Looking back at the weekly messages of Father Paul Counce, first published in The Carpenter, our weekly Parish Bulletin
Published: September 20, 2015
Dear Parishioners and Friends,
It’s not often that two weeks in a row Pope Francis makes enough news to be featured in my Bulletin article! Last week you’ll recall that I mentioned his welcome initiatives for the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy beginning in December. These are designed to facilitate access to the forgiveness of the Lord in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and in particular those troubled by past participation in abortion. Yet this past week he issued another set of far-reaching norms, changing in significant ways the canon law of the Church. By these changes, the way that marriage annulments are granted was significantly improved, and, I believe, for the better.
Yes, yes, I know what you’re thinking: “Father Paul is a canon lawyer after all, that’s why he’s excited about this!” That’s part of it, of course. It’s always nice when the Holy Father takes note of my ministerial specialty! Yet almost all of us recognize that the Church’s process for determining the invalidity of marriages is complex and as a result often significantly protracted. What Pope Francis has done is make certain simplifications in the usual process to help things move more quickly. He also has initiated a com pletely new process — in which the bishop alone is the judge — for use in situations in which both parties to a failed marriage support the proposed annulment and in which the reasons for the already existing nullity of the marriage are clearly obvious and thoroughly convincing.
The way that the Church will go about investigating and declaring the invalidity of failed marriages will continue to be exceedingly cautious, of course. Since no valid marriage can ever become invalid during the lifetime of the spouses, the Church has to be very careful not to accidentally misidentify the proper lifelong commitment of spouses in God’s eyes. Yet good and properly-made marriages almost never fail for trivial reasons; sadly, invalid marriages are all too common. It is incumbent upon us who work in the Church’s Tribunal ministry to properly and fairly evaluate the cases brought before us, and serve both the truth and Christ’s faithful in so doing. People who in fact did not marry validly (although they always thought it was properly done at the time of the wedding!) deserve to know this in a timely fashion, in particular because they will then still be free to marry “in the Church” and so continue a full sacramental life of faith.
All of this seems to me to be wholly in line with Pope Francis’ constant emphasis on the fact that God is merciful towards us, who are weak and sinful by nature, and that God’s Church must mirror that mercy in every way possible. Christians do not make life harder for others, but actively seek out ways to enable people to benefit in ways spiritual and material. It’s an exciting time to be a Catholic, rediscovering the basics of our religion, that those who do not deserve it nonetheless are so loved that salvation is freely offered and made possible!
Moving on to other things, thank you for listening to me last weekend as I appealed to all of our parishioners and friends to exercise an ever-increasing active Stewardship of Ministry. It’s not too late to submit your commitment-form: just drop it into the collection-basket at Mass or mail it back to the Parish Office. People frequently ask me what’s the most important volunteer ministry. I really can’t make a distinction among them, since an individual’s gifts and talents factor in. What’s best for one person might not be best for another. It’s also important to remember the twin virtues of humility and docility: a true disciple eagerly seeks to do what the pastors of the Church discern is needed, not just what he or she personally prefers to do. It would never be right to turn one’s ministry or other good work within the Church into a sinful, selfish act, after all!
It’s not too soon for us to begin looking forward to one of our favorite weekends here at the Cathedral: Sunday, October 4, is “GRAND Day!” On that day, at our 12 noon Mass and the party afterwards, we especially welcome grandparents and their grandchildren! Everyone is invited, of course, because everyone is someone’s grandchild!
This is one occasion when we actively seek out your family members from other parishes and from out-of-town to join us here at the Cathedral! Try to remember to call them up today, and invite them to join you here! Mass will focus on the kids, and while the street party afterwards will have face painting, pony rides, a petting zoo, balloons and so forth that appeal to the little ones, there also will be plenty of hot dogs and hamburgers, soft drinks and ice cream, music and smiles for those of us who have to celebrate youth in others! In other words, there will be plenty of reasons on GRAND Day to fill the church with faith and smiles that day: come one, come all!
Sincerely in the Lord,
