I received my absentee ballot this week. I have been discerning how to address the election this year. This is a challenging topic. In September, Archbishop Vigneron talked about faithful citizenship on his podcast. He made the point that no political party or candidate has a platform that corresponds completely with the goods and values that belong to the Church's social teaching. I think that is the source of so much passion that surrounds an election. The candidate that we like is going to fall short in some areas, and someone else may be endorsing a candidate because of something good that he or she values. I have often found that our disagreements come from us valuing something different than another. Archbishop Vigneron advised to disagree with people with charity and mutual respect.
Faithful citizenship is participating in the public sphere in light of the teachings of Christ as articulated through the Church. We have a duty to vote and to debate. We also have to form our consciences. We are pursuing what is called the common good; that is a society in which all have a means to flourish. Our vote is not what is best for me individually but for good of the whole. To be a Christian means that I may be called to sacrifice my personal good for the good of all. In a culture that can be individualistic, it can stretch us to consider what is good for the many.I realize that it has been three weeks since I had an article for the bulletin. I had made my annual retreat. My retreat wound up being in September because it was the week that the people at Capuchin Retreat had available. It was also the week before the International Catholic Stewardship Council conference in New Orleans. I'm away. I'm here. I'm away. I was fighting a cold last week so I feel as I have been scrambling to catch up.
Something my spiritual director pointed out to me during my 30-day retreat has always stuck with me. There is a place in Scripture where Jesus tells a group of people they are "greatly misled." Take a moment and guess who that would be. It was the Sadducees who denied that there was a resurrection and came up with a scenario to try to trap Jesus (see Mark 12:18-27). It speaks to me how important is our belief in the resurrection. St. Paul urges us if there is no resurrection, our faith is in vain (1 For. 15:13-14).
Consider this from the catechism: "The 'resurrection of the flesh' (the literal formulation of the Apostles' Creed) means not only that the immortal soul will live on after death, but that even our 'mortal body' will come to life again" (CCC 990). We are going to get our bodies back, one day. That is a guarantee. Everything that we have experienced in life, we have experience in our body. Yes, we have a soul, but we are an embodied soul. Sometimes I talk to people about our bodily resurrection, and I get a surprised reaction. The ramifications are that what we do with our bodies is important. Our body affects the soul, and our soul affects the body. Try praying when you are hungry or sick! Some people say things such as when we die we become angels. No, an angel is a purely spiritual creature, of which we are not. You could say after the moment of death we will be incomplete as our sould leaves our body. We await the resurrection of the dead when our bodies rises and once again we will be able to do things like eat foot and embrace our loved ones.This weekend we celebrate our nation's freedom. We are familiar with the most famous words of our Declaration of Independence. "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." Often words like freedom and rights are bantered around but these words have different connotations to different people. What then is freedom?
St. Paul says to the Galatians, "You were called for freedom, brothers and sisters. But do not use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh." St. Paul warns us that we can abuse our freedom in such a way that we become a slave specifically to sin. Our freedom then, is not meant to satisfy our own passions and to do whatever we want. How often do we find that our choices to acquire things or to be selfish shackle us with worries and lead to emptiness? "It is easy nowadays to confuse genuine freedom with the idea that each individual can act arbitrarily, as if there were no truths, values, and principles to provide guidance, and everything were possible and permissible" (Pope Francis).On June 17th Father David was interviewed on the show Epiphany, you can listen to the full interview or read a part below.
LISTEN TO INTERVIEW
It was in March 2023 that the archbishop asked me to come to the West Oakland Family of Parishes. It seemed so far away. It did not seem so far away when I was not yet packed last week. God is good. I arrived, and I am glad to be here.
I am quite unfamiliar with the area. My only experience was an internship at the Milford Proving Ground. I would drive from Shelby Township each day. That is where I grew up. My dad still lives there to this day, but there is a little wrinkle to that story that I will come back to.
I went to St. Lawrence for grade school and De La Salle for high school. I think there was always a fascination and a call to the priesthood; however, I put it out of my mind. God is persistent, though. I went to Michigan to become an Electrical Engineer and then got a master’s degree in computer science and engineering. That would take me out to Arizona where I would work at Intel Corporation for six years. Through church, I met a great group of friends who loved the Lord and was challenged to pray in front of the Blessed Sacrament regularly. That changed everything. When my buddy Fr. Paul Sullivan applied to the Diocese of Phoenix, I followed. That was not my calling, and it became apparent that I was supposed to be here. A diocesan priest lives in his diocese for the rest of his life. I enjoyed Phoenix, but it was not home. The Archdiocese of Detroit is.
I was ordained on May 30, 2009. My first assignment was Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington. Next, I went to St. Hugo in Bloomfield Hills. From there I also got an unexpected call and moved after a year to St. Joseph in Erie, Michigan. I was there five years. It was also an unexpected call to go to St. Isaac Jogues, where I have been the last five years. That brings me to here. No more unexpected calls! I do take solace in that I believe I am the same age as Fr. Tom was when he arrived here. I have talked to Fr. Tom a couple of times. He is a wonderful man. I have big shoes to fill!
I often get asked about my family. Here is the rest of the story about Dad (he and I will be traveling together in July, which is our tradition). I lost my mom in 2003, the same year and actually the same week that I entered seminary. My dad mostly lives in Shelby Township. He married a JoAnn (my mom’s name is Joann). They actually go back and forth between Shelby Township and Tecumseh because neither of them sold their home. I do have one sister who is married. They do not have children; therefore, I do not have any nieces or nephews.
In addition to being Moderator, I serve on Archbishop’s Technology Advisor Committee, and I am a spiritual director to seminarians. I was also a member of the college of consultors, but the archbishop graciously allowed me to resign so that I can be present to our Family.
Please take some time to listen to this interview with Fr. David as he joins Fr. Craig on Men of the Hearts to share his vocation story. You can view a transcript of the interview by clicking the link below.
“Don’t be afraid to make a mistake. And sometimes you need to make a choice without having all the data or all the evidence.” ~ Father David Cybulski
LISTEN NOW
On May 30, I celebrated my 15th anniversary of priestly ordination. Thank you for all the congratulatory messages. In my homily that day, I reflected on some things, and afterwards I thought that this would make a good article for the week.
What is my biggest joy? It is the grace that I get to see in the confessional. That might seem odd. No, I do not like listening to mistakes, and there are many times that I seemingly drag myself there. What is amazing is seeing the burden lifted. We come to the sacrament in a moment of humility and perhaps trepidation. Then we hear our sins are forgiven. Wow! Ther are tears of joy and much grace. Even if I do not see your face, very often I sense the wonder of what God has done in remaking us through this beautiful sacrament. It is awesome.
My biggest disappointment is related. I will come and visit a hospital room or be at the bedside of a dying person. Would you like to receive the sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation? No. This situation is repeated far too often. How could we not want the sacrament in our dying days? Are we leaving to chance our eternal salvation? People rightly ask for the apostolic pardon, which is a plenary indulgence, but we receive indulgences when we have the recourse to the sacrament of Penance.
This reminds me of something that Cardinal Bernardin said, "Pray while you're well, because if you wait until you're sick you might not be able to do it." That applies to the situation that I have just described. If we have spent a life humbly acknowledging our sins and receiving Christ's grace in the sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation, we most likely will be ready for that grace in our greatest moment of need. If we are out of this practice, we cannot assume that we will turn to the Lord when we most need. As I have recently reminded, there is a reason we pray for the intercession of the Blessed Mother for the only two moments in life that matter, now and the hour of our death. Please frequent the sacrament of confession.
Let me make one more plea, and this comes from more experience. A few weeks ago, someone bringing Communion to the hospital let me know of a woman who would like to be anointed. When I walked into the room, her eyes brightened and she received the sacrament with great joy. She was so grateful. It was a moment of grace. She was in the hospital, but she was not in her dying days. Here is my point. The sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick is to be received at the onset of serious illness for that sacrament gives us grace to help us take up our cross. Far too often the practice remains for someone to call when someone is actively dying. All that time has been lost. That person cannot receive a sacramental confession and many times the Eucharist. He or she could have had all those graces from being anointed all along. Oh, here is the plea! Please, please tell your children to call for a priest as soon as you are seriously ill, or call the parish yourself. There are moments in which I get an emergency call in the hour between Masses on Sunday. There is little I can do at that very moment. Calling early avails us all the grace Jesus has for us.
May God bless you,
Fr. David Cybulski
I really like how Fr. Mike Schmitz once made this point: If I asked you what is the purpose of the sacraments, what would you say? This is actually a really easy question. If phrased differently, you would get the question right. If I say “Pray, brothers and sisters, that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God, the almighty Father,” what would you say next?
Hopefully this is your answer: “May the Lord accept the sacrifice at your hands for the praise and glory of his name, for our good and the good of all his holy Church.” There! The purpose of the Mass, the Eucharist, is to give worship to God and to sanctify us and build up the Body of Christ. This is the reason that we come back Sunday after Sunday.
Today we are celebrating the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi). It is the mystery that Christ took bread and wine at the Last Supper and turned them into his Body and Blood. Following his command to “Do this in memory of me,” the priest at each Mass repeats Christ’s same words and we participate in this one sacrifice. We call this mystery transubstantiation. The bread truly and substantially becomes Christ’s very Body. The wine truly and substantially becomes his very Blood even though they still seem to be bread and wine to our senses.
Let me return to that point of worshiping God. Consider the doxology at the end of the Eucharistic Prayer: “Through him, and with him, and in him, O God, almighty Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is yours, for ever and ever.” Christ is offering himself in perfect worship to the Father. Shortly thereafter, we partake in the sacrifice by our Communion. This caused St. Augustine to say “If you receive worthily, you are what you have received.” Wow! Please ponder that mystery of what the Eucharist makes us.
It is a good idea to talk about receiving worthily. First, we are not to receive the Body of the Lord whenever we are conscious of grave sin without previous sacramental confession. The lines for confession each week should probably be as long as the lines for Communion. God made the sacrament of Penance repeatable because we need it. Second, if Christ gave us the Eucharist as the way to worship and the way to sanctify the Church, it is not up to us to absent ourselves or think we can find another way to do what only he can accomplish at Mass. Third, remember that there is an hour fast from food and drink before receiving Communion. Normally this is really easy. To miss the fast, you would almost have to be eating or drinking something in the church being that Communion occurs well into the Mass; however, I have seen that!
Let me make another push for Eucharistic adoration. One of the ways to learn more about the Eucharist is to adore Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament outside Mass. This weekend we begin a new tradition with Eucharistic processions at St. Patrick and St. Perpetua. I hope you can join. Fr. Nick then celebrates a Mass of Thanksgiving after the procession at St. Patrick.
Our bishops have been encouraging a Eucharistic Revival. I will be going to the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis July 17-21. The Eucharist by its nature is supposed to be the source and summit of the Christian life. Is that true of your life? It is the Eucharist that changed my life many years ago and started me on my vocation. It is the Eucharist that strengthens me and helps me especially in tough times. I pray that we this week encounter Christ anew and appreciate him more in this Most Blessed Sacrament.
May God bless you,
Fr. David Cybulski
Gracious God,
You have called me to life
and gifted me in many ways. Through Baptism You have sent me to continue the mission of Jesus
by sharing my love with others. Strengthen me to respond to Your call each day.
Help me to become all You desire of me. Inspire me to make a difference in others' lives.
Lead me to choose the way of life You have planned for me.
Open the hearts of all to listen
to Your call.
Fill all with Your Holy Spirit that we may have listening hearts and the courage to respond to You. Enkindle in my heart
and the hearts of others the desire
to make the world a better place
by serving as
Lay Minister, Sister, Priest, Brother or Deacon.
Amen.
Some feedback has come my way, and this is regarding the distribution of the Blood of Christ during Mass. What was suggested by multiple people is that I implement the use of individual cups to distribute the “wine.” I am saddened by this suggestion, and I feel this is an opportunity to talk about the Eucharist.
“The Eucharist is the source and summit of the Christian Life. The other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it” (CCC 1324). I will say it this way: The celebration of the Eucharist is the most important thing that we do. If we get this wrong, we are missing one of the core beliefs of our Catholic faith.
At the words of a priest during the Eucharistic prayer, “this is my Body” and “this is the chalice of my Blood...” bread becomes the Body of Christ and wine becomes the Blood of Christ. We can no longer refer to what is in front of us as mere bread and wine. For this reason, I was saddened by the suggestion, and because there has been widespread confusion about the Eucharist our bishops have called for a nationwide Eucharistic revival. At Communion, it is not something that we receive, it is someone, and that someone is God himself! Archbishop Vigneron urged us the faithful last month “Let none of us refer to what is in the chalice as 'wine.' No more casual references to 'taking the wine,' or 'drinking the wine' or 'ministering the wine.' It is not wine; it is blood, God's blood." I commend his entire article to you.
Archbishops Reflection on the Precious Blood of Christ--click to read
After Communion we take the ciboria and the chalices and purify them. In any particle or drop the presence of Christ remains. This can be a hard thing to fathom. If one were to fracture a consecrated host, we do not receive half of Christ when we consume. We receive all of Christ’s Body. That is because God is indivisible. It follows then that after Communion everything is consumed or remaining consecrated hosts are placed reverently in the tabernacle to be adored. Every ciboria or chalice that we use must be purified by consuming the contents. We also are to construct the vessels that hold the Body and Blood of Christ out of precious materials or at the very least have these vessels gilded on the inside in recognition of the inestimable worth of the Body and Blood of Christ.
It is a good reminder of this instruction: “When receiving Holy Communion, the communicant bows his or her head before the Sacrament as a gesture of reverence and receives the Body of the Lord from the minister.” Our demeanor demonstrates our belief and our thanks for so great a gift. Do we adequately and prayerfully prepare before Mass begins. Do we dress differently for church or do we come as if we could be going anywhere else?
Years ago I found my vocation when I accepted Fr. Hoorman's challenge to pray in front of the Blessed Sacrament for an hour each week. I extend that same life- changing invitation to you be it at St. Patrick, St. Perpetua, or our chapel at Holy Spirit. Jesus gives us so much grace in the Eucharist. I pray that we all receive everything he offers.
May God bless you,
Fr. David Cybulski
According to recent studies.. a great number of priests quit each year. They don't quit because they have a lack of faith in God. They don't quit because they don't believe in the calling God has placed on their life. Most don't even quit because of financial reasons. Priests quit because they are overwhelmed with mental exhaustion.
Until you're a priest you'll never fully understand what it's like to carry spiritual burdens for people. Getting up in the middle of night, praying for your family of faith. Awakened in the middle of night with someone on your heart. Overwhelmed with concern by a persons absence or distance. Your mind continually occupied with the presentation of the upcoming Sunday message - how to preach it, what to teach on, how do we apply it? Getting critiqued on a continual basis. Being told you need to do better or that some areas of the church simply need to be better.
Priests invest their whole life into people and yet people will turn their backs on their pastor at the first sign of a storm, usually without a conversation. Priests stand in the middle of disputes. Priests stand in the middle of gossip. Priests council broken marriages. Priests comfort those who have suffered loss. Priests navigate the waters of imperfect people with a desire to see each one thrive in their faith. They long for spiritual
breakthroughs. Your priest craves the very best for you. All of this, while trying to battle their own flesh and grow in their own relationship with God.
Priests see the posts. Priests hear the whispers. Priests endure the negativity. Priests are continually caring for the sheep while fending off the wolves. Priest pour out and pour out - rarely being poured into. What keeps a priest going? YOU!
You - the person who is genuinely hungry. You - the person who worships with passion and freedom. You- the teenager who is striving to be a follower of Jesus. You - the single mom who understands the beauty of the hope found in Christ. You- the one who walks through the door for the first time because you're in search of peace, hope, and community.
Pray for your priest. Serve with your priest. Talk with your priest. Encourage your priest. They are human. They need You more than you think!
-Text courtesey of Cavanis Fathers Philippines on Facebook
World Day of Prayer for Vocations
Last Saturday was the sacrament of Confirmation. At the same time, Fr. Paul was presiding at a funeral Mass at St. Perpetua. For the second week in a row, there was no priest for the sacrament of Penance. We tried. We contacted several places. I feel terrible. I do not know what to do.
I remind that in October, Archbishop released one priest to do missionary work, three priests were given leaves of absence, and one priest died. We lost five priests in one month. We will only ordain five priests for the entire year next month. Then in December and January, three of our active priests died.
Last year at this time, I had been in dialog with the vicar general. I had already made contact with Fr. Paul and I was going to reach out to the third priest that was going to have responsibility for St. Patrick and St. Perpetua. The problem is that we did not have a rectory in which all three of us could live together and accommodate Deacon Nick. It was deemed that priest would best live in a community of priests somewhere else. My hope was that if a third priest was available last year at this time, some help may be on the way. In one short year those circumstances have vastly changed.
This Sunday is World Day of Prayer for Vocations. It coincides with the reading of the Gospel of Jesus saying “I am the good shepherd,” and letting us know he willingly lays down his life for us. He calls his priests to do the same. Laying down one’s life in the manner that Jesus did is no small task. In advance of this weekend, someone shared a link about the struggles that we priests can
have. The title was “love your priests,” and I found that it provided some food for thought.
That little post gave some insight into the life of a priest. Let me add to some of those things; people will ask me what it is that I do all week. There are parish financial worries, budgeting, and making sure everything on our campuses is maintained as well as a host of other administrative tasks of moderating the Family and running multiple parishes. There are meetings with parishioners about a variety of topics, wedding preparation, funerals and a recent stress that families may not realize the church or our priests are not always available to have that funeral Mass at the hour they desire. I give spiritual direction. I make frequent visits to the hospital that can come at any time and interrupt any thing I am doing.
There are visits to the school and regular time for the sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation. I celebrate Mass each day. Sometimes I celebrate Mass twice a day or three times on Sunday. Of course, each Mass needs a homily. Then, personally, I try to pray an hour each day in front of the Blessed Sacrament. I got this from Archbishop Fulton Sheen who never missed this daily Holy Hour. To be a good shepherd, you can only give what you have and you must get that from time personally spent with Jesus.
I write this just to give a little view into the life of a priest. “The harvest is abundant but the laboreres are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest” (Matt. 9:37-38). Pray for me. Pray for more vocations. I of course pray for you.
May God bless you,
Fr. David Cybulski