Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

     We have begun our Lenten journey hopefully with enthusiasm and determination to take each day as an opportunity to draw closer to our Lord and to imitate Him in our lives.   This Sunday’s Gospel directs us on our way.  Our Lord was led into the desert, there to confront the father of lies, deception, and evil.  To face temptation headlong and overcome it with serenity and the power that comes from doing the heavenly Father’s will.  Jesus affords the same serenity and power to us though at times we forget to utilize it in confronting temptations. 

     He was led into the temptations of the desert and so are we, perhaps in not so dramatic a fashion but just as real.  So it begs the two-fold question:  Why are we led there? And how do we resist?   Though we recoil at the thought of being put to the test or having to take a test we ask what is the purpose and what is the gain?  The purpose is to look deeply into ourselves and see what makes us tick,  what are we made of?   It is a means of self-discovery.  Do we really know ourselves and do we understand our relation to the world around us?  This quest separates us from the rest of creation.  The temptation then is to make us less human, less self-aware, just go with the flow instead of directing the flow to higher things, namely, the Divine.   It reminds us of what we should and must be pursuing, GOD.  

     The second answer to how we resist temptation: first, with humility, recognizing that we cannot do it on our own.  And where do we find the tools?  In the Sacramental life of the Church.  Christ readily gives us all we need:  Baptism, Confirmation, most especially the Holy Eucharist and the Sacrament of Reconciliation, Confession, which burns the evil one itself who dwells in the Inferno.

      Therefore we do not fear the temptations that come our way but instead meet them head on with the ammo God provides.  So be victorious as you navigate your way through holy Lent.

       Remember to mark your calendar and commit to joining your fellow pilgrims on March 20, Thursday evening at 7 PM, when Bishop Bambera will preside at the Solemn Vespers and Benediction in St. John’s Church. In this Jubilee year a plenary indulgence is acquired by visiting the Church, praying for the Pope, making a good confession and receiving Holy Communion with in an eight-day period. Hope to see you there.

With Blessings,

Father Langan

Reminder- Lenten Pizza Sales begin this week (3/7) and will run each Friday in Lent through 4/11. Pizzas can be purchased at St. Mary’s Basement beginning at 11:30 AM and in front of St. Mary’s Church after 3:00 PM until approximately 5:30 PM (or until sold out). If you wish to pre-order your pizza, please see the bulletin for details.

7:25AM and 12:05PM – St. Mary Magdalen

4:00PM (Distribution of Ashes Only) – St. Mary Magdalen

5:00PM – St. Joseph, Rileyville

6:00PM-St. Bernard, Beach Lake

Stations of the Cross (Fridays during Lent)

11:20AM St. Mary Magdalen

5:00PM St. Joseph, Rileyville

6:00PM St. Bernard, Beach Lake

7:00PM St. Mary Magdalen

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

     On Wednesday we enter into the penitential season of Lent.  For the next 40 days we prepare ourselves for the great and glorious 50 days of Easter.  Death and Resurrection are the bookends of these days. During Lent we are encouraged to die to the lower, sinful, self-centered aspects of our lives so that we may receive the saving graces won for us by our Savior Jesus Christ.    Our preparations thus begin by imitating Him.

      Just as our Lord entered the desert after His Baptism by John in the Jordan, so too do we enter into a mindset of detachment and re-focus on what really matters in this life.  Our Lord, of course, was sinless, but we are not.  Lent affords us the opportunity by the disciplines of fasting, more ardent prayer, and almsgiving to rid ourselves of earthly distractions.   Lent then and should become a wonderful time of purification, a lightening of the load of sin. 

   The ashes that will be imposed on our foreheads this week are a commitment to Christ that we will indeed strive to live better lives.  Whose to gain by this?  Only ourselves and the world at large.  That is why Holy Mother Church provides us with this roadmap of spiritual perfection because God only wants the best for us.  So stay on the path of our Lenten journey and be prepared to enjoy the refreshment and exaltation that awaits on Easter.

    And especially pray for those who will be entering into full Communion with us at the Easter vigil as we accompany them on the Way.

With Blessings,

Father Langan

Dear Brothers and Sisters in  Christ,

Thus far it has been a brutal  winter and unfortunately I have to cancel twice the 9 o’clock  Mass at St. Joseph. Such is life  in NEPA. I just think about how  beautiful it is in the other three seasons and what a  blessing it is to live here. At the same time we grieve for those many people in California and down south  who experience such weather-related trauma. May God watch over them and through our prayers and contributions ease their pain and loss. We pray for the people who have lost their lives.

In the Gospel today our Lord gives a tough talk about forgiveness and judgement. Sometimes we mistaken ly think that all judgement is contrary to the will of God. Not so. We certainly are required to point out  evil when we see it and call those who perpetrate it  to conversion. We are not condemning the person, but we surely must recognize and condemn the evil committed. If not, we may be complicit in wrong behavior. This, of course, requires both fortitude, courage and prudence on our part. That is a fraternal responsibility on our part and through prayer we ask God for the ability to correct with calmness, com passion and mercy those who are jeopardizing their  immortal souls. Do all things with love even if we are fuming on the inside. As difficult as it may be, persevere in bringing the mercy of God to those most in  need. 

This week our parish has received a great honor. St.  John the Evangelist Parish has been chosen by Bishop Bambera to be one of the eight pilgrimage sites  throughout the Diocese in this Jubilee Year. Our  doors are open for anyone seeking the indulgences  granted by Pope Francis to those who travel to and  visit our churches. We are presently awaiting further  information regarding this great honor and as it will  be received it will be published in the bulletin. Deo  gratias! 

With Blessings, 

Father Langan

The 10:30 Mass will be celebrated at St. Mary Magdalen Church.

The Mass at St. Joseph’s, Rileyville has been cancelled.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

     Today we hear St. Luke’s version of the Beatitudes.  We are more familiar with the Eight Beatitudes from St Matthew, which clearly lay out for us the moral code of Christian living.  St. Luke’s are a bit more circumspect.  Nonetheless both versions provide us with the compass we need to navigate the turbulent waters of life and keep us focused on where we are headed, namely the kingdom of God.

     It is necessary of course to keep in mind that the ascent to and the entrance into the Kingdom of God is not far off and unattainable until our departure from this earth.  As Our Lord reminds us as He had begun His ministry, “the Kingdom of God is at hand.”   So how do we affect the Kingdom here and now?  Live the Commandments and the Beatitudes! Easy to say, but a challenge to do.

That, of course, is where grace comes in and that grace is always and readily available to us through the Sacraments of the Church.  Our Savior never expects us to accomplish the moral life and the building up of His Kingdom on our own.  It is the grace of the Sacraments that strengthens us to do the work at hand.  The Sacraments are always augmented by prayer, meditation and catechesis.  The catechesis or instructional component is also readily available to us as we read the Sacred Scriptures and the Catechism of the Church, which bears the Sacred Tradition as passed down to us from the Apostles and affirmed and explained through the Magisterium of the Church.

      In order to expand our Faith and intellect an excellent resource is FORMED.  We have for the past several years carried an annual subscription for our parishioners in order to grow more deeply connected to the Faith. Regularly in our bulletin we inform you how to access and hopefully utilize this important source for formation.  In recent years we see that it does not receive the attention that it deserves.  Please consider making FORMED a par of your spiritual growth especially as we begin preparing for the Holy Season of Lent

With Blessings,

Father Langan

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

       With our commemoration of the Baptism of Christ we bring our Christmastide celebrations to a close and begin Ordinary (or counted) Time for eight weeks.  Then Lent will be upon us.  Happily, this year Easter is later and so we have time to catch our breath before we begin the disciplines of Lent.  Just because we take down our trees and put away lights and ornaments doesn’t mean we pack away Christmas for another year.  Rather we continue to mull over the graciousness of God’s gifts to us and grow daily in appreciation of His Presence in our lives.

     Look at the graciousness the Lord offers in today’s Gospel, the first of His many signs/miracles.  Surely our Lord is not an advocate of inebriation but He does provide a copious amount of wine so that a young new couple does not suffer embarrassment. And we hope that the celebrators were moderate in their consumption, but there is indeed more to the story here. It is a reminder to us that God lavishes His goodness upon us.  It is only an ungrateful heart that fails to recognize this truth.  Unceasingly we raise our thanks to God because ultimately He knows what is best for us and too often we tell Him what we think is best for us.  Sometimes this could be to our own detriment and we do not even realize it.  Perhaps one of the best prayers we could say is simply: “whatever You want Lord”  That brief expression could be very easy or extremely difficult and that is the crux of our spiritual lives.  Why?  Because of the consequences it brings and are we ready for the Lord’s response?

    In the next several weeks we will be hearing from the Knights of Columbus  through this message.  These men accomplish a great deal of good for our parish and community and yet they are very reluctant to “toot their horn”.  I have asked them to take this opportunity to do so in order that more men and families understand what they are all about.  Kindly need their message and hopefully more men in our parish will come to inquire and find their place amongst this rank of good men.

With Blessings,

Father Langan

Dear Brothers and Sisters in  Christ, 

We have come to the glorious feast of the Epiphany wherein The God-man, Jesus Christ our Lord reveals Himself to all  the nations of the world. The Magi, who are known to us as  Balthazar, Melchior and Gaspar,  come from the far corners of  

the earth representing all the various peoples on this  planet. Christ comes for all but unfortunately many  still do not recognize Him. 

We sang the beautiful Advent hymn, “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” frequently during Advent, but now  is the time for the world to come, to come to Him.  What star may they follow to lead them to their Savior? Stars are objects that shine brightly, especially in  the night sky. We cringe on dark, lightless and dreary  nights, but when there is a panoply of stars our spirits  are lifted. Many people are in the dark and dreary.  Maybe you can be the star they need to steer them  in the right direction. Anyone making that effort to  come to Christ is rightfully a pilgrim. Pilgrims are all  at different stages on their journey, but always they  need the encouragement necessary to stay on the  right path and keep on going even when the going is  difficult. 

The Magi knew this only too well. Nonetheless,  they pursued, perdured and found the treasure that  satisfied their longing. They also brought prophetic  gifts indicating Who this newborn King was. Gold for  royalty, Frankincense for Divinity, and Myrrh for One  Who would die like the rest of us in order to conquer death itself. 

Speaking of gifts, I wish to express my heartfelt  thanks to all of you who have been so very kind and  generous in your personal gifts to me, your lovely  cards and especially for the many Masses and the Spiritual Bouquet.  

We all are grateful to those who gave so much of  their time and talent to make our Christmas celebration beautiful and uplifting once again, our choirs,  both adult and children, instrumentalists (have you  noticed the new saxophonist?); our decorators; our  custodial staff who attack the snow immediately; our  office staff and anyone else who out of love for God  and parish made this a most joyful season. 

 A Blessed Epiphany, 

   Father Langan

The Mass Schedule for the Solemnity of Mary is as follows:

4:00 (vigil)                St. Bernard

5:30 (vigil)                St. Mary Magdalen

7:30 (Wed)               St. Mary Magdalen

9:00                            St. Joseph

10:30                         St. John the Evangelist