Much Ado About Popes & Bishops

Dear Parishioners,

We live in amazing times.  We live amidst a time when the Church undergoes many changes which show the power of the Holy Spirit.  With change comes stress.  But, with change comes a refreshing wind of renewal and power.  

Pope Benedict XVI
Last Monday, the world awoke to the surprising news of Pope Benedict XVI's resignation, his age and health being the reason for his stepping down.  Of course, this sets in motion an ancient ritual that is rarely seen, the election of a new Pope.  Even more rare is the election of a pope after the resignation of a pope.  This has happened only a handful number of times. The last time that happened was with Pope Celestine V in 1294 (719 years ago) who left after only five months in office, and then later amidst more controversy, Pope Gregory XII in 1415 (598 years ago) who resigned in order to end the Western Schism also known as the Avignon Papacy.  The secular world will churn over Benedict's reasons for leaving, but the Pope has spoken about resignation previously, so in another sense, we shouldn't be all too surprised. 

I appreciate Pope Benedict XVI's history of candor.  He has been a good communicator and open to new forms of technology in order to spread the New Evangelization.  He has been a fantastic Pope, especially under such difficult times in the Church and the world.  He has been the leader we needed.  His humility and wisdom in his decision to resign has further made me appreciate him as our wonderful "German shepherd."  His legacy will echo for years to come. Let us pray for his health.  Let us also pray for the coming conclave who will elect the next Roman Pontiff(Pontiff = "bridge-builder") who will help us bridge our lives with Jesus himself.  

Archbishop Vlazny
This past Saturday, Feb. 16th, Archbishop Vlazny came to preside over our Vicariate Rite of Election where our catechumens were officially recognized as “Elect” for baptism at the Easter Vigil.  In addition, our “Candidates” for full communion were recognized and encouraged in their journey towards the Catholic Church.  This celebration marks his last official visit to our parish as our Archbishop.  He will return for our Mass of Confirmation on May 11th at 1 PM, but he will then be officially retired and no longer our Ordinary whom we mention in the Eucharistic Prayers at Mass.  

With each visit of Archbishop Vlazny throughout his tenure, our community has been graced by a chief shepherd who has lifted up our spirits and encouraged our faith.  He has certainly lead us through some difficult times in our Archdiocese.  May God bless him in this next chapter of his life!

Archbishop-Designate Sample
As we prepare for Archbishop Vlazny’s leaving, we will need to begin preparing for welcoming Archbishop Designate Alexander Sample from the Diocese of Marquette.  I am sure his youth (52 yrs. old) and vitality will be a gift he will bring to our Archdiocese.  I am hope-filled that he will be a loving and strong leader for us all.  He certainly has credentials that make him a great bishop.  He’s also a geek too, of which I am proud!  

The Archdiocese is planning a series of Masses of Welcome for our new Archbishop, which will include one in our Vicariate.  All will be invited and we hope to have a public reception following.  The date or location has not yet been determined.  But, we will make sure to let everyone knows when we receive more information.  In the meantime, consider attending his official Installation Mass on April 2nd at the University of Portland’s Chiles Center located in Northwest Portland.  This Mass will be open to the public and all are invited to attend.  Seating will be first come-first served. There will be a public reception at the Chiles Center, immediately following the Mass.

Spring is coming and we are beginning a time of change, and while change may be hard, it is good for us all.  Please pray for our Holy Father Benedict XVI, all our bishops, the College of Cardinals who will elect the next Pontiff, and especially our local bishops' continuing leadership of our faithful here in our Archdiocese.

Blessings,

Fr. William Holtzinger
Pastor

Faith Opportunities at St. Anne's

Dear Parishioners,

There are many moments and programs full of opportunities to grow in your your faith once again.  Here’s just some of the wonderful highlights.

Movie Night
On Friday, Feb. 8th at 5 PM, we will be offering a very popular Disney-Pixar film which is for everyone, especially families.  It has been scheduled at this time so that families can come with their children, bringing their own dinner and a snack to share, and enjoy the company of other parishioners in a movie which portrays a fantastic Christian teaching.  Through two main characters, an old man and a young boy, the two have to face and fight through their fears and sorrows in order to find joy in their lives, in order to reach their dreams, in order to become who they are meant to be.  With the use of thousands of balloons, the old man decides to “float” his house up-up-and-away to a distant place in order to accomplish a life’s dream.  The boy, accidentally was on the porch the moment of the launching of the house, and from there begins the adventure.  Maybe this story is familiar to you, and maybe you know the title of the wonderful film.  Either way, this film captures the Catholic narrative of the Paschal mystery of suffering, death, and resurrection.  Didn’t see it that way the first time around watching it?  Well, come and see it again with new eyes and heart.  Maybe you will be looking “up” more often when difficulties strike.

Disciples on the Journey & Friday’s of Lent
A week from Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, Feb. 13th.  Can you believe that?  It has come so quickly!  That means Easter is also early, in fact Easter Sunday is March 31st this year. During Lent, as has been our custom, everyone is being encouraged to join or create their own Disciples on the Journey small faith sharing group.  These groups are fantastic ways to journey the 40 days of Lent so that, at the end, we will be ready to celebrate the great mystery of Christ’s resurrection.  In addition, we will begin again our simple dinners each Friday followed by Stations of the Cross done by various groups and ministries of the parish.

Vespers & Holy Hour
On Tuesday, February 12th, the day before Ash Wednesday, as part of Archbishop Vlazny’s call to greater attention in prayer to the issues of our day, we will be holding an evening prayer service (a.k.a. vespers) and solemn holy hour of exposition of the Blessed Sacrament here at St. Anne’s in the church.  It will be bilingual (English and Spanish), so all our parishioners can participate in their own language.

Vespers is the other great liturgy of the Church after the Mass.  It is part of what is called, The Liturgy of the Hours.  The purpose of the Liturgy of the Hours is to sanctify the hours the day by taking out special time to pray the psalms, listen to Scripture, and offer our prayers for the whole Church.  It is done by practically all religious and priests throughout the world everyday.

It is from the Liturgy of the Hours that the Rosary came to the fore.  The laity, in ancient time, desired to pray as the monks did, but were not literate or had prayer books.  So, the Rosary arose as a way to pray akin to the monks, but with no need for books.  The Rosary was a set of simple prayers the people could memorize, and grew and developed over time to what we see today.  The Psalms number 150 as do the original Hail Mary’s prayed in a rosary.

Come celebrate Mardi Gras in a different way by joining together in Evening Prayer with Solemn Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament.  The focus will be the Eucharist, life issues, marriage, and religious liberty.  We will supply the booklets needed.  All you need to do is come and pray.  Again, hope to see you there.

Rite of Election
Every year people find themselves on a profound spiritual journey to the Catholic Church.  Our process for helping them is called the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults or RCIA for short.  This year’s group is exceptionally large.  Praise God!  In two short weeks, Archbishop Vlazny will come to St. Anne’s to host an important step for those seeking baptism (Catechumens) and reception into full communion (Candidates).  The event is called the Rite of Election.  All the Vicariate parishes will be bringing their Catechumens and Candidates to St. Anne’s to be recognized by Archbishop Vlazny.  Everyone is invited.  This is not a Mass, but a formal ritual that is certainly full of good news.  The electricity of emotion is in the air whenever we celebrate a Rite of Election.  So, please consider yourself invited to this liturgy on Saturday, February 16th at 10:30 AM at St. Anne’s and witness the Church alive and growing!

Blessings,

Fr. William Holtzinger
Pastor

Year of Faith Challenge

Dear Parishioners,

Happy new year!  I pray that 2013 will bring with it an increase in faith and a renewed sense of mission in the Gospel for each one of you.  It is a time of resolutions and new beginnings.  In that line of thought, I would like to bring forward something special for your prayerful reflection for the new year.

In the forthcoming Catholic Sentinel, Archbishop Vlazny will be offering us a challenge in his personal column.  That challenge begins after the Christmas season and continues until the end of our observance of the Church’s Year of Faith.  Simply put, it is a call to prayer. 

In light of the times, that is the threats to human life, marriage, and religious liberty, the Archbishop desires that we all make personal commitments that will help us have the “spiritual stamina” to be “effective and joyful witnesses of faith, hope, and charity as agents of the new evangelization.”  His strategy has five parts:

1. Daily rosary
2. Monthly Eucharistic holy hours
3. Special Prayers of the Faithful at all Masses
4. Fasting and abstinence on Fridays
5. A second Fortnight for Freedom in the summer.

The reason for such a recipe of prayer is for us all to more deeply encounter our Lord so as to become better witnesses of God’s law of love of our society.  Fundamental Christian morality has been ignored or even outright violated which is serving to unravel some of our society’s most basic covenantal unions,  threaten more innocent life, and threatened our ability to freely practice our faith in its fullness.  The Archbishop will more fully explain these in his forthcoming article.  But, I felt it necessary to pre-empt his letter with this encouragement to learn more and read his article when it is published.

We, as a parish and two missions, will do our best to implement all of these directives and will publish the details of these plans once they are fleshed out amidst our current schedule of ministry activities.  In the meantime, I want you to bring to prayer your own personal preparation for this forthcoming program.  A docile spirit and openness to our Archbishop’s pastoral challenge is a good thing for us all.  May we allow ourselves to be “all-in” for this exercise of faith.

Blessings,

Fr. William Holtzinger

Pastor