Burlington, Vermont
On May 7 members of the Essex Catholic Community participated in another successful “Serve our Neighbor Day” with more 90 volunteers helping their neighbors with spring chores in the name of Jesus. The day began with a prayer service with special petitions for the people of Ukraine. Thanks go to John McMahon and Emma Goff, religious education ministers for organizing the day.
With more than 125 volunteers participating, the Essex Catholic Community was involved in the biannual “Serve Our Neighbor Day” on Oct. 23.
Organized by John McMahon and Emma Goff, faith formation directors, the day was a success with more than 16 projects accomplished.
After meeting for prayer and reflection on Christ’s call to serve those in need, teams went to local assignments to rake leaves, wash windows, organizing garages, clean gutters etc.
Helping those unable to prepare their homes and yards for the change of seasons and visiting with those who they helped, they went out to spread the Good News by their actions.
The work was done “in the name of Jesus” so the experience was a spiritual one.
The day, enjoyed by all, ended with prayer and a cook out.
According to Edmundite Father Charlie Ranges, pastor of the Essex Catholic Community, “Serve our Neighbor Day” for Holy Family-St. Lawrence and St. Pius X parishes has a long tradition. A member of the Society of St. Edmund, he believes that the day is in the Edmundite tradition, the community committed to outreach and service.
“Entertaining Angels: The Dorothy Day Story,” a movie night and panel discussion, will take place Oct. 28, at 6:15 p.m. at St. John Vianney Church, 160 Hinesburg Road, South Burlington.
The movie will be followed by a panel discussion; popcorn and cold beverages will be available.
Among the panelists scheduled are Patrick Leduc of the South Burlington Food Shelf; Laurie Gagne, professor emeritus at St Michael’s College in Colchester; Virginia Finn/Kevin Pounds of ANEW Place in Burlington; and Ellen Kane, editor of Vermont Catholic magazine.
Panelists will be given the opportunity to speak about their work and/or their area of expertise.
There will be prepared questions geared toward different aspects of Dorothy Day’s mission: faith, journalism, care for the poor and nonviolence.
Following the prepared questions, questions from the audience will be answered.
“When it comes to Catholic social teaching in the United States, I can think of no better representative than Dorothy Day,” said Connie Cooney McDonald, administrative assistant for outreach and evangelization at St. John Vianney Church.
As part of the Catholic Worker Movement, Servant of God Day, a social activist, co-founded The Catholic Worker newspaper in 1933. The Church has opened the cause for her possible canonization.
The “Entertaining Angels: The Dorothy Day Story” event at St. John Vianney Parish, is the culmination of a 3-part film series. In August “Just Mercy” was screened with a panel discussion; in September “Pope Francis: A Man of His Word” was shown with panel discussion.
“We hope to repeat the series annually each fall with different films,” McDonald said.
“The response has been very positive. Even though we are in the midst of a pandemic, we’ve had a great turnout with roughly 40 people at the August movie and about 30 people at the September screening,” she added.
For more information, email SJVGoodNews@gmail.com or call 802-864-4166 ext. 204.
Agnes Lussier of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Charlotte understands when people say they feel closer to God when they are at the top of a mountain.
She attended the Sermon on the Mount on nearby Mount Philo, a Mass for the August Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. “It’s so special and so peaceful,” she said of the annual event atop the 968-foot mountain with views of the Lake Champlain Valley and New York’s Adirondack Mountains. “I like to be in the beauty of nature.”
Lussier was one of more than 50 people gathered near the rustic, 1930s lodge for the Mass celebrated by the Our Lady of Mount Carmel pastor, Edmundite Father David Cray.
In his own “sermon on the mount,” he spoke of Mary and the doctrine of her assumption into heaven — the bodily taking up of her into Heaven at the end of her earthly life. Because she was “full of grace,” there was no room for sin so she had no original sin. “If sin is the cause of death coming into the world, this woman with no sin could not die. … She was taken to heaven, body and soul.”
“We know we have her as an intercessor,” Father Cray said. “She is a sign of hope.”
The Sermon on the Mount has been a tradition at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church for nearly 20 years. “High places suggest closeness to heaven,” the pastor said before Mass began. “But I don’t believe I’m closer to heaven because I’m on top of Mount Philo,” he added with a laugh.
Noting the many religious references to mountains — like Mount Carmel, Mont St. Michel, Mount Tabor and Mount Sinai — he said many are seen as holy places, but “God is as close to us at the base as he is up here.”
But there was no denying it was easy to put oneself into God’s presence during the Sermon on the Mount with hymns accompanied by a violinist, a cool breeze, the setting sun, the gentle sound of crickets and the fluttering-by of butterflies.
“This is one of the nicest nights,” Father Cray said.
The Mass was followed by a potluck supper.
—Originally published in the Fall 2019 issue of Vermont Catholic magazine.
“Important things happen on a mountain,” said Edmunite Father David Cray.
Though noting some of the mountains of Scripture — Tabor, Zion and Ararat — the pastor of St. Jude Parish in Hinesburg and Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Charlotte, was describing the experience of the annual “Sermon on the Mount” on the eve of the Feast of the Assumption.
Father Cray was celebrant for Mass on Mount Philo, Aug. 14, a parish celebration of this Marian feast that has taken place annually for almost two decades; Father Cray has been celebrant for this Mass every year since 2004.
“There is a sense of feeling close to God on the mountain,” he said.
Eileen Curtis, chair of the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Faith in Action Committee and parish council member, noted that the event draws an average crowd of 80 to 120 people and is followed by a potluck dinner. “It is a phenomenal evening.”
Tricia Sulva, an Our Lady of Mount Carmel catechist, youth ministry coordinator and member of the parish council, agreed. “The experience is spiritually moving, especially on this lovely piece of Earth that God created.”
During Mass, members of the congregation look out across sweeping vistas of the valleys, Lake Champlain and the Adirondack Mountains. One year, a strong updraft brought hawks swooping up the mountainside behind Father Cray’s back. Another year, a hot air balloon floated by. This year, the pastor chuckled, two chipmunks running playfully nearby stopped and sat perfectly still when the homily began, as if listening to his preaching. When he was done, they turned and ran off into the trees.
Father Cray, who was recently elected superior general of the Society of St. Edmund, reflected on the value of such a celebration during a time when so many people no longer attend Mass on holy days of obligation.
“A special observance like this provides an opportunity for those who might not otherwise go to Mass to come and learn,” he said, noting that he always reads an excerpt from Munificentissimus Deus, the 1950 Apostolic Constitution of Pope Pius XII defining the dogma of the Assumption.
Sulva, who has participated in the celebration yearly, said the Mass and fellowship afterward are experiences of evangelization, “particularly appropriate for a holy day honoring Mary.”
As a catechist, Sulva looks for unique ways to teach students about the faith and makes connections between a Mass honoring Mary on Mount Philo and Mount Carmel, a coastal mountain range in Northern Israel and home of the Carmelite Order and monastery dedicated to Mary.
She shared an “evangelizing moment” from the Aug. 14 event when she and her daughter, who had invited both Catholic and non-Catholic friends to share the evening, ran into people they knew from town. When asked by their friends why they were there, she said she was glad to be able share about the Sermon on the Mount celebration.
It’s important, said Sulva, to let others know, “We are here to celebrate our faith. This is what our faith looks like, this is what we do for our faith, and we do it out of love for God and as a community.”
St. Robert Bellarmine must have been doing something right. Although one of the most brilliant and lauded Roman Catholic theologians of his day, whose opinion was sought by many, he nonetheless managed to kindle the ire of kings and popes alike. The process for his canonization was begun in 1627; however, politics intervened, and it wasn’t until 1930 that he was finally declared a saint by Pope Pius XI. The following year he was also declared a Doctor of the Church.
Robert Bellarmine was born in the Tuscan town of Montepulciano in 1542 and was the third of 10 children whose mother, Cinzia Cervini, was a niece of Pope Marcellus II. Raised during the time of the Reformation in a household dedicated to Catholic piety, it came as no surprise that he became an outstanding scholar of both Church history and scripture. Educated by the Jesuits, whose order had received papal approval a mere two years before he was born, Bellarmine began to write. His work was characterized by a spirit of moderation and rationality in an age otherwise embroiled in bitter controversy.
Although his father had hoped he would use his intellectual gifts to benefit the family’s fortunes, it was his mother’s wishes that prevailed. Bellarmine joined the Jesuit Order in 1560 and pursued studies in philosophy and theology. At the end of his training, his focus turned to an emphasis on refuting what he saw as the errors of Protestantism. Ordained in Belgium in 1570, he became the first Jesuit to teach there at the University of Louvain. In 1576, at the invitation of Pope Gregory XIII, he began to teach polemical theology at the new Roman College (later the Gregorian University).
Over the next 11 years, he would hold several different positions in the Church, including being made a cardinal in 1599. But his most important achievement was a monumental work entitled “Disputations on the Controversies,” which was a three-volume defense of the Catholic faith. His writing was directly concerned with the political, religious and social issues of his time, and it was often these opinions that got him into trouble. He declared, for instance, that the theory of the Divine Right of Kings was essentially indefensible, and he admonished his friend, Galileo, not to put forward his theory that the Earth revolved around the sun, known today as the Copernican theory. Even saints can make mistakes.
Despite his elevated positions in the Church, he himself remained a very austere individual. Though he occupied apartments in the Vatican, he died essentially penniless, having given almost all of his money to the poor. In one situation, he pulled down the beautiful hangings in his room to clothe the needy, remarking that “the walls won’t catch cold.” At another time, he ransomed a soldier who had deserted from the army. Although frugal with his own life, he always cared for other’s needs.
He died in 1621. The patron of catechists, his feast day is celebrated on Sept. 17.
Sources for this article include:
catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=101
catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-robert-bellarmine-366
franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-robert-bellarmine/
ignatianspirituality.com/ignatian-voices/16th-and-17th-century-ignatian-voices/st-robert-bellarmine-sj/
Schreck, Alan. “Catholic Church History from A to Z.” Michigan: Servant Publications, 2002.