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The Ascension of the Lord
24 May 2009
Dear Friends in Christ,
1. In recent years we have made an effort to welcome persons from outside the parish to use our athletic facilities in the evenings and on the weekends, and you have probably seen groups of people playing basketball or soccer in all weather and well into the night. Unfortunately, the misconduct of some of our visitors has led to the abuse of our facilities, to serious public health issues, to broken glass and other trash left on campus, and finally to written requests from a local association of homeowners that we limit the use of our campus at night. After reviewing all of these considerations and seeking counsel from the diocesan insurance agent, we have put in place the following policy: the use of our athletic facilities is now restricted at all times to our school children and, when school is not in session, to members of this parish. Casual visitors are no longer able to use our facilities, and to prevent unauthorized use, the playground basketball goals are now locked after school and on the weekend. I regret that it was necessary to make this decision, but good order and public safety are our paramount concern. Groups within the parish and registered parishioners are always welcome to use our facilities (while respecting the requirement that no one can be on campus without prior permission during the school day), and anyone who would like to use our facilities is welcome to be in touch with Bill Biediger, Director of Administration, to make the necessary arrangements. There will, of course, continue to be exceptions to this policy, and a good example of that is the annual Carnival of the Center for Developmental Services which will be held on our campus from 5 to 8.30 pm on Friday 5 June.
2. In the coming week, the sacred liturgy will recall the lives of two saints who are of inestimable importance to Catholicism in English-speaking lands. On Monday 25 May we will keep the feast of St. Bede the Venerable, and on Wednesday 27 May we will keep the feast of St. Augustine of Canterbury. Augustine was born in Italy in the 6th century and belonged to the monastery in Rome of which Pope St. Gregory the Great was once abbot. Pope Gregory sent Augustine and 50 other monks as missionaries to England, and Augustine established the dioceses of Canterbury, London, and Rochester, becoming the first Archbishop of Canterbury and Primate of England. Augustine died around 605 in Canterbury, and in 673 Bede was born in the north of England near the monastery of Wearmouth. Bede eventually entered that monastery and became the most celebrated writer of his time, being called “Venerable” in his own life. He wrote theological treatises and Scripture commentaries, but he is most famous for his Ecclesiastical History of the English People, which establishes beyond all doubt that Christianity in England was, from the beginning, deeply connected to the Bishop and Church of Rome. English Christianity, in other words, was always Catholic Christianity, notwithstanding claims made to the contrary by King Henry VIII and others almost 1,000 years after Augustine and Bede bore witness to that truth.
Father Newman