The Catholic Community of Northern Columbia County

The Steering Committee met with Fr. Bob Longobucco (Vicar General of the Diocese) earlier this week to discuss the proposed plan to retain possession of The Colbert House. 

As a result of this meeting, we are pleased to announce that St. James will not be required to sell the house at this time and may proceed with the implementation of the plan outlined in the report in conjunction with the listing of proposed uses that continues the Evangelization of the people of Northern Columbia County. 

Fr. Bob was impressed with the work of the Committee, raised several questions that were answered and made several suggestions for consideration.  The full Committee will be meeting in the near future to begin the implementation phase of the plan and will provide more information as it becomes available.

If you are interested in finding out more or getting involved in any way, the Committee can be reached by email.

Thanks to all who have been so helpful in collaborating on this project!

The Steering Committee met with Fr. Bob Longobucco (Vicar General of the Diocese) earlier this week to discuss the proposed plan to retain possession of The Colbert House. 

As a result of this meeting, we are pleased to announce that St. James will not be required to sell the house at this time and may proceed with the implementation of the plan outlined in the report in conjunction with the listing of proposed uses that continues the Evangelization of the people of Northern Columbia County. 

Fr. Bob was impressed with the work of the Committee, raised several questions that were answered and made several suggestions for consideration.  The full Committee will be meeting in the near future to begin the implementation phase of the plan and will provide more information as it becomes available.

If you are interested in finding out more or getting involved in any way, the Committee can be reached by email.

Thanks to all who have been so helpful in collaborating on this project!

“Un mendigo, llamado Lázaro, yacía a la entrada
de su casa.” (Lucas 16, 20)

¿Cuántas veces crees que este hombre rico paso a la par de Lázaro? Sin embargo, fue como si el hombre realmente nunca lo viera. El hombre rico simplemente acepto la presencia de Lázaro como una realidad de la vida.

Este hombre murió y termino sufriendo en el lugar de castigo. Pero no fue simplemente porque era rico, sino porque nunca se preocupo por este ser humano que era, en cierta forma, parte de su vida cotidiana.

 Todos sabemos que ser cristiano implica cuidar de los menos afortunados. Hay tantas personas que pasan necesidad que podemos sentirnos abrumados. Además, la mayoría de nosotros no somos expertos en política con el conocimiento necesario para sacar a las personas de la pobreza. Aun si entregamos todas nuestras posesiones, difícilmente esa acción haría una gran diferencia. 

Es bueno recordar que Jesús tampoco tenia una gran estrategia para resolver el problema de la pobreza, solamente se acerco a los pobres. Si el hombre rico en la parábola de Jesús hubiera hecho lo mismo para cuidar del mendigo que se encontraba en su puerta, su vida habría terminado de una manera muy distinta.

Por ahí es por donde nosotros podemos comenzar: Ayudando a una persona a la vez. Si todos lo hiciéramos, ¡piensa en cuantas personas recibirían ayuda!

Recuerda también que Dios desea que tu ayudes a aquellos que tal vez no les hacen falta bienes materiales pero que aun así siguen siendo “pobres”. Como decía la Madre Teresa: “Muchas personas en el mundo están muriendo por un pedazo de pan, pero hay muchas mas que mueren por un poco de amor.”       Amen.

Exposición del Santísimo Sacramento 

Debido a algunas preocupaciones sobre quién es responsable de la condición de la iglesia, el salón y los baños en la Iglesia de San José (Stuyvesant Falls), después del servicio de oración los viernes por la noche, hemos tenido que suspender la adoración y la exposición hasta nuevo aviso.  Me he reunido con los dirigentes de la Comunidad Española y están de acuerdo.  Esperamos reiniciar este servicio de oración a fines de octubre o principios de noviembre.  Gracias por su comprensión.  Si tiene alguna pregunta, póngase en contacto con uno de los líderes: su información de contacto aparece en la página 2 de este boletín.  Dios los bendiga, Padre Steve 

"The value of persistent prayer is not that God will hear us, but that we will finally hear God."

Family Faith Formation begins on Sunday, October 2 with evening Mass at St. John the Baptist, and on Sunday, October 16 with the morning Mass at St. James.  After Mass, families will gather for community building and formation based on this year’s theme of PRAYER.

We welcome all of our families as we gather to live out Jesus’s call to follow him beginning with the gift of Eucharist at Mass, prayer, and service.

“If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.” Regardless of how the message of faith is received, a total conversion of mind and heart is needed for it to take root and have meaning. It is easy to become complacent and comfortable with all that life can afford us. Life can become “all about me,” preserving my livelihood and protecting my securities. Often, this drive can become so strong that we eagerly strive to protect our self-interests at the expense of others. Other people are necessary only to the extent that they are “useful” to us and profitable.

Merriam-Webster defines entitlement as “the belief that one is deserving of or entitled to certain privileges.” In a world that pretends to offer us so many necessities, this is perhaps the greatest contemporary sin. When we feel “entitled” to something, even if it is perceived necessary, our relationships can get skewed. Unless we adopt a global vision of entitlement wherein everyone is entitled to the same things, we risk becoming extremely self-focused and selfish. All we care about is defending our rights and protecting our turf. This impulse can be so strong that we pursue it even at the expense of another. Is this what God intends for his children?

Holding on to this myopic vision, the plight and station of others are off our radar and of no real concern to us. Relying on our own merits and becoming resilient to life’s challenges, we replace the true and real God with the one we created ourselves. Jesus and the prophets before him have consistently reminded us of the dangers of wealth, ignoring the poor and the needy, and becoming too fiercely independent and arrogant. Yet, we conduct our lives as if that message has never been preached. We give our faith a nod and never consider for a moment that we may be wrong in terms of what we see as important. “The things that we love tell us what we are (attributed to St. Thomas Aquinas).” Ponder those words a bit and remember that when we leave this world and go to the next one, what we loved here is what we will look for there. What we sought here may not be there.                                      ©LPi

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Jesús fue muy valiente de echar en cara la hipocresía de algunos fariseos y de gente rica y usurera de su tiempo. Les gustaba aparentar lo que no hacían en cuestión de caridad y justicia con los más pobres. Vivían muy despreocupados, ensimismados en sus cosas triviales, sin importancia. Decían conocer a Dios, pero en realidad no reflexionaban ni vivían su palabra. Cuando asistimos a Misa y escuchamos la Palabra de Dios, o cuando leemos la Biblia en casa o en algún grupo, estamos comprometidos a escuchar e interiorizar lo que se lee en ella, para tener fruto por la gracia del Espíritu Santo y así hacer el bien.

“Si queremos ser hombres y mujeres de Dios, como le pide san Pablo a Timoteo, debemos guardar el mandamiento sin mancha ni reproche hasta la manifestación de nuestro Señor Jesucristo (1 Timoteo 6,14). Y el mandamiento es amar a Dios y amar al prójimo. No podemos separarlos (Papa Francisco). Dicho de otra manera, es el compromiso de cada persona con la otra. De construir en vez de destruir, de cuidar el mundo, de ayudar a la sociedad a construir para el beneficio de todos. Se llama el bien común. La oración colecta de hoy nos invita a orar y confiar en Dios para llevar a cabo lo que Dios nos pide: “Señor, Dios, que manifiestas tu poder de una manera admirable sobre todo cuando perdonas y ejerces tu misericordia, multiplica tu gracia sobre nosotros… … Para que seamos fieles cristianos atentos para hacer justicia a los que lo necesiten. ¡Amen!                             ©LPi

Next weekend, the diocese will be taking up the National Collection for The Catholic University of America. Catholic University is a national research university with over 5,700 undergraduate and graduate students in more than 250 academic programs in the heart of
Washington, D.C. By giving to the collection, you are supporting future Catholic leaders, both religious and lay, who are being formed by an exceptional, faith-rooted education and the University’s various research and training initiatives that support dioceses and parishes in responding to the most pressing needs of their faithful. Thank you!

Next weekend, the diocese will be taking up the National Collection for The Catholic University of America. Catholic University is a national research university with over 5,700 undergraduate and graduate students in more than 250 academic programs in the heart of
Washington, D.C. By giving to the collection, you are supporting future Catholic leaders, both religious and lay, who are being formed by an exceptional, faith-rooted education and the University’s various research and training initiatives that support dioceses and parishes in responding to the most pressing needs of their faithful. Thank you!

“Los que pertenecen a este mundo son más hábiles”
(Lucas 16, 9)

Esta parábola puede resultar algo confusa, ¿Por qué Jesús convertiría al administrador deshonesto en el héroe de la historia?

Quizá si analizamos un poco el contexto podamos comprender mejor. Jesús acababa de contar la parábola del hijo prodigo, una historia sobre un padre que perdona completamente a su hijo y ofrece una gran fiesta para celebrar su regreso (Lucas 15, 11-32). La extravagancia del padre es tal que difícilmente encontrarías a alguien que actúe de esa forma en la vida real.

El hijo prodigo es una parábola sobre la misericordia infinita de Dios hacia nosotros. Ahora, en contraste, cuenta el relato de un administrador infiel que utiliza medios oscuros para reducir solamente una porción de la deuda que algunas personas tenían con él.

Eso esta muy lejos del hijo prodigo y Jesús lo sabe. El Señor sabe que el perdón y la misericordia son escasos en este mundo, y uso esta parábola para ilustrar ese hecho. Pero luego, Jesús dice que sus seguidores parecen incapaces de igualar incluso la supuesta “misericordia” de este administrador deshonesto. “Los que pertenecen a este mundo”, dice “son más hábiles... que los que pertenecen a la luz” (Lucas 16, 9). El administrador ciertamente fue hábil al reducir las deudas. Pero Jesús está buscando algo más allá de
la habilidad y la astucia, esta buscando la verdadera misericordia que perdona sin dejar ataduras.

¿Puedes aceptar este desafío que te lanza Jesús? ¿Puedes perdonar, especialmente cuando la otra persona no merece misericordia? No es fácil, pero es posible. No sucede automáticamente pero llegara conforme sigas esforzándote y pidiéndole que te ayude con su gracia. Amen.

The value of persistent prayer is not that God
will hear us, but that we will finally hear God.The value of persistent prayer is not that God
will hear us, but that we will finally hear God.

Registration forms and calendars were mailed last week to all families who were a part of the 2021 – 2022 program, as well as others who requested information.

Family Faith Formation begins on Sunday, October 2 with evening Mass at St. John the Baptist, and on Sunday, October 16 with the morning Mass at St. James.

We welcome all of our families as we gather together to become stronger disciples through prayer and action, beginning with the gift of Eucharist at Mass.

Youth Ministry
A special thanks to Finley, Liam, Lauren, Blaise, Ryan, Emmet, Liz, Holly, Liz, and Jackie who helped the Knights of Columbus at their annual garage sale on Saturday, September 10. We appreciate your willingness to help.

Other service opportunities are available on Sunday, September 18 and Saturday, September 24. Please call Ruth Ellen at 518-758-1828 or send an email if you wish to know more.

“You cannot serve both God and mammon.” Merriam-Webster defines mammon as material wealth or possessions, especially having a debasing influence. While God does not take issue with our need to use money for the business of our lives, there can be a problem with the attitudes we bring to it. We can easily become so preoccupied and obsessed with money that it becomes the real “god” we worship. Do we serve mammon instead of God? In their book, Wealth, Riches and Money, Craig Hill and Earl Pitts outline symptoms of
mammon’s influence in our lives. Some of these are worry and anxiety over money, money mismanagement, fear over “never having enough,” an “I can’t afford it” mentality, impulse buying, stinginess, greed, debt, and discontent. 

Many of the things on that list can consume us to the point that we are distracted from what we really need to be doing. Many people spend an inordinate amount of time worrying about money and it becomes the source of their worst fears. If we are honest with ourselves, we need to admit that we place far more emphasis on our material securities than we ought. In fact, we have actually convinced ourselves that we cannot live without it. Are we that certain about the presence of God? Many of the world’s problems, especially those involving inequity and injustice, result from conflicts about money. Many equate money with happiness. Those successful in accumulating large amounts of it quickly realize just how wrong they are.

“Your ultimate allegiance is not to the government, not to the state, not to nation, not to any man-made institution. The Christian owes his ultimate allegiance to God, and if any earthly institution conflicts with God’s will it is your Christian duty to take a stand against it. You must never allow the transitory evanescent demands of man-made institutions to take precedence over the eternal demands of the Almighty God (Martin Luther King, Jr.).” This is the point Jesus is trying to make. Unfortunately, when we look around our man-made kingdoms are far more prevalent than God’s kingdom. When we start seeing greater evidence of justice, equity, dignity, respect, opportunity, gentleness, holiness, solidarity, honesty, simplicity, care for creation, and a decrease in ambition, then
we will know that God’s kingdom is being served. We will be doing what we are supposed to do.                            ©LPi 

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