Fr. Jeff Yildirmaz
Blessed be the Holy Name of Mary!
I hope you had a lovely Father’s Day last Sunday. Blessings and prayers to our fathers. A good father shows us the love and mercy of God, keeps us safe from danger, and teaches us to be honest, responsible and diligent in our actions.
Speaking of fathers, this past weekend we had the ordination of three priests for our Diocese. Please keep Father Patrick O’Brien, Father Nicholas Waldron, and Father Dillon Vita in your prayers.
Next Saturday as you know is the 250th birthday of the USA! America has done many great things in history! It has saved countries from oppression, drastically improved the standard of living, and reached places where no human being has gone before, the Moon!
While no country is perfect, there is something that we take great pride in as both Catholics and Ameri cans, which is the right of worship. We are truly blessed to have this right in our land. Sadly, this is not the case in all countries. In fact, in some countries it is absolutely forbidden to publicly evangelize.
Again, our country is not perfect. There are rights in our country that are gravely and directly opposed to the Natural Law such as abortion. There are immoral indulgences that are permitted in our country that violate the dignity of the human person, pornography being a twisted diabolical example.
As Catholics the Church encourages us to be active in our faith in both our private and public life. Pope Leo XIV has been very outspoken in inspiring us to be vessels of peace and bringing the Gospel to all, most especially to the poor.
The United States is the richest country in the world, both in GDP and having a population that has the most millionaires, billionaires, and even a trillionaire. While it is a great feat to have a country that is economically prosperous, no country is without poverty, including our own. One of my favorite religious orders, the Missionaries of Charity (Mother Teresa’s sisters) have more convents in the United States, than anywhere in the world (not including India). There is a different kind of poverty that is prevalent in the US, that is plagued with drug abuse and mental illness. Saint Mother Teresa noticed this in America. Our own government recognized the beautiful work of Saint Mother Teresa to the people of the United States. In 1996, the US Government declared her a living honorary citizen, a great honor that has been given to only a few.
Allow me to end this letter with a passage from the Message of Pope Leo XIV on the World Day of the Poor.
In Christ, therefore, we are called to become poor and to be a refuge for the poor. The Christian community cannot remain indifferent to the many who today stand at the door but remain invisible to those who are shut within their own walls. The Church, by its very nature, is called to be poor and a refuge for the poor. Let us not forget Saint Augustine’s commentary on the parable of the rich man and poor Lazarus: “He has kept the name of the rich man to himself and told us the name of the poor man. The name of the rich man was on everyone’s lips, but God kept it to himself; the name of the poor man was passed over in silence, but God revealed it to us. … What would you choose? To be poor like Lazarus or rich like the other man? Do not be deceived! Listen to how it ended and take note of which is the wrong choice”.
Let us pray for our country, our government, our citizens, and all who live in the US, especially the poor. May it be a country in which it is easier to be a faithful Christian. Pax et Bonum. In Jesus and Mary,
