As many of you know, our parish has been searching for a new staff member for about a year now to fill a new position entitled a Pastoral Associate. This person will serve as a close collaborator with me, assisting in the planning and implementation of the evangelization, adult faith formation and outreach initiatives to help our community grow in faith and in size.

In 2022, the United Nations declared November 18 as World Day for the Prevention of and Healing from Child Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Violence. Cardinal Sean asks the people in all parishes of our Archdiocese to mark this weekend as a time to pray for those impacted by child abuse and to publically reaffirm our Church’s commitment to remain vigilant in our efforts to keep all children safe. Child abuse in our society is a far too frequent occurrence. The numbers are staggering, and the lifelong impact can be profound. Each of us must do all that is possible to intervene – preventing abuse wherever it occurs, interrupting and reporting it when it is happening, and helping heal those who have been abused.

How’s your pace of life? I often find myself saying, “Busy.” That seems to be the experience around Duxbury and beyond. Talking to parents of young families I will often hear references to sports: soccer, lacrosse and football among others. One parent shared that sports seems to rule their life. I marvel at the great distances some families are traveling to get to their child’s games. And, when there’s more than one family member involved in sports, the busyness is multiplied! Our lives can get so hectic that it can sometimes get the best of us. One mother shared with me that while driving her daughter and friend to a game, she “lost it,” complaining of all that she had to do - only to be reminded at a gas pump display shortly after her rant that the “word of the day” was prayer. This made her stop and think. She felt God was saying something to her in that experience.

This week is National Vocation Awareness Week (Nov 5 – 11). So, what does that mean? It’s a time to help make people aware of the fact that everyone has a vocation – the primary one is to be holy; rather basic, but not so easy all the time. However, then, each of us is called by God to a particular vocation/state in life. In faith, we understand that each of us does not live merely for ourselves, but for God – realizing that it’s part of our true nature as followers of Jesus to follow His plan for our lives in a particular way.

The escalation of violence in the war in the Holy Land weighs heavily on our minds and hearts, and those of all people of good will. There is fear that other countries will be drawn into this conflict and that it could result in a world war. Pope Francis said last Sunday after praying the Angelus, "War, any war that there is in the world -- I also think of the tormented Ukraine -- is a defeat…" "War is always a defeat; it is a destruction of human fraternity." He pleaded, “Brothers, Stop! Stop!" Later in the day, the pope spoke with President Biden in a 20-minute phone call to discuss "situations of conflict in the world" and "the need to prevent escalation in the region and to work toward a durable peace in the Middle East." Pope Francis called for prayer, fasting and penance – imploring God for peace in the world.

On October 4, Pope Francis published a follow-up to his Encyclical, Laudato Si, entitled Laudate Deum. After eight years since the initial publication of Laudato Si, Pope Francis once again makes a prophetic call to conversion in light of the looming challenges of the climate crisis that have only worsened. Laudate Deum addresses people of goodwill, admonishing the human family that has neglected its relationships with creation, one another, and above all, God – calling all people to repentance and reparation.

As the Church celebrates Respect Life Month in October, I draw your attention to some recent news about the sad death of a pregnant woman’s unborn baby who was struck by a stray bullet while the mother was riding on a public bus in Holyoke about two weeks ago. The mother, eight months pregnant, was rushed to the hospital. She survived, but despite efforts to save the unborn baby, the baby died.

The 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops began at the Vatican this past Wednesday, October 4 and will continue through Sunday, October 29. This is the first of two sessions, which will be spaced apart by one year; the second session is scheduled to take place in October 2024. The decision to have two sessions stems from Pope Francis’ desire that the theme of a Synodal Church might be the subject of prolonged discernment not only by the members of the Synodal Assembly, but by the whole Church because of its breadth and importance. This choice is in keeping with an ongoing “synodal journey,” as the Pope described it, understanding that the Synod is not an event, but a process in which the whole People of God is called to walk together toward what the Holy Spirit helps it to discern as being the Lord's will for his Church.

Therefore, this Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops will also take on a study of the processes involved in this consultation, configuring itself as "a journey within the journey" to foster more mature reflection for the greater good of the Church.

It’s been brought to my attention recently that some programs and workshops being offered to the general public in our community are delving into potentially spiritually dangerous areas that Catholics and all people of goodwill should avoid. They often sound interesting and harmless, sometimes billed as “fun and lighthearted.” However, whenever they involve harnessing “energy,” contacting spirits, consulting mediums/psychics, reading Tarot cards or tea leafs, caution is advised. In light of such activities taking place around us, I offer the following references from the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) for your information below. As we pray to our heavenly Father in the Lord’s Prayer, “deliver us from evil,” we need to do our part to avoid the many insidious ways the spirit of evil can enter our world these days – some very subtle and others, not so subtle. In 1 Peter 5:8, we read, “Be sober and vigilant. Your opponent the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”

Have you read the book, Holy Moments by Matthew Kelly? Our parish has continued to share copies over this past year and many people have ordered their own copies to give away – so impactful has it been to them. The book helps a person explore, what Matthew calls, one’s “soul-potential” by inspiring a person to collaborate with God in everyday life. A Holy Moment is a time when you open yourself to God and make yourself available to Him, setting aside personal preference and self-interest for one moment, and choose to do what you prayerfully believe God is calling you to do.

On September 14, the Archdiocese of Boston held their annual Celebration of Priesthood dinner. Each year, they create a video message recognizing a few parishes and highlight the good work that those parishes and priests are doing in their communities through out the Archdiocese. The theme of this year's dinner was "Bringing Light into our Communities."

As we resume our “normal” schedules and routines now that summer is ending, I take this opportunity to encourage each of us to renew our commitment to regular participation at weekend Mass. I’m saying this not only as a reminder to attend Mass every Sunday, but particularly, to renew our commitment to an active, engaged and whole-hearted involvement of our minds, hearts, souls and voices in the worship we are providing to God. What draws me to remark about this is my noticing rather weak spoken responses and spotty participation in the singing from members of our congregation at Mass.

In a homily in May 2014, Pope Francis spoke about the best ways to get to know Jesus. He said we need to open three doors in order to know Him. “The first door is praying to Jesus. You must realize that studying without prayers is no use. We must pray to Jesus to get to know him better. The great theologians did their theology while kneeling. Pray to Jesus! By studying and praying we get a bit closer… But we’ll never know Jesus without praying. Never! Never! The second door is celebrating Jesus. Prayer on its own is not enough, we need the joy of celebration. We must celebrate Jesus through his Sacraments, because these give us life, they give us strength, they nourish us, they comfort us, they forge an alliance with us, they give us a mission. Without celebrating the Sacraments, we’ll never get to know Jesus. This is what the Church is all about: celebration. The third door is imitating Jesus. Take the Gospel, what did he do, how was his life, what did he tell us, what did he teach us and try to imitate him.”

Our Catholic social teaching is a rich resource of wisdom about building a just society and living lives of holiness amidst the challenges of modern society. Catholic social teaching has been articulated through a tradition of papal, conciliar, and episcopal documents. The depth and richness of the tradition can be understood best through a direct reading of these documents. On this Labor Day weekend, I summarize for you one area the Church has addressed: The Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers, taken from Themes from Catholic Social Teaching from the USCCB, Publication No. 5-315. “The economy must serve people, not the other way around. Work is more than a way to make a living; it is a form of continuing participation in God’s creation. If the dignity of work is to be protected, then the basic rights of workers must be respected – the right to productive work, to decent and fair wages, to the organization and joining of unions, to private property and to economic initiative.”