Dear Parishioners and Friends:

When our country was young back in the nineteenth century life was hard. Even ordinary household chores were labor intensive.  Just to bring water into the house was work.  Many worked long hours six days a week. Time for leisure and relaxation was treasured.  There was little time for frivolity.  A log cabin, built by hand, was considered a blessing.   In this climate of hard work and often early death our Catholic people clung to their Faith.  Nevertheless, just as it was hard to keep the hearth aflame for warmth and nourishment, the light of the Faith of Our Fathers required fuel to keep it burning brightly. Therefore, missionaries speaking many languages went from town to town to keep the Faith strong.

In my private library I have copies of the sermons they preached.   In California we have the texts of the morality plays memorized and handed down from one generation to the next. Beautiful music in harmony brought joy to countless souls in the mission settlements.  What was emphasized?  There was little time. It had to be kept simple, yet profound.  What did these pioneer priests arriving on horseback preach?    They preached the Apostles’ Creed, the Seven Sacraments, the Ten Commandments, and the Life of Prayer.   These are the four pillars of Catholic instruction, handed down to us from the Church’s early centuries. This was the layout of the Catechism of the Council of Trent and beginning in the late nineteenth century in the United States the simple Baltimore Catechism. These four pillars of catechesis are now beautifully presented in the official Catechism of the Catholic Church for our prayerful study. “This is our Faith.  This is the faith of the Church.  We are proud to profess it, in Jesus Christ our Lord (Rite of Baptism).”

In our trying times we must remain steadfast in our faith.  I have always liked the talk given by Fr. Flanagan to his boys in the movie “Men of Boys Town” (1941):

“You will face a world that is not easy. The coddled, the weak, the doubting will fall. But the strong will survive. And great will be the honor they shall win. You must also know that out of the bitterest battle, the sweetest victory is won. The problems you will meet are tasks for giants. But the time that awaits you is the time when giants will walk again in the land.  BE STAUNCH, KEEP THE FAITH, AND YOU WILL WALK AMONG THE GIANTS.”   

God bless you!  Mary love you!

Yours in the Immaculate Heart of Mary,

Fr. Mark G. Mazza, Pastor