Click here to Reserve A Seat (Español)
In accordance with the Governor’s Phase 3 and Arlington Diocese Guidelines, we welcome you and your family back to Saint Bernadette. For specific instructions for attendance click the "New Guidelines for Attending Mass" video link below.

Dear Good People of Saint Bernadette,

A lot has been said about just getting 2020 over with.  I share the feelings, it has been a rough year in so many ways, not only with the pandemic but also with nearly fatal divisions in our culture with regard to politics, race, and economy.  And we are not as affected as the vast majority of the world's population who are in   desperate need.  I do not have   a gloomy outlook, yet we can't   deny that poverty and hunger   are growing, unemployment   and evictions are likely to be   a real challenge for our society,   and factions seem to be more   polarized and entrenched than ever before, even within our church.  It is naive to think that we can just announce that “all that” is over and we have a shiny, new year to jump into.

Someone said they just wanted to forget.  I hope we don't.  We can't afford to.

We're driving away from it with 2020 in the rearview mirror, but we have to remember that we still have to steer the car and move forward.

What are your plans for the new year?  In moving forward have we made an inventory of lessons learned?  -  What have we discovered from the past that maybe isn't as important as we formerly thought?  -  What have we encountered in the present that we had overlooked before?  -  Have we realized any new virtues out of necessity that we hope to protect and preserve?  -  Have we admitted our weaknesses and made any progress in growing stronger with a resolve to be reconciled and transformed both in our faith and in our relationships?

We have been going through a master class of dealing with every emotion on the spectrum of human experience.  In daily conversations and especially in confessions, I find a prevailing anger that people are living with, an anger that they want to be free from.  Like any emotion, anger is not necessarily a sin.  Jesus couldn't sin, yet we see him really angry when confronted with the abuse of the temple by the bankers.

Anger is an indicator that we need to act.  It drives us to seek justice when confronting injustice, to be generous when we are faced with poverty and hunger, to be peacemakers when we see so much conflict.  But there is also a kind of anger that can consume us, the product of deep frustration when we want to control things that we can't control, and often aren't supposed to control.  The only way to find peace in these situations is to decide how much responsibility we have in finding a solution, and then accepting our powerlessness:  change the things you can, accept the things you cannot change.  Living long-term with this kind of anger often leads to depression, and addictions.

I think for (what has seemed like) a long time we all just wanted all of it to go away.  As I said, it does no good to pretend it is past, these viral, social, racial and economic pandemics.  We still have to drive the car forward.

How does that look in the parish?  So I thought we might make some new year's resolutions as a community.

We must be more proactive in adapting to circumstances and staying in ministry, serving the growing poverty and hunger in our neighborhoods.  I have been reticent to ask people to come out of their homes (even since we have been able) to serve in any organized way, but have discovered a lot of people lately who, like me, are realizing that we have to keep moving forward as a relevant heart in our community.  We need to be flexible, mindful of the ongoing pandemic, in a way that is safe and effective.

Who are those among us who have particular needs with which we might assist?  We could develop a message center, as we attempted when I first came to Saint Bernadette, to determine who has needs and who is willing to help them.

All of us are going to come out of this changed.  We must take care to be certain that we will be better.  Our spiritual and social foundations need to be stronger to move into a truly a new year.  
What might that look like?  I would imagine at first we will celebrate for days.  We will go see the people in person that we have been visiting on screens.  More will work from home hopefully with fewer commitments, more solitude, peace and quiet, treasuring our time together as families and communities.  I wish you every blessing in the new year, and much peace.

God bless you.

Click here to Reserve A Seat (Español)
In accordance with the Governor’s Phase 3 and Arlington Diocese Guidelines, we welcome you and your family back to Saint Bernadette. For specific instructions for attendance click the "New Guidelines for Attending Mass" video link below.

CHRISTMAS MASS ANNOUNCEMENT

We invite you to make reservations to join us for Christmas Masses at Saint Bernadette Church.
Please be aware due to current COVID restrictions, we will be limited to a 250 person seating capacity in the Church. 
We have added additional Masses to the schedule at 2pm, 4pm, 6pm and 8pm on the Christmas Vigil,
7am, 9am, 11am and 1pm in Spanish on Christmas Day.
There will be NO 5pm Mass on Christmas Day.
The 4pm Christmas Vigil Mass and the 9am Christmas Day Mass will be live-streamed.

In the unfortunate circumstance your and/or your family arrive and no additional seating is available,
we invite you to join us for our Live-streamed Mass online at 4pm for the Christmas Vigil Mass or 9am Christmas Day.

Reservations can be made here.

 New Sunday Mass schedule - Saturday Vigil 5pm, Sunday Masses at 7, 9, 11am, 1pm (Spanish), 5pm .Live-streaming Masses 5pm Vigil (will remain available through Sunday), 9am Masses Monday-Friday, and 8am Saturday. All are required to exit the church right at the end of Mass so that there is a full half-hour for sanitizing the church.  Then we can re-open the building 30 minutes before the next Mass.

 We kindly ask that you reserve your places for Mass so that we can manage capacity and provide a safe environment for everyone. As Mass attendance limits begin to fill, we will seat those with reservations first.  Walk-ins will be accommodated once those with reservations are seated. You can find how many have already made reservations in advance by visiting the reservation website.

 Dear Good People of Saint Bernadette,

You might hear some people today saying that we are living in a post-Christian era.  Most often people who say things like this are looking backward to a time that they consider more innocent, more civilized, even more devout.  Sometimes such fond backward glances reveal more a fondness of sentimentality.

There may have been times that were better than others.  Sometimes people lived in a "bubble" and didn't experience racism or persecution because there was no diversity or integration.  This was my childhood.  Certainly now we are more saturated with the news media than ever before and it is very difficult to sift through all of it and discern what is actually true and not just someone's agenda.  The confusion that results alienates us not only from faith, but from reality itself.

Christian churches across the spectrum of denominations seem to be losing members at a fast pace.  The Catholic Church is no different, except for the gift of many Catholics who are coming to this country from Central and South America.

However, I believe "post-Christian" does not mean it's over.  Last one out hit the lights.  "Post-Christian" does not equal "pagan," although external evidence would certainly suggest strong secularism and amorality.  To me, the confusion we live in corresponds with a pre-evangelical era.  A time before Jesus, a time before the Gospels.  We have forgotten who we are because we haven't handed on the heart of faith from one generation to the next in a way that keeps the fire burning.  We don't know what we don't know, but we don't want to feel powerless in our ignorance.  This is why we find that people are leaving a Church they don't even know or understand or live in, as early as 12 years of age.

Rather than circling the wagons and protecting a dwindling flame, now let us consider Advent.  The world is calling out for something to save her but she doesn't even realize yet that it is Jesus.  Hearts look toward a future hope even when the evidence supporting its coming is thin.  A vaguely remembered promise, an inner ear that stays tuned to something whispered is enough for the grace of God to cause that flame to grow.  Over the centuries look at the times that candle became a bonfire.

So who is that candle, which by shining its light, can bring order to the confusion and illuminate and reverse the growing gloom?  It is we. 

We have to leave some of the stereotypes behind.  Who is the just person?  Am I righteous? Or self-righteous?  Aristotle wrote that by practicing justice you become a just person. By virtue or skill that is perceptive, intelligent, or active you can become a great flute player.  But we don't understand flute playing better because of our experience.  Proficiency is one thing, but the heart of the musician is another entirely.
Or this other example I think I used last week. Is a fruit tree good because it bears good fruit, or is the fruit good because the tree is good?  The tree is good first, regardless of its performance.

You and I have been conditioned into thinking our goodness depends on our actions, and not giving credit to God who made us good in the beginning.  Can we gain righteousness before God?  No.  Can we earn his love?  No.  He has offered it already, altogether free.  If we could earn this on our own we wouldn't need Christ at all.  The Church would be just a holy club, not the place where we must encounter God and find healing.
We are not formed by practice.  For this reason we are not to judge and, in so judging, kill the good spirit of one who is trying to do the right.  Rather, we are to love our enemies, do good to those who hurt us, be a witness of the God who loved us first and made us to be his forever.

We are formed by incarnation.  We must receive Christ, not just follow the rules.  I believe it is this fundamental flaw in our understanding of God's love and our response which prevents us from seeing the true nature of the Church.  It is not a series of hoops you jump through to stay out of hell.  It is a sprint—well, more of a relay, since we do it as a team—into the embrace of God.

This letter this week is a preface to my letter in the Christmas bulletin on Thursday.  You see, all of this only makes sense in the unlikely and unexpected event of the incarnation of the Son of God in human flesh.  Wherever you are this holy Christmas, stay safe and we will hold each other close in prayer.

God bless you.