Important letter from Fr. Tom – August 23, 2020

Dear Parishioners,

Seminarian Robert Kaziuk has returned to Cathedral Residence at Douglaston to continue his English & Philosophy studies. Not many of you had the privilege of getting to know Robert because of the limited social interactions allowed at this time. However, many of you did get to see him when he served every recorded Mass for YouTube and FaceBook. The piety you saw displayed in his liturgical presence was genuine. He could always be found with rosary beads in his hands! He is a 28 year old man who takes his faith seriously.

Robert is also a very hard worker. Not a moment in his day was left without a plan of action. If he wasn’t serving at Mass, he was attending English class on-line, or studying vocabulary, or writing essays for school, or working around the rectory and parish center. Robert has a masters degree in Power Engineering, so needless to say he could do any task requested of him – from uploading Mass to YouTube, to cleaning out the school boiler room, to power-washing the rectory, to disinfecting the church, to setting up and breaking down the outdoor Memorial Park Masses and much more!

Robert, together with Fr. Rafal, enjoyed shopping and cooking when needed. My appetite for kielbasa increased daily!

Robert is also physically fit. Running and exercising were part of his daily regimen. In other words, Robert is a well-rounded person.

You may have heard in the news that in the past two weeks, Robert’s native country of Belarus has been experiencing a great deal of political upheaval. While Robert isn’t involved in the politics, he does have concern for the stability of his country. Please pray for a peaceful resolution of the conflicts in Belarus.

Robert will be making OLV his “home parish.” Since he has no family on Long
Island, we would like to become that local family to him. He knows a room is available to him here at OLV whenever he has free time from the Seminary. So while he has returned to school, this really isn’t a goodbye because we hope to see him back here regularly!

I would personally like to thank Robert for his service and ministry at OLV, including his camaraderie in the rectory. May he have a successful semester at school!

Blood Drive this Friday
The Knights of Columbus sponsor a Blood Drive on Good Friday each year. The Drive was re-scheduled this year to this Friday, August 28th from 10 am—8 pm
in Memorial Hall.

Please consider donating blood if you are able. As you can imagine, the need is great!

Bishop Barres’ Letter on Mediums
Bishop Barres has recently written a letter to the faithful people of the Diocese on the topic of “Mediums” and the Catholic Faith.

The Bishop cites the prohibitions in both Scripture (Dt. 18:10-12) and the Catechism of the Catholic Church (#2116). He goes on to cite two dangers of appealing to mediums – that it is an attempt to circumvent God, and that it opens one to demonic influence.

Suggestions: 1) Avoid recourse to mediums; and 2) confess previous involvement with mediums in the sacrament of Confession.

Please consider reading Bishop Barres’ complete letter by going to the diocesan website at www.drvc.org.

Praised be the name of Jesus Christ now and forever!
Fr. Tom