Dispensation from the obligation to attend Mass:
“While no member of the Faithful is bound to attend Mass where impossibility arises, West Virginia borders a number of dioceses in which Masses are still being publicly celebrated, and many of our Faithful are easily able to attend those Masses. Owing to the grave nature of the current public health crisis, and not wishing that any of our flock be compelled to place themselves unnecessarily at risk, I hereby dispense all those who reside within the territory of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston from their obligation to attend Mass. The intention of this dispensation, along with the suspension of public liturgies in the Diocese, is to encourage the Faithful to practice ‘social distancing’ and ‘self-quarantine’ to the extent that their state of life permits, by which we hope to contribute to the containment and end of the current pandemic.”
—Most Rev. Mark Brennan
Online resources:
As Bishop Mark Brennan has noted there are many online websites and mobile apps to enrich our spirit during this time.
We are all God’s children. Receive His love through daily readings, prayer and reflections.
Here is a list of resources for you and your loved ones. In addition to our diocesan website, the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops’ website, usccb.org, has a plethora of resources presented in text, audio, and video formats.
May 26, 2020
Fr. Kumar
Acts 6:1-7
1 Peter 2:4-9
John 14:1-12
Promises have meaning and are typically not taken lightly. There is something about receiving someone’s promise that evokes peace in our hearts. While the present moment may be uncertain or trying, knowing there is something good on the horizon gives hope. In John 14, Jesus shares heavenly promises bound to bestow peace and hope.
Jesus comforts us, proclaiming that we should not let our hearts be troubled. He encourages us not only to have faith in God but also to have faith in him, an act of trust you will never find misguided. Faith, as Hebrews 11 tells us, “is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.” Most experiences of faith are something not seen but felt only in our hearts. Perhaps having faith is not always the simplest task, but God never asks the impossible; therefore, we can be assured of the grace necessary to accomplish it.
We can hold tight to other promises shared by Jesus in today’s Gospel as well; these are especially comforting in times of uncertainty. Jesus has gone before us and is preparing a place for us — meaning there is room in heaven for everyone. Furthermore, He promises to come back and take us there so that all we need to know of how to get there, is to follow the Way, Jesus himself. For Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life — the model of faith and giver of peace.
Although Jesus has gone before us, he is still, and will always be, right here with us. As worries mount, so too does the tendency to feel God has forgotten us, but the Scriptures ask us to recall the promises of His presence. Hope is restored upon the assurance never to be forsaken nor abandoned (Hebrews 13:5); recalling Jesus remains with us always, until the end of the age, to be exact (Matthew 28:20).
It is precisely those moments when we struggle the most to see God amid our circumstances, that we should rely those promises. With the gift of hindsight, we can look back to the outcomes of other hardships or trials (especially those beyond our control), carefully and prayerfully recognizing all the graces bestowed. Possibly the situation didn’t resolve as wished, yet there is a discernable peace associated with that time and some greater good that came from it.
A family once prayed for a cure to their brother’s terminal illness. They longed for his healing. As the disease progressed, so did his once dormant faith. Before becoming sick, he was far removed from the Catholic faith. His illness brought forth completely different healing as he decided to embrace a relationship with Christ. The miraculous reception of the sacraments, after too many years to count, and the acceptance of God’s will; amazed the family, who likewise found great peace in this otherwise unwanted circumstance. In the end, the eternal promises of Christ resulted in a peace that was truly beyond understanding.
Like St. Thomas, we too can worry we’ll not know the path to the place Jesus has prepared for us. The road may seem confusing or beyond our reach. The promises, while trustworthy, may feel as though they are meant for someone else, and not for someone so filled with doubt, sin, or fear. Remember, out of great love for us, while we were still sinners, God sent his only Son to die for our redemption (Romans 5:8).
Jesus is truly the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and we don’t have to search far to find he is always with us. He journeys alongside our darkness and our joy. He is the embodiment of the unseen God; if we have seen him, then we have seen the Father.
We don’t need to search far to find signs and wonders of God. We can witness his almighty love in a sunrise, the sweet smile of a child, and the peace which comes in prayer. “Amen, Amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father,” (John 14:11). Amen, this is where hope prevails amid the most challenging and uncertain times.
Allison Gingras
Jesus, I do not want my heart to be troubled.
I long to live in the peace of knowing
you have prepared a place for me,
and hope to follow you to it one day.
Amen, I do believe in your great works shared in the Gospels
and long to believe in even greater things.
Guide me to truth along the way to a life with you, my Lord.
Amen.
Use this site to help you prepare for a Good Confession.
Scroll down and see the active Intentions and Sanctuary Candle schedule.
Look for available dates and contact the Parish Office to schedule.
Thanks to your donations a car load of needed items were taken to the local Hope, Inc. office.
If anyone has old or broken rosaries, please bring them and leave them in the back of the church. We will fix them and send them overseas with the Sisters of the Infant Jesus missionaries.
To be considered an active, participating member of the parish, and thus eligible for sacraments, sponsor eligibility, and parish family discount at St. Mary’s and Notre Dame, OLPH takes into account a family or individual ministry involvement, and Mass attendance. Your collection envelopes, or online giving receipt, are the only way we can determine your attendance. If you are new to the parish, please stop by, call the office for registration forms or complete the online form on this site.
If anyone, youth or adult, is interested in becoming an altar server, please contact [email protected], and arrangements will be made to get you trained. We are great need of adult servers. Why not serve in the ministry? You are here at Mass anyway, what better way to participate in the Mass than as an altar server.
Please consider offering service to our parishioners and the Lord by becoming an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion or Lector. You are attending Mass, why not assist others by participating in one of these ministries? Please contact Paula Taylor at [email protected] to arrange a time for training.
05/27/20 5:45 am
WASHINGTON - This spring, the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD) awarded grants in the amount of $146,168 for eight projects that support the goals of the CCD to promote Catholic biblical literacy and Catholic biblical interpretation.
The CCD works with the Catholic Biblical Association (CBA) to offer these grants, accepting applications only from the CBA, including the organization itself, its designees, and its full and associate members. In fidelity to Dei Verbum, the dogmatic constitution on divine revelation promulgated by Pope Paul VI in 1965, the CBA's purpose is to promote scholarly study in Scripture and related fields by meetings of the association, publications, and support to those engaged in such studies.
Read More05/25/20 6:14 am
WASHINGTON – On the anniversary of the encyclical on the Catholic Church’s commitment to ecumenism, Bishop Joseph C. Bambera of Scranton and chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, has issued the following statement:
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05/22/20 12:39 pm
WASHINGTON - Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, released a statement urging lawmakers to remember the needs of the poor and vulnerable as they consider additional relief packages related to the COVID-19 crisis. This follows the statements of Archbishop Coakley on March 12 and March 28 on the previous legislation providing emergency relief to those suffering from the impact of the coronavirus.
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