Father Kris Stubna's Blog

“We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed..struck down but not destroyed.”   Saint Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 seem so fitting for our situation today.   Who of us is not feeling hard pressed, hemmed in, forlorn and forsaken?   Each day brings continued reports of those dying from the coronavirus, the suffering of so many who are facing the illness, the devastation of those who have lost their jobs, the economic impact on business and our own personal financial resources, the isolation from social contact, the loss of sacramental grace and the ability event to go Mass, not being able to see our loved ones, especially the elderly, and the list goes on an on.   Hard pressed, struck down and struggling.  These are experiences that have shaken us to our core. But we are not crushed or destroyed.   This is what we know with certainty.   God’s grace is more powerful than death.   Easter is the assurance of that triumph once ...

These days have been difficult for all of us but none more that our elderly and senior citizens, particularly those living alone or in nursing homes.   All of sudden our seniors find themselves completely isolated from the outside world, especially their families. Even priests are not able to visit and bring Holy Communion out of a fear of putting our elderly loved ones at risk sickness and even death.    Some can be connected through the miracles of technology - face time, texts, instagram, facebook and other means for people to stay in touch. How many photos have we see of visits behind glass unable to make any physical contact with those we love. I have found myself engaged in a new kind of telephone ministry that before the coronavirus there was very little time to do. I try to make a number of calls each day to our homebound and nursing home parishioners, and others who may not have any family.   It’s been a real joy.   These are people who are t...

All politics aside -which these days seems to be impossible to do-  I am deeply grateful to the leadership of President Trump and his task force for providing realistic, honest and clear information on all that we are facing with the coronavirus epidemic.  I do not watch the news daily.  I find it troublesome and divisive.  But one thing I do watch each day is the President's Task Force update.  Dr. Byrx and Dr. Fauci provide significant and important information on what is taking place.  Vice President Mike Pence is a calm and steady hand in guiding the efforts of the government in addressing the epidemic.  I don't really know how the President stands in front of the reporters day after day in an effort to speak to the people about the pandemic.  What is most troubling is the disrespect, antagonism and outright hatred that so many of the reporters have for the President. They care little for the information; for what is being done to address the ...

The coronavirus epidemic has pushed so many things to the back burner as we focus on life and death, and trying to do all we can to protect the health and safety of everyone around us.   Our prayers continue to go out to the victims of the virus and their families – those who have died and those struggling with the illness.   We continue to heed all the restrictions put in place by our government authorities, health care professionals and the Church leadership.   We know these are only for a time and we pray that through God’s grace we can overcome this pandemic and return to our lives as we desire to live them.   We are on track to complete the merger of our four parishes in July.   There may be some issues that have to be resolved after that date but all the parish groupings in this third phase are on track to complete the merger as planned.   We have submitted all of our documents to the bishop and are anticipating a final announcement in late May. ...

Our 14 days of quarantine are over.   Easter Sunday!  What a day to celebrate the self-imposed isolation from having come in contact with a person testing positive for the Coronavirus.  This is for all of  us a brand new experience.  What we do not know far outweighs what we do understand.  Most of us willingly embrace the restrictions put into place - by our government leaders, health care professionals and the Church.  We do so not only for our own safety and well-being but more importantly for the welfare of others.  None of us would want to put others at risk of sickness and even death but our lack of charity.  There is no greater gift a man can give than to lay down his life for his friends.  These are words spoken by Jesus to his disciples and to all who desire to follow him.  We remember this restriction of our freedoms is for a short time, our obedience required and given out of love for others and greater good. For me ...

"May this flame be found still burning by the Morning Star; the one Morning Star who never sets,  Christ your Son, who, coming back from death's domain, has shed his peaceful light on humanity." These beautiful words of the Exultet, proclaimed during the lighting of the Paschal Candle at the Easter Vigil, speak to the hope of this glorious and blessed day. Happy Easter one and all. Christ is Risen as he said.  Alleluia!  Alleluia! Perhaps this year more than ever before, each of us can more deeply share in the experience of the disciples of Jesus, his Mother, Mary Magdalene and a handful of others.  We know their sadness and pain, their anxiety and fear, their isolation and sense of darkness.  They have gone into hiding, locked up in the upper room, not quite certain what the future holds or even if they will survive their enemies.  Only Mary Magdalene ventures out to honor the body of Jesus with the ritual anointing.  Her love for Lord cannot be c...

Behold the wood of the Cross on which hung the salvation of the world.  Come let us adore.  With these words the Church holds high the Cross upon which Jesus offered that selfless sacrifice for the redemption of the world, the forgiveness of sins, and to restore once again the order of God's creation.  There is no more powerful and moving devotion today than the Veneration of the Cross, the opportunity that each person has to approach the Cross of Jesus and embrace it with a kiss, with some sign of what the Cross means for our eternal salvation. People will stand in line for hours just to offer their veneration and prayer,   We won't be able to do that in this year in the course of the Good Friday service.  But it is something that we can and should do at home.  Gaze upon the Cross.  Kiss the Cross of Jesus.  Draw close to those final moments in the life of Jesus before he breathed his last breath in his human nature out of love for God's people. ...

What a beautiful day.  The day we celebrate the institution of the priesthood and the Holy Eucharist.  For the Cathedral, this is one of the busiest days of the year.  But not today. There is an eerie silence and quiet that I have never experienced.  Sadly, I have seen the responses of some who have decried the response of the Church in these extraordinary and unique times. What they miss is the bravery of our bishops and clergy in recognizing the serious nature of the pandemic and the responsibility we each share in not becoming the risk that brings serious harm and even death to those we serve.  Some have callously continued forward with little regard to the impact they might have on those we serve. Most of us know differently. Out of an authentic charity, we must be concerned with all that science and health teaches us. We cannot be the harbingers of disease, destruction and death to those whom seek the grace of the sacraments. This is for a short time. ...

"Amen I say to you, one of you will betray me."  These words must have been difficult for the disciples to hear but even more painful for Jesus to say.  We reach now the end of Lent and the beginning of the Triduum - the sacred days in which we enter the heart of our Christian faith.  By the wood of the Cross, our Savior redeemed the world.  Immediately after hearing those words of Jesus we are told the disciples began to say to him one after another, "Surely, it is not I Lord." Our attention is more easily focused on Judas the Isacriot, on the 12 apostles, the closest confidantes and friends that Jesus has. It is Judas who will sell Jesus out for 30 pieces of silver. From that moment, Judas becomes a scoundrel and fiend to Christians in every age - what an act of selfishness, a betrayal of trust beyond measure.  How could anyone do such a thing to Jesus?  In his human nature, Jesus must have felt keenly the sadness and pain that comes from such a breech of...

I have visited many of our parishioners in nursing homes and those who are homebound over the years.  So often I would notice that their eyes and attention were drawn to the windows. They were keen to point out the beautiful flowers blooming in the spring, or the different birds that were coming to eat, or the stunning color of the autumn leaves, even the beauty of the icicles and snow flakes falling in winter.  What caught by attention was their intense attention to detail, the joy they had in describing the beauty of what they saw, and deep appreciation they had for the God's gift of nature.  I hadn't really seen so intensely what they were seeing until they pointed it out to me. Now I find myself inside looking out. Day 11 of our 14 day quarantine and not able to leave the house for any reason except for a dire emergency.  Despite engaging in many tasks and responsibilities that keep me busy, I find myself drawn to the windows of the rectory and we have many of ...

One of the most beautiful experiences of my life was the privilege of serving as a deacon on Palm Sunday in Saint Peter's Square with Pope John Paul II.  Hundreds of thousands of faithful filled the square and down the Via Conciliazione, lifting their palm branches for the Holy Father's blessing and beginning with such deep faith these most holy days of the Church's year.  I was recalling that experience today as I watched Pope Francis begin Holy Week with that same Palm Sunday liturgy but in an almost empty Saint Peter's Basilica.  But the liturgy was just as solemn and beautiful as it always is, inviting each of us to begin this year's journey through Holy Week. It will be different for all of us.  Those liturgies that are so important to our lives 0f faith and to which we look forward to each year  with such graet longing will go on,  but now without the faithful and only a handful of essential ministers.  Our absence from those liturgies is ...

My sister Beth is a nurse.  Every day she makes her way to the hospital.  There are not sufficient masks but there are patients needing the care of doctors and nurses.  Every day they come to care for the sick and offer the best support they can.   The son of a good friend of mine, Quinton, goes every day to Trader Joe's.  Some of the employees refuse to work out of fear and anxiety of being infected. But Quinton comes, wearing a mask, doing his best to allow people to buy the groceries and supplies they need to survive.  My classmate, Father Mark, continues to don his protective gear as a hospital chaplain to hear confessions, anoint and bless the sick and dying, despite being told he should stay away. We have parishioners in our parish grouping whom I will not name, police officers, paramedics, firefighters, first responders, those who put their lives at risk in service to others. They are coming to work, doing the best they can to be safe, but doing thei...

So far so good as we enter Day 7 of our quarantine. Thanks to so many who have called, texted, emailed, dropped off food and have offered support.  It is greatly appreciated.  We continue to pray for each other in these difficult days for so many people. It's a Friday in Lent.  I know that some bishops have dispensed people from the obligation to eat meat on Friday because of the coronavirus epidemic and the difficulties that some people may have in getting supplies at the store.  But even if the Pope himself had dispensed us from eating meat on a Friday in Lent, my mother would never have relented from our regular fast from meat - not just during Lent but every Friday all year long.  No one ever ate meat of any kind on any Friday of the year in the Stubna household.  We learned as children that it was a day that we abstained from meat as we reflected on the sacrifice that our Lord made for our sins on that Good Friday at Calvary.  Tuna noodle casser...

One of the patron saints in our parish grouping is also one the saints invoked by the  Church in times of pestilence and plague.  How appropriate it is that we in the Greenfield-Hazelwood-Oakland grouping have Saint Rosalia offering us her protection and care. In 1624, a plague beset Palermo in Sicily and everyone was quarantined to their homes, with many falling ill and some dying.  During this great hardship Saint Rosalia appeared first to a sick woman, then to a hunter, to whom she indicated where her remains were to be found. She ordered him to bring her bones to Palermo and have them carried in procession through the city.  The hunter climbed the mountain and found her bones in the cave just as she had described. He did what she had asked in the apparition. After her remains were carried around the city three times, the plague ceased and health restored to the people of Palermo. After this Saint Rosalia was venerated as the patron saint of Palermo, and a...

"Be still and know that I am God."  These words from Psalm 46 speak to our hearts in these days.  "I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth."  This powerful prayer is so very appropriate for our times.  We are reminded that "God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble."  So many people around us are overcome with fear and anxiety in these days.  Our isolation and quarantine have given us so much time that normally our lives do not provide us.  Indeed there blessings in all of this.  I have heard from many parents who are celebrating this unexpected gift - time to spend time with their children and families.  What a gift to be able to pray together, to talk and to play together.  We may never have this opportunity again so use it well. I know that the tendency for many is to fill the silence with noise.  Watch television, play games, use the internet. These can be very good ways of stren...