the number of active priests continues to drop an average 1% per year due to priests hitting retirement age.

Yesterday, two young men were ordained to the diaconate for the Diocese of Allentown. On the first Saturday of June Deacon Laroche and his classmate will be ordained to the priesthood. Please pray for more vocations to the priesthood.

In Christ,

Msgr. Baker

Pastor's Corner, May 10, 2015

Dear Parishioners and Friends,

Today, on Mother’s Day, we each give thanks to God for our mothers and for all that they have done for us and meant to us for so many years.

We should also remember that we have a spiritual mother who is with God in heaven and to whom we are also grateful. Her name is Mary.

She is our mother because of the critical role she played in the Incarnation. God the Father chose her to be the mother of His Son and she responded with a whole-hearted fiat (“let it be done”). Her vocation as the mother of the Savior makes her, by grace, the mother of those whom God saves – us.

Mary is sometimes called the “medriatrix of all graces.” St. Louis de Montfort explains, “God the Father gathered all the waters together and called them the seas or maria. He gathered all his grace together and called it Mary or Maria. The great God has a treasury or storehouse full of riches in which he has enclosed all that is beautiful, resplendent, rare, and precious, even his own Son” (True Devotion, 23).

The month of May is dedicated to Our Mother in the order of grace. May we give her thanks for all she has done for us and meant to us for so many years.

In Christ,

Msgr. Baker

Prayer for Year of Mercy

Pope Francis has penned a special prayer for the upcoming Jubilee Year of Mercy which begins December 8.  Here it is:

Lord Jesus Christ,
you have taught us to be merciful like the heavenly Father,
and have told us that whoever sees you sees Him.
Show us your face and we will be saved.
Your loving gaze freed Zacchaeus and Matthew from being enslaved by money;
the adulteress and Magdalene from seeking happiness only in created things;
made Peter weep after his betrayal,
and assured Paradise to the repentant thief.
Let us hear, as if addressed to each one of us, the words that you spoke to the Samaritan woman:
“If you knew the gift of God!”

You are the visible face of the invisible Father,
of the God who manifests his power above all by forgiveness and mercy:
let the Church be your visible face in the world, its Lord risen and glorified.
You willed that your ministers would also be clothed in weakness
in order that they may feel compassion for those in ignorance and error:
let everyone who approaches them feel sought after, loved, and forgiven by God.

Send your Spirit and consecrate every one of us with its anointing,
so that the Jubilee of Mercy may be a year of grace from the Lord,
and your Church, with renewed enthusiasm, may bring good news to the poor,
proclaim liberty to captives and the oppressed,
and restore sight to the blind.  

We ask this through the intercession of Mary, Mother of Mercy,
you who live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit for ever and ever.

Amen. 

Pastor's Corner, May 3, 2015

Dear Parishioners and Friends,

On April 28, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Obergefell v. Hodges, along with three other cases that will decide the fate of state laws that define marriage as a union of one man and one woman.

The US Bishops Conference filed an amicus brief for the case saying, “Given both the unique capacity for reproduction and the unique value of homes with a mother and father, it is reasonable and just for a state to treat the union of one man and one woman as having a public value that is absent from other intimate, interpersonal relationships… No other institution joins together persons with the natural ability to have children, to assure that any such children are properly cared for by their own parents.”

Maintaining the God-given definition of marriage between a man and a woman should be of great interest for civil government. Again, the US Bishop Conference brief says, “It bears emphasizing that a government preference for husband-wife unions as the optimal environment in which to raise children is a judgment about marriage as the only institution that serves to connect children with their father and mother together in a stable home.” Every child has one biological mother and one biological father, and the child is most likely to do well when both parents are in the home.

This position is not based on bigotry. “It is not a judgment about the dignity or worth of any person, married or not,” the Bishops say. It is not about discrimination but about definition – the definition of marriage.

In Christ,

Msgr. Baker