Saint Patrick Roman Catholic Church in York Pennsylvania is rich in history dating back to 1776. The parish continues to serve faithfully those in the York Area.
Encountering Christ in our Parish with Sr. Geralyn
Schmidt - Please sign-up and let us know you will be joining us for Lunch.
Spend time together and with Jesus at Mass and Adoration.
Sister Geralyn is a powerful, wonderful speaker. Her first talk is on the Eucharist. You will
not be disappointed! Hope to see you
there!
Our readings for this particular Sunday focus on
marriage. The topic of marriage is an
important topic for us to focus on this weekend for two reasons...the first as
we speak they are gathering in Rome for the synod on the family and secondly
because the first Sunday of October is set aside as “Respect Life Sunday.”
The topic of marriage has been a hot button issue in the
last few months. There are many who
desire to rewrite the definition of marriage…but the truth is no one has the
authority to rewrite God’s definition of marriage. Let’s begin from the beginning as we heard in
the book of Genesis and in the Gospel of Mark, “God created them male and
female.” In the first reading it says
God cast a deep sleep over the man then “he took out one of his ribs and closed
up its place with flesh. The LORD God
then built up into a woman the rib that he had taken from the man.” This imagery from Genesis is significant
because in taking the rib from the man in creating woman highlights distinction
yet equal dignity. “God made them male
and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be
joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So they are no longer
two but one flesh.” God had a plan; he
created man and woman with equal dignity yet distinct for communion a communion
that has the power to bring forth both physical and spiritual life.
In today’s Gospel of Mark we have another
component…children. A sacramental
marriage is unitive and procreative.
From the unity of husband and wife, comes forth life. A challenge we face is that more and more
people have accepted the culture of death…embracing the sin of
contraception. The use of contraception
has had a negative effect not just in decline of marriage, but sadly all across
the board including our economy. A
culture that becomes self-absorbed, self-centered will implode. It’s not a question of if; it’s a question of
when? How did our culture become this
way…the answer is quite simple, it’s because many of us have bought into and
accepted the lies promulgated by the culture of death.
“Let the children come to me, do not prevent them.” For us as Catholics this line from Mark has a
powerful meaning today…let my children be born!
Let my children have life! Let
them come to me in Sacraments of the Church!
Do not prevent them! Please allow
me to say something about the last statement “let them come to me in the
Sacraments of the Church,” it amazes me when I go over to school or Religious
Education and directly ask the question, how many of you were at Mass this
Sunday…their response “Father we didn’t go to Mass.” Now I know I am speaking to the choir, but I
need the choir to start reaching out their kids and grandkids inviting them to
come to Church. Younger children
recognize the importance of coming to Church, and many of them will say “Father
I wanted to come to Church but my parents didn’t take me.” I always encourage children to ask their
parents to take them to Mass and I tell them if they ask every Saturday Evening
or Sunday they are without sin. What I
don’t say is that the greater sin falls on the parents who neglect their God
given responsibility. “Let the children
come to me, do not prevent them.”
For a marriage to be truly successful it must be open to
life at every moment. Each time a husband and wife coming together in unity it brings
forth life whether it is physical, spiritual, or God willing both. So when husbands and wives pull away from
full communion closing the doors of our hearts to the possibility of life and
pull away from God…when the storms of life come they will be swallowed up by
the waves.
The truth is the truth.
God’s plan cannot be changed in order to accommodate what we think it
should be. As Catholics we are called to
accept it in faith and in doing so we will find greater things lie ahead of
us. There is something I want to say
about the media reports of our Holy Father meeting with the Kentucky clerk we
denied married licenses to those who live lives contrary to God’s definition of
marriage. It must be added that the Holy
Father met with one such couple. Our
Holy Father is a true shepherd who desires to meet with everyone no matter what
their state of life might be. There is
no scandal here…for the Lord Himself met with all people especially those
trapped in sin. A parent is called to
love their child unconditionally as our Lord loves us the same way. Moving ahead this week may we pray for the
courage and strength to promote the dignity of every human person from the
moment of conception to natural death!
I will conclude by praying the official prayer for the world
meeting of families…
God and Father of us
all, in Jesus, your Son and our Savior, you have made us your sons and
daughters in the family of the Church. May your grace and love help our families in
every part of the world be united to one another in fidelity to the
Gospel. May the example of the Holy
Family, with the aid of your Holy Spirit, guide all families, especially those
most troubled, to be homes of communion and prayer and to always seek your
truth and live in your love. Through
Christ our Lord, Amen. Jesus, Mary and
Joseph, pray for us!
Key points from
Father Carroll’s homily this morning
-Each one of us
has a Guardian Angel
-Our Guardian
Angels are always with us all throughout our lives.
In honor of the
Guardian Angels we pray
Angel of God,
my guardian dear,
To whom God's love
commits me here,
Ever this day,
be at my side,
To light and guard,
Rule and guide.Amen.
Last
point:Angels are REAL!!!Children often have an ability and sense to
see their guardian angels when they are younger.Often times our guardian angel may send us a
sign to remind us that they are with us on our journey.Pray to your Guardian Angel!
