Pastor's Notes for August 19

Dear Parishioners,
Welcome to Fr. Chuong Cao, C.Ss.R, who is with us this weekend for our annual Mission appeal on behalf of the Redemptorists. We wish him a warm welcome and stay. Welcome, too, to all the visitors to St. Mathias for the 333 Club!
I forgot to print a congratulations to Pat and Arnie Goblirsch on their 50th anniversary, and happy 60th anniversary this weekend to Francis and RIta Goblirsch. Many more happy years. Congratulations, as well, to Tyson Joseph Vogl, son of Joseph and Alicia who is baptized this Sunday afternoon.
Last week, Archbishop Lori of Baltimore, stated to the Knights of Columbus, “The question to ask is this: Are any of the candidates of either party, or independents, standing for something that is intrinsically evil, evil no matter what the circumstances? If that’s the case, a Catholic, regardless of his party affiliation, shouldn’t be voting for such a person.” It is a good reminder that we examine not just the persons in the race, but their positions, in addition to the platforms of the parties. We must face the truth that simply voting for our 'preferred' party is sometimes voting for an intrinsic evil, too, albeit unintended. There will likely be more bashing of candidates, more mudslinging, but as Catholics, we need to stand for life from conception to natural death (and against those that would support the direct destruction of life through abortion, abortifacients, euthanasia, assisted suicide, or embryonic stem cell research) and stand for traditional family of one man and one woman (and the proper ordering of sexual expression in marriage toward the good of children). Much is in the balance for this election, and we need to start now to learn the issues and vote not in conformity with a particular party, but rather in conformity with the faith. For those that are upset with me for writing this, consider the following: If a politician stated that he was in favor of 'eliminating' all people of a particular race, would you ignore this and ask about the rest of his stances? Would that not be an 'one-issue' disqualification? Why should the unborn, or the ill, or the elderly be any different?
In Christ,
Fr. Todd