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I often write my column for the bulletin at least a week before it appears in the bulletin. I am sitting on a computer on Sunday afternoon (August 4) very sad because of the outbreak of violence that has happened in the last week or so. The sadness is compounded by the shootings that occurred yesterday (August 3) in El Paso, Texas and very early this morning (August 4) in Dayton, Ohio.

On Tuesday, July 23, 2019, the Holy See announced that the Most Reverend Mark E. Brennan, an auxiliary bishop in Baltimore, had been named the ninth bishop of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, West Virginia. Bishop Brennan is well known to many in the parish, particularly since he was the Pastor of St. Martin of Tours Parish in Gaithersburg, when he was named to be an auxiliary bishop in Baltimore.

I have been watching the activities of Bishop Edward Malesic, fifth bishop of the Diocese of Greensburg, PA, since his installation as the Bishop of Greensburg in 2015. Some of this would be hometown interest. The county immediately to the East of Butler County is Armstrong County, which is located in the Greensburg Diocese.

Recently someone asked me when our parish church was dedicated. I actually have the answer to that question hanging on one of the walls in my office in the rectory: a letter from William Cardinal Baum, former Archbishop of Washington, to our founding pastor, the Reverend John P. Stack. Let me quote from this important letter for our parish history.

Our beloved Fr. Ralph Kuehner was a tireless advocate for affordable housing for vulnerable populations. He advocated for this in the various Maryland counties in which the Archdiocese of Washington is located as well as before the DC government and in Annapolis whenever the need for this arose. I think that he would heartily endorse statements by two Bishops on a proposed rule that would lead to family separation and housing instability.

Both Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, Archbishop of Galveston-Houston and President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and Bishop Joe S. Vasquez, Bishop of Austin and Chair of the USCCB Committee on Migration, issued a joint statement in which they called on the federal government to hear the cry of the poor and vulnerable. I am transcribing their statement here. It can be found online at http://www.usccb.org/news/2019/19-125.cfm.

When I was reading through the news on the Maryland Catholic Conference (MCC) website, I was pleased to see that several MCC legislative priorities were signed into law by Governor Hogan. Let me summarize what these priorities were.

During their recent annual Spring General Assembly in Baltimore, the U.S. Catholic Bishops approved three additional measures to address abuse and accountability by bishops. The measures expand upon Pope Francis’s Motu proprio (“Vos estis lux mundi” [“You are the light of the world”]) and the U.S. Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People. The term Motu proprio in Canon Law refers to a document issued by the Pope on his own initiative and personally signed by him.

Today we celebrate Father’s Day in the United States. Other countries, especially in Europe and Latin America, celebrate Father’s Day on St. Joseph’s Day (March 19). The first event sponsored in honor of Fathers occurred in 1908 in memory of 362 coal miners who died in explosions at the Fairmont Coal Company in Monagh, West Virginia in December, 1907. The next year, Sonora Smart Dodd, a resident of Spokane, Washington, who was one of six children raised by a widower who was also a veteran of the Civil War, tried to establish an official equivalent to Mother’s Day for male parents. She was successful in her efforts. Washington State celebrated the first state-wide Father’s Day on June 19, 1910, which was the third Sunday in June that year. Slowly the holiday spread. President Calvin Coolidge urged state governments to observe Father’s Day in 1924. Father’s Day finally became a national holiday, celebrated on the third Sunday in June in 1972. This was fifty-eight years after Mother’s Day became an official national holiday.

Last weekend Pope Francis visited Romania. On Sunday, June 2, 2019, on the last day of his visit, the Holy Father presided over a Divine Liturgy in the small town on Blaj, the heartland of the country’s Greek-Catholic Church. Although the largest religious denomination in Romania is Orthodox, a small percentage is Catholic. Some of the Romanian Orthodox entered into union with Rome in 1700. They kept their Byzantine liturgy and Eastern-rite traditions. During the Divine Liturgy in Blaj, Pope Francis declared “blessed” seven of the Greek-Catholic bishops who had died a martyr’s death in the decades following the suppression of the Eastern-rite Romanian Church in 1948.

I have been thinking about Mental Health Conditions, particularly among our young people. This has been a particular worry or concern for me. Let me be more specific in what I mean when I talk about mental illness. The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) states that a mental illness is a condition that affects a person’s thinking, feeling, or mood. Such conditions may affect someone’s ability to relate to others and function each day. Each person will have different experiences—even people with the same diagnosis. Recovery, including meaningful roles in social life, school, and work, is possible when you start treatment early and play a strong role in your own recovery process.

On May 9, 2019 Pope Francis published a Motu Proprio entitled Vos estis lux mundi. A Motu Proprio, in Catholic Canon law, refers to a document issued by the pope on his own initiative and personally signed by him. Vos estis lux mundi can be translated into English as “You are the Light of the World.” This document is the result of ongoing collaboration among various Church entities over the past decade, the February 2019 global summit on abuse, and perhaps more importantly, listening to survivors of abuse. Various offices of the Archdiocese put together some questions and answers for pastors to share with parishioners about the Motu Proprio. I presented two of those questions last week. Here are the remaining seven questions.

Cardinal Séan O’Malley, OFM Cap., Archbishop of Boston, is also the President of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors. In his most recent blog Cardinal O’Malley issued a statement to mark the publication of Vos estis lux mundi, an Apostolic Letter by Pope Francis on May 7, 2019. After an international summit held in Rome earlier this year, Pope Francis promised that there would be “concrete measures” to respond to the clergy sexual abuse crisis in the Church. Pope Francis and others consider it one means of fulfilling that promise to establish specific mandatory protocols and reporting systems for matters concerning such abuse. I want to present Cardinal O’Malley’s remarks posted on the Archdiocese of Boston website on May 10, 2019. There he welcomed the Apostolic Letter. I consider him a very important and trustworthy voice when he comments about the sad and painful issue facing the church in the United States and indeed over all the world.

Happy Mother’s Day! Mother’s Day was first observed soon after the turn of the twentieth century in the Methodist Church as a memorial service for those who had lost their mothers. The observance spread to other churches, and in 1914 became a civic holiday. Chapter 55 of the Book of Blessings offers intercessions and a special prayer over the People for this day.

Hundreds of worshipers at three Christian churches in Sri Lanka were killed on Easter Sunday in a coordinated series of bombings. Three luxury hotels packed with tourists were also targeted by suicide bombers. The government of Sri Lanka has blamed the local Islamist terrorist group National Throwheed Jamath (NTJ) for the suicide bombings.

Cardinal Seán O’Malley of Boston issued a pastoral letter in 2016 entitled “God’s Mercy Runs to Meet Us” for Divine Mercy Sunday. I thought that it would be good to look at it again on this Divine Mercy Sunday. In the pastoral letter he recommends seven actions for this Jubilee Year of Mercy. The sixth recommendation is to practice each of the works of mercy at least once.

Christ is Risen, alleluia! He is risen indeed, alleluia! Happy Easter to all who are at Mass on this most glorious Easter day. I want to give a special word of welcome to our visitors who are joining us for Mass today. I hope that you feel very welcome, for indeed you are! Often on Easter when I greet people after the Masses, people stop and ask me questions. Let me mention some questions that I have been asked over the years on Easter Sunday and then answer the questions.

Archbishop Christophe Pierre, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, publicized on April 7, 2019 the appointment of the Most Reverend Wilton Gregory as the new Archbishop of Washington by Pope Francis. The press release from the USCCB contains the following information about our Archbishop.

Every April, organizations that serve children and youth participate in National Child Abuse Prevention Month. This included Catholic dioceses, parishes, and schools. The purpose of this observance is to highlight the importance of protecting minors from abuse. Such efforts are part of the ongoing work of the Catholic Church in the United States to carry out the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.

From March 4-21 Cyclone Idai devastated the African countries of Mozambique, Malawi, and Zimbabwe. It is an item that has barely made the news and yet over 750 people were called. Many more will probably die from malaria and cholera with the devastation caused by this storm. Our US Bishops offer prayers and solidarity for recovery after the deadly cyclone hit those countries.