From the Pastor's Pen - January 27, 2019

With the gospel of the Wedding at Cana last Sunday, we completed the tria miracula, the three miracles that make up the Epiphany: the Star, and the worship of the Wise Men; the Baptism of Jesus, and the change of water into wine. Each one is a manifestation of the divinity of the newborn Christ, and proclamation that he’s entered our human history. We need hope for many areas of our lives, from the most personal to the most global. If Jesus can change ordinary water into delicious wine for a feast, how can we be without hope for anything? With this, we take our deeper faith into what’s called Ordinary Time.

Our delegation to the Washington March for Life returned last Sunday afternoon, a bit late due to snow along the more direct route home but without serious incidents. I was glad to welcome Fr. Nickolai back, and proud of all those who went to make a peaceful statement for the respect of life. We celebrated a Mass with the Prayers for the Protection of Unborn Life at school the previous Wednesday, and in the church at two Masses this past Tuesday, on Jan. 22.

I’ve been doing my best to stay with things as I deal with a round of sinus pain and migraine headaches. This has come as we’re getting things on track in several areas after the holidays, and with several funerals. Another funeral I had outside the parish was a man in our family I wrote about 3 years ago, when he turned 100. Roland Gunsaullus, my oldest brother’s father-in-law, landed at Normandy with the D-Day invasion, raised a family of 3, and was ordained a deacon in 1983, serving at St. Bernadette’s and St. Margaret Mary, and Barnes Hospital. I marveled at the many ways he found to be a servant of the Lord in his life. This included the last two months he was in hospice, in deep prayer, when he had visions of “the other side” he could speak about comfortably. He was always humble about it all, just glad to serve God and enjoy His blessings. May it be so for us all.