All Souls Day

My brothers and sisters in Christ, All Souls Day follows All Saints Day (by the way: in the United States the bishops have received permission from the Vatican to abrogate -temporarily waive- the requirement for Catholics to attend Mass on certain Holy Days of Obligation, when those Holy Days fall on either Saturday or Monday. All Saints Day is a Holy Day of Obligation. HOWEVER, when it falls on a Saturday or a Monday, the obligation to attend Mass is abrogated. For instance, All Saints Day falls on Monday in 2010; so Catholics in the United States are NOT required to attend Mass). All Souls Day solemnly commemorates the faithful departed, i.e. those who die with God's grace and friendship. Catholics believe that not all those who die in God's grace are immediately ready for the Beatific vision, i.e. the reality and goodness of God and heaven, so they must be purified of "lesser faults," and the temporal effects of sin. The Catholic Church calls this purification of the elect, "purgatory." The Catholic teaching on Purgatory essentially requires belief in two realities: 1. that there will be a purification of believers prior to entering heaven and 2. that the prayers and masses of the faithful in some way benefit those in the state of purification. The Church prays for, and remembers, the faithful departed throughout the entire year. However, All Souls Day is the general, solemn, day of commemoration, when the Church remembers, prays for, and offers requiem masses up for the faithful departed in the state of purification. Typically Christians will take this day to offer prayers up on behalf of their departed relatives and friends. Others may remember influential individuals that they never knew personally, such as presidents, musicians, etc. This may be done in the form of the Office of the Dead (Defunctorum officium), i.e. a prayer service offered in memory of departed loved ones. Often this office is prayed on the anniversary (or eve) of the death of a loved one, or on All Souls' Day. There are many customs associated with All Souls Day, and these vary greatly from culture to culture. Here at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church ob TUESDAY NOVEMBER 2nd, WE WILL HAVE THE ALL SOULS MASS (bilingual), AT 7PM IN THE MAIN CHURCH. Let us be united in adoration and prayer in the celebration of the Eucharist for all those who passed away; may God give them eternal rest in heaven ■ Fr. Agustin, Pastor. 

Celebración de todos los fieles difuntos

Queridos hermanos y hermanas en el Señor, debemos ser profundamente respetuosos de las tradiciones y costumbres del país en el que vivimos, sobre todo porque nos ha acogido, sin embargo como católicos no debemos celebrar tradiciones que no son conformes a la fe que profesamos. La celebración de Halloween en los próximos días no es propiamente una celebración cristiana o católica. Como cristianos y católicos, y siguiendo a la liturgia de la Iglesia que tanto nos enseña, nosotros celebramos a Todos los fieles difuntos. Ésta tradición de rezar por los difuntos la vivimos en la Iglesia al día siguiente de la fiesta de Todos los Santos (por cierto, éste año NO es fiesta de precepto, es decir, no existe la obligación de acudir a misa el lunes 1 de Noviembre). Cuando una persona muere, ya no es capaz de hacer nada para ganar el cielo; sin embargo, los vivos sí podemos ofrecer nuestras obras para que el difunto alcance la salvación. Con las buenas obras y la oración se puede ayudar a los seres queridos a conseguir la purificación de sus pecados para poder participar de la gloria de Dios. A estas oraciones se les llama sufragios. El mejor sufragio es ofrecer la Santa Misa por los difuntos. Debido a las numerosas actividades de la vida diaria es fácil olvidar lo provechoso que puede ser la oración por los fieles difuntos, por eso la Iglesia ha instituido el 2 de noviembre como día de oración por aquellas almas que han dejado la tierra y aún no llegan al cielo. Aquí en la parroquia tendremos una Misa (bilingüe) el MARTES 2 DE NOVIEMBRE A LAS 7 DE LA NOCHE. Los esperamos a todos para unirnos en silencio y en prefunda oración a nuestro Dios, dueño de la vida y de la muerte, por nuestros queridos difuntos Fr. Agustín, Párroco. 

Elections 2010

My dear parishioners, with elections a few days away it is time that we remember the document “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship: A Call to Political Responsibility by the Catholic Bishops of the United States.”[1]  Our bishops remind us that “As a nation, we share many blessings including a tradition of religious freedom and political participation. However, as a people, we face serious challenges that are clearly political and also profoundly moral.” “The right to life itself is not fully protected, especially for unborn children, the most vulnerable members of the American family. We are a nation at war. We are too often divided across lines of race, ethnicity, and economic inequality. We are struggling to address the challenges of many new immigrants. We are a society built on the strength of our families. We are confronting terror while trying to build a safer, more just, more peaceful world. We are an affluent while too many live in poverty and lack health care and other necessities. We are part of a global community facing threats to the environment that must sustain us.” These challenges require Catholics who are responsible citizens. In our Tradition, “responsible citizenship is a virtue, and participation in political life is a moral obligation. This obligation is rooted in our baptismal commitment to follow Jesus Christ and to bear Christian witness in all we do.” Our Church calls us to be politically engaged, and that the engagement must be shaped by the moral convictions of well-formed consciences.  A well-formed conscience has several elements. First, we have to desire to embrace goodness and truth, and what is right, by studying Sacred Scripture and the teaching of the Church. Then, we must examine the facts and background information about our political choices. Finally, we must pray to discern the will of God. The Church fosters well-formed consciences also by encouraging us to develop the virtue of prudence. It enables us “to discern our true good in every circumstance and to choose the right means of achieving it”[2]. Exercising this virtue often requires the courage to act in defense of moral principles when making decisions about how to build a society of justice and peace. The Church also teaches that a good end does not justify the use of immoral means. It is important to recognize that not all possible courses of action are morally acceptable. We have a responsibility to discern carefully which public policies are morally sound.  Prudently and with a well-formed conscience we must choose the good and avoid evil, and recognize that there are some things we must never choose because they are always incompatible with love of God and neighbor. A prime example is the intentional taking of innocent human life, as in abortion and euthanasia. It is a mistake, with grave moral consequences, to treat the destruction of innocent human life as a matter of individual choice.  Similarly, direct threats to the sanctity and dignity of human life, such as human cloning and destructive research on human embryos, are also evil and must be opposed. Other direct assaults on innocent human life and violations of human dignity, such as genocide, torture, racism, and the targeting of noncombatants in acts of terror or war, can never be justified. Along the evil we must avoid there is also the good we must do. We have a positive duty to contribute to the common good and to act in solidarity with those in needs. Thus, the right to life implies and is linked to other human rights—rights to the basic goods that every human person needs to live and thrive.  Decisions about political life are complex. Yet, prudently and with a well-formed conscience, we must oppose laws and other policies that violate human life or weaken its protection. Those who knowingly, willingly, and directly support public policies or legislation that undermine fundamental moral principles cooperate with evil. Sometimes morally flawed laws already exist. In this situation, the process of framing legislation to protect life is subject to prudential judgment and “the art of the possible.” At times this process may restore justice only partially or gradually. As Catholics we often face difficult choices. A Catholic cannot vote for a candidate who takes a position in favor of what is evil, such as abortion or racism, if the voter’s intent is to support that position. In such cases a Catholic would be guilty of formal cooperation in grave evil. At the same time, a voter should not use a candidate’s opposition to something evil to justify indifference or inattentiveness to other important moral issues involving human life and dignity. There may be times when a Catholic who rejects a candidate’s unacceptable position may decide to vote for that candidate for other morally grave reasons. Voting in this way would be permissible only for truly grave moral reasons, not to advance narrow interests or partisan preferences or to ignore a fundamental moral evil. Taking all of the above into account, there are Four Key Themes about a candidate, or a legislative proposal, that Catholics should consider when voting: Right to life and the Dignity of the Human Person. “Human life is sacred. The dignity of the human person is the foundation of a moral vision for society.” Call to Family, Community and Participation. “The human person is not only sacred but also social. Full human development takes place in relationship with others. The family—based on marriage between a man and a woman—is the first and fundamental unit of society and is a sanctuary for the creation and nurturing of children”. “Rights and Responsibilities. “Human dignity is respected and the common good is fostered only if human rights are protected and basic responsibilities are met. Every human being has a right to life, the fundamental right that makes all other rights possible, and a right to access to those things required for human decency—food and shelter, education and employment, health care and housing, freedom of religion and family life. The right to exercise religious freedom publicly and privately, along with freedom of conscience needs to be constantly defended.“ Option for the Poor and Vulnerable. “While the common good embraces all, those who are weak, vulnerable, and most in need deserve preferential concern.” ■ Father Agustin, Pastor.

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[1]http://www.usccb.org/faithfulcitizenship/FCStatement.pdf.

[2] Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 1806

Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

If someone murdered your child or closest friend, what punishment would you want for the criminal? If you were simply asked your opinion about capital punishment, how would you respond? What reasons would you give for your answer? The Catholic bishops of the United States have provided careful guidance about this difficult issue, applying the teaching of the universal Church to our American culture. Along with the leadership assemblies of many Churches (for example. American Baptists, Disciples of Christ, Episcopalians, Lutherans, and Presbyterians), the U.S. bishops have expressed their opposition to the death penalty. First articulated in 1974, the bishops' position is explained in a 1980 statement, Capital Punishment. Individual bishops and state conferences of bishops have repeated in numerous teachings their opposition to the death penalty. In their 1980 statement, the bishops begin by noting that punishment, "since it involves the deliberate infliction of evil on another," must be justifiable. They acknowledge that the Christian tradition has for a long time recognized a government's right to protect its citizens by using the death penalty in some serious situations. The bishops ask, however, if capital punishment is still justifiable in the present circumstances in the United States. In this context, the bishops enter the debate about deterrence and retribution. They acknowledge that capital punishment certainly prevents the criminal from committing more crimes, yet question whether it prevents others from doing so. Similarly, concerning retribution, the bishops support the arguments against death as an appropriate form of punishment. The bishops add that reform is a third reason given to justify punishment, but it clearly does not apply in the case of capital punishment. And so they affirm: "We believe that in the conditions of contemporary American society, the legitimate purposes of punishment do not justify the imposition of the death penalty." My brothers and sisters in Christ increasingly, our society looks to...increased reliance on the death penalty to deal with crime. We are tragically turning to violence in the search for quick and easy answers to complex human problems. A society that destroys its children, abandons its old and relies on vengeance fails fundamental moral tests. We cannot teach that killing is wrong by killing. This cycle of violence diminishes all of us, especially our children. We have a very consistent commitment as Church to defending the sanctity of human life. Our position against the use of the death penalty falls into that continuum. We believe that an issue such as capital punishment is not just a question of public policy, but is at its very core a moral issue, and therefore a religious issue, and we 

XXX Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario

Entonces ¿aprueba la Iglesia la pena de muerte? Es quizá una pregunta que nos hemos hecho alguna vez. No. La Iglesia no fomenta la pena de muerte, esto se puede ver tanto en su Doctrina, como en sus numerosas intervenciones para evitarla en diversas naciones y salvar así la vida de los condenados. El Catecismo expone, sin embargo, que la enseñanza de la Iglesia no excluye la pena de muerte, cuando ésta es la única solución para colocar al agresor en estado de no poder causar perjuicios y así mantener la perseverancia del bien común. Sin embargo, hoy en día la autoridad pública, tiene suficientes medios incruentos para defender a la sociedad del agresor. Por lo tanto la Iglesia, hace inválida su aplicación[1]. La Iglesia, mediadora entre Dios y los hombres, invita a los gobiernos ha de buscar los medios más adecuados para castigar a los criminales. Con esto la Iglesia va estrechando las posibilidades, hacia una condena cada vez más rotunda de la pena de muerte. Es muy fácil presentar la cuestión de la pena de muerte en forma de "nosotros contra ellos ó “los buenos contra los malos”, como un conflicto entre víctimas inocentes de un asesinato y sus atacantes. A veces los más elocuentes y sinceros oponentes de la pena de muerte son quienes han sufrido más a manos de criminales violentos. Ellos nos urgen a mirar más allá del instinto de venganza, al Dios infinitamente amoroso cuyos hijos todos somos. Al final, el asunto definitivo no es cuán malvadas son las acciones de los criminales, sino cómo debemos responder si queremos llegar a ser una sociedad que reverencia y respeta más completamente la vida humana. La enseñanza católica sobre la pena capital es un oportunidad para examinar nuestras propias actitudes. Mientras que por un lado debemos ser compasivos con las víctimas de crímenes y apoyar la legítima y justa defensa de la sociedad, en Cristo no somos libres para descargar nuestra venganza o nuestro odio en nadie. Y esto incluye a los culpables de un delito criminal. A fin de colaborar con la nueva evangelización en el nuevo milenio, debemos llevar a nuestro corazón las palabras del Señor: misericordia quiero y no sacrificios [2] ■  P. Agustín, Párroco.

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[1] Catecismo de la Iglesia Católica nn. 2266 y 2267

[2] Cfr Mt 9, 13; 11, 29.

Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Under no circumstances does the Church condone the practice of surgical or pharmaceutical abortions (such as RU-486 or the morning-after-pill).  Abortion is tantamount to murder in the womb and cannot be justified by appealing to convenience, hardships, or “a woman’s right to choose”.  Here is what the Church officially teaches in the Catechism: Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person—among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life[1]. Scripture also indirectly attests to the personhood and humanity of the fetus in Jeremiah 1:5: Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you. The ancient Tradition of forbidding abortions is expressed in the Didache, a first century writing of the apostles: You shall not kill the embryo by abortion and shall not cause the newborn to perish[2]. The reasoning and arguments of the pro-choice movement have been addressed numerous times by Church authorities (such as John Paul II in Evangelium Vitae) who are much more eloquent and adept than the author, and I will not reiterate them here other than to say that a women’s right to choose abortion is not moral or licit because it interferes with and extinguishes the child’s right to live. A child has a soul from the moment of conception and therefore is a person (who has certain unalienable rights) who cannot be killed by the mother or doctor without making the participating parties murderers. In fact, the Church feels so strongly on the matter that she has issued an automatic excommunication for all those who have procured an abortion and are aware of the excommunication penalty[3].  The excommunication even extends to those who, “without whose help the crime would not have been committed”[4]. Thus abortion doctors, the father of the baby, and even parents of children who encourage an abortion, are held accountable. In order to prevent Catholics from deceiving themselves and arguing that the Church’s two thousand year condemnation of abortion is only an opinion and not a doctrinal teaching of the faith, Pope John Paul II formally defined the condemnation of abortion in Evangelium Vitae: Therefore, by the authority which Christ conferred upon Peter and his successors and in communion with the bishops . . . I declare that direct abortion, that is, abortion willed as an end or as a means, always constitutes a grave moral disorder, since it is the deliberate killing of an innocent human being. This doctrine is based upon the natural law and upon the written word of God, is transmitted by the Church’s tradition and taught by the ordinary and universal magisterium. No circumstance, no purpose, no law whatsoever can ever make licit an act which is intrinsically illicit, since it is contrary to the law of God which is written in every human heart, knowable by reason itself, and proclaimed by the Church"[5]. Fr. Agustin, Pastor.

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[1] CCC 2270

[2] Didache 2,2

[3] CIC, canon 1398

[4] Evangelium Vitae, 62.

[5] Evangelium Vitae 62

XXIX Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario

La Iglesia Católica, queridos hermanos y hermanas, la doctrina de la Iglesia sobre el aborto es muy clara. Un aborto es la muerte provocada del feto, realizada por cualquier método y en cualquier momento del embarazo desde el instante mismo de la concepción. "Dios, Señor de la vida, ha confiado a los hombres la excelsa misión de conservar la vida, misión que deben cumplir de modo digno del hombre. Por consiguiente, se ha de proteger la vida con el máximo cuidado desde la concepción; tanto el aborto como el infanticidio son crímenes abominables"[1]. Todo hombre y toda mujer, si no quieren negar la realidad de las cosas y defienden la vida y la dignidad humanas, han de procurar por todos los medios lícitos a su alcance que las leyes no permitan la muerte violenta de seres inocentes e indefensos. Como católicos tenemos la obligación de oponernos frontalmente al aborto porque sabemos que la dignidad de la persona humana tiene su más profundo fundamento en el hecho de ser hijos de Dios y hermanos de Jesucristo, que quiso ser hombre por amor a todos. Por eso los católicos, si vivimos nuestra fe, valoramos en toda su dimensión el drama terrible del aborto como un atentado contra esta dignidad sagrada. No podemos olvidar que el olvido de Dios lleva con más facilidad al olvido de la dignidad humana. ¿Y no es la doctrina católica sobre el aborto una dura doctrina, que muy pocos podrán seguir? Casi con estas mismas palabras replicaron los contemporáneos de Jesús cuando oyeren su predicación. Y el mismo Jesús nos dijo que hay que seguir el sendero estrecho para llegar al Reino de los Cielos. Seguir a Cristo en Su Iglesia no es fácil, pero con la Gracia de Dios se allana el camino y se superan las dificultades, por grandes que parezcan. También nos dijo Jesús que fuéramos a Él con confianza, y Él nos aliviaría de nuestras angustias. La doctrina católica sobre el aborto no proviene de la voluntad de la autoridad eclesiástica, sino que está fundamentada en lo más profundo de la naturaleza de las cosas queridas por Dios, que se expresa en la Ley que Él nos ha dado a conocer, y que la Iglesia tiene la misión de transmitir a los hombres y mujeres del mundo. Pero la Iglesia cumple también con su deber siendo el ámbito en que los cristianos pueden fortalecer mejor su fe y ser ayudados y estimulados a vivir más intensamente su vida cristiana. ¿Qué hemos de hacer como católicos para defender la vida? Lo primero tomar conciencia de que estamos vivos. Sólo afirmaremos la vida de otros si nosotros percibimos la nuestra en toda su grandeza y si nuestra conducta es coherente con nuestra convicción. El ejemplo de Jesús, tomando en serio a cada una de las personas que se encontraba, debe servirnos para que todos los que se crucen en nuestra vida se sientan valorados. Lo que también debemos hacer es tener una actitud abiertamente Pro-vida, y si conocemos a alguien que haya sufrido la tragedia del aborto, debemos sugerirle con cariño y compasión que acuda cuando antes a un sacerdote para que, haciendo una buena confesión, recupere la gracia perdida y vuelta a la comunión con Dios que le estará esperando con los brazos abiertos. Digamos sí a la vida y NO al aborto ■ P. Agustín, Párroco.

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[1] Gaudium et Spes n. 51, 3

Twenty-Eigth Sunday in Ordinary Time

On all of all the Church’s moral teachings this is the one teaching that causes the most dissension, ridicule, and flagrant rebellion among modern Catholics. Modern technology has improved the reliability and effectiveness of condoms, spermicides, diaphragms, sterilizations, and other devices and methods to such a level that birth can now be cheaply, easily, and artificially regulated.  Many couples use birth control to avoid the hassles and obligations of child birth which they view as an obstacle to career motivations, rampant selfish sex, financial freedom and global population control. The Church teaches nothing new on the regulation of birth and the prohibition against artificial contraception (Council of Nicea, Canon 1).  It is her age old teaching that the procreative element cannot be removed from the act of sex without incurring grave sin and violating the sanctity of marriage.  Condoms and other artificial birth control are illicit under all circumstances; even married couples are forbidden to use artificial birth control to limit or control pregnancy.  Pope Paul VI attempted to clarify the Catholic Church’s ancient teaching on artificial contraception following the Protestant church’s reversal on the ancient prohibition of birth control (the Anglican church broke the floodgate by reversing their decision on birth control during the Lambeth conference of 1930).  Pope Paul VI wrote in the encyclical letter Humane Vitae: In conformity with these fundament elements of the human and Christian vision of marriage, we must once again declare that the direct interruption of the generative process already begun, and, above all, directly willed and procured abortion, even if for therapeutic reasons, are to be absolutely excluded as lawful means of birth regulation.  Also to be excluded, as the Magisterium of the Church has on a number of occasions declared, is direct sterilization, whether perpetual or temporary, whether of the man or of the woman.  Similarly, excluded is every action that, either in anticipation of the conjugal act or in its accomplishment or in the development of its natural consequences, would have as an end or as a means, to render procreation impossible[1]. However, because the Church recognizes that if there are serious motive for spacing births derived from psychological or external circumstance it is, permissible to take into account the natural rhythms immanent in the generative functions and to make use of marriage during the infertile times only, and in this way to regulate births without offending the moral principles that we have just recalled[2].  The method of copulation during infertile periods of the woman is referred to as Natural Family Planning (NFP). NFP is condoned by the Church as long as the couple is open to the possibility of child birth and the couple has due reason to space or delay procreation.  The couple may never use Natural Family Planning with the intention of avoiding child birth entirely or indefinitely because it violates the marriage covenant[3] ■ Fr. Agustin, Pastor.

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[1] Humane Vitae, 14

[2] Humane Vitae, 20

[3] CCC 2366

XXVIII Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario

Queridos hermanos y hermanas en el Señor, la doctrina de la Iglesia Católica sobre la anticoncepción es muy clara y muy sencilla de comprender cuando uno se acerca  a ella con un corazón sencillo.  En su encíclica Humanae Vitae (HV), publicada en 1968 em Papa Paulo VI escribe que "todo acto conyugal debe permanecer abierto a la trasmisión de la vida"[1]. Aquí el Papa enseña que el aborto está total y absolutamente excluido como método de regulación de la natalidad, así como también la esterilización y todo tipo de anticonceptivos y usos anti-naturales del acto conyugal. "Igualmente queda excluida toda acción, que haga imposible la procreación, ya sea antes del acto conyugal, durante el acto o en el desarrollo de sus consecuencias naturales"[2]. Aquí el Papa nos enseña que los dos significados esenciales del acto conyugal son el unitivo (dador de amor) y el procreador (dador de vida). Dios es el Autor de toda vida y de todo amor. Si queremos expresar nuestra sexualidad auténtica, honesta y humanamente, tenemos que hacerlo de acuerdo con el plan de Dios. La Iglesia sabe que será "un signo de contradicción" en un mundo que no tiene fe. Sin embargo, la Iglesia no cesa de proclamar con humilde firmeza, la ley moral en su totalidad, tanto natural como evangélica. "La iglesia no es la autora de tales leyes; consecuentemente, no puede ser su árbitro, ella es solamente su depositaria e intérprete, sin poder nunca declarar que es lícito lo que no lo es por su oposición íntima e inmutable al verdadero bien del hombre"[3]. En otra ocasión el Papa Juan Pablo II dirigió unas duras palabras a los obispos de este pais, señalando que un gran número de católicos no se adhieren a la enseñanza moral de la Iglesia sobre la anticoncepción y aún así, según parece, reciben los sacramentos, el Papa dijo: "Algunas veces se proclama que el rehusar la adhesión al Magisterio es totalmente compatible con ser un ‘buen católico' y que no presenta ningún obstáculo para recibir los sacramentos. Esto es un grave error que pone a prueba el oficio de maestros de los obispos". La doctrina de la Iglesia es muy clara: la persona que haya usado anticonceptivos o esté usando anticonceptivos, no puede recibir la Eucaristía sin verdadero arrepentimiento, confesión y firme propósito de enmendarse. Si caemos en el pecado, Dios siempre nos perdonará, si con sinceridad nos arrepentimos, nos confesamos y tratamos de vivir una vida cristiana. No tiene sentido recibir al Autor mismo de toda vida y de todo amor en la Eucaristía y al mismo tiempo conscientemente estar obrando en contra del don de Dios de la fertilidad y correr el riesgo de abortar en las primeras etapas del embarazo a uno de los hijos o hijas de Dios. Esto es una invitación, hermanos y hermanas, a que examinemos todos nuestra conciencia y veamos si estamos obedeciendo el Magisterio de la Iglesia, si se hace necesaria y urgente una buena Confesión y si nuestro corazón quiere lo que quieren Dios y su Iglesia ◼ P. Agustin, Párroco.

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[1] HV 11

[2] HV 14

[3] HV18a.