Click on the Open Letter below to read Father David's Open Letter for June

Dear Brothers and Sisters, May the Lord give you His peace!

I certainly hope that all of you are healthy, joyful and peaceful during these days of unrest and the pandemic. So sad that in times of great suffering with the virus, that it should be compounded by civil unrest and discord.  We really need to beseech Our Lady and the saints from America for the grace to heal our broken nation.

Racism is such a horrible evil that has torn apart, not only our country, but the whole world. Police brutality is another evil that destroys the trust we have in our civil authorities who are sworn to protect us. And, even though we have the right to peacefully protest, just as evil are those in the streets looting, setting cars and businesses on fire, shooting and stabbing police and rioting. Such behavior does not heal, it does not help, and it only serves to destroy the very fabric of a peaceful nation.

Fourteen years ago, I was a high school chaplain at a Catholic School made up of mostly African American students. During my time there I invited Dr. Martin Luther King’s niece, Dr. Alveda King, to come and speak to the student body about the Pro-Life movement being the new civil rights movement. Having had three abortions herself, Dr Alveda King shared her own sufferings and her journey toward healing. She spoke about the racism of Planned Parenthood’s foundress Margaret Sanger and its racist foundations. She told them how this abortion giant targets African American communities and the violence that happens in the womb to the unborn eventually spills over into the streets. Her new crusade is to see to it that every human person, born and unborn, has the right to life.
After the talk, the students began to question Dr. Alveda King about the civil rights movement. I’ll never forget two great lessons I learned from her that day.
She told the students that her uncle, Dr. Martin Luther King was not about the Black Race. She said that there is no Black Race, no White Race, no Oriental Race and no other Race. There is only the Human Race! All children of the one true God and we come in all kinds of shapes, colors and sizes. She was emphatic about the fact that the civil rights movement was about recognizing each other as brothers and sisters, children of our one God and Father in heaven.

She went on to speak about what it meant to be non-violent protester. She told the story of a time that she was protesting in the 60’s, along with thousands of others. She was peacefully at a sit in when the Police came and arrested everybody. While lying on the floor of the police station she saw a police officer kicking and kicking her friend. So, she went over, grabbed the officer’s foot and threw him, sending him flying across the room. The whole event was caught on camera which aired that evening on television.

Later that afternoon she called her daddy, Dr. Martin Luther King’s brother, to come and bail her out of prison, something he had done many times. This time, however, having watched the throwing of the Police Officer on the news, he said to her; “No. You’re going to sit in jail tonight and reflect upon what it means to be non-violent”. In the morning he came to pick her up. Before bailing her out he asked; “What should you have done?” Dr. Alveda King answered: “I should have rolled on top of her and taken the beating for her.” “Why?” asked her daddy. Having learned her lesson she said: “Because that is what Jesus did for us.”
Peaceful non-violence, she told the students, was not merely a strategy for protest. It was a way of life. A way of life based upon the life of Jesus Himself. For it was Jesus Who said: “Peace I give you. My peace I leave you. Not as the world gives peace do I give it to you”. Peace is a gift from Christ that comes to us from the Holy Spirit. It is a fruit of living in accord with God, in accord with the Holy Spirit. Peace comes to maturity in our souls, our hearts and our minds when we are convicted of the Lord’s incredible, immense and unconditional love for us sinful humans. When we know this love of God for ourselves, we have peace and we live in peace because we know the love that God also has for His other children, our human siblings.

The civil rights movement, she told us, was a Christian movement. It was based on the love that God has for His children, all His children. He loves His white children, His black children, His brown children. He loves His rich children, His poor children and His middleclass children. He loves His tall children, His short children, His medium height children. He loves His skinny kids, His fat kids and his muscular kids. He loves those who are loving, those who are hateful, those who are saintly, those who are sinful. He loves the youngest in the womb and the oldest in the nursing homes. He loves me, He loves you. He loves those whom we love and He loves those who hate us. He loves those who are our friends and those whom we have a hard time forgiving. Let’s face it. There is not a single soul on this planet; those who were here before us, those who are here now with us and those who will come in the future that God has not lovingly willed into existence, sustained by His love and loves into eternity.

So, let us take a look at everyone around us. Our family, our friends, those who are the same as us and those who are different from us. Those we love and those we struggle with, perhaps even hate. That’s God’s son! That’s God’s daughter! And let us never forget the second of the two greatest commandments; “Love your neighbor as you love yourself”. Or, remember what Jesus said at the Last Supper: “Love one another as I have loved you”. He loved us onto death. Death on a cross! That’s why He tells us; “Love your enemies and do good to those who hate you.” “Forgive as God has forgiven you.”

Perhaps the reason why we see legitimate protests become violent is because our culture has moved so far away from the Lord? Perhaps, the reason why people show such hatred to people of color or social class is because they have forgotten God? Just maybe, the unrest we see is due to the fact that we have thrown prayer out of school, made Christianity non-P.C. and told that our faith has no place in the culture. It’s time! It’s time that we bring Jesus back into the conversation, back into the education, back into the normal function of society. After all, where will humanity be if it doesn’t welcome into its midst our elder brother, the one Who made us sons and daughters of God by the gift of His own life?

Let’s pray! Let’s really pray for our broken world. Let’s pray that the Holy Spirit will convict every heart of the truth of our one unique colorful human race. Let’s pray that every heart will be open to accept the truth that we are all children of the One true God Who loves us and created us to be a unique symphony of humanity that is only in harmony when we love one another as Jesus has loved us.
 
May God bless you and may Mary keep you.
Fr. David Mary 
 
Some updates:

1. We are continuing our regular Mass schedule at 40% capacity. Thank you to everyone who has been coming to Holy Mass and following the rules of masks, social distancing and other prescriptions (see my video on our parish website).
2. Carole LeBlanc will be running our Religious Education program from right here at Saint James. We welcome her and are looking forward to the rejuvenation of our Religious Education Program. Carole is a talented and gifted teacher and director. I can’t tell you how excited I am to have her here and for the great future this brings to our parish. Welcome, Carole!!!
3. Which brings me to the next point: It is time to make sure your child is registered and set for the start of the Fall religious education program. Please call the parish office or sign your children up on our parish website. First to Fourth Grade will return to Saint James parish on Sunday mornings in the Church Hall (grandparents and god parents, get those grandchildren signed up).
4. Speaking of the website; Have you seen it lately? It’s amazing! Thank you, Sandy! Sandy has been posting my daily Mass and daily Homily on the website. There is also a lot of information on various subjects. Recently we added, under the Confirmation page, a series of Homilies I gave on the Holy Spirit and Confirmation.
5. Once again, I have to say a major and heartfelt thank you to this incredible parish. All of you deserve such praise for the way that you have continued to financially support the parish. Even though there is this pandemic you are giving online, you are dropping your envelopes at the side door of the rectory or you are mailing them in. When I think about your generosity during these hard times, I can’t help but get a little misty eyed. You are amazing!
6. Two weeks ago, Nicolas Reyes received his First Holy Communion at the 10:30 Mass. This Sunday, Michael Mills will receive his. Congrats to our two first communicants. Last Sunday Michael and Nicolas crowned Our Lady Queen for the May Crowning. Thanks guys! Great job!
7.  Get this; Last week we had 7, yes 7 altar servers at the 10:30 Mass! So glad to have our young people stepping up to serve. And, yes! They are wearing Masks when they serve. It looks a bit silly, but they are safe! Thank you to our server team and those who are stepping up to serve at the other Masses. For the first time last week I had an altar server for the 4:30 pm Mass.
8. I am asking any singers and/or musicians out there to join our soon to be formed Saint James Sunday Choir. The choir will practice weekly and will sing at the 10:30 am Mass every Sunday. Practices and singing for Mass will begin as soon as this covid-19 pandemic is over. But we need you to sign up now. If you wish to be part of the choir, please call the parish office and leave us your name and phone number so that Tricia can get in touch with you.
9. A couple of weeks ago you may have seen some dump trucks in the parking lot. That wasn’t the construction guys. That was me. In cooperation with the various groups and committees we successfully cleaned out closets and threw away three dumpsters of old junk that has been sitting around for decades. We will also be re-doing the storage closets; cleaning them, painting them and re-organizing them. Just a little Spring Cleaning.
10. To our brothers and sisters who have been working so hard in the food pantry; Thank you! You are so good and have done so much good for so many people, especially during these difficult financial times. Our Lord did say: “When I was hungry, you gave me to eat”. You have fed our Lord and you will not be wanting for your reward. Keep up the good work. You’re appreciated!
11. To those who made donations for our new vestments; They’re almost all here. I’ll keep you posted when they are all here and I’ll be sure to show these beautiful vestments to our parish.

Finally, some great news:
Thanks to two generous parishioners, Saint James Catholic Church now has votive candles. Each candle holder was custom made for our parish.
It is Catholic tradition to light a candle before the statue of a saint as a symbol of the burning love you have for God. After lighting the candle, you ask that saint to pray for you to God for your intentions. You can pray something like: "I offer this prayer for...". 
 
The candle stays lit before the saint as a reminder of your intention. It's customary to leave a financial offering for the candle.
 
We now have candles in front of The Blessed Mother, Saint Joseph and Saint James.
 
Feel free to come in and at any time to go up, give a $1 offering, light a candle and kneel (if you're able) and say a prayer.
 
The candles will stay lit for 8 hours.
 
Thank you so much to our beloved benefactors who gave the crowning jewel to our church renovations.