Parish Life

From the Pastor’s Desk:

February 19, 2012

In today’s Gospel we continue to hear Mark’s reports about Jesus’ preaching and healing. Clearly, Jesus’ reputation as a healer was spreading. Yet, not everyone was happy with His success, deeds, actions, message, and presence. The Gospel presents two groups with contrary responses to Jesus’ ministry. One is the group of people whose hearts have strayed far from God‐ whose narrow‐mindedness is based upon their religious convictions and keep them from recognizing who Jesus truly is, and from allowing Him to extend His loving touch and His message of love and forgiveness to others. On the other hand, the other group is so amazed with the ministry of Jesus. They come from all over‐ “so that there was no longer room for them”. They come because of their deep faith in Him and the message He brings to the people. They come to experience His presence and bring others to do the same.

Today, both groups continue to exist in our lives, in our world, and in our own hearts. Today, we are invited to recognize the Divine Power of the presence of Christ in our lives. Whether we are broken in body or burned by sin, Jesus continues to heal us and forgive. We need to come, however, to experience His presence and invite others to experience that same power of Christ, who comes to us in Word and Sacrament every time we celebrate the gift of the Eucharist. We need to come with openness to Him so He can heal the divisions in our hearts, to see Jesus and trust in His care, and to experience His forgiveness. Jesus never rests‐ He is always ready and willing to minister to each and every one of us‐ as long as we overcome our narrowness and open ourselves to His abiding presence.

This upcoming Wednesday is Ash Wednesday‐ the beginning of the Holy Season of Lent. For us Catholics, it is a reminder that Lent is a very serious business. “Repent and believe in the Gospel” strikes at the heart of the meaning of Lent, which prepares us for the manifestation of God’s love in Jesus’ self‐giving of His life and His Resurrection. During Lent we will have many different spiritual opportunities‐ weekly Stations of the Cross, a Lenten Parish Mission, and the Sacrament of Reconciliation‐ so we may respond in our own ways to God’s love in our lives.

This weekend‐ in all the parishes in the Diocese‐ is the Bishop’s Lenten Appeal. The focus of this year’s appeal is to support vocations, particularly to support the cost of education and formation of our seminarians. We are blessed to have 19 fine men pursuing priestly vocations in our Diocese. Two of them are from St. Luke’s Parish‐ Blair Gaynes and Rolando Reyes (who is with us this weekend). With an increased number of men studying for the priesthood, comes additional costs to the Diocese. Your support of this year’s Lenten Appeal for Vocations will ensure that we continue to have good priests to serve you and your family. We need to hear the Gospel proclaimed! We need to celebrate the Eucharist! Have a blessed week and a blessed beginning of Lent!

With prayers,

Fr. Andy

A couple of weeks ago we read a letter from our Bishop, Felipe Estévez, about a decision by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that would force employers (including institutions of the Catholic Church) to provide in their health insurance coverage such items as voluntary sterilization, abortifacient drugs, and contraceptives. This is part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. In the past, the so‐called "conscience clause" was included in such legislation. However, despite assurances from the administration, it was not placed in this act. With such generous responses of Bishops and the unified voice of Catholics, the administration adjusted some of the original requirements. However, they are far from being acceptable. I offer this clear explanation issued by the USCCB to address the latest regarding the HHS Mandate.

Six Things Everyone Should Know About the HHS Mandate

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) offers the following clarifications regarding the Health and Human Services regulations on mandatory coverage of contraceptives, sterilization and abortion‐inducing drugs.

1. The mandate does not exempt Catholic charities, schools, universities, or hospitals. These institutions are vital to the mission of the Church, but HHS does not deem them "religious employers" worthy of conscience protection, because they do not "serve primarily persons who share the[ir] religious tenets". HHS denies these organizations religious freedom precisely because their purpose is to serve the common good of society—a purpose that government should encourage, not punish.

2. The mandate forces these institutions and others, against their conscience, to pay for things they consider immoral. Under the mandate, the government forces religious insurers to write policies that violate their beliefs; forces religious employers and schools to sponsor and subsidize coverage that violates their beliefs; and forces religious employees and students to purchase coverage that violates their beliefs.

3. The mandate forces coverage of sterilization and abortion‐inducing drugs and devices as well as contraception. Though commonly called the "contraceptive mandate", HHS's mandate also forces employers to sponsor and subsidize coverage of sterilization. And by including all drugs approved by the FDA for use as contraceptives, the HHS mandate includes drugs that can induce abortion, such as "Ella," a close cousin of the abortion pill RU‐486.

4. Catholics of all political persuasions are unified in their opposition to the mandate. Catholics who have long supported this Administration and its healthcare policies have publicly criticized HHS's decision, including columnists E.J. Dionne, Mark Shields, and Michael Sean Winters; college presidents Father John Jenkins and Arturo Chavez; and Daughter of Charity Sister Carol Keehan, president and chief executive officer of the Catholic Health Association of the United States.

5. Many other religious and secular people and groups have spoken out strongly against the mandate. Many recognize this as an assault on the broader principle of religious liberty, even if they disagree with the Church on the underlying moral question. For example, Protestant Christian, Orthodox Christian, and Orthodox Jewish groups‐ none of which oppose contraception‐ have issued statements against the HHS's decision. The Washington Post, USA Today, N.Y. Daily News, Detroit News, and other secular outlets, columnists, and bloggers have editorialized against it.

6. The federal mandate is much stricter than existing state mandates. HHS chose the narrowest state‐level religious exemption as the model for its own. That exemption was drafted by the ACLU and exists in only 3 states (New York, California, Oregon). Even without a religious exemption, religious employers can already avoid the contraceptive mandates in 28 states by self‐insuring their prescription drug coverage, dropping that coverage altogether, or opting for regulation under a federal law (ERISA) that pre‐empts state law. The HHS mandate closes off all these avenues of relief.

Additional information on the U.S. Catholic Bishops’ stance on religious liberty, conscience protection and the HHS ruling regarding mandatory coverage of contraceptives, sterilization and abortion‐inducing drugs is available at http://www.usccb.org/issues‐and‐action/religious‐liberty/conscience‐protection/index.cfm