Kerygma Series: "Response"

Dear Parishioners,

We have now covered 3 of the 4 dimensions of the Gospel message or “Kerygma.” In this series we asked questions:

1. (Created) Why is there something instead of nothing?

2. (Captured) Why is the world so messed up?

3. (Rescued) What is God doing about it?

And now we come to the final part, “Response.” The question is simple: “What is our role?” In other words, if we have grasped the profundity of the Gospel, there should be a natural response. That response will differ depending on who you are and where you are in your state in life. The big picture response is likely enfolded in two parts: Gratitude and Surrender.

Gratitude: I am thankful that God has saved me. I am thankful that he loves me and does not want be to be captured by the sin and wreckage I have created in my life.

Coming to Mass and receiving the Eucharist (word means “thanksgiving) is a potent way to show my appreciation. It also reveals that only in God is my soul at rest and capable of a joy beyond understanding. The goal of the kerygma is to come into a transformative, life-changing, and ongoing encounter with Jesus Christ. This is clearly a journey that fills one’s lifetime and culminates in heaven.

Surrender: With this understanding of the Gospel and having a personal encounter with Jesus, I trust Him who made me and loves me. He is the remedy for my wounds and reason for my rejoicing.

Almost every weekend, I have heard a story of how the Surrender novena has changed lives here at Holy Trinity and beyond. The novena itself is not magic, but it helps us to let go and respond in a potent way for all that God has done for us. When we finally let go of all those things that weigh us down and give them over the Jesus, we will be truly free. This is part of Jesus’ reasons he came. Recall the passage in John 10:10, “I have come that you may have life, and life in abundance.”

May this last week of Advent give you an opportunity to respond in gratitude and surrender once again to our Lord for his coming as man, dying on the cross, and rising again on the third day is the greatest news ever!

Blessings,

Fr. William Holtzinger
Pastor

Planning for Limited Re-Opening of Public Masses

Dear Parishioners,

I assume by now you have heard the news that Archbishop Sample has encouraged parishes to investigate and attempt have a “limited re-opening” of Masses for the public. At this writing, the maximum number of people is set at 25 while following an involved list of guidelines to help reduce parishioners risks. We are not yet ready, but have been working to make sure we can accommodate all that is needed for such an opportunity for those who would like to attend Mass. Please watch our website, Facebook page, Youtube channel, notices on our office and church doors, and emails for detailed information as to when we will be ready to begin and when sign-ups will be starting. Our tentative goal is May 24th with the majority of the our vicariate parishes doing similar limited re-openings over that same weekend. Since I cannot say that all of the parishes will be ready, please be mindful that this is a target, a tentative date.

We hope to offer short Masses to limited exposure to each other, as duration and proximity are a major issue in preventing the spread of the COVID-19 virus from person to person. We hope a sign up process will be put into place next Monday in two ways: In-person and via phone. Again, it is too early to describe those details as of this writing. During the sign-up phase, persons will need to offer their name (and names of anyone else in their family coming), address, and contact phone number. This is intended to allow us, internally (not to government officials), to do what is called, “contact tracing” in case someone comes down with the Coronavirus and we need to alert those families that attended Mass. Only those who are pre-signed up will be allowed to come in to the particular Mass which they signed up for. If someone’s name is not on the list, that person will not be allowed in. No substitutions will be allowed. If one becomes argumentative or combative, we may have to shut down the whole Mass or be forced to call the police to escort that person off the property.

We plan to offer four Sunday Masses at St. Anne (8 AM, 9 AM, 10 AM, & 11 AM) and one at each of the Missions (8:30 AM at OLR and 11:00 AM at St. Patrick). During the weekdays, we plan to have our normally scheduled morning Mass (8 AM except on Wed at 8:30 AM) and will be adding an evening Mass at 7 PM. The Sunday 11 AM Mass will be bilingual and the Monday morning Mass will be in Spanish. All other Masses will be in English. We will continue to record and post online our Saturday Vigil Mass. Confession times will be moved to 2:30 PM - 3:30 PM in order to help the preparation needed for that recorded Mass.

Since the Sunday obligation has been dispensed by the Archbishop, nobody needs to come. In addition, the specific date is not of consequence as much as just being able to attend Mass sometime. So we hope to be able to allow groups of 20 parishioners at a time to attend Mass (5 additional will be needed to serve in necessary ministry functions, thus totally 25 persons). Over the course of two weeks, we expect that all those who would like to go will be able. So that means, attendees will be coming once every two weeks. Sign-ups will only allow for a person to sign up once during each two-week period.

We urge you to wear a face mask during Mass. If you do not bring one with you, we will offer you a mask when you are checking in before entering the church building. Sanitizing gel is present for parishioners to use as they enter and leave the church. There will be no singing and seating will be clearly marked. Only family/home-groups can sit together while everyone else must sit at least 6 feet from each other. Similar is true for the communion line. There will be more options for seating than people, so there will be plenty of room. Tape on the ground and flooring will indicate the flow of traffic. No books will be in the pews. Donations are welcome and needed, so a collection basket will be placed in the church for people where they may place their donation (Thank you!). While Sunday Masses and weekday morning Masses will have short homilies, the evening Masses will have no homilies, again, in light of the needs to shorten time in proximity to one another.

If you are 65+ in age or have symptoms of COVID-19 or any other illness, please stay home. If you are suffering from any compromised health issues, stay home. If you are worried about becoming infected due to your coming, stay home. Remember, we will be streaming Mass daily and producing the Sunday Mass for viewing on the Internet, and you are not required to come to Mass at this time.

This is a very trying time for everyone. I expect that your response to this effort will be one of gratitude, not entitlement. We have gone so long without Mass, and are being given a special opportunity to come to our church and worship. Let us rejoice and be glad. Finally, stay tuned to the various ways we will be communicating our opening date and sign-ups.

Blessings,

Fr. William Holtzinger
Pastor

References:

Guidelines for Re-Opening Chruches

Church Re-Opening Checklist

Advent & Gratitude

Dear Parishioners,

Thank You

Thank you to the many generous donors who gave of their time, talent, and treasure in order to make this past week’s Advent mission, “Surge of the Heart” with Jon Leonetti, possible. Terri Currie and her mission team especially deserve our thanks for listening to the Holy Spirit and discerning whether or not to even host a mission. I was very moved and inspired during the mission and so many who attended. I hope you were too. Building off this wonderful event, I ask you all to keep in prayer our work going forward to bring other national speakers to St. Anne in the future. Hosting Jon Leonetti was a fantastic way to prepare during Advent!

Reconciliation Schedule

Another way to prepare in Advent is to seek out the Sacraments, specifically the Sacrament of Reconciliation. As such, we have scheduled three times, in addition to our normal Saturday confessions, to celebrate this Sacrament. We expect ten to twelve priests for our main Advent Communal Reconciliation Service. That liturgical event will be on Thursday, Dec. 19 at 7:00 PM. For those who are unable to drive at night, we will be offering an additional time slot for Confession on Wednesday, Dec. 18 from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM. At St. Patrick of the Forest, we will be hosting a Communal Reconciliation Service on Monday, December 16 at 7:00 PM. Please note that these times are included in our official “Advent & Christmas Schedule 2019” which is inserted in this week’s bulletin. If none these times work for you, below is the area Vicariate schedule (All times are at 7:00 PM):

Vicariate Reconciliation Service Schedule

• Tues., Dec. 10 - Sacred Heart, Medford

• Wed., Dec. 11 - Our Lady of the Mountain, Ashland

• Tues., Dec. 17 - Shepherd of the Valley, Central Point

• Wed., Dec. 18 - St. Joseph, Roseburg

• Thurs. Dec. 19 - St. Anne, Grants Pass

Being reconciled to our Lord is a critical part of living the life of a Christian, and having the privilege to celebrate this great mystery through a Sacrament is amazing and life-changing. Don’t miss this opportunity. Please put our official “Advent & Christmas Schedule 2019” insert on you refrigerator or somewhere where yu have easy access to it. I urge you to make the time to put right any wrongs, make straight a way for God, and exchange your sins for his amazing grace! Then you will be well disposed to receive Christ when he comes

Blessings,

Fr. William Holtzinger
Pastor

Do Dogs Go to Heaven?

Dear Parishioners,

I am not in the habit of writing about myself, but please indulge me, as I offer you all my thanks. On Monday, Aug. 12th, I had to put down my beloved dog, Benny, who had advanced renal failure. Since I live alone, having a pet around has offered me company at home as well as medicine against selfishness. What I mean by that is that Benny helped me avoid what I called the “bachelor syndrome” where home life is all about myself whereby selfishness can creep in. For you who have a pet, specifically a dog, you know that they require attention and care. You likely know how difficult it is to euthanize your pet when that time comes. I see the death of a beloved pet as a small glimpse, a slight touchstone if you will, to the grief that a person feels when their spouse dies. Again, the loss of a spouse, parent, brother or sister, or best friend is immensely greater. The pain of loss is deep for those who lose a family member, and all of us have or will experience it. It is part of life, a part of what reminds us that there is something more than this life. The mystery of human death is wrapped in the knowledge of Christ’s desire to raise us from that death into new life in heaven. 

In the passing of Benny, I felt sadness coupled with gratitude. What a comfort that gratitude brought me. I was grateful for God giving me a four-legged partner in ministry. I was grateful that Benny had ministered to countless people, even sometimes inspiring near-miracles in our friends in the nursing homes. I was grateful for Benny’s unconditional love and ability to live in the moment, a trait that most dogs have, minus our terriers… or as I like to joke, our terrierists.”  Grin!  My previous dog, Gracie, was a Fox Terrier and she was quite independent… and sneaky!  Grin again! Many of you also expressed your care and concern, for which I am very grateful. So, thank you to all of you for your prayers and support. Will I get another dog? The answer is, yes. The dog will need to fulfill some requirements: small breed, hypoallergenic and does not shed, low energy and rarely barks, and is good with children and other dogs. This may seem like a tall set of requirements, but there are many dogs out there that fit the bill. Benny was one such dog, and he was not the only one on this planet.

A question rises at the loss of a pet, “Will our pets go to heaven?” The Scriptures and tradition have been unclear. St. Thomas Aquinas spoke about how animals have “animal souls” while humans have “human souls.” Christ came to save humans souls and to draw all creation to himself (Col 1:20). So, it is clear that Christ’s Paschal Mystery is for humanity. The question is, where do our pets fit in? In one sense, we must be vary cautious about canonizing our cats and dogs while condemning other creatures such as spiders and mosquitos. The cafeteria salvation selection process is not part of our job description. Let’s leave that to God. The genius of Catholicism is that we are okay sitting in mystery and need to be cautious about declaring dogmas where we are unqualified to do so. We know that heaven will be the fulfillment of all our joys here in this life. They prefigure or foreshadow in moments something of what heaven will be like.  Many of our lives have been brightened by the companionship of a pet. So, there is something to that companionship that speaks about heaven. But, again, it is shrouded in mystery. So, we await the answer to all our questions when we finally reach heaven and can know for sure. Do dogs go to heaven? I don’t know. But, the Saints in heaven do. Let’s all strive to join them in heaven by being reminded how our pets live out examples of how we should be.

Blessings,

Fr. William Holtzinger
Pastor

Gratitude & Thanksgiving

Dear Parishioners,

This weekend we heard from Proverbs the value of a loving wife. The Psalm reminds us of how blessed we are with our children. Thessalonians reminds us that we are children of the light, not darkness. In the Gospel of Matthew, we heard that the one who stewards well the talents they have been given will enter into our Master’s joy.  In all these things, what is our response?  

It could be one of worry for all the times we have fallen short of God’s standard.  Maybe it is one of regret for the times we have taken our spouse for granted and are guilty of not being as loving as we should be. It could be one of fear, for we may realize that, too often, we have been anything but sober and alert. It could be of sadness for we may have squandered parts of our lives with the talents our Lord has given us. These concerns are worthy of consideration.  They are all worthy of reflection as an action of examining our consciences in light of the Scriptures. There may even be true reasons for concern about our state of relationship with God and our neighbor. I think we should all take these challenges seriously.  But, I would also like to remind us that this is half of the story.

The other half of the story revolves not around how we have failed, but what God has done for us, how our Lord is always there waiting to restore us back to him. I would like to propose that given all our challenges in our lives, we have plenty of reasons for joy and gratitude not despite our failures and sufferings, but through them. God sent his Son who suffered death for us and rose so that our sufferings would not have the final say. Through Jesus’ Paschal Mystery, our Lord can bring grace and restoration when we join our suffering and dying to his, because the other half of the story, the reason Jesus came, was to save us. 

In just a few short days, we as a nation will celebrate Thanksgiving Day. I would like to invite you all to Mass on that day (8 AM).  Between now and then, ponder on where you have fallen short, repent and as our Lord to forgive you, and then give thanks for his goodness. On the Mass of Thanksgiving Day, as is my little custom, I turn the homily time towards an opportunity for all present to express, publicly, what they are grateful for.  We must not keep our praise and thanksgiving to ourself.  We must express our gratitude for all that God has given us.  So, between now and then, consider all that God has gifted you with.  Come to that Mass, lay down your burdens, offer your sacrifice, and exchange it for gratitude. We are a Eucharistic people the word, “eucharist,” meaning “thanksgiving.”

May we all give praise and thanksgiving all the days of our lives.

Blessings,

Fr. William Holtinger
Pastor