For the Sheep in Exile – Bulletin 2017-05-28
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1. Sunday for the Lookeeloos: Larry and Liza Lookeeloo are from Lakeline, Ohio. They made the trip to Rappahannock County this Memorial Day weekend with the specific intention of visiting Sperryville. They had read the article The Best Small Town to Visit in All 50 States. They had seen the article as soon as it was posted by THRILLIST on May 19th, well before the Rappahannock News ran the story Sperryville among America’s top ‘gems’ this Thursday. The question of where the Lookeeloos would go for the upcoming holiday now had an answer – they were heading for Sperryville. They made a reservation with a local B&B and they were soon on the Ohio Turnpike heading to our fine county.
After they checked into the B&B, they headed directly to the Sperryville Corner Store to see the ‘gem’ of a town we call home. Being good Catholics they knew that they would have to attend Mass while they were here. So, knowing that every good local newspaper carries a list of the nearby places of worship, they soon had a copy of the Rappahannock News in their hands. While eating their RPK wood fired stove pizza, they concluded that they would have to drive over 25 miles to go to Mass.
If you were on US 211 this morning and saw a car with Ohio plates heading East toward Warrenton, you now know who it was – it was Larry and Liza Lookeeloo. Why? Because the only add for a Catholic church in the Rappahannock News was for St. John the Evangelist. Oh, they might have stopped at St. Peter’s had they seen it, but they were too intent on following the directions on their GPS.
2. Spiritual Direction: My spiritual director advises me to include 20-30 minutes of spiritual reading as part of my daily routine. For Eastertide he asked me to read The Risen Christ – The Forty Days after the Resurrection . First published in 1958, the book written by Caryll Houselander brought me back to a way of thinking and expressing our Catholic faith in clear and unambiguous terms that seems so lacking these days. That was the way I was taught my faith and that is the way my wife and I taught our children. So, reassured by a Nihil obstat and an Imprimatur, we can safely provide a quote from the book that speaks eloquently of what the role of the priest is at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass:
Every word, every movement is effective, every one is a bodily act, and the very changing of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ is accomplished, because he wills it so, by certain movements and spoken words.
The priest at the altar is not asked to feel any sweetness, to pass into ecstasy, to weep for sin; he is not asked to express his own feelings or fervor; he is not asked to do what no man could do by himself, namely, to sustain the sweetness of contact with Heaven all through this life, to realize the horror of sin and experience the fullest felt sorrow for it unceasingly. No, he is asked to put himself aside, and to let Christ in him rejoice and sorrow and pray, and so let the experience of the whole world be his prayer. He stands there as a Christ before God, and the unchanging necessities of the universal adoration of mankind pass through him. He is asked only to surrender his will to Christ, lending his body to those slow, beautiful acts, his tongue to those miraculous words.
For the Sheep in Exile – Bulletin 2017-05-21
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1. Congratulations: Along with our Pastor, we extend our sincere congratulations to the First Communicants and our Confirmandi. We regret that we could not attend the Confirmation and have the opportunity to meet our new Bishop during his first official visit to St. Peter’s.
2. Rumor Control: There are rumors running rampant through the Parish and out in the barn of our grand 1.25 acre estate that someone else attempted to attend the Confirmation. We here at The Sheep of Kephas blog would like to lay that rumor to rest once and for all. Unfortunately, we can not because there exists no evidence or verifiable sources to testify one way or the other. We requested that the Department of Justice establish a Special Counsel to investigate the matter, but they said that their hands were already full with other similarly important investigations. So, we leave it with you, dear readers and anyone who may have been there. Did Peter Cottontail really try to meet the Bishop and get his autograph? My wife tells me that the last time she visited the parish she thought she smelled the pungent aroma of Easter eggs and Peeps. The only thing we can say for sure is the magnificent pastel colors still remain behind the altar. The whereabouts of Mr. Cottontail remains uncertain.
3.Where is Your Pastor?: The flyer in this week’s bulletin finally and formally announces what we reported to you in For the Sheep in Exile – Bulletin 2017-04-30. At least on the evening of Sunday, May 28th, you will know where to find our Pastor.
For the Sheep in Exile – Bulletin 2017-05-14
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As St. Peter’s bulletins clearly fail to say, “There will be no daily Mass on Saturday.” Three years ago there was a good reason why that was so, but now there is no reason – there just is no daily Mass on Saturday.
So some from St. Peter’s went to St. John the Baptist in Front Royal and others went to St. John the Evangelist in Warrenton. Today, we were with the exiles in Warrenton.
100 years ago today, Mary first appeared to three humble children in Fatima, Portugal. My parents and teachers told me the story. My Mom (happy Mother’s Day, Mom) told my wife the story. We have told our children the story. Our children have told our grandchildren the story. I have my Father’s Rosary. My son will have my Rosary. I fully expect that my grandson will have my son’s Rosary. And all of these Rosaries have been used, are being used, and will continue to be used.
My wife is a convert. My wife is the one who reminds us all – pray the Rosary and do penance.
The exiles in Front Royal and the exiles in Warrenton were told the very same story today at Mass, and all were exhorted to pray the Rosary and do penance. But you and I both know that the message of Fatima is more than just a story. The event was real, the message is real, and the exhortation to pray the Rosary and do penance is serious and essential. The Mother of God is pointing to her Son Who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. And she let’s us know that she will protect us.
We thank the pastors of St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist for having daily Mass on Saturday so that we can offer our prayers on Mary’s Day.
Meanwhile, as St. Peter’s bulletins clearly fail to say, “There will be no daily Mass on Saturday.”
Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!
For the Sheep in Exile – Bulletin 2017-05-07
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Vocations: This week, there is a very good brochure in the bulletin on vocations in the Diocese of Arlington. It provides an article “Called by Name – The Vocation Story of Bishop Michael Burbidge” that gives some insights into the Bishop’s vocation and it also reminds us of the World Day of Prayer for Vocations, May 7, 2017. If you have the time, check out the link to Diocese of Arlington Vocations, and please remember to pray for priestly and religious vocations on May 7th and every day.
Perhaps it’s time to MoveOn.org: Whether you read the Pastor’s Piece in the bulletin or go to St. Peter’s “official” Website, you will find parishioners being invited “to Support Catholic Social Justice Principles”. Father let’s you know that he is speaking with great authority when he states:
On April 11, 2014, Arlington Bishop Paul Loverde and Richmond Bishop Francis DiLorenzo called for the expansion of Medicaid, noting that “everyone has the right to life, and second, healthcare is a right – not a privilege – that flows from the right to life itself.”
Having established this fact, our Pastor then leads his flock to our old friends at http://www.s-a-l-t.org/. If you don’t remember our last encounter with them, please refer to Rules and Tools for Radical Pastors #15 – Take it with a Grain of S-A-L-T. But Father is not content with leading his flock to that social justice S-A-L-T lick. No, now he asks each of us to sign the petition and to do that you have to check in with that fine upstanding catholic organization MoveOn.org Petitions.
What? You say that MoveOn.org isn’t Catholic or even catholic? Well, why would Father invoke the names of Arlington’s former Bishop Paul Loverde and Richmond’s Bishop Francis DiLorenzo if this petition and the people running it weren’t Catholic or at least catholic? Why would he lead his flock to a progressive, political group rather than a bona fide spiritually based group? – – Why indeed?
Now, when we follow the link to the petition (here), we can see a different link – the link between S-A-L-T and MoveOn.org. They work together to achieve their common objectives. After nearly three years with our Pastor, we think it is obvious that there is another type of link, perhaps we should call it a “spiritual bond”. Yes, there appears to be a spiritual bond joining the shepherd/social justice warrior (our Pastor) and S-A-L-T and progressives of the type that associate themselves with MoveOn.org.
[Among the 148 people who have already signed the petition you will find many of our Pastor’s associates, including the person who set up St. Peter’s “official” Website.]
Yes, after nearly three years with our Pastor, perhaps it’s time to MoveOn.org.
St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle!
The Sheep of Kephas 