Happy Labor Day! 

Last year, we were still feeling the effects of the COVID-19 Omicron variant which kept many people in our community from fully enjoying the holiday.  Although the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect society, many Americans have decided it’s over. With the lifting of masking restrictions, testing and quarantining requirements, many have now returned to pre-pandemic behavior. A recent study found that 4 in 10 people say they believe things have gone back to “normal”. Another 42 percent predict it’ll be another year before things get back to normal. Another 23 percent think we will never return to normal. At any rate, it is my hope this weekend is as close to “normal” as possible, and that you are able to enjoy spending time with families and friends, especially if it has been a while since you were last able. 

Labor Day was first celebrated in our country in 1882 as a way to acknowledge the importance of the American worker in contributing to the highest standard of living and the greatest production of material goods in world history. A lot has changed in the past 200 years. But the Church’s commitment and recognition of the importance of human labor has not. In 1891 Pope Leo XIII issued his groundbreaking encyclical Rerum Novarum which stood out as a critique against modern economic theories such as Socialism, Communism, and even exaggerated forms of Free-Market Capitalism. Since then, the Church has continued to affirm, strengthen, and further develop its understanding of the importance of labor, the dignity of the human worker, the right to private property and a just wage.  

In our Catholic tradition, work is about more than making money. Works is an expression of our dignity and a contribution to the common good. In spiritual terms, work is a way to participate in God’s continual work of creation. Pope John Paul II emphasized that work is not a burden but a blessing that “expresses the human vocation to service and solidarity.” This past year on the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker, Pope Francis told a story about a man who visited a local food pantry to find food for his family. There an employee told him: “At least you can bring some bread home.” The man replied: “But it’s not enough to bring food home. I want to earn my daily bread.” The Pope commented that this man was lacking dignity, the “dignity to ‘make’ his own bread through his work.” In our Catholic tradition, work is man’s first vocation. It is a right. Work gives dignity to mankind and is a share in God’s own divine life. 

This holiday weekend, as many of us prepare to enjoy a “normal” holiday for the first time in several years, I can’t help but think of the many people whose lives were forever changed by the pandemic, who may never be able to return to “normal”, especially those who paid a heavy price for their labor. This Labor Day I want to remind everyone that our “normal” has come at the expense of the labor of many essential workers, first responders, doctors and nurses, and many others who worked over the past two years or more of the pandemic. It is good to be reminded of their efforts and sacrifices and to pray for them specifically.  

According to the Center for Disease Control, in just the first year of the pandemic, the following occupations experienced deaths related to COVID-19. 

Food Service Managers - 434
Registered Nurses - 877
Nursing and home health aide - 1318
Chefs and Head Cooks -  577
Cooks - 1185
Waiters, waitresses - 305
Licensed Practical Nurses - 238
Physicians and Surgeons - 142
EMTs and Paramedics - 96

As of July 14, 2022, at least 1306 active and retired K-12 educators and personnel have died of COVID-19. Of those, 449 were active teachers. 

These numbers are sobering. Without these men and women, there would be no “normal” for us to return to. This Labor Day weekend, I thought we could at least remember them, pray for them, and thank them for their labor. 

Resources: (1) Labor in the Pulpit 2022: Honoring Workers Impacted by Covid Pandemic, Resource Sheet #1 Prepared by Michael J. Seavey Faith/Labor Liaison Maine AFL-CIO (2) Education Week, April 2022 Covid 19 Deaths of Active Teachers Through April 2022. https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/educators-weve-lost-to-the-coronavirus/2020/04  

Here's my homily from this past weekend's celebration of the Feast of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, the Patron of our church in Rockland.

June 26, 2022

It has been almost a full year since Fr. Divine and I have been with you here at St. Brendan the Navigator Parish. The past year, we have taken the time to try and get to know how the parish operates, who does what, how things get done. Over the past year, I have come to appreciate that St. Brendan the Navigator is one parish, but we are comprised of very distinct church communities. Each of our communities brings unique gifts and talents, diverse ministry opportunities, different needs and challenges, and a distinctive way of living out the Gospel. I have been impressed with the number of dedicated and committed parishioners who are actively engaged in the life of the parish.

There are many things going on. In general, I’m not sure parishioners are fully aware of all the things that are happening in our parish. Further, I think our parish could do more. COVID has been disruptive, but perhaps we are now at a moment where we can start thinking and planning for bringing back some ministries and parish activities, or perhaps starting new ones. Therefore, over the past several months, in consultation with the Pastoral Council, we’ve discussed how the Pastoral Leadership and Parish Administration might be able to better serve the parish. 

My proposal is to create “Pastoral Teams” at each of the three mainland churches. Each team will consist of 8-10 parishioners and will be led by one of the clergy or the Parish Life Coordinator. Pastoral Teams will meet monthly to discuss what is going at that location as well as to attend to the various pastoral priorities set by the Parish Council and Parish Leadership in ways that are unique and make sense for that given community. The Pastoral Teams will assist me in not only helping me to know what is going on and how I might be able to help you better, but they will also help me to lead our parish forward in greater unity. 

Over the next couple of weeks, Fr. Divine, Christine Fee, and myself will be recruiting teams for each of the three mainland churches. Our goal is to establish teams of 8-10 individuals from that church community, who are active, passionate, engaged. They will represent a diversity of experience and skills, from worship and spirituality, to social justice, to religious education, and buildings and grounds. They should also be willing to meet monthly to discern the needs and goals of their unique community and how those align to the broader pastoral priorities of St. Brendan the Navigator Parish. 

We’ve received recommendations from the Pastoral Council and consulted other members of the parish. But of course, if you have any suggestions, questions, or comments, I’d be happy to hear from you. You can send me an email at Nathan.March@portlanddiocese.org. It has been a privilege and an honor to serve you this past year. I’m excited to see what the next couple of years may bring! I think there is a lot of potential in our parish. We have a lot of great people. There are a lot of good things happening. And I think we’ll be able to do a lot more. Of course, in the end it really isn’t so much about numbers as it is about souls. I’m excited to see the ways we can all draw closer to each other as a community, and closer to God who calls us together and to himself. The future is exciting! God is good!
 

March 25, 2022

My Dear Parishioners,     
                                                                                                          
This week begins the Church’s liturgical celebration of Holy Week (April 9th and 10th through April 16th and 17th).  With this letter, I am including the Holy Week Schedule as well as additional times to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

This year the Easter Vigil will be observed at St. Francis of Assisi in Belfast on Saturday April 16th at 8:00 pm. (Just a reminder that there are no other scheduled Masses Saturday evening.) On Holy Thursday (April 14th) and Good Friday (April 15th) there will be TWO services, one at 4:00 pm at Our Lady of Good Hope in Camden, and the other at 6:30 pm at St. Bernard in Rockland. Fr. Divine, Deacon Bob, and I will be at these services, and we will take turns preaching. 

For us as Catholics, Holy Week stands at the very center of our liturgical year. It is a unique event in the life of the Church. In many ways it helps us to discover the deeper meaning of what we do the remainder of the year. Holy Week opens up the Mass to us. Each year, these Holy Days, remind us that the Eucharist is the source and summit of our lives as Catholics, the “true food” that fuels our faith. In the Gospel of John, Jesus couldn't have said it any clearer: “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you” (Jn. 6:53). The events of Holy Week drive home the significance of God’s love for us, and the reality of the sacrifice which has made it possible for us to have life within us. Each year, we are reminded that life is lived out in community. We journey together. Together we support one another. We rejoice together. We help each other. We bear one another’s burdens. It is within community that our faith becomes tangible and concrete. And the highest expression of who we are as a Christian community is our Sunday worship.

On Easter Sunday morning, we proclaim the Good News that Jesus Christ is RISEN! The Good News is meant to be shared. I suspect I’m not alone in thinking that after several years of a global pandemic and all the subsequent events we’ve lived through the past couple of years, that the world is in desperate need of good news, especially THE Good News. This year, I am reminded of St. Paul’s words to the Romans, “But how can they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone to preach?” (Rom. 10:14-15). 

Therefore, this Holy Week and Easter, I’d like to challenge you. If you’ve been away from Mass during the pandemic, or for whatever reason, I invite you to come back. It is not the same without you. Further, I’d like to challenge all of us, to reach out to others, friends and family, and to invite them this Easter to receive the Eucharist, to help us to rebuild and to grow as a Christian community, and to recommit themselves to Sunday Mass.

My prayer for you this Holy Week and Easter, is that you encounter the Passion of the Lord Jesus in a new way, in a way that leads to a deeper share in the mystery of our Catholic faith, and to a greater experience of the life that Christ offers you in a real and concrete way here in Midcoast Maine at the Parish of St. Brendan the Navigator. I invite you to celebrate the Holy Days with us! I invite you to walk with us! And I encourage you to share the Good News with others and to invite them to join us as well. As St. Paul said, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring the Good News!” (Rom. 10:15).

Have a blessed Holy Week and Easter!

 Fr. Nathan D. March

Below is an excerpt from the April 2021 press release from the Diocese of Portland:

Bishop Deeley Announces 13 Priest Assignments and Pair of Retirements

PORTLAND---Bishop Robert Deeley has announced the following priest assignments and retirements. All assignments and retirements are effective Friday, July 30...

...Fr. Nathan D. March has been appointed pastor of St. Brendan the Navigator Parish (Our Lady of Good Hope Church, Camden; St. Bernard Church, Rockland; St. Francis of Assisi Church, Belfast; St. Mary of the Isles Churches on Islesboro, Vinalhaven and North Haven). Currently, Fr. March is pastor of Holy Savior Parish (St. Athanasius and St. John Church, Rumford; Our Lady of the Snows Church, Bethel). Fr. March, who grew up in Cumberland, was ordained to the priesthood on June 29, 2007, at the Basilica of Ss. Peter & Paul in Lewiston. Fr. March served as a parochial vicar at churches comprising Prince of Peace Parish in Lewiston through July of 2012, when he was named the director of vocations for the Diocese of Portland and chaplain at Saint Dominic Academy in Auburn and Lewiston. In October of 2014, he was appointed to assist at St. Joseph Parish in Bridgton and Fryeburg and St. Teresa of Calcutta Parish in Norway, Mechanic Falls, and Oxford, and to serve as a hospital chaplain at Maine Medical Center and Mercy Hospital, both in Portland. In June of 2015, he became parochial vicar at St. Anne Parish, Gorham; St. Anthony of Padua Parish, Westbrook; and Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish, Windham, while continuing to assist at the hospitals in Portland. In August of 2016, he was named pastor of Holy Savior Parish, where he serves today...