A Message to the Catholic Community in New Castle

Here is the statement I placed in the four bulletins of New Castle parishes this weekend, July 21-22.


Maybe you have heard this bouncy pop song, "Glory Days," by Bruce Springsteen when you were shopping in Giant Eagle or walking in a mall.

I had a friend was a big baseball player back in high school
He could throw that speedball by you, make you look like a fool
Saw him the other night at this roadside bar, I was walking in, he was walking out
We went back insie, sat down, had a few drinks, but all he kept tlaking about was

Glory days
They'll pass you by
In the wink of a young girl's eye
Glory days, glory days

There's a girl that lives up the block, back in school she could turn all the boys' heads
Sometimes on a Friday I'll stop by and have a few drinks after she puts her kids to bed
Her and her husband Bobby, well, they split up, I guess it's two years gone by now
We just sit around talking about the old times, she says when she feels like crying she starts laughing thinking about...Glory days...

Think I'm going down to the Well tonight and I'm gonna drink till I get my fill
And hope when I get old I don't sit around thinking about it, but I probably will
Just sitting back trying to recapture a little of the Gloria
Time slips away and leaves you with nothing, mister, but boring stories of...Glory days...

The Boss wrote this song when he was 33 years old.  He's now an ancient (for a rock musician) 63 years old, and has many more stories of past glory days.

I'll bet you do too.  These are the memorable stories about your kids growing up, or a funny time on vacation, or a tough time of transition or loss in your life.  People from our part of the country love to tell these stories, mostly about when things "used to be " better.  The stories look wistfully at the past, at "things that are no longer there."

Bishop David Zubik has appointed me pastor of the four parishes in the city of New Castle:  Mary Mother of Hope, St. Joseph the Worker, St. Vincent de Paul and St. Vitus, effective Monday, July 30.  He has also appointed Fathers Nicholas S. Vaskov and William P. Siple as parochial vicars for the four parishes.  As I accept this immense challenge from Bishop Zubik, I would like to change our focus and our stories from past "glory days" and "used to be's" to looking to the future with hope, to new "days of glory."  I would like us to sing the future-facing songs of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Jesus called his disciples and sent them out two by two to proclaim the Reign of God.  Jesus said to his apostles, "Go teach all nations."  Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit upon his followers, and on Pentecost fulfilled that promise with power and fire.  Jesus said that we, his disciples, would do even greater things than he did.

These words of Christ our savior direct us outward and forward, to be his missionaries, to share his promise of salvation for all people.  We probably won't travel to another continent, but we can be missionaries right here in New Castle, in Lawrence County, in the Diocese of Pittsburgh.  These teachings of Christ are words of evangelization, of proclaiming the Good News of God's love for all people.  These words call us to be Christ's committed disciples and joyful witnesses right now and into the future.  They are the Word of God which we can make present today and tomorrow in the actions of our lives.

My appointment comes at a special moment in the life of the universal church.  Earlier this year Pope Benedict XVI called for the entire Catholic Church to celebrate a "Year of Faith."  This year (from October 11, 2012, to November 24, 2013) commemorates the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the Second Vatican Council.  Vatican II was the 20th ecumenical (worldwide) council in the almost 2,000 years of the church, and probably the greatest religious event of the 20th century.  Pope Benedict said, "The Year of Faith is a summons to an authentic and renewed conversion to the Lord Jesus, the one Savior of the world."  The Year of Faith also "would give renewed energy to the mission of the whole church to lead men and women out of the desert they are often in and toward the place of life: friendship with Christ who gives us fullness of life."  The Year of Faith would help the church "intensify the witness of charity" in the world.

With similar vigor Blessed Pope John Paul II wrote to the whole church at the end of the Great Jubilee Year 2000.  He called the church "to gain a new impetus in Christian living."  He recalled the words of Jesus to Peter, "Put out into the deep," that is, to go forward in a journey of faith "which would enable the proclamation of Christ to reach people, mold communities, and have a deep and incisive influence in bringing Gospel values to bear in society and culture."  He called for all local communities to do pastoral planning.

Many of you, I know, are fearful of the future.  What will happen to my parish?  What will happen to my church?  I hope in the coming months to ease these fears, by focusing on building our four parishes into the church alive.  Jesus said to the crowds when he went to heal the sick daughter of the synagogue official, "Fear is useless.  What is needed is trust."

The only reason to look backward is to thank those great Christians who have build our parishes and churches and schools.  I want us to go forward, to celebrate a Year of Faith, to put out into the deep, to develop many means of sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ.  I want to work with the pastoral councils and finance councils, the staffs and volunteers and people of St. Vitus Parish, St. Vincent de Paul Parish, St. Joseph the Worker Parish, and Mary Mother of Hope Parish.  I am grateful for the help of my brother priests, Father Bill Siple and Father Nick Vaskov, in this journey of faith forward.  I hope that you will also join me on this exceptional journey of faith into God's future days of glory.