St. Patrick Mass Registration
Nevada County has entered into the Orange Tier.  It will no longer be necessary to register for Mass as our allowed capacity has increased and all the pews have opened up.  Thank you for your patience and cooperation with all the restrictions and procedures over the last year!
 

Dear Family,
In the course of my travels these last few weeks, I have seen a number of different churches and landscapes. Some were very beautiful, others not so much and a few that were simply nondescript. My vacation this week closes with the wedding of a young man who I've known since he was an altar boy and I was a seminarian. The church where the wedding takes place is called St. Ignatius in St. Ignatius, Montana. I first went to this church about 8 years ago, I commented to a friend of mine that I would love to come back one day and say Mass there. Little did I know that desire would be fulfilled and in such a celebratory way! 
St. Ignatius Mission has a wonderful history to it and for being such a remote parish, it is incredibly beautiful. There was a Jesuit brother who served as the camp cook and he painted the church by hand. The beautiful paintings have been preserved with great care and are a breathtaking surprise when one enters this neo-gothic masterpiece. All of this is a great testament to the importance of beauty within our Catholic tradition and heritage. 
Our buildings, vestments, books (both liturgical and not), art, music, have always been beautiful. Many of our most ancient religious imagery comes from frescoes decorating the tombs in the ancient catacombs when Christianity was still illegal and a capital offense. Beauty also plays a role in our intellectual tradition as well. Within the realm of philosophy is the division called Metaphysics and from this field we have a concept called the 3 Transcendentals: Truth, Beauty and Goodness. I must admit that I found metaphysics to be quite perplexing and so it is not my strongest tool when it comes to philosophy but I’ll do my best here. 
The heart of the 3 Transcendentals is that all beings are contingent, save God. A contingent being is one who depends on another for its existence. You and I would not be here if we did not have parents and neither would our parents and our first parents didn’t exist until God created them. Because we, and all creation, are contingent on God for our existence, there are elements within creating that point to God, that help us reach God, recognize God and ultimately know and love Him more and more.  Truth, Beauty and God are transcendent because they are three ways that we know God and His presence among us, they help elevate our minds and our hearts to God.  
As our modern society becomes more relativistic, truth and goodness are not only becoming less impactful on people, they are increasingly dismissed.  People can argue over what is good and bad; we’ve seen the erosion and subsequent wholesale rejection of morality in two generations. Truth has been reduced to one’s personal story. A common expression nowadays is “tell my truth,” or “live your truth.” But, beauty remains beauty. Whether it is the sunset, a majestic cathedral, a Caravaggio, Rembrandt, or Monet, the beauty is still appreciated.  Dr. Peter Kreft, one the greatest philosophical minds of our day, and professor at Boston College, said, “Beauty is the first thing we notice and love.” It was sightseeing and entering St. Patrick’s cathedral that opened Dr. Kreft’s mind and heart to the truth of Catholicism and spurred him to embrace our intellectual tradition.
Beauty will have an even more important part as we try to reclaim the world for God, we might read that as “reclaiming Nevada County for God.” Let us reclaim beauty in our homes, in our church, in our liturgy and all aspects of our lives.  As one climbs the stairs of that brick neo-gothic church in Montana and pulls back the door, it is hard to keep from gasping as one takes in the stunning beauty of the Church. The sky blue background reminds us that beauty on earth is a foretaste of the beauty of Heaven, of God Himself.
 Your Father in Christ,
Father Estrella
 

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Ordination Anniversary

Please join the Mahar Family

in celebration of the

1st Anniversary of

August 13, 2021

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