PASTOR’S CORNER JUNE 9TH 2013 Wow!! It seems that every time we turn around there are two or three “extra” things happening at Mass. In the grand scheme of things this is perfectly natural and important. Weekend liturgies are the only time we gather as a community to discuss both the spiritual and physical events that affect our daily lives. One of the great tragedies of our lives is that in order to survive we often compartmentalize every moment and heaven help the occasion that crosses over and interferes with our well planned and order lives. It is an illusion that we come to ONLY celebrate the Eucharist. The Eucharist by definition is the people of God coming together in thanks and praise in order to be united with their God and given the orders for the coming week. The “extras” of these past few weeks remind us of the Gospel that Jesus is the Messiah. His is a message for all times and places and His message is not confined to an hour on Sunday morning, or Saturday night. Over and over again he challenges us to love one another, to be His disciples. This is a 24/7 operation. We are His disciples when we praise, serve and suffer along with all those who journey with us, most of whom we will never know. There are 1.4 billion Catholics in the world, most of who live at or below the poverty line. We are given the goods of the world in order to share with those who have other blessings to share with us. Many years ago, I traveled to the Philippines and witnessed incredible poverty, while in the Seminary I worked with Mother Teresa and her Sisters in the slums of Rome. In both of these places it was me who was most blessed because of the deep faith and commitment of those who seemed to have so little. Last Sunday evening Tommy Doyle showed a slide show of the poverty in Haiti and the many, who like us, are sponsoring lay missionaries to rebuild homes and families. I know that the vision God has for our parish revolves around our ongoing awareness of Social Justice issues and the many “extras” we have are really God blessing us with an understanding of what is entailed in the complete celebration of the Eucharist, that is a joining and be joined in the unity which Jesus prayed for in the scriptures and which comes alive in the lived experience of parish life. Isn’t God great? It isn’t every parish that gets invited to take this very special walk of love. Pope Francis has ordered us, literally, to take Jesus to the streets. He does this on a daily basis. Our House of Charity does the same thing. Like the Scriptures of today, it has the power to raise the dead in spirit to new life. We are all part of that, pledge your 54 cents a day, and make a real difference. We’ve started our Campaign on a very positive note. To date we have collected just over $40,000 in the House of Charity. Thank you.
Posted on: Mon, 24 Jun 2013 02:58:09 +0000
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