Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship - A Call to Political Responsibility From the Catholic Bishops of the United States

Why Does the Church Teach About Issues Affecting Public Policy?

The Church’s teachings concerning contingent situations are subject to new and further developments and can be open to discussion, yet we cannot help but be concrete—without presuming to enter into details—lest the great social principles remain mere generalities which challenge no one. . . . The Church’s pastors, taking into account the contributions of the different sciences, have the right to offer opinions in all that affects people’s lives, since the task of evangelization implies and demands the integral promotion of each human being. 14 (Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, no. 182)

There are many forms of prayer. We can offer praise to God for who He is. We can offer thanksgiving for what He has done, but we can also pray for others and make their needs and concerns our own. This is called intercessory prayer. Often in times of trial or difficulty the only thing we can say to someone who is struggling is that we will pray for them. We can place that person on our hearts and then go before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and offer Him our hearts. He will hear our prayers and answer them according to what is truly good for us and for others.

The Parish of St. Magdalen de Pazzi made some changes to insure everyone’s health & safety as we navigate through this pandemic.  We have recently updated our bathrooms to become less hands on and more sanitary. The Church is being cleaned and sanitized and hand sanitizing stations have been placed throughout the Church and Narthex.  We have removed all missals, books and pamphlets. The State of NJ has now raised our seating capacity to 150 and we are ready to accommodate this new mandate.  We have strategically roped off our pews to provide social distancing and we are enforcing that everyone must wear face masks properly to help stop the spread of this virus.  If you been away, we welcome you back.

CNA Staff, Aug 25, 2020 / 02:52 am MT (CNA).- Evidence suggests that church services following public health guidelines do not present a greater risk of spreading the novel coronavirus than other similar activities, doctors said last week. Washing hands, social distancing, and mask requirements have helped prevent the spread of COVID-19, even in cases when contagious, pre-symptomatic parishioners took part in church events, three members of the Thomistic Institute Working Group on Infectious Disease Protocols for Sacraments & Pastoral Care concluded. Doctors Thomas McGovern, Deacon Timothy Flanigan, and Paul Cieslak authored an article for Real Clear Science on Mass attendance and COVID-19 Aug. 19.

“For Catholic churches following [the] guidelines, no outbreaks of COVID-19 have been linked to church attendance, even though we have examples ... of asymptomatic, unknowingly infected individuals attending mass and other parish functions,” they wrote. “Their attendance could have led to an outbreak if appropriate precautions were not followed, yet in each case, we found no evidence of viral transmission.”

Adoration can be compared to sun-bathing-we sit, receive, and are changed by simply being in God’s presence. But what if you are distracted and don’t feel like the Lord is doing anything for you? This experience of prayer could be compared to spending an overcast day at the beach. It may not seem like you are getting any sun, but if you leave off your sun-screen, you will soon feel how wrong you have been.

God’s ‘rays’, just like those of the sun, still ‘touch’ us, even if we cannot perceive them. Our feelings are not always in conformity with reality. Even if we experience distraction and restlessness-God is still at work.