Father Kris Stubna's Blog

What happened to George Floyd is tragic and inexcusable. This should not happen to any person in our country.  Every citizen in our nation should be outraged by his death.  We mourn the loss of a human life that could have been prevented.  We pray for his eternal rest and our hearts and prayers go out to the members of Mr. Floyd's family. We pray that God will bring consolation, strength and healing to their broken hearts and lives.   We do not know what happened that day to lead a member of law enforcement to do what appears to be a cruel action directly causing a man's death.  We do not know what was in the police officer's mind and heart that led him to take those actions.  He will need to answer for his actions and face the penalties of law if convicted and ultimately answer to God.  It is a foundational principle of our justice system that a person is innocent until proven guilty.   The police officer has already been arrested and c...

This past Tuesday, I met with Bishop Zubik to receive the formal decree merging the four parishes into one.   On July 1 there will be one new parish serving the Greenfield, Hazelwood and Oakland communities named Saint Paul Cathedral parish.  The former parishes of Saint Paul Cathedral,  Saint Regis, Saint Rosalia and Saint Stephen will cease to exist and we become a new parish.  Our parish boundaries have changed and encompass the former boundaries of all four parishes.  We have a quite a large territory to cover!  And what a patron saint to have - Saint Paul.   Called by God to preach the Good News to the Gentiles, Paul was fearless, passionate, courageous, persistent and always hopeful.  He is the co-patron of our diocese.   What a blessed that we are, as well, the Mother Church of the Diocese of Pittsburgh, the seat of the bishop - a special privilege indeed. As I received the decree creating our new parish, I was so very mindful of the...

When I was at the seminary in Rome, I had the opportunity to visit military cemeteries at places like Anzio, Monte Cassino, Omaha Beach and others.  We have Arlington and Gettysburg in our own country.  One cannot stand among the tens of thousands of rows of white crosses and not be greatly moved – they stand as a testimony to the tremendous sacrifices made by men and women in every age – sacrifices that preserved for us the gift of our freedom and the values we cherish as Americans. I remember today the words of President Abraham Lincoln as he dedicated the cemetery at Gettysburg “there is nothing we can do to dedicate or hallow this ground; it has already been consecrated by the sacrifice of those slain in defense of freedom and the ideals of this great nation.” Memorial Day calls us to remember and celebrate the gift of our great nation – but a nation that is great because of what constitutes our core beliefs –the sanctity of every human   life, the freedom ...

This week we are celebrating the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord.  While most dioceses in the United States and throughout the world have moved the Ascension to the following Sunday,  we in the Diocese of Pittsburgh still celebrate the Ascension on the exact day - 40 days after Easter.  Only in the northeast provinces of Philadelphia, New York and New England is this traditional Ascension day so celebrated! We profess our faith in this glorious mystery when we say in the Nicene Creed:   He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father . We believe that Jesus’ earthly life reached its culmination when He passed from this world to the Father. He no longer belongs to the world of corruption and death that conditions our earthly life. He passed into the glorified state in God. It is important to understand that the Ascension does not mean that Jesus has departed from us. He has not abandoned us or left us orphans. Otherwise, after the Asc...

May 14 is the Feast of Saint Matthias, Apostle and Martyr .  The very first act that the apostles engaged in after the Ascension of Jesus was to find a replacement for Judas Iscariot.  Judas was one of the 12 apostles chosen by Jesus himself and it was Judas who later betrayed that trust and turned over Jesus to the authorities for thirty pieces of silver. With all the questions, doubts, and dangers facing them, they chose to focus their attention on finding a twelfth apostle. Why was this important?   They knew that they had to make whole what Judas had put asunder.  Twelve was a very important number to the Chosen People: twelve was the number of the twelve tribes of Israel. If the new Israel was to come from the disciples of Jesus, a twelvth apostle had to found.    What a daunting task that must have been for those 11 others.  They must have had their doubts about how to accomplish such a thing but their trust in the Lord's power and his guidanc...

I have continued to receive a number of emails and phone calls from irate members of the faithful who are incensed that they cannot attend Mass and receive the sacraments.  Some believe that this is all part of a government conspiracy to suppress the practice of the faith and to take control of the Church.  Others believe that bishops and priests should dismiss the government restrictions and open the churches.  Some believe the bishops have lost their way.  There is no question that many have pent up frustration over the inability to attend Mass, receive Holy Communion and the other sacraments.  Some are angry that they can't baptize their children, bury their loved ones and carry on with their wedding.   Of course we sympathize with the loss being experienced and even the emotions that accompany the deprivation. We all share in this great sadness over present realities.  But these are extraordinary times and we can never lose sight of our responsibil...

We were blessed in our family to have two nuns.  Sr. Edna and Sr. Hilda were my dad's sisters and they had celebrity status in our family. My dad was one of 13.  The two nuns were Sisters of St. Agnes whose motherhouse is in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin and while the religious community has moved into a variety of ministries, my aunts were hard core, devoted to the Church, gifted teachers, and full of joy and fun.  They spent several weeks each year with a our family and actually travelled with us on family vacations. My aunts always wore a habit and never paid for anything - bus drivers refused to take any fare, museums gave them free admission, someone in the restaurant always payed their bill.  It was like magic.  I learned early on how much respect and love so many people have for nuns - women of faith who gave their lives for Jesus Christ and the Church.  I am thinking of my Aunt Barb and Aunt Helen as we enter this month of May.  They had a tremen...