Let’s talk about next weekend. That complicated weekend—Halloween, All Saints Day, All Souls Day. Three days that ask us to look in all sorts of directions—into the darkness, into the light, into the very face of death. But, three days that speak of one great Christian mystery—Christ’s triumph over sin and death.  Before Halloween became commercialized (and we probably could say the same in a few months about Christmas), the connections between these observances were a little more obvious. The dark side of Halloween, even the hellish...

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When I wake up these mornings, I run through a series of questions: What day is it? Where am I supposed to go? And, when I get there, what am I supposed to do? I know in time, our changed schedules will fall into a new normal ritual. But that’s not happening these next two weeks! Already, we face some adjustments to what happens in which place on what day—temporary adjustments, but very real ones. WEEK OF OCTOBER 20-24 One of the early steps in repairing the storm-damaged pipe organ begins. The pipes will be removed and taken to Albany for refurbishment. ...

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The letter sits in front of me on my desk. The letter from Bishop Bambera that begins with the words: “In response to the needs of the faithful of the Diocese of Scranton, I am appointing you Pastor, Saint Ann Parish, Williamsport…[you] will continue to serve as Pastor, Saint Boniface Parish, Williamsport.” It sounds pretty tidy. A pastor and a parochial vicar (Fr. Dias received a similar letter the same day) were assigned to two separate parishes. What does that mean in practical terms? How do our lives as St. Ann and St. Boniface Parishes change? How...

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As part of this weekend’s Priesthood Sunday (yes, it’s a thing—not sure if the Church or Hallmark created it, though), the parish Vocation Committee has asked me and Fr. Dias to play a sort of icebreaking game —This or That. So here we go: Early Bird or Night Owl. Definitely an early bird. I try, not always with success, to adjust the end of my day so that I still get enough sleep with an early rise. Coffee or Tea. Both actually. Coffee for morning, tea later in the day. (And I mean real tea with the caffeine still in it!) Godspell or Jesus ...

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As many of you are aware, for the 21 years that I was pastor at Resurrection Parish, I was also responsible for serving as Catholic chaplain at the women’s prison in Muncy. Recently, it has become challenging for Resurrection Parish to continue that ministry. Given that St. Boniface Parish is the only parish in this county with two priests, Bishop Bambera asked to resume this ministry. What does that mean to us as a parish? In the first place, it adds a Sunday evening Mass at the prison. On a normal Sunday, that allows Fr. Dias and me each to celebrate two Ma...

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Lately, I’ve heard a couple of interrelated questions: When will we begin work on the new organ? Is that (the keyboard you hear at 4 pm Mass) the new organ? And if that’s not the new organ, why not just keep playing that? Doesn’t it sound just fine as it is? Let’s start with the work question. Actually, work has begun on the “new” organ. I’d prefer we talk about restoring or rebuilding the instrument. The pipes—the most important part of the organ—were not damaged last year. They need some 50-year maintenance, bu...

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Many of you have been asking, and the wait is nearly over! Tomorrow, September 8, the books for Mass intentions open up. That date always seems to create a rather a frenzy as people try to get their requests for Masses in as soon as they can. For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about—and for those who do—some explanation might be in order. As Catholics, we have a long tradition of oīering Mass for particular intentions. Of course, every Mass is oīered for the salvation of the entire world. The Mass is, after all, the sacrifice of Jesus...

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In the midst of the upcoming events I listed out a couple of weeks ago, I forgot one. It’s the Diocesan Catholic Ministries Appeal. And it’s going to happen. Some of you may already have been receiving the request letters from the Diocese. Some of us may already be thinking about our giving budget and making decisions about how much to give to that worthy cause. Just a heads up: This year, the Ministries Appeal will be treated a little differently for St Boniface Parish. We’ll have a goal. We’ll put the ask out there for you. I will never tell ...

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Lately, our finance council and our parish pastoral council have been rather busy. Busy enough that we didn’t manage to skip one of our meetings this summer! But, busy with things that are important to the life of the parish. After all, these women and men are the representatives that you nominate to serve. I genuinely look to them to give me advice as we move forward on so many fronts. One of the responsibilities that falls to finance councils, pastoral councils, and pastors is the regular evaluation of properties. We’re always called to look closely at the ...

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There’s no way around it. We have a number of things going on these last weeks of summer. They’re all important. They all deserve some attention on this page. I’ll try to give each of them space in the bulletin these next few weekends. First, it’s Little League. That’s a time to be especially attentive to how we welcome people. Don’t think for a moment this is just a St Lawrence Church thing. Fans and teams have always shown up at any and all of our parishes in Lycoming County. We routinely had Little League people come to Resurrection...

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