Fr. Don’s Weekly Letter ~ 1 December 2024

Dear Good People of Saint Bernadette,

Congratulations, newly-confirmed and fully-initiated members of the parish! Celebration last week was beautiful, one of the nicest confirmation liturgies I can remember, and I was in meetings with Bishop Burbidge the two days following and he kept telling everyone that Saint Bernadette’s confirmation class wins the award for the best singing students in the diocese! That made me feel good, especially as he said it in front of all pastors with schools and priests of our Deanery!

I wanted to feature all of you 8th graders, both in our school and area public schools, because you are now the youngest leaders in our church community. I challenge you to take your rightful place, and become active in the life of the Church as you have begun already in your confirmation teams. Feed the poor, care for each other. I ask you, please, to remind all of us how beautiful is the Holy Spirit that dwells within us and what it means to be Christians who look forward to a bright future filled with grace and possibility.

And what a great time for new beginnings is the start of the new liturgical year of grace, 2025! It is a time we really need to take an inventory of what has been, what is now, and what will be. The gifts of the Holy Spirit which correspond to words and events of the past would be knowledge and understanding and form the foundation for our work of taking inventory. How faithful have I been to what I know to be true? How thoughtful am I in working toward understandings that would form my conscience more truly according to my faith?

Working more deeply into how I have intentionally lived into the gifts of the Holy Spirit, have I grown in wisdom in applying my understanding to the challenges and confrontations of life? Have I applied the gift of counsel in sharing the wisdom I have been given? Have I shared this gift with the new generation of Catholics? Have I strengthened the community in this way?

The next gift we use in our inventory at the new year is fortitude. The gift of the Holy Spirit, fortitude, is different from the Cardinal Virtue fortitude which is a part of our human nature and meant as an individual attribute. It is carrying through with your good intentions, it is finishing the job despite hardship or struggle. The fortitude of the Holy Spirit is the glue of the community, to work toward bringing about the Kingdom of God. Have I made an offering of myself, like Jesus, for the salvation of the world?

The remaining two gifts, piety and fear of the Lord, pertain to our consideration of each other and of God. Piety has been described as the ability to recognize what is holy. Not just church stuff, but everyone as well. Do I recognize holiness in person in need, the friendless, the stranger? You are holy. And holy is the Lord, in a way beyond our understanding. We don’t fear him, but we recognize that he is totally other, and loves us no matter what.

The Lord be with you.