St. Nicholas Catholic Church         412 W. 4th Street               Carver, MN   55315                   952-448-2345

Jodee Korkowski Appreciation Event - January 28th 5-7 pm at the Parish Hall
Please join us on Sunday, January 29 at 6 pm in the Church to listen to Matthew Kelly's "The 7 Pillars of Catholic Spirituality." This dynamic resource will Inspire people to Rediscover Catholicism, live with Passion and Purpose, and bring Spiritual Vitality to the Church. We will listen to the 80min CD together in church. There is no commitment what so ever, just show up, and if possible, please join us afterwards in the parish center for refreshments.
Pancake, French Toast & "Homemade" Sausage Breakfast - St.Nicholas Catholic Church of Carver will host a Pancake, French Toast & Homemade Sausage Breakfast on
February 5, 2012 from 8:00 am - 12:00 pm in the parish center. Cost of the meal is $7.00 for adults, $4.00 for children (5 - 10 yrs of age) and free for children 4yrs. and under. There is also a family rate available for $20.00. Please come and join us for fun, laughter and a spectacular "All You Can Eat" breakfast
Healing Mass with Fr. Jim Livingston, Friday February 17, 7pm                                                        Paper drive will be March 26^th thru April 9 so save your paper and Cardboard.
April 17th (Tuesday) - help feed the poor with Mary Joe Copeland, details will follow

 

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January 22, 2012 – THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

 Jon 3:1-5,10; Ps 25:4-5,6-7,8-9; 1Cor 7:29-31; Mk 1:14-20

Congratulations Anne Swanson! Our best wishes to Anne Swanson (Daughter of Barb & Darrel Swanson) as she was just named Executive Director of the New York Pops orchestra.

Thanks McDonough Trucking from Faribault! Dick McDonough, brother of Tom McDonough (Met-con Construction who did the church roof for us) donated a trailer that is sitting in the parking lot. Feel free to drop newspapers, cardboard boxes, etc. off in the trailer any time for our next paper drive which will be March 26-April 9. May the Good Lord continue to multiply the generosity in the McDonough’s who have been so good to us.

Appreciation for Jodee! Hope to see you all at the appreciation event for Jodee, January 28, 5-7 pm in the parish center.  As St. Gregory the Great (604) wrote, "The proof of love is in the works," Jodee demonstrated palpable goodness in all she does. May the God of goodness, be with her family always.

Dear Padre Question! “Is there such a thing called good-luck or bad-luck, and how does the Church view it?”  Historically speaking the Catholic Church has always been very negative towards the topic of good and bad luck.  As far as I know there are no official statements from the Catholic Church on good or bad luck.  The Church discourages all forms of superstitions, which is where good and bad luck would fit in.  The CCC (Catechism of the Catholic Church) #2111 reads, “Superstition is the deviation of religious feeling and of the practices this feeling imposes.  It can even affect the worship we offer the true God.”¹  Further St. Thomas Aquinas in Summa Theologica Question 92 indicates, “Superstition is a vice contrary to religion by excess…because it offers divine worship either to whom it ought not, or in a manner it ought not.” ² Thus the Church affirms that any kind of superstitious beliefs (like good or bad luck) distracts us, in trusting God with our undivided attention. 

                Good and bad luck beliefs/customs in some form exist in almost all cultures.  Just because such superstitious beliefs have existed for centuries, that does not make it right; they do not have the blessing of the Catholic Church.  Some examples of good or bad luck practices are: if a child or bride cries during the wedding service, it is considered good luck; if a bride meets a pig or passes a funeral on her way to the wedding it is considered bad luck. 

                Both Science and Religion can shed light in understanding good and bad luck beliefs.  Science: Take for example radioactive minerals (like water, dirt from the earth, etc.) that expel charged particles at a random rate.  In other words, the physics of radioactive material is such that the particle functions at random and nothing is planned.  It happens at random because it does not have the level of consciousness, we human beings do; their action is not deliberate or planned, rather random.  This can be applied to human beings for example when a person is sleeping and the body smells smoke.  The body has the capacity to wake the person up or not when there is smoke in the house.  Sometimes we get up and sometimes we don’t.  This could be described as a ‘random freedom,’ that comes from God.  Therefore, when something beneficial happens to us we call it good luck because life was saved by waking up when smelling smoke; in the case where the body did not sense it, and wake from sleep, then we tend to call it bad luck. The scientific world would consider the so called good or bad luck as random and not deliberate.

                Religion: Some people see a Spiritual Agent (God, Angels, Saints, even demons) as the origin for good or bad luck.  When good or bad things happen in one’s life, and the one who had a benevolent or hurtful experience, does not know who caused it, one tends to think, it was caused by a Spiritual Agent (God, Angels, Saints or Satan).  Spiritual Agents can cause things in our lives, that can turn out to be good or bad—if it turns out to be a favorable experience, then we human beings tend to call it good luck; if not, then we call it bad luck.  Spiritual Agents do get involved with our lives and we can know whether a particular experience (good or bad) is from a spiritual agent, only after the process of the ‘discernment of the spirit.’  A person has to seek help from a professional like a Pastor, Priest, Spiritual Director, Counselor, etc. and discern whether the particular experience (good or bad) was from a spiritual agent.  After discerning, if there is no evidence of the involvement of the Spiritual Agent, then simply treat it as a chance/accident.  

                When a person receives energy in any form, they are empowered to be able to use this energy in any matter they want; when the person uses this energy to impact others we call it 'efficient cause.'  Therefore God is 'efficient cause,' who has the power to cause things.  Even animals could be called ‘efficient cause,’ since they too, when they eat food, get the energy, and have the power to impact others in a good or bad way.  Spiritual agents have the power to cause things deliberately; when it turns out to be in our favor we call it good luck, and when it turns out not in our favor we call it bad luck.  Just as the Church during the Canonization process slowly discerns whether a particular miracle is supernatural or from a natural cause (medicine, science, etc.), in the same way, when one has a particular experience, it is important to discern whether it was from a Spiritual Agent or not.

                Superstitious practices of wearing a good luck charm around the neck, wrist or other body part hoping they will bring them good luck is a popular practice in some places.   Even though it is a pagan practice, superstition can influence even good, devout Christians.  We in the Catholic Church are blessed with so many Sacramentals (objects or actions that the Church uses, to obtain certain spiritual benefits to the faithful).  Examples of Sacramentals are Hoy Water, Scapular, Rosary, Medals, Blessing of Throats with crossed candles on the feast of St. Blaise, relics, etc.  The purpose of these Holy objects is to stir up our faith in God, to remind us of God’s presence and goodness, however they do not serve as good luck charms.  As CCC #2111 also reads, “To attribute the efficacy of prayers or of sacramental signs to their mere extreme performance, apart from interior dispositions that they demand, is to fall into superstition.” ¹ “An aura of superstition can taint not only objects but also actions and practices, even ones of Christian origin, and occurs whenever a person attributes results to an object or to the external performance of an action, without due reverence and respect for God.” ³ In other words, the purpose of all the Sacramentals we are blessed with in the Church is to remind us of God’s presence.  It is through these Holy Instruments/ Sacramentals we receive blessings from God, they are not good luck objects.  The notion of 'luck' is a pagan thing; it is devoid of an awareness of God being the foundation and support of all.  We should learn to focus on grace, the blessings of God and not on good or bad luck.

                We should turn our attention to Providence (God’s all-wise, all-loving nature, that takes care of us all) instead of good and bad luck in our lives.  We all experience providence in millions of ways every day.  When you are stuck in the middle of the road, God sends His angel to fix your tire; when a young mom rolled over into a fast flowing creek with her one year old daughter, God sends His Angel in the form of a human being; at Christmas time a generous family or organization drops at your front door all that you need—this is called Providence.  In Matthew 6: 26 Jesus assures us of the providence of God: “Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are not you more important than they?”  It would be sinful not to trust in the providence of God; not to trust in the First Commandment: ‘I am the Lord your God, you shall have no God besides me.’  CCC #2110 reads, “The first commandment forbids honoring gods other than the one Lord who has revealed himself to his people.  It proscribes superstition and irreligion.”¹

                To conclude, when a person talks about 'luck, they are removing God from their view of the world—faced with good luck and bad luck we must see this as a result of 'freedom from God'.  When physical things in the world like rolling the dice or getting your number called out which results in winning lot of money, we say this is good luck, because things happened in our favor.  On the Contrary, if you had lost it, you call it bad luck because things did not turn out in one's favor.  God did not cause it, the person who played did not cause it; the dice caused it--the result is random and it was not planned or deliberate.  It can happen in nature too.  You are outside when it is raining and you see a beautiful rainbow and you call it good luck; one walks outside during a thunderstorm, gets struck with the lightning and dies and you call it bad luck.  What is most important to remember in good or bad luck, is to always bring God into the picture.  The more we learn to see things as a Blessing from God, as gift from God, the less and less attention we will give to the language of good or bad luck.

1. Catechism of the Catholic Church: Revised in Accordance with the Official Latin Text Promulgated by Pope John Paul II. 2nd ed. (Vatican City): Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1997. #2110 & #2111  p. 512.

2. Summa Theologica, Volume III, Pt. II-II Q. 92, Art. 1. 

3. Smith, Claire Mary. Can I Confess by E-mail?  What Catholics May and May Not Do. Staten Island: St. Pauls/Alba House, 2010. Print. 185-186.

Sunday Reflection! The Gospel for today is from Mark 1 in which we learn that as Jesus passed by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea.  Jesus said to them, "Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men," and they abandoned their nets and followed Jesus.  St. Francis De Sales in his Introduction to the Devout Life indicates that if one does fasting but has hatred inside; if one prays so much but arrogant in attitude; if one takes a coin out of his purse but has no kindness in his heart…is of no use.  In other words, following Jesus Christ is not about picking and choosing, as we please, rather, about complete abandonment, as the fishermen who abandoned their nets and followed Jesus.  St. Francis de Sales, further wrote, "Hence a man who does not observe all God's commandments cannot be held to be either good or devout."  As challenging these words might seem, let us ask ourselves, do I strive to abandon myself to all that is not about Jesus Christ, so that I could follow Him with undivided heart?

In Christ Jesus,                       

Fr. Thomas Joseph

Please join us on Sunday, January 29 at 6 pm in the Church to listen to Matthew Kelly's "The 7 Pillars of Catholic Spirituality." This dynamic resource will inspire people to Rediscover Catholicism, live with Passion and Purpose, and bring Spiritual Vitality to the Church. We will listen to the 80min CD together in church. There is no commitment what so ever, just show up, and if possible, please join us afterwards in the parish center for refreshments.

We need a 3rd-4th grade teacher for the rest of this year, as Jennifer Szaroletta has 'retired ' to prepare for her new baby:) We are recruiting teachers for next year! Most of our teachers are coming back however we still need 4 more. If you would like to volunteer, please contact me (Anne), at 952-380-8303, or amhajek@gmail.com

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The Archdiocesan permanent deacon formation program will begin the discernment and application process this fall for admission to Aspirancy (novitiate) in fall 2011.  Men married or single and at least 30 years old can begin now by:  1) applying to the prerequisite Archbishop Harry J. Flynn Catechetical Institute that begins on Monday evening, September 13 (go to the St. Paul Seminary webpage at http://www.stthomas.edu/spssod/ for an application or call 651-962-6890), and 2) attending our “Diaconate Inquiry Course” on Tuesday evenings Oct. 26, Nov. 2, Nov. 9 and Saturday morning Nov. 20 at the St. Paul Seminary.  This course will introduce men (and their wives) to the vocation, spirituality, and role of the permanent deacon in the Archdiocese and will explain the discernment, application, and formation process.  Those who cannot attend this fall may attend one of the courses offered next winter or spring.  For more information on the Diaconate Inquiry Course, contact Deacon Russ Shupe at (651) 291-4428 or email: shuper@archspm.org.   Even if you cannot apply for diaconate formation now, you may still attend the Diaconate Inquiry Course to learn more about this unique vocation in the Church.

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