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Dear St. James Family, |
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As you are reading this I am in Houston on retreat, which all priests are required to do yearly. This is a time of rest, prayer, reflection, and planning. I am at Holy Name Passionist Retreat Center praying for you and looking forward to returning to Jacksonville tomorrow evening and being with you this Sunday. I’m planning to preach on what it looks like to receive those Christ has soon. Do this correctly and you will be greatly rewarded.
Ordination Mass, June 29, 2023 – Livestreamed beginning at 7:30 PM Tonight at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Walsingham, I will be at the ordination Mass for three of our soon to be newest priests, including the Rev. Joshua Johnson, who is leading one of our communities, St. Edmund Campion Catholic Church in North Carolina. St. James is one of the communities that helped St. Edmund get up and going. I flew up there a number of times to celebrate Masses for them including their first Mass which took place a few years ago. If you would like to take a peak at tonight’s ordination Mass which begins at 7:30 PM Florida time here is the link for the livestream. |
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What’s the Big Deal about saints Peter and Paul which We Celebrate Today? Today is the solemnity of saints Peter and Paul and the Ordinariate sees such great meaning and identity in this celebration that our priests are normally ordained each year on this day. Peter is our patron as members of the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter and communion with Rome is highly important to us. Paul is the great evangelist reminding us of our mission of unity and especially helping to bring non-Catholic Christians back into the one fold under one Shepherd, Jesus Christ. This is a great solemnity to us which is why we normally mark this day each year with Ordinations.
An Extraordinarily Large Group of Young Men Attend Ordinariate Priesthood Discernment Gathering Including Our Own Andrew Salvatore For the past few days twenty-nine men have gathered at the chancellery (Ordinariate headquarters) to begin the process of discernment to consider being ordained as priests for the Ordinariate. I was quite surprised to learn about the large number whose hearts have been moved to look into seeking to serve as priests of the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, especially since the pioneering work that is involved in many of our mission communities is not easy. Yet, stirred hearts, especially through vocations, is one of the clear signs that the Holy Spirit is at work in this part of the Church. We are blessed to be one of the most vocationally rich dioceses in North America if not the most blessed when you compare our small size to the number of men who would like to be ordained as priests. Please pray for these men and for the financing needed to send them to seminary. If the Lord is moving your heart please give to support our seminarians.
Thank you to Those who Assisted at our Solemn Mass & Holy Burning last week I am grateful to the the team of folks who arrived early this past Friday to set up for the Mass and burning as well as our musicians and everyone else who came and helped us celebrate this day and then to clean up afterwards. Thank you especially to our Lord who stopped the rain just long enough for us to process outside for the sacred burning of unwanted blessed items :-).
LGBTQ: A Guide for Conservative Catholics – Most Recent Homily How should Catholics respond to the Pride Month festivities that take place during June? Pope Francis has exemplified a bold pastoral and welcoming approach toward the LGBTQ community. However, a number of Catholics, especially here in the United States see this as a watering down of the truth of the faith. Learn why Pope Francis is leading the Church in this way and why this is actually the best way to convey the truth about the faith. Listen to this and my other homilies at StJamesCC.org/Homilies or by searching “Fr. Mayer’s Preaching & Teaching” wherever you get your podcasts
NFP & Women: Better Understand Your Body from Adolescence to Menopause Learn about scientifically advanced methods of Natural Family Planning (NFP) based on how your body works so you can have confidence knowing what your hormones are doing. Not only can NFP prevent or assist in achieving pregnancy, it also provides valuable information about a woman’s entire health, knowledge that will help her from adolescence to menopause. And when you do need to use NFP to prevent or achieve pregnancy, you can be assured knowing you are following Church teaching, while also avoiding the unpleasant side effects of artificial hormones. Worried that it costs too much? There is now a no-cost option to learn Natural Family Planning. It’s open to all Catholic women ages eighteen and over. Register with Catholic Women & Couples NFP to participate or talk to our own Susan Miller who attends the 8:00 AM Mass and is a Billings instructor who works with Catholic Women & Couples NFP: susan@ccnfp.org or 914-613-5505.
Discover the Beauty of the Church’s Teaching on Gender The Diocese of St. Augustine Offices of Family Life and Human Life and Dignity hosted a webinar recently on Gender and the Theology of Your Body with one of the best speakers on the subject: Jason Evert from the Chastity Project. Jason discussed the meaning of sex, gender and the human body in response to contemporary challenges and shared guidance on how to speak about these issues from a Catholic perspective. The presentation was recorded and is available to view and share. Be sure to watch it soon while it remains available.
Ordinariate Church in Orlando Destroyed by Fire – Assistance Needed On Saturday night, June 24, 2023 the fire department was called in response to flames shooting out of the windows of Incarnation Catholic Church. This is the parish that I was assigned to prior to being ordained as a Catholic priest. The fire was quickly extinguished but the damage was extensive. In spite of this, Mass was held on Sunday morning in the parish hall with standing-room-only attendance. Please to pray for Fr. Holiday and his assistant Fr. McCrimmon (who also oversees St. John Fisher Catholic Church, the one that meets in a store front that we visited earlier this spring), and the faithful of Incarnation. Bishop Lopes has asked that we take up a second collection on behalf of Incarnation this Sunday, however you may also make a donation for Incarnation online at the Ordinariate website. Note in the description of payment box: “Incarnation Catholic Church.”
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Faithfully, your pastor, Father Mayer |
Ordinations and Other News, June 6, 2023
