St. Scholastica Catholic Church Newsletter — March 2021

MARCH 2021

St. Scholastica CATHOLIC CHURCH

Daughters of St. Scholastica: Serving in Stewardship, Growing in Fellowship and Friendship

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hen we share our time, talent, and treasure, it doesn’t just impact our parish. We get something out of it personally, as well. We can take joy in using our gifts and while making new friends along the way.

The Daughters of St. Scholastica, or DoSS, is the ladies’ auxiliary of our parish Knights of Columbus chapter. The group has been a great way for the women of our parish to get to know one another while carrying out important work. The members support the Knights in their fundraisers and any needs of DoSS members enjoy a summer retreat at St. Walburga’s. the Youth Ministry program.

Michelle Barkley enjoys being a part of the DoSS at our parish.

“I have been encouraged in my faith by witnessing the generosity, prayerfulness, and enthusiasm of our members,” she says. “They constantly seek to put their faith in action and that has been inspiring.”

A large part of the DoSS members’ work is their support of the Little Flower Maternity Home in Louisville. The DoSS holds an annual tea to support the home, a workday with the Knights of Columbus, and a money and goods collection at St. Scholastica. The Little continued on page 5

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Inside

Honoring Jesus and Meditating on “the Word Made Flesh”

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Mark and Cindy Nelson: Following the Call to Serve

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Time: The Foundation of Stewardship

7 Time for a Spiritual Audit?

ST. SCHOLASTICA

CATHOLIC CHURCH

A LETTER FROM OUR PASTOR

Honoring Jesus and Meditating on “the Word Made Flesh” Howdy Parishioners, nd the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth” (Jn 1:14 NABRE).

As members of St. Scholastica Catholic Parish, we are privileged at this time and place to participate in the life and growth of Jesus. Jesus has given us a gift, a gift of land to build up His Church. Just like the Israelites who wandered through the desert for 40 years awaiting the promised land, so too has our parish been hoping, praying and longing for years, at least 20, if not many, many more, for the gift of land. God has now given us that gift!

Our forefathers’ labors, our many benefactors’ donations and all those who labored for the Lord have passed on to us a dream of building up God’s kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.

We are the ones to receive their hopes, we are the ones to enflesh them on the new land, and we are the ones called

by God at this time in history to build up God’s Kingdom.

How should we do this? Let us imitate God! For God sent His only begotten son to establish His kingdom on earth 2,000 years ago. Therefore, in order to imitate God we must establish regularly scheduled Masses and sacraments on the new land and Christ is born for us! We must make it a place of prayer for all peoples, and reverently bow our hearts, minds and souls in worship of the God Who has come to save us.

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this means that we have to participate through our prayers, our attitudes, and our labors. We have work

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to do! This work is a participation in God’s divine plan.

Prayers: In seminary, a very holy priest taught me the devotion of the Infant of Prague. Pray to the Child Jesus, who is God and man, for your needs because the more you honor Christ, the more Christ will bless us! I had forgotten about this devotion until last August, our parish picnic. Traditionally, we have celebrated the anniversary of our parish’s dedication, Aug. 18, 1899, by bringing together the majority of our parishioners with a Mass at Coal Miner Park, followed by a picnic. In 2020, only weeks after closing the sale, that celebration was held on our new property. That Sunday, Aug. 23, the Holy Spirit brought the Infant of Prague devotion to my mind and then it became a constant reminder. I believe the Holy Spirit wants us as a parish to unite in this prayer for the incarnation of Jesus on our land. This means utilizing our land for regularly scheduled Masses and sacraments, prayer services, catechesis, fellowship, outreach and hospitality.

There have been many variations in

praying the Chaplet of the Infant of Prague since it was composed in the 17th century. I’ve put out a couple of different ones since distributing the chaplet at last year’s Christmas Masses. I have recently put one together for this time of praying for the Incarnation of Christ on our new land. Please, I ask you to join me in this prayer every day.

Attitudes: Here is where the conversion of heart takes place and Stewardship begins — “An attitude of gratitude, grounded in humility following the way of the cross!” My first spiritual director first told me this.

He knew that I needed to change from the Navy mode to the servant of Christ mode. Mary, Jesus’s mom, exemplifies this for she followed Jesus all the way, from the Archangel Gabriel, to Egypt, to the carpenter shop, to the public ministry, to the crucifixion, to the tomb, to the resurrection, to Pentecost, to the Assumption — through joy, isolation, pain, suffering, faith, death, life, eternal life — Mary was all-in from the beginning. Attitude is contagious!

Attitude is reflected in Stewardship.

Not only has God given us a gift of the new land, but God has also given us individual gifts. What will we do to increase those gifts? We must use the gifts that God has given for His Glory!

Some will work and labor at their jobs to make large pledges. Some will donate their time and help where help is needed.

Some will use their talent to provide expert services such as engineering, project management, people skills and other talents for God’s project. Many will be able to help in several of these categories. God is calling your individual gifts to be revealed! Let your attitude continued on page 3

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“the Word Made Flesh” continued from page 2 reflect your calling and see God’s greater glory be revealed.

Work: It may be hard to think about doing laundry as “clothing the naked,” or getting dinner ready as “feeding the hungry,” and that these are moments of grace for the whole family, but they are! Practice them at home so that when your family strives to work, help, donate or provide talents, it will be for God! Let’s work together on God’s plan as it is revealed through the efforts of our committees, contractors, and

prayer warriors. Prayerful inspirations, the Christ-like attitude of doing God’s will and the plain hard work builds up God’s Kingdom. I have seen so many projects where the lady who prays whispers words to the project manager and problems are solved because she listened to God as the project manager was hoping for an answer. Now it’s our turn to work for the Incarnation of Christ and the conversion of our hearts to be all-in for God’s Word! Pray the chaplet of the Infant of Prague! God’s

Word among us! God’s Word to recreate us according to His design!

Let us begin! Pray the chaplet of the Infant of Prague; instructions are available in the back of the church and the office. Honor Jesus by meditating on “the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us” (Jn 1:14).

Fr. Robert Wedow Pastor Sincerely yours in Christ,

Here at St. Scholastica, we will be meditating on the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, on Christ’s mysteries and Christ presence among us, in the sacraments, in our hearts and on our new land.

■ On the Medal (1) — Pray: “O Divine Infant Jesus, I adore Your Cross, and I accept all the crosses You are pleased to send me. Adorable Trinity, I offer You, for the glory of the Holy Name of God, all the adorations of the Sacred Heart of the Holy Infant Jesus.”

VII. “The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple” “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us” “Hail Mary…”

■ Three Beads (2, 3, 4) — Pray: “And the word was made flesh and dwelt among us!” “Our Father Who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name, Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven, give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.”

IX. “The Exile in Egypt” “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us” “Hail Mary…”

■ Twelve Beads (5-16) — On the 12 beads that represent the Mysteries of Christ’s Infancy and Childhood pray the “specific mystery,” then the acclamation “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us” and the Hail Mary in memory of the 12 years of our Lord’s infancy and childhood from the manger to the temple.

I. “The Annunciation,” “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us” “Hail Mary…”

II. “The Visitation” “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us” “Hail Mary…”

III. “The Awaiting of the Birth of Jesus” “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us” “Hail Mary…”

IV. “The Birth of Jesus” “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us” “Hail Mary…”

V. “The Circumcision of Jesus” “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us” “Hail Mary…”

VI. “The Visit of the Magi” “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us” “Hail Mary…”

VIII. “The Flight to Egypt” “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us” “Hail Mary…”

X. “The Return to Nazareth” “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us” “Hail Mary…”

XI. “The Childhood of Jesus in Nazareth” “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us” “Hail Mary…”

XII. “The Finding of Jesus in the Temple” “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us” “Hail Mary…”

■ Final Prayer (17) – “Holy Infant of Jesus of Prague, Bless and Protect Us” Amen!

Please add these three petitions: O Jesus, Who said, “Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you,” through the intercession of Mary, Your most holy Mother, I knock, I seek, I ask that You may incarnate on our new land.

O Jesus, Who said, “All that you ask of the Father in My Name He will grant you,” through the intercession of Mary, Your most holy Mother, I humbly and urgently ask Your Father in Your Name that You may be incarnate on our new land.

O Jesus, Who said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my word shall not pass,” through the intercession of Mary Your most holy Mother, I believe strongly that You will be incarnate on our new land! Amen!

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ST. SCHOLASTICA

CATHOLIC CHURCH

Mark and Cindy Nel

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s children of God, we are all called to a life of service. The way we embrace this calling is different for each of us, whether we serve in grand gestures or small acts of daily kindness, or within the walls of our home, or out in the broader community.

For parishioners Mark and Cindy Nelson, service has always been a part of life. Both have served in the Air Force. Mark also spent time as a firefighter and EMT before becoming an engineer, and Cindy is a nurse. In addition to choosing careers that focus on service, the Nelsons also find time to lend their talents here at St. Scholastica!

For both Cindy and Mark, following the Gospel call to serve was something they witnessed early in their lives. Cindy was born in Oregon and grew up in Pennsylvania. Her mother, a single mom to three children, made it a priority to keep the family close to the Church. Mark was raised primarily in Miami. His parents were a strong example in the faith to him, as was his childhood priest, Fr. O’Brien.

When Mark and Cindy met in the Air Force, their shared Catholic faith helped bring them together. That same faith went on to get them through some tough times. In August of 1990, just two months after the couple was married, Mark was deployed in the Gulf War. Cindy leaned on her faith during his deployment.

It was also a reliance on God and prayer that later got her through the loss of her mother to cancer.

In bringing up their own two children in the Church, the Nelsons passed on this same gift of faith to the next generation.

“What I tell them is just to have faith and prayer — especially during troubled times — to make sure that they remember that God is always there for them,” says Cindy of the couple’s two grown children, Christopher and Susan. “We hope we have formed them and pray that they always remember that there is something bigger out there than this crazy world we live in.”

“We realize that we turned out the way we did based on faith and family, so we wanted our kids to have that,” Mark agrees.

“We had such good role models.”

Both of the Nelsons describe themselves as “helpers” and emphasize their love of helping others. In addition to the various service-based careers they have chosen over the years, they have

Cindy and Mark Nelson 4

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ing the Call to Serve also been willing to serve here in the parish. Mark is a Knight of Columbus and Cindy is part of the Daughters of St. Scholastica.

Before taking on the night shift at her place of work, she also helped with Religious Education classes.

Staying active in their faith has always been important to the Nelsons — and they have found a home in the Church everywhere life has taken them.

“I make time for church no matter what,” Mark says. “I just don’t miss church. The Catholics are a second family, I guess you could say. You could go anywhere in the world and adapt quickly because of your beliefs. Even when I was in Germany and when I was in Guam, I had parishes to go to.”

The Nelsons have called St. Scholastica “home” for 10 years and can’t wait to see what the future holds for our faith family.

Whatever may come, you can be sure that these natural “helpers” will be here lending their time and talents to our parish and community!

“Fr. Rob has been wonderful and has done a lot of good things for the church — and all the parishioners, as well,” Cindy says.

“Before COVID, if you weren’t in church one day, people asked if you were okay. During the flooding and other things that have happened, everyone has helped each other. I have some wonderful relationships with the older women. It’s an extended family that is wonderful to have, and sometimes just being there can ease your heart when it’s frustrated.

“I’m excited to see our church continue to grow,” she adds. “I love to see us out in the community helping, and I’m just excited to see what’s next for our church.”

Daughters of St. Scholastica Flower Maternity Home is a pro-life organization where mothers in need have free housing as they prepare to have their baby. The organization also provides other resources to moms in need. The organization is named for St. Therese Lisieux, the “Little Flower of Jesus,” who once said that “the loveliest masterpiece of the heart of God is the heart of a mother.”

Volunteers feel called to do more for the pro-life movement than discourage a woman from having an abortion, as the Little Flower Maternity Home website states: “The Little Flower is not a government-funded shelter, but rather a home and a community for pregnant mothers to come

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and to prepare to be a new mother. It is a clean, safe, healthy, loving and, most importantly, Christ-filled environment.”

Also, the DoSS members give gifts to the newly confirmed of the parish and coordinate a Christmas gift donation for families in need. The social aspect of this organization is also very important. Michelle has found a strong bond with other women in the group. She also finds it is a great way to give of her time and treasure.

“I enjoy the camaraderie and friendship of my fellow parishioners as we seek to serve our parish and community,” Michelle says.

If you would like to get involved in the Daughters of St. Scholastica, please call the parish office at 303-828-4221 or email stsdaughters@stscholasticaerie.org. The Little Flower Maternity Home is always in need of support and material items — please visit littleflowermaternity.org for more information.

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ST. SCHOLASTICA

CATHOLIC CHURCH

TIME:

THE FOUNDATION OF STEWARDSHIP

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he U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has told us that stewardship is part of discipleship and is a way of responding to God’s call in every aspect of our lives. We refer to the three facets of stewardship as “Time, Talent and Treasure,” and when we consider the importance of these three Ts of stewardship, the “time” component comes first by design.

When we talk about stewardship of time, we are referring to prayer time. Prayer is of the utmost importance in a disciple’s life, and it serves as the fertile ground from which the gifts of talent and treasure blossom. Only by spending time in prayer each day and receiving the sacraments are we able to consistently and generously donate our talent and treasure to the Church.

When looking for examples of how to live our lives as disciples of Christ and as stewards of God’s gifts, we can always turn to the great saints of our Church to guide us. And when it comes to the Stewardship of Time, the life of St. Damien is just one example of how prayer, or “Time,” is the foundation for our lives of stewardship.

Shortly after being ordained a priest, St. Damien volunteered to serve a colony of lepers isolated on the island of Molokai, Hawaii. From May 1873 until his death in 1889 (at the age of 49) St. Damien worked to restore within the lepers a sense of personal worth and dignity.

Although for some time St. Damien took the necessary precautions to ensure that he did not contract leprosy, he knew that physical touch was necessary to communicate his love and concern to those afflicted with the disease. He embraced the lepers, dined with them, cared for them, and anointed them in the sacraments. With great humility and sacrifice, St. Damien offered his own life in order to save the lives of others.

From where did St. Damien draw his strength? What was the source of his inspiration? “Were it not for the constant presence of our divine Master in our humble chapel, I would

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When we talk about stewardship of time, we are referring to prayer time.

Prayer is of the utmost importance in a disciple’s life, and it serves as the fertile ground from which the gifts of talent and treasure blossom. not have found it possible to persevere in sharing the lot of the lepers in Molokai,” St. Damien wrote. “The Eucharist is the bread that gives strength... It is at once the most eloquent proof of His love and the most powerful means of fostering His love in us. He gives Himself every day so that our hearts as burning coals may set afire the hearts of the faithful.”

St. Damien found his strength in the Mass, the greatest prayer of the Church. Prayer was the impetus behind the generosity of this faithful servant of God, and is the fuel that ignites every heart to flame in love. Without prayer, without the grace that flows from the sacraments, we are incapable of leading lives of service and responding to God’s call!

How much time do you dedicate to prayer each day? One hour? Fifteen minutes? None at all? Before you consider joining a parish ministry or volunteering your talents in service, and before you discern your gifts of treasure to the Church, be sure that prayer is your foundation. Identify a prayer schedule that is manageable. This may entail arising 20 minutes early each day to offer your work to the Lord, or attending daily Mass once a week. Every prayer commitment is unique and personal. Yet, no matter what, this time offering, this dedication to prayer, is the key to serving the Lord with faithfulness, generosity and joy.

Time for a Spiritual Audit?

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n audit can bring to mind intimidating encounters with government tax officials at this time of year. However, in this case, we’d like to suggest focusing not on your financial assets, but on your ATTENTION. Our attention is finite — we only have so much time in a day, and where we choose to focus our attention can reveal where our priorities may not be as well aligned with our spiritual goals as we would like. It can be helpful to start by monitoring how we focus our attention during the day. Howard Rheingold wrote that “Attention is a limited resource, so pay attention to where you pay attention.” Scriptural direction phrases it a bit differently, but along the same lines, telling us to keep our attention on the things of God and not those of man.

There are many demands on our attention in this modern world, and lots of devices, products, causes, and, ultimately, people vying to capture our attention. You might say it is the commodity of the Internet age.

Advertisers have known this for a long time, but with social media platforms, the competition for attention — eyeballs, page views, likes, retweets, shares, etc. — is ever more intense. It is

all too easy — and common — for us to view the attention we receive and give as a reflection of our self-worth or that of others. We are drowning in a sea of information and noise, clamoring for our attention, and it is easy to fall into the trap of believing the judgments and opinions we see there and letting them direct us. There is a useful phrase in information technology we can apply here, “garbage in, garbage out,” which means that if we fill our minds with unhelpful information, opinions and beliefs, then our own thinking, beliefs, words, and actions will also suffer.

Another important aspect of an attention audit is to consider the attention we seek for ourselves. A baby needs attention; a child demands attention; an adult feels affirmed by attention. We are social beings, after all, and getting attention for positive reasons can reinforce good behaviors in us. But much of the attention received by people in the techno-sphere of social media and news feeds is of the negative type. It is a sad fact that negative news, comments, and loud opinions gain more attention, so this creates incentives for those who crave attention to behave in negative ways, express negative

opinions, and follow the herd down the garbage-strewn path of all that is bad about society’s use of these modern means of social communication. Too many people these days pursue any kind of social media attention as a way of feeling that affirmation that we used to get from one another in person through a kind word of thanks.

We would like to suggest that you conduct your own attention audit as part of your Lenten practice of conversion this year, focusing both on where you give your finite attention during the day, and where you seek or receive attention.

Where does our Lord fit into your attention budget? How much of your attention do you give to Him, and how attentive are you to what He wants you to notice, learn and do during your day?

Armed with knowledge from such an audit, you can bring this before the Lord in prayer and ask Him to help you make changes to where you direct and seek attention. This small step can lead to big results if you continually ask the Lord for guidance as you seek to conform yourself to His will.

— St. Scholastica Evangelization Committee, evangelization@stscholasticaerie.org

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615 Main St. | Erie, CO, 80516 (303) 828-4221 | www.stscholasticaerie.org

A Warm “Welcome Back!” for Our Parish Community We extend our heartfelt thanks to the Knights of Columbus for providing our “Welcome Back!” banner.

LITURGY SCHEDULE Saturday Vigil: 4:00 p.m. | Sunday: 8:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.

Daily Mass: Tuesday and Thursday 6:00 p.m., Wednesday and Friday 9:00 a.m., Saturday 7:30 a.m.