Category: News & updates

Weekly pastor’s post (November 19)

Dear friends,

Happy Thanksgiving! This week’s pastor’s post is more than a little late to the party, but at least it gives me the opportunity to wish you and your loved ones many blessings we celebrate this holiday. I hope that you’re reading this well after a day full of family, friends, and fellowship. I’m looking forward to the same with my family & friends.

Our music director (Greg Teeter) pointed out that Thanksgiving this year is a bit of a unicorn – it lands before Advent starts rather than after it has already begun! I guess I’d never paid close attention to it before, but I’m glad he highlighted the occasion – it just feels right to have Advent happen after Thanksgiving (and well after, at that)!

But before we just into Advent, we have the solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe! Colloquially referred to as ‘Christ the King’, this is the last Sunday of Ordinary Time. The Church takes this last week to orient Herself towards the Four Last Things (death, judgment, Heaven, and Hell) – not in a fearful way, but in anticipation. The Lord is coming – and we hope to welcome Him, and help others to do the same.

Even as we enjoy the blessings of this life – especially its feasts! – let us ask God to help us to use them wisely, forging new bonds of friendship between mankind and building up Christ’s kingdom on earth and, one day, in heaven.

yours in Christ,
Father Maurer

P.S. December movie nights are coming! Check out the poll and vote for (or suggest!) the movies we should watch together.

November 21 – Today we celebrate the memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Tradition tells us that Mary was presented to the Temple according to Jewish tradition to be offered to God. Read more at the Vatican News website.

November 22 – The memorial of Saint Cecilia is one that I particularly enjoy – not least because my mother is an organist! If you visit a parish with stained glass windows, you will often find one of Saint Cecilia near the choir loft – this is due to a legend about her appreciation of the organ and her love of singing. Aleteia has a brief article about lessons we can learn from Saint Cecilia’s life.

November 23 – Happy Thanksgiving! May we take this day to both enjoy the blessings of food, family, and fellowship but to praise God for His goodness!

November 24 – We celebrate today the memorial of Saint Andrew Dũng-Lạc and companions. Though only one of them is named, there were a total of 117 Vietnamese faithful who gave their lives in witness to Jesus Christ – and those are only the 117 we know about! Thousands unnamed more were martyred during this time. Read about them and their witness at Franciscan Media.

Partners in the Gospel update (November 2023)

Click here to give feedback for Partners in the Gospel (December 15 deadline!)

Dear friends,

In late September we had two fruitful gatherings related to Partners in the Gospel – our Saturday Q&A session and the formal input session the following Thursday. Over one hundred parishioners spread across thirteen groups offered thoughtful feedback coming in at about twenty-one pages. Foremost, I want to share how proud I am of our community’s thoughtful and charitable feedback on the proposed family. Thank you for taking part in this process so far.

As you heard this weekend – and you can read in the archbishop’s letter (click here) – the feedback given by parishioners around the archdiocese has not only been received but carefully considered (click here to read the archdiocesan Feedback Report). The result has been significant changes in more than a third of the parish families, including ours. The new proposed configuration for parish family 12 (a new number!) is Saint Matthew, Saint Mark, and Saint Pius X parishes. The archdiocese has kindly provided a summary of their reasoning, available online (click here).

And our part in this discernment isn’t done; the archdiocese would like us to go through a round of feedback for this new proposal. To give the archbishop and his team time to consider the results, they must be submitted by the middle of December. Mindful of both that and upcoming events, we will hold our parish-wide feedback session on Saturday, December 9th from 11 am to 1 pm in the school gymnasium. Please plan on attending – as we have seen, your feedback matters!

You can prepare by reviewing the feedback questions & process from the archdiocese (click here):

  • Round one: What concerns do I have about the proposed family grouping? What challenges might this pose?
  • Round two: What hopes do I see in the proposed family grouping? What opportunities or possibilities might this offer?
  • Additional feedback: What does or doesn’t work with the proposed parish family configuration? What alternatives might the archdiocese consider (and why)?

The archdiocese will also have an online form available for those who can’t come to the in-person session. For those who so desire (especially if you can’t come on December 9), you may provide feedback directly to the archdiocese (click here). In the meantime, let us continue to pray for each other, the people of the archdiocese, and our archbishop – that we may together discern the call and will of the Lord.

yours in Christ,
Father Maurer

November Advent/Christmas movie nights at Saint Mark!

During the Advent season, we’ll be having Friday night movie nights at Saint Mark parish! We will have three movie nights, starting at 6:30pm in Sullivan Hall.

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons
  • December 1 (movie: The Last Holiday)
  • December 15 (to be determined)
  • December 22 (to be determined)

An online poll is live now to find out which movies would be best. For each category, we have several movie proposals – each with a linked review for your consideration. You can also suggest your own movie ideas. Please visit the poll (click this sentence), consider the options, and vote – and then let us come enjoy movies together!

(If you’d like to see the results – before or after you yourself vote – click here)

Weekly pastor’s post (November 12)

Dear friends,

My cats, of course, loved how much time I sat in the chapel 🙄

Well, I’m back from retreat! It was a wonderful time away from the normal routine of ministry, work, and the world. This is the second year that I’ve committed to fully disconnecting while on retreat – no phone, not social media, no keeping up on email or news. 10/10 – I highly recommend it! For one thing, it is quite honestly the only time that I am guaranteed the freedom to do such a thing! But it also brings home how much time I spend browsing the internet, reading social media & the news, and otherwise distracting myself from quiet time, prayer, and sitting with my own thoughts & feelings. Though the retreat is over, minimizing or even eliminating some of those distractions is clearly something worth doing on an ongoing basis.

Another lesson I am learning – albeit painfully slowly – is that I probably shouldn’t stack the weekend I return with events! My goodness, but did we have a lot going on Saturday and Sunday. Meeting with the pastoral council, parishioners, and then confessions & Mass on Saturday. In addition to the normal Sunday schedule, we had a signature drive for I-2081, a volunteer invitation for Saint Vincent de Paul’s Christmas basket program, a bake sale from the Women’s Group, AND four baptisms!

Is it too soon to go on retreat again? 😏

Last Holiday movie poster (courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)

But seriously, it is wonderful to be back and fully into the swing of things. And while there is a lot of busy-ness going on, I would love for you to mark your calendars for some lighter fare: Advent movie nights! Starting on Friday, December 1st, I’m hoping to have several movie nights leading up to Christmas – I’m looking at December 1st, 15th, and 22nd (the 8th is a holy day of obligation, so no movies that night!). There will be a poll for the last two movie nights, but I can already tell you that December 1st’s movie will be Last Holiday – easily the best Christmas movie to come out in a long time. Consider coming to one (or all!) of the movie nights – even if its not a retreat, we can all use a little time away from the crazy of the world.

In the meantime, rest assured of my prayers. May you have a wonderful week.

yours in Christ,
Father Maurer

November 13 – Today is the memorial of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, founder of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In 1887 she asked permission to be a missionary to China – but was instead encouraged to go to the United States. Although her work started in New York, she ended up founding 67 (!) missionary institutions to serve the sick & poor. Read more about her at the Cabrini National Shrine website.

Saint Gertrude (but no cats ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ )

November 15 – What makes a saint a ‘great’? Though that has never been formally defined, Saint Albert the Great (whose memorial is today) was so well regarded that even before his death, he was so considered! Named by Pope Pius XII as patron of enthusiasts of the natural sciences, he helped affirm the truth that there is no contradiction to be found in faith and science. Aleteia has a lovely article about him (with links to further reading, for those interested).

November 16 – To the surprise of no one, any saint who is consistently portrayed with cats is going to pique my curiosity a little more than normal. Today’s memorial of Saint Gertrude (also called ‘the great’, interestingly enough) celebrates a saint whose devotion to Christ led her to great personal fervor. As for the cats reference, well, read about that (and her more important characteristics) at US Catholic’s website.

November 18 – Following up the more significant dedication last week, today is the memorial of the Dedication of the Basilicas of Saints Peter & Paul. These two basilicas, though lesser in stature to the Lateran Basilica, are nonetheless important in their own right. It is fitting that the first pope and the greatest apostle – both martyred in Rome – should each have a basilica commemorating their faith in Christ. Read about this memorial and the basilicas it honors at UCatholic.

Statue of Saint Paul at his basilica
Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons
Statue of Saint Peter in his basilica
Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons