Father Kris Stubna's Blog

It is not correct to claim, as some are doing, that Masses have been cancelled or suspended.  Every priest in our diocese has been asked by Bishop Zubik to be faithful and steadfast in celebrating Mass privately every single day.  I have the joy and privilege of doing that every day and I do it mindful and intentional of the souls that I have been given responsibility to serve - the faithful of our parish grouping.  As your pastor I continue to lift up the needs of each of the faithful in this difficult time when public Masses and services can no longer take place.  Masses are being celebrated by every priest every day for the faithful. I know how painful it is for the faithful not to be able to participate in the Mass and to receive Holy Communion.  But this is only for a time and in this time we are joined intimately and closely in the bonds of spiritual communion with our Lord, His Church and with each other who make up the Body of Christ. In his “Holy Thu...

Day 3 of our self-imposed quarantine.  I have been praying for Fr. Potter and his return to health.  He is in isolation at another location.  Both Fr. Mark Thomas and I are here at the rectory, Fr. Walsh is hunkered down at St. Stephen and Fr. John Odeyemi is in isolation at St. Rosalia.  We appreciate the prayers and concern that so many people have expressed over the past days.  We had someone drop off a delicious home cooked Italian dinner yesterday; someone else dropped off deviled eggs and a bottle of Barolo! They left everything on the porch and then we retrieved it safely once they left. Very strange days indeed! So many emails, phone calls and texts offering prayers and support - all of this means a great deal to us.  Thanks to everyone for your concern. I continue to pray for our staff and anyone else who may have been exposed.  Sincerely hoping that all the precautions we have taken over the past month - wiping down surfaces regularly, safe...

We are living in unprecedented times and for most us we have not experienced anything like what is happening around us.  With the numbers of those testing positive for the Coronavirus increasing every day, and the risk to so many increasing exponentially, every precaution must be taken for the well-being of everyone.  I can only imagine the burden in Bishop Zubik's heart in announcing new restrictions yesterday for the Church of Pittsburgh.  I encourage you to take time to read his letter on www.diopitt.org.  As he says, "Today's decisions are excruciating and among the most difficult to make." But these are not ordinary times.  The closing of all church buildings and the suspension of the celebration of the sacraments points to the pastoral decisions that the Church must make for the loving care of her people.  The Church is not abandoning or withdrawing from her people in these moments.  She is, in fact, responding in the most compassionate and car...

Today Bishop Zubik has asked the faithful of the Church of Pittsburgh to fast - a day of fasting - followed by a day of prayer tomorrow.   St. Jerome said that "fasting is not an absolute virtue but the foundation of other virtues."  Fasting is a way of detaching ourselves from the things of this world that we consume so readily and with little thought.  It is a discipline meant to free our minds and hearts so that we become less a slave to the pleasures of this world and more open to receive the grace that God desires to give us.  St. John Cassian said that "perfection of the mind and heart depends on the abstinence of the belly."  Fasting is aimed at helping us gain mastery and self-control over the worldly concerns and desires so that we can focus more deeply on God's voice, his will and the things that really matter for the salvation of our souls.  Fasting has always been deeply penitential. It is the reason that it is one of the three disciplines of Le...

I have celebrated private Masses in my life as priest.  After ordination as I completed my studies in Rome we often found ourselves as new priests celebrating private Masses in a small chapel at Saint Peter's Basilica or the private Masses chapels at the North American College or Casa Santa Maria.  But never have I celebrated a private Sunday Mass in an empty Cathedral.  It has been an unusual and surreal, yet powerful and moving experience this past week to celebrate Mass in a worship space that normally holds 1,000 congregants at Mass on Sunday and now was empty.  A lector and cantor and two television ministry volunteers joined me for Mass this past Sunday.  It doesn't seem real to be preaching to rows and rows of empty pews as your voice resonates in ways never before heard in the Cathedral during the celebration of Mass.  But here we are day after day celebrating Mass closed to the public - but completely conscious and aware of the deep bonds of commun...

Today the Church celebrates what is typically known as Laetare Sunday - the Latin word for Rejoice.  We are midway through our Lenten journey and today we are given a word of consolation, joy and hope.  We are reminded of the closeness of our God and the constant hope of redemption, grace, and salvation.  This is a message that is even more powerful and needed for the times we are living in.  God has entered the human situation in all things except sin.  He knows our sufferings inside and out. This is the meaning of the Cross.  As believers we know that the Resurrection always comes after Good Friday.  In Jesus Christ and the bloody sacrifice on Calvary, offered for our sins and the redemption of the world, God accomplished the work of salvation.  His love is more powerful than any evil, grace has conquered sin, life triumphs over death.  But we must struggle on due to the effects of orginal sin and the gift of human freedom.  So often w...

I have heard from so many people who are filled with anxiety and dread, even a sense of hopelessness, not knowing what to do or where to go.  These can be occasions for despair or opportunities for grace.  We are being invited in these trying times to turn our gaze once again to the sacrifice our Lord made for us on the Cross on Calvary.   It speaks to us of God’s love - a love that is unconditional, without measure or limit, overflowing and all-powerful.  What we celebrate in this grace-filled season of Lent are the lengths that our God will go to redeem and to justify us from our sins and to provide the sufficient grace we need to gain eternal life.  There is a great deal we can do.  Spend time at home with your family, read the Sciptures, pray the rosary, pray for those in need especially those in need, call relatives and neighbors who might alone and isolated, offer sacrifices for the poor souls in purgatory and the sins of others.    For so m...

PRAYER FOR HEALTH CARE WORKERS Wondrous God, author of life, you fashioned us in your likeness and breathed into us the life which is your own. Be with all the men and women in health care, whose special care is the health of mind and body. As they serve the sick and those in need, Fill their hearts with awe for the life which is your gift. Sustain them daily in your service, that their hands may bring to others the comfort of your healing touch. Be with them in this special time of crisis with the Coronavirus. Keep them safe as they offer their lives in service and compassion to others. Give them strong faith and trust in your providential care. May they never doubt your saving presence at work in their lives. We make our prayer through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever.

In these times when the faithful are not able to attend Mass and receive Holy Communion physically, we are invited to participate intentionally in Spiritual Communion.   Spiritual communion is a practice among Catholics for union with Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist as a response to God’s own desire for union. St. Thomas Aquinas defined Spiritual Communion as “an ardent desire to receive Jesus in the Holy Sacrament and a loving embrace as though we had already received Him.” The basis of this practice was explained by Pope John Paul II in his encyclical, Ecclesia de Eucharistia : In the Eucharist, "unlike any other sacrament, the mystery [of communion] is so perfect that it brings us to the heights of every good thing: Here is the ultimate goal of every human desire, because here we attain God and God joins himself to us in the most perfect union." Precisely for this reason it is good to cultivate in our hearts a constant desire for the sacrament of the Eucharis...

We are living through some very difficult and challenging days.   I know that many people are anxious and even fearful with the concerns and effects of the corona virus as it continues to affect the lives of a growing number of people. We are reminded in times like this of the fragility of human life and the bonds of solidarity that we share with all of our brothers and sisters around the world.   We must all heed the precautions and restrictions mandated by our government leaders, as well as those given to us by Bishop Zubik and the Church.     We want everyone to be safe and are particularly mindful of those who are most risk, especially the elderly and those with underlying health conditions.   It is painful and difficult for many of us not to be able to attend Mass and to receive the Sacred Body and Precious Blood of our Savior.   But these are extraordinary times.   Perhaps the things we take for granted will become more treasured and pre...