ABVM PARISH COMMUNITY

  St. John Neumann and the Immaculate Conception In a lavish ceremony in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, on December 8, 1854, Pope Pius IX formally declared Mary, the Mother of Jesus, to have been immaculately conceived in the womb of her mother.   This was an infallible act of the pope and elevated this article of faith, which was already widely believed, to a central doctrine of the Catholic Church.   With the fourth bishop of Philadelphia, St. John Neumann, holding the decree from which he read, Pius IX made the following sacred pronouncement:   “ We declare, pronounce and define that the doctrine which asserts that the Blessed Virgin Mary, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God, and in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, was preserved free from every stain of original sin is a doctrine revealed by God and, for this reason, must be firmly and constantly be believed by all the faithful.”   Saint John wa

  COME, LORD JESUS! The liturgical year developed in the early Christian churches as a way to celebrate the mysteries of the life of Christ and, in a spiritual way, to actually participate in them.  The grace released by the words and acts of Christ are made available to us today through the sacred liturgy.  They help us to take on the mind and attitude of the Savior and grow in our relationship with him.  In a spiritual way we accompany the Lord throughout his early life, uniting our lives to his, beginning at the moment of his conception in the womb of Mary.  We seek to join the disciples at the side of Jesus, witnessing his miracles and hearing his divine words.  We learn from their mistakes and their triumphs.  The Year of Our Lord, celebrated as liturgy, carries forward the Jewish custom of observing seasons and holy days.  It reminds us of the marvelous ways God has acted to save humanity.  The center of the Liturgical Year is the Sunday celebration.  The norms which are give

  HOW WE CAN BE LEAVEN IN OUR CULTURE The elections have come and gone, and the “red wave,” that some hoped for, and others feared, did not materialize, although the U.S. Congress may change majorities, which is not certain at the writing of this article.  Either way, the issues that inspired people to go to the polls will not go away, but hopefully the lying, nasty rhetoric, and name-calling will go away.  What is certain is that the wave of problems besetting our country will not come to an end, and we will have to deal with them.  There are many important issues, and we ought to seek the best solutions to them.  But the greatest threat to the well-being and happiness of the American people, I believe, cannot be solved by political means.  There has to be a change in our culture. The rejection of traditional moral values has resulted in many miserable lives.  Families are unstable and marriages are temporary.  Children feel lost and unwanted.  People doubt their own identity as male

  WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BECOME A SAINT? There is only one absolutely perfect Saint in the history of the Church, and that, of course, is the Blessed Virgin Mary.  The Second Vatican Council stated that the Church already has achieved her perfection in Mary “without spot or wrinkle,” but that all the other members of the Church must strive to achieve what she has achieved.  In fact, the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that “All members of the Church, including her ministers, must acknowledge that they are sinners.  In everyone, the weeds of sin will still be mixed with the good wheat of the Gospel until the end of time” (827).  Thus Jesus says, “Let them grow together until harvest; then at harvest time I will say to the harvesters, ‘First collect the weeds and then tie them in bundles for burning but gather the wheat in my barn’ (Mathew 13:30).” One of the four marks of the Church is that she is holy.  She is holy inasmuch as Christ is her head and he has given her the Holy