My dear parishioners, our nation is like a beautiful cultivated vineyard being abandoned to ruin. Everywhere, violence and predation. Unproductive, tormented citizens. Scorn of our history and cherished institutions. Hatred of religion. Vicious rioters screaming for reparations. A flourishing victim class. Children attacking parents. Ruthless teacher unions abusing families and students. Political elites exploiting immigration to perpetuate their power. Corruption on all sides. Rivers of drugs pour across our borders. Defying competent authority is a national sport. The new and only law for many: anything that can be done should be done. The scourge of drugs, the plague of armed violence, and the holocaust of our unborn are cemented as norms of secular life, an undeniable culture of death. Less obvious are the harvests of wild grapes within the vineyard of the Church. Many Catholics abandoned the faith in which they were raised. Many lay persons assail the Church that they claim to love. Communion Catholics claim to love the Eucharist, claim to know their faith, but are far from God and very far from the Church. The number of Christians are legion who complacently assume that at death, everyone will go to the “light”, without the slightest idea of what the light is. The evangelist John, in writing to the Church, knew that human error and sin arise from hostility to God: "But he who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes. [1Jn 2:11] If “cultural” Christianity is all that’s needed to satisfy the soul’s longing for true religion and communion with God, then very many people in our United States walk in darkness and do not know where they are going. The Word of God employs the analogy of the vineyard to warn God’s people against the folly of hedonism and human pride. People who exploit their cultural and social environment, producing nothing, are like wild vines which disappoint a vineyard’s owner. They will be plowed under and forgotten by God the Vine Grower. God is calling our nation and its Christian people to reform before unending night overtakes everyone. The Church is God’s cultivated vineyard. “I am the vine,” says Jesus Christ, “you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” [Jn 15:5] To bear fruit means your words and deeds are born of a vibrant Christian faith nourished by the teachings of Christ the True Vine and his Church. To follow Jesus, you must first experience the inexpressible holiness of the living God and, second, accept his personal sovereignty over your life. You cannot do this if you keep standing on your feet. You must kneel in his temple, humbly bow your head, and whisper, You are God. I am not. This experience of God’s inexpressible holiness is called the “fear of the Lord”. [Psa 19:7-9] Truth and goodness are proven by authentic love, that is to say, our unshakeable attachment to Christ the True Vine and our participation in the abundant harvest of human souls. The meaning of love far exceeds the beauty of words. Love is infinitely more important than talk. It is not enough merely to offer love. One must give love selflessly, even in the most difficult circumstances. Nor is it enough simply to accept love, one must receive it as the highest gift, even when bestowed by the humblest person or extolled by the glorious Church. Love is attractive to others when they see how God’s Word has taken root in “good soil” and produced much fruit. “Hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold,” says the Lord. [Mk 4:20] For what purpose? That the Church and her members may be prepared to accomplish a mighty work in Christ, the great harvest of souls. Sincerely in Christ. Sincerely in the hearts of Jesus and Mary. Your pastor, Reverend Richard Barker. +++
My dear parishioners, our nation is like a beautiful cultivated vineyard being abandoned to ruin. Everywhere, violence and predation. Unproductive, tormented citizens. Scorn of our history and cherished institutions. Hatred of religion. Vicious rioters screaming for reparations. A flourishing victim class. Children attacking parents. Ruthless teacher unions abusing families and students. Political elites exploiting immigration to perpetuate their power. Corruption on all sides.