Pastor's Corner, August 31, 2014

Dear Parishioners and Friends,

The sixth daily habit for faithful Catholics is praying the Holy Rosary.

St. Louis de Montfort, the great apostle of the rosary, once wrote, “If you say the rosary faithfully until death, I do assure you that, in spite of the gravity of your sins you shall receive a never-fading crown of glory.”

He is so confident because he knows of the powerful intercession of Our Lady and the importance of honoring Our Lord by honoring His Mother. The Rosary is both a vocal prayer (we pray the simple, basic prayers of the Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be) and a contemplative prayer (we meditate on the life of Jesus and Mary in the various mysteries of the rosary). It is probably the most highly recommended devotions in the Church.

As St. John Paul II wrote in his letter The Rosary of the Virgin Mary, the rosary is “a ‘meditation’ with Mary on Christ” and an immersion “in the mysteries of the Redeemer's life,” ensuring that what Christ has done on the Cross and what the liturgy makes present “is profoundly assimilated and shapes our existence” (13).

It can be difficult to find time to pray the rosary but, like anything else, when it is a priority we will find the time. It can be very helpful to pray the rosary with others, especially with your family.

In Christ,

Msgr. Baker

Bishop Daniel Thomas

Yesterday Pope Francis named the new bishop of Toledo, OH - Bishop Daniel Thomas, Auxiliary Bishop of Philadelphia. I had the privilege of working along side Bishop Thomas for five years when we were both Officials at the Congregation for Bishops in Rome. 

The Archbishop of Philadelphia, Archbishop Chaput, said that the appointment "demonstrates the confidence our Holy Father has in Bishop Thomas' pastoral and administrative skills." I couldn't agree more. 

As some of you may know, the comedian and actor Danny Thomas was raised in Toledo. I would like to think that Toledo now has the better Danny Thomas! Let us pray for the new bishop of Toledo. 

Uncle Tom's apartment

My brothers Jim, Dan and I ventured from the homestead in Coopersburg, PA, at 4:30 am traveling to New York City on a beautifully sunny Monday morning, August 25. We had a mission... to take all the remaining furniture from our Uncle Tom's apartment and hand in the keys. Uncle Tom has been in a nursing home and has finally decided to give up the apartment in which he lived with our father and our grandparents since 1941. Yes, that's 73 years! Here are some photos I took at the end of the day:





Here is the room used by my Uncle and father when they were children:

Here is the living room completely cleaned out, featuring our hard workers, Dan, Kathy Collins (our cousin) and Jim:

Here is a panoramic shot of the bedroom used by my grandparents:

Here is the superintendent of the building, Mike, in the cleaned out kitchen:










Here is the front door of 3109 Roberts Ave., Apt 2G:

Here is the outside of the building. If you look closely, in the upper left is the building superintendent waving from the back bedroom window of the apartment:

Finally, here is the back of the U-Haul van when we got it home:

Pastor's Corner, August 24, 2014

Dear Parishioners and Friends,

Especially during a very busy day, we need to take time to stop and pray. One of the “Seven Daily Habits for Faithful Catholics” is praying the Angelus at noon.

Praying the Angelus at noon is a Catholic custom that goes back many centuries. It is a brief but profound pray which recounts the Incarnation of Christ and His Resurrection. It helps focus our attention in the middle of the day on Christ, who is the One for whom we live, and move and have our being. It helps us sanctify the work we have already done and offer up the work that we will do in the next several hours. Finally, it helps us simply to stop, think of God and offer Him thanks and praise. During a busy day this can be difficult!

A priest once told me that every time we pray the Angelus we have a special encounter with Mary, our Blessed Mother. Her words, “Let is be done to me according to your word,” are at the heart of the prayer and is the heart of our response in all we do for Christ. The daily recitation of the Angelus reminds us of Mary’s motherly presence in our lives and how she continues to intercede for us in heaven.

The next time you hear the bells from a Catholic Church at noon or stop to take a lunch break in the middle of the day, don’t forget to pray the Angelus.

In Christ,

Msgr. Baker

Robin Williams and suicide

Dear Parishioners and Friends,
The famous comedian Robin Williams committed suicide last week and so much has been said and written about it. What do we believe as Catholics about suicide?
Suicide is taking one’s own life and is forbidden by the 5^th Commandment, “Thou shall not kill.” As the Catechism says, suicide “contradicts the natural inclination of the human being to preserve and perpetuate his life... It likewise offends love of neighbor” and it “is contrary to love for the living God.” (2281)
Does committing suicide condemn someone to hell? Objectively speaking the answer is yes. Suicide is a grave sin which, if done with full knowledge (knowledge of the sinful character of the act, of its opposition to God's law) and deliberate consent (sufficiently deliberate to be a personal choice), then the person is responsible for the grave sin and will suffer the eternal consequences of their action.
It is good to keep in mind, however, that “grave psychological disturbances, anguish, or grave fear of hardship, suffering, or torture” can diminish someone’s responsibility (Catechism, 2282). Thus, we should never assume to be able to ultimately judge a person’s level of responsibility, most especially those who struggle with severe mental health issues. Only God knows the heart.
Consequently, “we should not despair of the eternal salvation of persons who have taken their own lives. By ways known to him alone, God can provide the opportunity for salutary repentance. The Church prays for persons who have taken their own lives” (Catechism, 2283).
In Christ,
  Msgr. Baker

Pastor's Corner, August17, 2014

Dear Parishioners and Friends,

One of the “Seven Daily Habits for Faithful Catholics” is 15 minutes of spiritual reading.

St. Jerome once famously said, “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.” If we want to know Christ, we need to spend some time reading about his life and his words, and considering the inspired words of Scripture which point to him.

The daily habit of spiritual reading can consist of about 5 minutes of reading a passage from the Gospel. It is best to try and do so systematically, reading the entire Gospel a little bit at a time. Following some time with the Bible, we can then move to the writings of the saints or some spiritual classic and spend another 10 minutes or so. In this way our soul is feed with the inspired word of God and with the reflections of those who have tried to live the word of God in a heroic way in their daily lives.

There is so much we can gain from this daily habit. It will not only familiarize ourselves with the words and life of Christ but also help us deepen our faith in Christ through the wisdom of the Church by understanding the faith, our prayer life, and the virtues in and through the words of the saints and holy authors.

Someone once said that we need to catch disciples of Christ much like we catch fish – by the head. Spiritual reading is an excellent way to be caught by Christ and to catch others.

In Christ,

Msgr. Baker

Pastor's Corner, August 10, 2014

Dear Parishioners and Friends,

The next habit mentioned in “Seven Daily Habits for Faithful Catholics” by Fr. McCloskey is Holy Communion.

Jesus has given Himself to us in Holy Communion and says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6: 53-54). With a gift like the Holy Eucharist, how can we not want to receive Holy Communion as often as possible?

The Holy Eucharist is the source and summit of the Christian life. It is the most intimate contact we can have with God this side of heaven. It is the Sacrament of His presence. We are sacramentally united with our Savior and receive not just grace but the giver of grace.

I know daily Mass would be a sacrifice for many people and just not possible for some. Receiving Holy Communion is a daily habit because of how powerful a gift it is for us and how much fruit Holy Communion would bear if we received Him daily. I hope you would consider coming to Mass during the week, if not daily, in order to grow in holiness.

In Christ,

Msgr. Baker

Pastor's Corner, August 3, 2014

Dear Parishioners and Friends,

The second spiritual habit to achieve the success of holiness found in the booklet “Seven Daily Habits for Faithful Catholics” is called Mental Prayer. Fr. McCloskey recommends at least 15 minutes each day.

Prayer is a conversation with Our Lord. It is a heart to heart talk with the One who is love. FaceTime is a special feature on smart phones that allows two people to see each other and speak with each other over the phone. Well, mental prayer is simply “face time” with God. The Book of Exodus tells us that “the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend” (33: 11). We too need to have this encounter and conversation with the Lord face to face each day. It is one of the keys to growing in holiness.

The time of mental prayer is something personal. It might begin with some memorized vocal prayers but it is time for us to just speak with God from our own mind and heart, just as we would speak with a friend. Reading a passage from Scripture or some spiritual book can help us reflect and get the conversation going. We also have to be silent during our mental prayer in order to listen to God and to sense the movement of the Holy Spirit. In this way God can leave us with clear indications for our lives and answer our prayers.

In Christ,

Msgr. Baker