Fr. Don’s Weekly Letter ~ 20 September 2026

Dear Good People of Saint Bernadette,

As I reflect on the bishop’s letter which we read at all the Masses last weekend and the responses some members of our parish family had in reaction to it, I have a few reflections.

First, it wasn’t a condemnation of anyone. It is not up to us to judge anyone. Only Jesus knows our hearts and will take care of that on the last day. Our job is to love and respect all people. Society, and in particular politics, has infiltrated our Church culture in a way that many have forgotten this fact. The confusion has extended to matters of faith and our responsibility to all living persons, and made them issues of liberal v. conservative along partisan lines. Truth does not require anyone’s endorsement. It isn’t something determined by a poll. Something isn’t true because the Church says it is. The Church says it is because it is true. As well as what is false.

Our world is shifting all over the place when it comes to public opinion. I had a good friend who was a Baptist pastor and he said that when he became a pastor he was considered pretty conservative. Today, he is considered a liberal compared to where the Baptist Church has gone. I have had this experience, too.

The Virginia bishops’ call to reject two revisions to the state constitution with regard to human life and family go to the heart of the process of how people can properly form their consciences. Your conscience is that internal refuge where each of us hears the call to do good and avoid evil. Once formed to the best of your ability, you must follow your conscience. But what happens when the tools you have to form your choice are not true?

Also, conscience is not a license to do whatever you want. It requires life-long education and soul searching through objective truth and divine law. It is possible not to agree, but there must remain an openness to seek religious assent of intellect and will, rather than dissent.

There is no intention, if I understand the bishops’ letter correctly, to overturn anything that is already in place in our laws, whether they agree with them or not, but they are seeking to prevent the erosion of the soil underneath the foundation upon which moral decisions are made.

All are loved; all of us are on this journey of life together seeking what is right. We can’t allow ourselves to forget this.
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This is Commitment Sunday! Please consider making real commitments of how your prayer life might look in the coming year, how you might get involved in the life of our Church, and how you might more generously support our mission and ministries.

Environments today foster a general lack of commitment. Sociologists say that, driven by social media, people are exposed to a relentless paradox of choice. When a “better option” always seems to be just one click away, the psychological investment in a job, relationship or project seems to rise dramatically. Commitment is increasingly viewed as a restriction of freedom rather than a vehicle for fulfillment. Lack of commitment becomes an unconscious survival mechanism which results in a kind of isolation.

Ironically, what we do as a community is actually what all of us need. Ministry to others is, in itself, a supreme good. But it is also good for us. Social connectedness and a deep sense of belonging are fundamental human needs that profoundly protect our long-term physical and mental health. Holiness from prayer raises a sense of self-worth in relationship with God who loves us unconditionally; ser-vice gives us a sense of purpose and fulfillment; giving activates our ability to love.
Renew your commitments with us!

The Lord be with you,