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Below is the most recent email.

Please note that any replies to the emails are sent to [email protected] and not directly to Father Scalia.

Saying A No…

For A Greater Yes

Wednesday, June 17, 2026

Dear Friends in Christ, 

Saint John Paul II described the negative commandments (e.g., You shall not kill, You shall not commit adultery) as a No at the service of a greater Yes. In pursuing the good and saying Yes to the Lord’s will, we sometimes have to say No to lesser goods and evil things. The nice guy who wants to get along with everyone, says Yes to everything because he doesn’t want to offend. The good person who seeks virtue knows that he must say No at times – perhaps many times – so that he can say Yes more wholeheartedly to the good. 

Spouses understand this. Traditional marriage vows spoke of “Forsaking all others.” That phrase captures this point of the moral life. To wed ourselves to the good, the true, and the beautiful, we have to forsake all others – that is, all that leads us away from them.

This is how Catholics ought to approach this fall’s two proposed amendments that seek to enshrine abortion and gay marriage in the Virginia Constitution. For us to say Yes to the truth of life and marriage, then we have to say No to these amendments. In this case, a No is not just a negative but an affirmation and defense of the good.

Last Saturday at the Diocesan Family Festival, Bishop Burbidge called our attention to the Catholics Vote No initiative against those amendments. I ask you to visit and to make the pledge to say Yes by voting No.

Updates…

Air Support-Beginning July 5th our Sunday 5pm Holy Hour will be dedicated to the affirmation of life and marriage and the defeat of the proposed amendments.

Diocesan Survey-As mentioned in yesterday’s email, Bishop Burbidge is seeking input to help in discernment about a Diocesan Capital Campaign. Please take 15-20 minutes to complete the survey. 

Please join me in welcoming Tyler Boreani, our summer seminarian. Tyler is from Winchester originally, is a William and Mary grad, and is now studying at Saint Charles in Philadelphia. Welcome, Tyler!

College Coffee is open to all returning college students and recent high school grads. Come to deepen faith and friendship.

Can you be Catholic and American? Well, of course. But we do well to appreciate how our being better Catholics can also make us better citizens. Join us on Monday June 22nd at 7pm to hear Matthew Spalding of Hillsdale College speak on Celebrating 250 Years: Catholicism and Our Nation’s Founding.

Christ House shelter in Alexandria provides hot meals to the needy in our community. For over 40 years, Saint James has been assisting in this work once a month. On the second Wednesday of each month, a group from our parish prepares a meal for 70 – 90 people to be served at Christ House. Some months, a parish group prepares the whole meal. Other months, a SignUp Genius link is used so that many people can contribute parts of the meal. If you have a group that would be able to provide a meal one month, or if you would like to help with a part of the meal, please contact Liz Goodson ([email protected]) or Cathy Pacheco ([email protected])

Vengeful Humor

Everybody laughed at me when I said I wanted to be a comedian. Well…they’re not laughing now.

Sincerely in Christ, 

Fr. Scalia