17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Dear Parishioners,

     COVID numbers are rising again.  This is a troubling thing. Hospitalization and death are also climbing. It is no coincidence that the numbers are going up in places that have low inoculation rates.

     Vaccinations are very effective. Sometimes it is asked if they are morally acceptable? The Catholic Church would say the answer is unequivocally yes. Yes, there are some bishops who might cast dispersions on the church’s acceptance of vaccines, but they are a small minority. Sometimes even bishops can have weird opinions about things believe it or not. There is no direct link between the development of vaccines and embryonic stem cell research.  The magisterium of the Catholic Church has spoken clearly about this.

     It is sad that in our country where anyone can walk into a pharmacy and get a free shot, people are choosing not to do so.  Whereas, in a place like Cuba or in many African countries people who would love to have an inoculation and cannot obtain one because of logistics and poverty.

     I personally would hate to go back to locking things down, not having Mass and being socially distant from one another.  The time has come to set politics aside and look out for each other.  As a faith leader I would encourage everyone to get a COVID-19 vaccination as soon as you can unless you have some overriding health concern.

     May Our Lady and All the Angels and Saints watch over you this week.

Fr. Mark