Fr. Daniel's Letter to his Parishioners

 



Dear Parishioners,

I am a big fan of Bishop Robert Barron and the work he does online to reconnect people to the faith.  He often speaks of the group of people who have left the church, called the “none’s.”  They are the mostly young people who check off “none” for religious preference when asked on a survey.  Unfortunately, the number has grown significantly and a great number of them are former Catholics, many in our own families.  Bishop Barron has studied the phenomenon and there are a few different reasons for this belief that science is in opposition to faith.  If and when there is a perceived contradiction, they choose science.   The Bishop says that they believe in scientism or scientific materialism.  I believe that we need to clearly understand our faith on this position and be able to discuss intelligently with our spouse, children, friends, and coworkers.  We owe it to ourselves, them and to God to know our faith.

St. Joseph College is hosting a dialogue online with Dr. Stephen Barr. I went to his presentation at Bowdoin College a few years back.  He is a faithful Catholic who leads the Society of Catholic Scientist.  Please visit our website for more information to watch it on Tuesday at 7:00 PM online.  If you want to do more than just watch it, you can send for an invite to join the conference on Google Meets.  The link is on our website as well.  Please consider joining us and exposing yourself to the rich faith we have in the scientific arena.  Moreover, let us pray for all those who are struggling with their faith and those who have directly rejected it.

Holy Week is coming upon us and we are gearing up to have Triduum celebrations this year.  It was an attempt to allow as many to go as wanted when the restrictions were at 50 per Church.  We have also expanded the times for Confession during Holy Week.  I think it is great to have more people go to Confession on Holy Week and to have priests hearing Confessions.  What could be more important?  You will notice that I once again put in the flyer that explains how to go to Confession and the extended Examination of Conscience.  This is the official one that comes from the rite.  It is not intended to overwhelm anyone but to cause people to take the time to think and reflect about what is going on in their lives.  Use the parts of it that are helpful to you at your stage in life and realize that other sections are important to other people.  God Bless, Fr. Daniel

 


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