Here is Bishop Lucia’s letter and timeline for Safe Environment Training.
Church
Dear Parish Family,
While it is true that the celebration of the Eucharist is the summit and perfection of the Church and our worship; I was reminded last Saturday night at the St. Patrick’s/St. Joseph’s dinner of the many ways the Church is expressed. First, thank you to all who worked so hard to make the dinner a great success: for those who shopped, prepared and served to those who helped clean up. Thank you to all who came together to enjoy a good meal and a lot of fellowship: for the very young to the ‘not quite so young’, there was a true expression of the Church as the Body of Christ. The more we come together as a family: at our annual picnic, golf outing, Turkey Raffle, coffee and donut hours and the St. Patrick/St. Joseph’s dinner; we deepen our sense of community and enhance our prayer experience as we celebrate the greatest gift of Jesus: His Body and Blood.
God Bless, Fr.Dan
Effective March 1, 2025 and over a 2 and a half year period, the diocese is requiring all adult liturgical ministers to undergo Safe Environment Training. The reason for this is quite simple; our Church has a commitment to safeguarding and caring for all children, youth and vulnerable adults. This week’s bulletin insert is Bishop Lucia’s letter explaining his rationale and the schedule of when this training is to be completed for each category of adult liturgical ministers. We will place in our bulletin and on our website the locations and times of these training sessions so that each one can accommodate the training to their schedule.
Thank you, Fr. Dan
https://syracusediocese.org/safe-environment
(For example: Initial Safe Environment Training,
Tuesday, May 6 @ Holy Family, Syracuse 6 – 8pm)
Spiritual Checkup
Dear Parish Family,
Most of us take time to get our annual physical; dental checkups and cleanings, and eye exams; I thought that this would be an appropriate time to focus on our Spiritual Life,with a Spiritual Check up.
Lent and Advent are the ‘usual’ times that we focus specifically on our Spiritual Lives, but when these are over, the passing of time and the business of life can get in the way of our prayer resolutions and time for our spiritual life.
Some questions for individual consideration:
Do I pray daily: not just when I need or want something, or in a time of crisis, but do I take the time every day to praise God and thank Him for the many gifts and blessings He has given to me?
Do I regularly celebrate the Sacraments: Mass every Sunday and Holy and regular Confession (If I can’t recall the last time I went to Confession, then it has been too long)
Do I use my gifts and talents to help the Parish Family and those less fortunate than I?
Some questions for families:
Do we, as a family, pray together? Say grace before meals? Do my children see me pray, or know that I do pray?
Do we make it a priority to go to Mass together, go to Confession together, pray together before the children, and when we go to bed for the night?
Come to Adoration and/or Benediction as a family?
Have we considered praying the Rosary together as a family?
Maybe read a passage of Scripture daily and discuss it as a family?
Talked together about Mass and the homily?
Some questions about our environment:
Would someone entering my house know that it is a Catholic household?
Do we have a Crucefix prominently displayed?
Pictures of the Sacred Heart and Immaculate Heart?
Statue of our and our children’s patron saint?
Do we own and use a Catholic Bible?
These are just a few suggestions that I offer to help us, our families and our parish stay truly connected to our Catholic faith in the midst of so much turmoil, secularism and anti-religious bias.
God Bless, Fr. Dan
Dear Parish Family,
This Monday, February 3, is the commemoration of St. Blaise, to honor this Saint we will be blessing throats after each Mass this weekend.
Whatever became of sin?
There was a book in the 1970’s entitled: Whatever Became of Sin?; and spoke about a culture that doesn’t acknowledge the truth that sin is real and that individuals are sinners. When Pope Francis was asked immediately after his elevation as Pope to describe himself he said: “I am a sinner.” The fact is that we are all , you and I, are sinners in need of God’s mercy and forgiveness that was obtained for us by the obedience of Jesus Christ in His Passion, Death, and Glorious Resurrection. Sin is not a mistake or a psychological problem: but the choices that we make to ignore what God asks us to do (omission) or to do what we know is wrong (commission). There is nothing that I can do to atone for my sins, nothing that I can do that can expiate my sin, nothing that allows me to deserve forgiveness for my sin. This act of forgiveness is offered freely to me in the great gift of the Sacrament of Confession (also called Penance and/or reconciliation). In the Book of the Prophet Isaiah (1:18 ) it is written: “..though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow though they are red like crimson, they shall become white as wool.” In the first letter of John (1:10) we read “If we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he (God) is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him (God) a liar, and his word is not in us.” So, ask yourself, when was the last time you were honest with yourself and acknowledged that you are a sinner; came, in humility before God in the Sacrament of Confession, confessed your sin and heard the lifegiving, freeing prayer of absolution? Confession is celebrated each Tuesday from 5:30 – 6:30 PM (before Mass, Saturday form 3:30 – 4:00 PM, twice for the “Light is on For you”: once during Advent and again during Lent; and you can make an appointment for confession by calling the Rectory and speaking to me. Jesus is waiting for each of us to turn to Him and receive the gift of forgiveness, redemption and His mercy and love.
God Bless, Fr. Dan
How do I see God?
Dear Parish Family,
From time to time I think that it is good to step back and reflect on my image of God. Do I view God as that innocent baby who was born in Bethlehem? Do I view God as a stern judge, just waiting for me to mess up so that He can punish me? Do I see God as far off, distant and aloof, who I cannot approach unless I am groveling and fearful? None of these are how God has revealed Himself to us. Yes, He was born as an infant, grew in wisdom and grace, suffered, died and rose so that we may be forgiven and experience His Kingdom. Yes He is majestic, all-powerful and all knowing, creator of Heaven and earth. Yes God gives us His grace and His life. Yes God will come again to judge the living and the dead. Yes, God is perfectly just and perfectly merciful. But most importantly and significantly, God has revealed Himself as a loving parent who, at times out of love, must correct His children (as does any good parent.) In fact Jesus reveals God, and uses this term to describe God, more than any other: God is love. This does not mean that God will allow anything, this is not love, it is apathy. It does not mean that God is waiting for us to sin; this would be vindictive. God actively seeks us out, invites us to allow Him to enter into our lives, wants to have a relationship with us and is ready to forgive when we sin. Remember Scripture tells us that : “Though your sins be red as scarlet, I will make them white as snow,” and aging, “A humble, contrite heart, I will not spurn.” We should stop trying to make God into an image that we want, or think that we or others deserve. Rather, we should embrace the gift of our loving God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit who want nothing less for us than to spend Eternity in a loving relationship with God, and our brothers and sisters in faith in His Kingdom.
God Bless, Fr. Dan
The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord
Dear Parish Family,
The feast of the Baptism of the Lord brings an end to the Church’s Liturgical celebration of Christmas and the Christmas season. His being made known to the nations, we now proclaim the beginning of His public ministry. Jesus is proclaimed by the Father to be His ‘beloved Son,’ and the Holy Spirit is evident (in the form of a Dove) as there is a total unity and equality among the Three Divine Persons of the Blessed Trinity. Jesus is acknowledged by John the Baptist as the Lamb of God, the One who has come to take away the sins of the world. Today, Jesus begins His public ministry, the proclamation of the Gospel, the good News of God’s loving plan to bring healing, hope, forgiveness and salvation to all humankind. This will reach its culmination in His Passion, Death, Resurrection, Ascension and outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Today, we also are reminded of our own Baptism, where we received the grace of the forgiveness of original sin, adoption as one of God’s children, Christ’s sibling and a Temple of the Holy Spirit. It’s now our mission to continue the mission of proclaiming the Gospel by the witness of our lives. Offering faith, hope, love and Christ’s redemption to all the world. As we begin this year we should look at and examine how faithful I have been to the wonderful gift of my faith and the graces of my own Baptism.
God Bless, Fr. Dan