Dear Parishioners of our Beloved St. Paul:

Praised be Jesus Christ and Mary His Most Holy Mother! We come today to the Last Sunday of the Church’s Year of Grace, the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ the King. Next week when we come to Holy Mass we will see the solemn and somber color of violet reminding us that we have placed our feet once more along the path of holiness as we begin a New Year of Grace on the First Sunday in Advent.  The poet T.S. Eliot wrote in his wonderful poem Ash Wednesday that the Church journeys as a ship along the violet and violet of the seas. He was referring to one Advent following another.

The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ the King is of relatively recent origin; it was established in 1923. At that time an unprecedented persecution of the Church had begun in Spain and in Mexico.  From 1936 to 1939 over 4,000 priests were killed in Spain and more than 20,000 religious sisters and brothers.  Many were killed in terrible ways.  Some were clubbed into unconsciousness and fed to the wild animals of the zoos. In Mexico churches were burned and many were tortured in unbelievable ways.  This official persecution of the Church in Mexico lasted until 1992. 

At the time the Church established the Feast of Christ the King.  This was to remind all the faithful that Our Lord is not only the Lord and God of individuals but also of nations and all society.  As our father and patron St. Paul the Apostle reminds us, Oportet illum regnare.  (He must reign). Christ is King of all the faithful but also of all the nations.  Therefore all of society must be subject to his rule.  When the Mexican martyrs were being executed they cried out Viva Cristo Rey!  Long live Christ the King!

May we too ever have that phrase upon our lips.  May Christ reign in our hearts and souls; may Christ reign over our families; may Christ reign over our nation and all the peoples of the world!

Today at the 11.00am Mass we honor all the parish volunteers and bless them.  It is most fitting that we do so on this Feast but also on the Sunday before Thanksgiving Day.  For without our volunteers we would have no parish.  Today also we honor and bless all of our Founding Parishioners.  These heroic men and women founded our parish and remember Mass being celebrated even before the Church was built. They are our founders in the faith and today we recognize and honor their service.  We also pray for all our former pastors: Monsignor Potterton, Father Galloway, Monsignor Eugene Murphy, our beloved Monsignor Costa and Monsignor Clerkin. May God reward and bless each of them.

Finally may I extend sincere gratitude to all of you, the parishioners of St. Paul.  Your sacrificial giving allows all of the wonderful things happening at St. Paul’s to occur. I never forget you in my prayers because I realize that every crust of bread that touches my lips is your gift.

May God bless all of you then on this Thanksgiving Day which is celebrated on Thursday.  Why not begin it in the right way by attending Holy Mass on Wednesday at 7.30pm in the Church?  Let us give thanks to the Lord our God…It is right and just!  There will also be Mass at 9.00 am (note the change from the usual 8.00) on Thursday, Thanksgiving Day itself.  Later in the day I will be having my Thanksgiving Dinner with the Little Sisters of the Poor for whom I served as chaplain for 13 years.  They are ever grateful for all you do for them.

Please save the date of Friday May 16th.  It will be our annual parish party held at the Cottage of the Milleridge Inn, our neighbors and parishioners.  We are all grateful to Mrs. Paula Maturo and her committee who have already been working for several months so that we may all have a pleasant, enjoyable and grace-filled evening.

May God bless and reward each of you. I would like to purchase an altar crucifix and candles for both the Church and the Chapel.  If you would like to memorialize your loved ones by contributing to this, please see me after Mass or call the parish office. Thank you for all you have done to make our Church and chapel fitting places of worship of the God of All Goodness and Mercy.

Benedicat Virgo Maria!
In Jesus and Mary,
Monsignor James F. Pereda

Dear Parishioners of our Beloved St. Paul:

Praised be Jesus Christ and Mary His Most Holy Mother! When we come to Holy Mass each Sunday we see the priest pouring a drop of water into the wine in the chalice while he says inaudibly May we who share His humanity come to share His divinity. Each Christian is called to holiness by virtue of his/her baptism into the life of the Most Blessed Trinity. This fact was so imbued into the heart of the Blessed Pope John Paul II that he often remarked that the greatest day of his life was not the day he was elected to the papacy, or the day he was consecrated a Bishop or the day he was ordained a priest.  The greatest day of his life, the late pope said, was the day of his baptism.  So important was baptism for the family of Pope Benedict XVI (Joseph Ratzinger) that he was baptized the very day he was born!

Among the many titles used to refer to the Catholic Church, the title “Holy Mother Church” is frequently employed. Why? We are reborn and made new creations in the womb of the baptismal font (this is where we are “born again”; and an individual can only receive valid baptism once) by the priest pouring water over the baby’s head while invoking the Blessed Trinity with the words, “N., I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” We receive nourishment for our souls through Sacred Scripture (the Bible), Sacred Tradition, and the Magisterium (teaching authority) of Holy Church; most visibly in our worship and participation in the Sacraments. All of these components are the foundation necessary for living a Catholic Christian life. If we believe we can know and live the fullness of Truth on our own, we are deceiving ourselves. We need a Mother to give us birth, nourish, and guide us on our earthly pilgrimage. A Mother is always a mother to her children, and so the Church is always our Mother.  The Church is not the address on the street; the Church is our Mother.

Parents should desire to give children good order in their home and instill basic family/life rules and guidelines for the well being of the entire family. In the same sense that it would not be very responsible for parents to allow their children free reign do whatever they choose, practically relinquishing all parental guidance, our Holy Mother the Church has provided her children with precepts. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) relates:

The precepts of the Church are set in the context of a moral life bound to and nourished by liturgical life. The obligatory character of these positive laws decreed by the pastoral authorities is meant to guarantee to the faithful the indispensable minimum in the spirit of prayer and moral effort, in the growth in love of God and neighbor:

The first precept (“You shall attend Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation and rest from servile labor.”) requires the faithful to sanctify the day commemorating the Resurrection of the Lord as well as the principal liturgical feasts honoring the mysteries of the Lord, the Blessed Virgin Mary and the saints; in the first place by participating in the Eucharistic celebration when the Christian community is gathered, and by resting from those works and activities which would impede such sanctification of these days.  (continued)

The second precept (“You shall confess your sins at least once a year.”) ensures preparation for the Eucharist by the reception of the sacrament of reconciliation, which continues Baptism’s work of conversion and forgiveness.

The third precept (“You shall humbly receive your Creator in Holy Communion at least during the Easter season.”) guarantees as a minimum the reception of the Lord’s Body and Blood in connection with the Paschal feasts, the origin and center of the Christian liturgy.

The fourth precept (“You shall observe the days of fasting and abstinence established by the Church”) ensures the times of asceticism and penance which prepare us for the liturgical feasts and help us acquire mastery over our instincts and freedom of heart.

The fifth precept (“You shall help to provide for the needs of the Church”) means that the faithful are obliged to assist with the material needs of the Church, each according to his own ability. (see CCC #s 2041-2043)

Two other decrees of guidance, which should not be taken lightly, are often added to the five above: obedience to the laws of the Church regarding Matrimony and the Christian responsibility to participate in the evangelization of souls.

Many of my generation memorized the precepts of the Church.  I remember as a child learning that every Catholic was bound to be married before a priest and two witnesses. We call this the Form of Marriage.  Sadly, many today (often unknowingly) do not follow this precept as the idea of “destination” weddings or weddings at the beach, etc.  become more popular.  Please before making any wedding plans be sure to speak with your priest so that all may contract marriage in a holy, spiritual and valid manner according to the precepts of Holy Mother Church.

Our Mother has given a minimal framework for the external accountability of the faithful; a way of living for our sanctification and salvation. Her only desire is to lead her children on the surest path to almighty God, who always sees us as His very beloved sons and daughters. May He be well pleased with us.

May I remind you to save the date for next Sunday November 24th at the 11.00am Mass.  On that day we will honor and bless both our parish volunteers and our founding parishioners.  In a certain sense we would not have a parish without these groups.  Our founders built our parish and church and our volunteers keep it journeying along the pathway to God which our founders first paved.

Please save the date of Friday May 16th.  It will be our annual parish party held at the Cottage of the Milleridge Inn, our neighbors and parishioners.  We are all grateful to Mrs. Paula Maturo and her committee who have already been working for several months so that we may all have a pleasant, enjoyable and grace-filled evening.

I always like to say that Our Lord Jesus Christ is the true Pastor of St. Paul.  Please pray for me so that I may simply not get in His way.  I am so grateful for your prayers of which I am in great need.

Nos cum prole pia,
Benedicat Virgo Maria!
In Jesus and Mary,
Monsignor James F. Pereda

Dear Parishioners of our Beloved St. Paul:

Praised be Jesus Christ and Mary His Most Holy Mother! As everyone knows, tomorrow November 11th we will celebrate Veterans’ Day.  We will all pray for the members of the armed forces of our nation and we will pray for all those who have given their lives for our country, making the supreme sacrifice. Some parishioners may recall when the holiday was called Armistice Day.  My father always referred to it by the former name until the day of his death. The origin of the holiday goes to the year 1918 when at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month the armistice was signed ending what we call today the First World War.  But the day itself was sacred long before, for it is the Feast of the great Soldier-Saint, St. Martin who is the only saint given the wondrous title Equal to the Apostles.  (In Latin he is called Martinus, Pars-Apostoli!).

In 1918 November 11th was also a Monday.  The hostilities had ceased on Friday November 8, 1918.  The German Emperor fled to Holland on Saturday the 9th, and the last Austrian Emperor, the Blessed Karl (beatified in 2004) and his family left Vienna on Sunday the 10th.  But the warring parties made the solemn agreement that the armistice would wait to be signed until the Feast of the great St. Martin.  For he is the Patron of all soldiers and the patron of both Germany and France.  Who was this saint upon whom history waited and what is his story?

St. Martin lived at the end of the fourth century and was from the Roman province of Panomia (in present day Hungary).  As a young man he enlisted in the Roman Army and was a centurion assigned to the province of Gaul (present day France) where there was fierce fighting.  He was considered the bravest and most valiant soldier serving in the Imperial Army at that time. 

Soon he heard of the preaching of the Faith and became a catechumen, one preparing for baptism.  One day the great Martin entered a French village where he found an old man freezing in the cold.  He immediately drew his sword and with one graceful swoop, cut his red military cloak in two, giving half of it to the shivering man.  That night in a dream Our Lord appeared to Martin wearing the half cloak.  And Our Lord said to him, “Martin whatever you have done for the least of my brethren, you have done for me.  From now on you shall be a soldier in my army, marching beneath the Cross.”  Martin was immediately baptized and began to live in the forest as a monk.

Soon his reputation for holiness became so great, that when the city of Tours needed a Bishop the townspeople came looking for him to be their Bishop.  Rather than seeking this honor, he fled from them and actually hid in a barn under a bale of hay.  When the people entered the barn in search of him, he almost eluded them until suddenly a flock of geese ran into the barn, making their characteristic honking noise near the bale of hay and betraying him..  He was discovered and the people brought Martin back to Tours there to be made Bishop.  He became the holiest Bishop in the world and was noted for his love for the poor and his desire for the priests to live exemplary lives.  The bravest soldier of the Roman army now became the greatest bishop in the history of the Church.

There are several charming customs that have grown up around the figure of this great Saint. On his feast day, it is the custom in Germany, France and Austria that families gather in a similar way to our American Thanksgiving and one can guess what is served as the family feast, roast goose.  (Some say it is to honor the geese for leading the faithful to Martin; others say it is a punishment for their treachery that they are eaten!)

On St. Martin’s Day in Italy the first of the new wine is drunk, wine that had been grapes on the vine just a few weeks earlier.  There is an Italian Proverb that goes:

(On St. Martin’s Day, one drinks the good wine!)  Finally, St. Martin’s last gift to us is the unusual meteorological phenomenon that occurs each year in mid-November in the Northern Hemisphere. At that time there is a slight warming of the earth, almost two months into the autumn season.  This is called St. Martin’s Summer. 

O Glorious St. Martin, Equal to the Apostles, pray for us and save us.  Watch over our armed forces and watch over our children!  May You who gave your life to doing good, and still do so from heaven, bless and protect us.  Warm the coldness of our hearts so we may love God as did You.  Help us to see Our Lord in the poor and suffering as You did.  O St. Martin bring peace to the nations of the world and save us who pray to You!

May I then on this Veterans’ Day extend the gratitude of the parish to all of our own parishioners serving in the armed forces and to all our (and my fellow) veterans. (I had the honor to serve in the USAF for eight years).

But today I also salute another category of parish veterans.  Although some did indeed serve in the armed forces, the veterans of whom I write are our founding parishioners.  How blessed we are that so many of them are here with us; they are our mothers and fathers in the faith.  They saw the dream of a church arise here and their sacrifices have built our parish.  How happy I always am, when standing in front of the Church, people approach me and say with true and justified pride, We were here at the beginning. You saw Monsignor Potterton (then Father) unearth the first shovel of dirt.  We will ever be grateful for all you have done, dear Veterans of St. Paul the Apostle.  May God bless and reward you! To that end, I would like to invite all of the founding parishioners of St. Paul to the 11.00am Mass on Sunday November 24th, the Solemnity of Christ the King.  I would ask them all to sit in the “pie” close to the shrine of the Blessed Mother to receive a blessing and our recognition and gratitude.  To that Mass also I would like to invite all parish volunteers so that we may thank them on the Sunday before Thanksgiving and that they, too, may be blessed and recognized.  After Mass refreshments will be served in the Lower Church.

Please save the date of Friday May 16th.  It will be our annual parish party held at the Cottage of the Milleridge Inn, our neighbors and parishioners.  We are all grateful to Mrs. Paula Maturo and her committee who have already been working for several months so that we may all have a pleasant, enjoyable and grace-filled evening. 

Please be sure to attend the little mission which Father Al will give this Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.  Please pray for all the sick and dying and please, if you can, remember to say a little prayer for me also.

In Jesus and Mary

Monsignor James F. Pereda