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Fr. Tony Schuerger Pastor's Blog
Category Archives: Fr. Tony's Blog
About Those New Vatican Norms
[Introductory note and summary:
I am well aware of how long what follows is. Yet given the widespread publicity and controversy that has followed the release of the new Norms from the Vatican, I thought it would be worthwhile to provide explanation in some detail. You will note that there are hyperlinks throughout the entry, to Read more ..
Posted in Fr. Tony's Blog Tagged explanation, Norms, sexual abuse crisis, St. Malachi, Vatican, women's ordination Leave a comment
Who Do We Respond to Going Down the Road?
Among the most well-known parables of Jesus is the story of the Good Samaritan (Lk 10:25-37). In answer to the question, “Who is my neighbor?”, Jesus tells the story of a man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho who is attacked, robbed and left for dead. After two prominent fellow-Jews (a priest and a Levite) see Read more ..
Seeing Through Other People’s Eyes
“The Invisible Man,” one of G.K. Chersterton’s classic Fr. Brown mystery stories, revolves around the murder of a man alone in his home, his body removed and disposed of, while four men stood guard, watching the only entrance. When questioned whether anyone has gone up or down the stairs to the building, the officer responds, Read more ..
Posted in Fr. Tony's Blog Tagged compassion, Fr. Massingale, Good Samaritan, homeless, invisible Leave a comment
The Generosity of the Poor
The first reading for Tuesday of the Tenth Week of Ordinary Time tells the story of Elijah and the widow of Zarephath (1 Kgs 17:7-16). In a time of severe drought, Elijah is sent to a poor widow. When he arrives, he asks the widow for something to eat. She replies that she was collecting firewood Read more ..
Social Justice – Religious Institutions and My Responsibility
This blog post continues a reflection on “Social Justice” and “My Responsibility.” The previous post addressed political institutions; this post will address religious institutions, i.e. the church. The next five paragraphs repeat the material from the previous post, because they are equally relevant for engaging the Church as for engaging political institutions.
[On April 7, Robert Read more ..
Social Justice – Political Institutions and My Responsibility
On April 7, Robert Rossman published a reflection on the St. Malachi website titled “Is Social Justice My Responsibility?” (http://www.stmalachi.org/feed/). One statement he makes is, “In understanding that our religious and political institutions are not perfect and are in need of reform to survive their mistakes and act with justice. (Our support is important.)”
Our support Read more ..
Posted in Fr. Tony's Blog Tagged my responsibility, participation, reforming political institutions, Social Justice, voting 1 Comment
Living Easter
Attributed to St. Augustine is the famous saying, “We are Easter people and alleluia is our song!”
If one took this description at face value, a person might think that Jesus’ resurrection means that everything in life should be positive for a believer, that the struggle with evil is finished and there should be nothing more Read more ..
Our Holiest Week
“Holy Week” is what is says – the holiest week of the year. The General Norms for the Liturgical Year expresses it well: “Christ redeemed humanity and gave perfect glory to God principally through his paschal mystery: by dying he destroyed our death and by rising he restored our life. Therefore the Easter triduum of Read more ..
Holy Thursday: Washing of the Feet
After carefully studying the ritual for the Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord’s Supper, and with prayer, discussion and reflection, the Liturgy Commission has decided that we should do the traditional ritual of washing of the feet (mandatum) of selected members of the congregation this year. This is a departure from the St. Malachi tradition Read more ..
The Unity of the Church, the Community of St. Peter, Why it Matters and What We Can Do