Cathedral Parish of Saint Patrick

This Weekend in Our Parish (January 30-31, 2021) - In anticipation of the feast of St Blase (Feb 3), throats will be blessed at the conclusion of the intercessions of each Mass this weekend. Due to COVID restrictions, this will happen as a group blessing without individual blessing with candles. ~SATURDAY~... - Parish Office 10am-2pm - 4 pm Confessions near Baptistery (Fr Brommer) - 5:30 pm Holy Mass (Fr Brommer) ~SUNDAY~ - Parish Office open 8:30am-12:15pm - Holy Mass: 7:30 am (Fr Snyder), 9:30 am (Fr Brommer), 12:15 pm (Fr Brommer) - 9:30 am Holy Mass livestream: https://youtu.be/B2YO9ZpWqBc - 1:30 pm Baptism Fr Snyder's Meditation January 30 Saturday of the Third Week in OT All throughout his gospel, Saint Mark is intent on showing the power that Jesus, Son of God, has over the forces of evil, sin and nature. That power is evident in today’s gospel account of Jesus calming the storm at sea (4:35-41) We are told that after being awakened by the disciples in the midst of the storm, He rebuked the wind and said to the sea, ’Quiet! Be stilled!’ Then he said to his disciples: Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith? The disciples wondered: Who is this whom even the wind and sea obey? How could they wonder? Had they not been praying the Psalms all their lives, and read in Psalm 77 Your ways, O God, are holy, what god is as great as our God? You are the God who works wonders, you showed your power among the peoplesThe waters say you, O God, the waters saw you and trembled. The manifestation of God’s power over the forces of nature throughout salvation history are personified in the person of Jesus. It will take until the moment of his death on the cross that Jesus’ identity as the God of Power is realized, when the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, and the words of the centurion confessed: Truly this man was the Son of God. (Mark 15:39)

Today in Our Parish (Friday, January 29, 2021) - Parish Office open until 1 pm - 12 Noon Holy Mass with livestream: https://youtu.be/u_mxSQ7Mjnc - 12:30 pm Confessions near Baptistery (Fr Brommer)... Fr Snyder's Meditation Novelist John Gardner said that there are only two stories to be told: A man went on a journey, and a stranger came to town. Today’s first reading, the story of David and Bathsheba suggests a third story: A man stayed home. While his army went on campaign against the Ammonites, David remained in Jerusalem, where his roving eyes and lustful heart led him into an affair with Bathsheba, wife of his general Uriah. After learning that Bathsheba was carrying his child, he arranged for Uriah to be placed at the head of the battle, where he was surely to be killed. When confronted by Nathan the prophet about his deed, a story we will read tomorrow, David acknowledges his guilt. Psalm 51, our Responsorial today, is titled A psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came to him after his affair with Bathsheba. David’s sin, his tragic flaw, could not repress God’s plan for the salvation of his people. From the union of David and Bathsheba was born Solomon, praised by Jesus for his wisdom (Luke 11:31) We can only bow and proclaim the words of Saint Paul: Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! (Romans 11:33)

Today in Our Parish (Thursday, January 28, 2021) - Parish Office open until 4 pm - 12 Noon Holy Mass with livestream: https://youtu.be/TnMRTkQieDo - 12:30 PM Confessions near Baptistery (Fr Snyder)... Fr Snyder's Meditation In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells his disciples: Is a lamp brought into be placed under a bushel basket, or under a bed, and not to be placed on a lampstand? (Mk4:21) The lamp burning brightly for us today is , St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), priest and Doctor of the Church. He is, arguably, next to St Paul, the most influential theologian in the history of the church. He was able to employ the wisdom and principles of Greek philosophy, in particular the teachings of Aristotle, in service to the development of his theology. Aquinas spent much of his career teaching at the University of Paris, where he engaged in dialogue with scholars of all faiths and philosophical leanings. He believed that there was within each person a search for truth, but that truth needed to be enlightened by divine revelation, by grace. His respectful dialogue enhanced his own theological thinking, and also helped him to ground his teaching in the truth of what was revealed, not by only by human reason, but by God. How we need that honest, respectful dialogue in all aspects of our modern world. Monika Hellwig, long-time professor of theology at Georgetown said this: In my journey as a Catholic scholar, what have I really learned? First of all, that we cannot keep the Holy Spirit out of the church, no matter how much we try to domesticate the whole enterprise. Secondly, that the church is wiser and more faithful when it listens discerningly to many voices, even those from outside its own boundaries. (Give us this Day, 9/30/20) I would add: we have nothing to fear from respectful dialogue with others, no matter how radical or disordered we might judge their reasoning to be. When we are grounded in the truth that is Jesus, we will always live in the light of his grace.

Today in Our Parish (Wednesday, January 27, 2021) - Parish Office open until 1 pm - 12 Noon Holy Mass with livestream: https://youtu.be/PvJrrvWlUzk - 6:30 pm Adult Sunday School with Fr Brommer - Latin in the Church (Zoom meeting)... Fr Snyder's Meditation Today, Jesus explains the Parable of the Sower and the Seed (Mark 4:1-20) to his Apostles and his closest disciples. He does so after expressing some frustration with their inability to understand. Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand any of the parables. The key to understanding the stories of Jesus is embracing the Word of God. The seed is the word of God, he tells them. Just as the farmer sows the seed with great abandon, so too, the Word of God is spoken for all with equal generosity. As many times as we hear the parable, we are challenged to ask how we will receive the Word of God. Will I be inattentive and allow the Word to be taken away alike the birds of the field who ate it up? Will I be rocky ground, hard of heart, not allowing the Word to be planted deep within my heart? Will I so clutter my life with distractions that I allow the Word of God to be choked by harmful things? How appropriate are the words we pray silently before hearing the Gospel as we make the sign of the cross on our foreheads, on our lips, and on our hearts. May your Word, O Lord, be ever on my mind; may it echo forth from the words of my mouth; on my lips; may it find a home within the deepest recesses of my heart.