Dear Good People of Saint Bernadette,

This weekend, again this year, we are in the middle of the Christian Unity Octave, or the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. It was begun over 100 years ago by Father Paul Wattson after he and his brothers, in an Episcopal Franciscan order, became Catholic, starting the Graymoor Friars of Riverside, New York. Each year a different group gathers (this year, churches in Milwaukee). It prepares an annual prayer service which the World Council of Churches then edits, and the Dicastery (formerly “Pontifical Council”) for Promoting Christian Unity at the Vatican. You may remember that last year we hosted the prayer service with Bishop Burbidge and several local pastors of various Christian denominations.

I wish I could report to you great success in the area of Christian Unity this year, but I cannot. There may be several simple reasons for this.
Probably the most obvious is that everyone is busy. The pandemic damaged many dialogue relationships because of a lack of meetings. Dialogue must be personal: if you do not know with whom you are speaking, there can be no real exchange of giving or receiving. Ecumenism is not the priority – well, it hasn’t been for quite some time, many calling our times an “Ecumenical Winter” – because if you have 30 initiatives on your list, Christian Unity is far enough down the list, you never get to it.

Another reason is dwindling budgets. As church membership declines, so does the financing needed to provide in-person dialogue. This is a reality for all denominations of Christianity, as they focus more on what they need to do to retain membership. Scandals don’t help either, as budgets are shifted away from anything that is not absolutely necessary. Offices and staff dedicated to Christian Unity in all churches across the board have been downsized or eliminated.

Finally, and probably the most frustrating, is that it seems that our churches are drifting farther and farther apart over moral teaching: life issues and the sexuality of the human person have many Christians believing that the Catholic Church is far behind the curve and there is nothing more to say. We are way beyond the ordination of women now.

However, all of these should be catalysts for working harder at maintaining relationships with the baptized family. Many of the works taking priority over unity might be done together, a way of building the relationship as we work side-by-side. That was a beautiful outcome of our work with Together We Rise Against Hunger this winter. Next time I hope we can host a gathering before the meal packing so that we might have an opportunity to get to know each other and have more of a chance to recognize each other in the community. Many things could be achieved if budgets were shared.

As far as the third, I don’t see a clear path ahead over moral teaching. But I know two things: It is Jesus’ will that we are one, as he and the Father are one, so the world might believe that the Father sent him. The other is that God can do anything. All we need to do is keep the relationships with ecumenical partners alive and attentive so that when the Holy Spirit comes (who will indeed heal our divisions), we will have the space in our hearts prepared for him to dwell with us together.

The Lord be with you,

Today's Live-Streamed Mass

Worship Aid for the 3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time

 Please don't forget to bring your blue bags for the Saint Lucy Food Drive this weekend. 

 We need your help with food donations and meal packing at St. Mark’s Hypothermia Shelter on January 28-29. Click here for more information on how you can volunteer.

 Join us on Tuesday, January 21, from 7-8:30 pm for Mass and Holy Hour in prayer for the Virginia Pro-Life Day on February 1.

 In support of Catholic Charities Migration and Refugee Services, Saint Bernadette will host a Baby Supplies Drive from January 21 through February 1. Our Fall 2023 Confirmation Candidates will pack diaper bags with supplies as a Work of Mercy in late February to be given to families served by Catholic Charities. The Migration and Refugee Services refugee health team have requested the following items. Items can be brought to the church during weekend Masses on January 21-22 and 28-29 and to the Pro-Life Mass and Holy Hour on Tuesday, January 31. 

• Large items: infant car seats, strollers, pack and play, baby bathtub, bouncy seat, baby nest bed (click here for example), diaper bag, nursing pillow, wearable baby carrier, tummy time activity mat, pregnancy pillow, maternity jeans in small and medium
• Diaper bag items: baby clothes for newborn-12 months, baby hygiene kit (click here for example), swaddling blankets, baby bottles, pacifiers, baby blankets, baby soap, baby shampoo, and baby oil.

For more information, please get in touch with Grace Rihl at grihl@stbernpar.org. 

 Concerts at Saint Bernadette present the Beau Soir Ensemble on Friday, February 10, at 7:30 pm. Beau Soir Ensemble is an acclaimed flute, viola, and harp trio, based in the Washington, DC, area, dedicated to performing standard and contemporary chamber music repertoire. Touted for its innovative sound and novel instrumentation, including two members of the National Symphony Orchestra, Beau Soir has delighted audiences since 2007 by offering a unique chamber concert experience featuring exciting performance style, diverse programming, and audience interaction. The concert is free!

 The 2023 BLA mailing was recently sent to parishioners. The theme is “My soul rejoices in the Lord,” which is shared with the second preparatory year of the Diocesan Jubilee. The BLA funds programs and ministries that serve thousands of people in our diocese. Through the inspiration of the BLA theme, joyfully pledge to support God’s Kingdom in our diocese! Click here to make a gift.

Today's Live-Streamed Mass

Worship Aid for the 2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time


 Please join Bishop Michael Burbidge on Sunday, January 15, as we celebrate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at our 11 am Mass. A light reception will follow in the school cafeteria..

 We are hosting the Saint Lucy Food Drive for Catholic Charities again on January 21-22. Blue bags are distributed this weekend; please take bags home and bring them back filled for the hungry.

 We need your help with food donations and meal packing at St. Mark’s Hypothermia Shelter on January 28-29. Click here for more information on how you can volunteer.

 Join us on Tuesday, January 21, from 7-8:30 pm for Mass and Holy Hour in prayer for the Virginia Pro-Life Day on February 1.

 In support of Catholic Charities Migration and Refugee Services, Saint Bernadette will host a Baby Supplies Drive from January 21 through February 1. Our Fall 2023 Confirmation Candidates will pack diaper bags with supplies as a Work of Mercy in late February to be given to families served by Catholic Charities. The Migration and Refugee Services refugee health team have requested the following items. Items can be brought to the church during weekend Masses on January 21-22 and 28-29 and to the Pro-Life Mass and Holy Hour on Tuesday, January 31. 

• Large items: infant car seats, strollers, pack and play, baby bathtub, bouncy seat, baby nest bed (click here for example), diaper bag, nursing pillow, wearable baby carrier, tummy time activity mat, pregnancy pillow, maternity jeans in small and medium
• Diaper bag items: baby clothes for newborn-12 months, baby hygiene kit (click here for example), swaddling blankets, baby bottles, pacifiers, baby blankets, baby soap, baby shampoo, and baby oil.

For more information, please get in touch with Grace Rihl at grihl@stbernpar.org. 

Dear Good People of Saint Bernadette,

For some weeks now, we will be worshipping together in Ordinary Time until February 22, which, as I always like to say, is far from ordinary!

The word “ordinary” is often misunderstood when used in Church circles. It doesn’t mean, as the first definition of the Oxford Dictionary, “with no special or distinctive features, normal.” Well, perhaps “normal” in the sense of normative is nearer the truth. And “extraordinary” doesn’t mean “better,” it means simply outside the norm.

Our bishop is known as the “Ordinary” of the Diocese because it is from
him that order is determined. This is Oxford’s second definition: “exercising authority by virtue of office, not by delegation.” Bishops aren’t plain or common, or even typical. The first is an adjective, and the second is a noun.

You may have heard the Mass of the Council of Trent, up until the Missal of 1962, referred to as the “extraordinary form” of the Mass. It isn’t that it is more special, it simply is outside what the Church considers normative since the reforms of Vatican II.

But “Ordinary Time” is a little trickier. If you read ordinary as an adjective, it can be confusing. But if you see both words as one noun, suddenly it might make clearer sense. Certainly, Lent, Easter, Advent, and Christmas are sometimes referred to as “privileged” seasons in the hierarchy of feasts, but the green season is the one where so much of our everyday life and growth takes place. It isn’t a less important time when celebrating Word and Sacrament at Mass is less required!

I was mentioning to David Mathers last week how we are hearing the Gospel of John the Baptist calling out Christ in the crowd, “Behold, the Lamb of God,” yet again this week. I should find the time to look and see how many times this account in the four Gospels appears in the three-year cycle! But this event also seems to blur the lines between what is considered “common,” and what is considered normative.

We already know how the story ends, but what if you didn’t, and were there at the Jordan that day, following the Baptist, when he suddenly points at this ordinary guy and makes such a claim? What? Him? How is that possible? Jesus’ life is suddenly, radically changed. After his baptism he goes immediately into the desert for forty days, then is confronted by the world’s evil one, then goes right to work with his public life, seemingly without looking back. In that sense, Jesus was ordinary, common, no different than you or me, hard-working, empathetic, and kind.

But it is exactly that humble humanity that he defines as normative for the work of salvation. In his humanity, he is exercising authority by virtue of office given to him by the Father. Because of this moment, we can look to each other and say, “Behold the Lamb of God.” We can look at every person in the world, no matter how joyous or sad, troubled or confused, even those who have seemingly lost their way... and say, “Behold.” There’s an ordinary vocation for all this time in-between.

The Lord be with you,