Dear Parishioners, Usquequo, Domine, usquequo? How long, O Lord, how long? This phrase appears very often in the Sacred Scriptures. It’ s a question on almost everyone’ s lips these days. If you don’t mind, for those who did not catch last Sunday’ s Live Stream Mass, I’d like to include the beginning my sermon. I think it ’ s important, considering our present day “living” experience. And NO, it is NOT the “new normal.” Almost 19 years ago, the United States changed, quite radically, after the event known as “9/11.” Thereafter, a life of security clearances, closed circuit cameras, sensors, “searches” of all kinds, from cursory to down-right embarrassing, restrictions, curfews, x-ray cameras and, now, lockdowns. 9/11 ushered in the Department of Homeland Security and the Homeland Security Advisory System, with its various threat levels. Many of you, participating in this Mass from home, especially those under the age of 18 or so, probably remember very little of this. But for much of the nation, reports from these organizations served as a reminder of the fear that gripped the American people in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. Previous generations can remember similar feelings surrounding the attack on Pearl Harbor (1941) and the assassination of President Kennedy (1963) and of Martin Luther King Jr. (1968). In each of these situations, the very bedrock of people’s lives seemed threatened. People in general became more and more concerned about safety, safety, sometimes at all costs, even at the expense of the loss of certain liberties, and gradually, as we are experiencing today, liberties are being constantly eroded, little by little. What many, or even most of us, seem to forget is that the giving up of freedom for the sake of safety has a great cost that is that, ultimately, we will neither be safe nor free. Just look outside. Look at your TVs. Listen to the news – something I refuse to do these days. Ah, but all this may serve for another future sermon. Today, we see another example of fear, but of a very different kind and degree. My letter continues later on in the bulletin. It will be clearly marked. Saint Joseph Catholic Church April 25 nd /26 rd , 2020 A Parish Apostolate of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter Fr. Michael W. Magiera, FSSP, KHS, ChLJ, Pastor 1329 Belleview Avenue Rockdale, IL 60436-2577 Phone: (815) 725-4469 FAX: (815) 714-2078 Father Magiera’s Email: [email protected]Website: www.fsspjoliet.wordpress.com Facebook: St. Joseph Catholic Church – Rockdale, Illinois Elizabeth Kelch, Co-DRE Denise Lonigro, Co-DRE Phone: (815) 729-9149 Phone: (708) 646-3834 Email: [email protected]Email: [email protected]Office/Rectory Hours: Monday through Friday 11:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Transcript
Dear Parishioners,
Usquequo, Domine, usquequo? How long, O Lord, how
long? This phrase appears very often in the Sacred
Scriptures. It’s a question on almost everyone’s lips these days.
If you don’t mind, for those who did not catch last Sunday’s Live
Stream Mass, I’d like to include the beginning my sermon. I think it’s
important, considering our present day “living” experience. And NO, it
is NOT the “new normal.”
Almost 19 years ago, the United States changed, quite radically, after
the event known as “9/11.” Thereafter, a life of security clearances,
closed circuit cameras, sensors, “searches” of all kinds, from cursory to
