From the Pastor's Desk

    In today’s Gospel, Jesus prays to the Father and asks Him to consecrate the Apostles in truth and to protect them from the world.  In fact, in other verses of this chapter, Jesus even tells the Father that He is not praying for the world, only for His Apostles.  Why, well Jesus tells us that they like Him do not belong to the world.  Yet, Jesus asks the Father not to take the Apostles out of the world, but to protect them so that they could change the world.  As Jesus prayed for the Apostles, so does He pray for us, His Living Body the Church, as we remain in this world and try to make changes.  Thus, we likewise do not belong to the world, and yet we must live in it. But what is the meaning of the world in this Gospel?  Our Lord is not speaking about the Earth, as much as He is speaking about the power of sin and darkness.  In the ancient Jewish Tradition and likewise for John, the world refers to anything that is hostile to God or under the power of Satan.  We are in a battle that we must fight, constantly going against darkness with the tools of light, life, and truth-The Gospel! If you do not believe it, just look at the struggles we have to endure every day in the media, and even from the state. 

    But if the world hates us, why should we try to change it?  Well for the very reason why Christ came into the world in the first place, Love!  The love that John tells us about in his letter, when he tells us that God is love.  Yes, God is love, so we must love others, and when we do God remains in us, and His love is brought to perfection within us.  We cannot truly say we love Jesus and acknowledge Him as our Savior unless we love and do our best to fight the power of darkness and spread the Good News.

    Next Sunday May 27th, we celebrate the Great Feast of Pentecost, the Birthday of the Church and the last day of the Easter Season.  As we will discuss next weekend, this is the day the Father and the Son sent the Holy Spirit upon the Church and empowered the Apostles and the whole Church to preach the Gospel and build the Church in every part of the world. Since this is the day of the Holy Spirit, the color of the day is RED (the fire, love, and power of the Holy Spirit); maybe you might want to consider wearing RED on this day.  Each year on the Feast of Pentecost, Bishop Murphy gives the priest celebrant of the Mass, the faculty to administer Sacrament of Confirmation. This is for those who were baptized and received First Communion, but were never Confirmed.  We will be doing this at the 12 Noon Mass.  Please keep our Confirmandi and their families in your prayers.

    Please also pray for Deacon Mike Duffy, our Pastoral Year Seminarian from two years ago, as he and his classmates prepare to be ordained Priests of Jesus Christ for the Diocese of Rockville Centre.  Deacon Mike will become Father Mike Duffy on Saturday June 9, 2012 at St. Agnes Cathedral in Rockville Centre. On Sunday June 10th, Fr. Mike will celebrate his Mass of Thanksgiving in his home parish of St. Frances De Chantal in Wantagh.  The following Sunday Fr. Mike will celebrate the 12 Noon Mass here at St. Joseph’s and there will be a reception in Carew Hall following the Mass. 

 We close with the opening prayer from today’s Mass:    Graciously hear our supplications, O Lord, so that we, who believe that the Savior of the human race is with you in your glory, may experience, as he promised, until the end of the world, his abiding presence among us.  Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

 Happy Easter

Fr. Mike

    Happy Mother’s Day, on behalf of Fathers: Thomas, Boyle, Henry, and Peter Liu and our Deacons: James Altonji, Joseph Califano, Michael DeBellis, Frank Dell’Aglio, Michael Devenney, Bill Dobbins, and Joseph Dougherty and, of course, the entire parish staff.  At all of our Masses today and during this whole month of May, we will pray for all of our Mothers, those living, and those who have gone on before us.

    This month we honor our Mothers because we honor our Dear Blessed Mother, Mary.  She is indeed our Mother because she cares for us just as she cared for her Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ.  She is our Mother because of the account we find in John’s Gospel, as Jesus hung upon the Cross.  In John Chapter 19 verses 26 and 27 we read, “When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, behold, your son.’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Behold, your mother.’  And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.” The Church has always understood this to mean that Jesus did not just give His mother to St. John but to the whole Church that John represented. Tradition tells us that they moved to Ephesus and many people would seek her out for prayers and she would proclaim the Gospel to all.  Tradition also tell us that when she is taken up into Heaven, and crowned the Queen Mother of Heaven and Earth, she became the most powerful Saint in Heaven whose constant intercession we can rely on because as we stated above, she loves us as she loves her Son.  We will honor our dear Mother with our annual Crowning of the Statue of the Blessed Mother in the Church at the 12 Noon Mass (our First Communion Children will be crowning the statue).

    Keep in mind that this Thursday May 17th is the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord and it is a Holy Day of Obligation.  On the Old Liturgical Calendar, this marked the last day of the Easter Season, but that is no longer the case.  On the current Calendar Easter will end 10 days after Thursday on Pentecost Sunday and coming of the Holy Spirit.  On Ascension Thursday, we remember the day when Our Lord returned to Heaven from where He came and told His Apostles not to leave Jerusalem until they received the Holy Spirit.  See the bulletin for the schedule of Masses.

 Let us close with this Mother’s Day Poem written by Jill Lemming

There is no love like a mother’s love,

no stronger bond on earth…

like the precious bond that comes from God.

  A mother’s love is forever strong,

 never changing for all times…

and when her children need her most,

 a mother’s love will shine.

God bless these special mothers.

God bless them every one, for all the tears

and heartache,

and for the special work they’ve done.

When her days on earth are over,

a mother’s love lives on…

through many generations

with God’s Blessing on each one.

Be thankful for our mothers.

 For they love with a higher love…

 from the power God has given

 and the strength from above.

Happy Mothers Day and Happy Easter!

Fr. Mike

     Today’s reading from the Acts of the Apostles, tells us about Saul’s arrival in Jerusalem.  When he got there he tried to join the Apostles, but they were afraid of him.  Why, well Saul was attacking the Church and wanted to see the Church destroyed; after all, he was a fervent Jew who followed the Law. However, we know that on the road to Damascus, Saul had an encounter with the Risen Lord.  Saul was asked by Jesus why he was persecuting Him. With that, Saul asked who was speaking to him and the answer was I am Jesus!  Saul was struck blind and was instructed to wait for a visit from Ananias who would baptize him.  Jesus told Ananias not to be worried about going to see Saul because He would use Saul to speak to the Gentile world.  So while Saul experienced this conversion, many in Jerusalem were still afraid and would not trust this man now called Paul.  Barnabas came to the rescue as he reported to the Church how Paul did indeed see the Risen Lord and how he spoke out boldly in the name of Jesus.  Soon when they heard Paul speak, they knew the story was true and they began to trust him.  He was able to move about freely in Jerusalem and he spoke out against and debated with the Hellenists (who were Greek speaking Jews).  However, they tried to kill Paul, so it was decided that he should go to Tarsus.

    When you read the account from Acts, you can see that at times there were many threats against the Church and it faced real dangers, and yet Luke tells us today, “The church throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria was at peace…and with the consolation of the Holy Spirit it grew in numbers.”   How can this be, how can Luke say the Church was at peace? Is he out of his mind?  Well no, because he was referring to a deeper peace, more than what most people understand when they hear the word peace.  This peace is one that is internal and prevails despite outside circumstances. It is a peace of the heart. It is the peace of Christ, which is felt through the power and the grace of the Holy Spirit.  The early Church had the intelligence to tap into this peace even when it seemed all could be lost.  This was not only true of the Jerusalem Church, but of the Church in Greece, Rome, all over Europe, North Africa, Asia, and any place where the Church spread through the missionary actions of the Apostles and people like Paul and Barnabas. Even when the Rome persecuted the Church, it felt the peace, so much that when the Christians were being brought into the arena they did not scream.  No, they sang hymns and offered prayers for their loved ones and for the people who lead them to death.  This peace has been seen throughout the ages, especially when the Church has been in danger from outside and from within, it should especially be felt today!

    Today we are faced with the danger of the world hating us because it does not believe as we do.  We are ridiculed by the media who tells us our faith is not important and what the Church teaches is old fashioned.  Today so many Christians walk away from their faith because they do not know what the Church teaches and they do not know how to tap into this peace.  So what do we do?  How do we live in the peace of Christ and lead others to it?

    Do not forget what Jesus tells us in today’s Gospel that He is the true vine and we are the branches.  As He says, “I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing.”  It is in remembering how we are connected to Jesus, as the branches are to the vine that we can have His peace and our faith can continually grow.  Share this with others, share your faith with them, teach those who do not know and know that Christ will help you and all of us always.  May the Peace of Christ be with you always!

Happy Easter

Fr. Mike

    As I shared with you six years ago in this space, there was once a young man who had to get up before the members of his parish and recite the 23rd Psalm. He had practiced reciting it for a long time and when the day came, he knew it backwards and forwards.  As he got up in the front of the Church, and all eyes were focused upon him, he began to panic. After some time passed, he began with, “The Lord is my shepherd.”  He suddenly stopped, and after a period of silence, he continued, “And that’s all I need to know!”  With that, a great deal of applause from the people.  Now, were they applauding because they approved of his ability to think on his feet, or were they applauding him for his great insight?  Of course, why does it have to be either or? 

    Today, Jesus tells us (as He does every year on this Good Shepherd Sunday) that He is the Good Shepherd who knows His sheep and they know Him.  Jesus is the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for His sheep so that they can live.  This should be a great comfort for us, especially at times when we feel tested or even abandoned. Why, well remember the relationship that a shepherd has with his sheep.  In Jesus’ day, they lived side by side, and the sheep will only come to the voice of their shepherd whom they feel completely safe.  The shepherd does not run away when the wolf comes. No, he stays, protects, and redeems those who are lost.  Our Lord is telling us we can totally trust in Him, even more than the sheep on their shepherd.  For Jesus will go out of His way to find the lost sheep even to leaving the 99 behind to go out and save the lost one.  That is great for the one sheep, but how about the other 99?  Is the shepherd really going to leave them alone to go out and search for the one, so that they too could get lost or fall prey to the wolf?  Of course, not, the Good Shepherd never leaves His flock alone, and through the power of the Holy Spirit He is always present.  This same Spirit empowers others to care for the sheep in the Good Shepherd’s name.  Christ cares greatly for us, and He appoints shepherds over His Church to preach the Good News, teach, heal and minister in the same way He did and still does, for the Good Shepherd came to serve, not to be served. 

    Please pray for our shepherds: Pope Benedict XVI, Bishop Murphy, and all of the Bishops of the Church, Fathers Thomas, Boyle, Henry, Liu, and myself who has been given the great honor of serving the people of St. Joseph’s. Pray for all of our Deacons: James Altonji, Joseph Dougherty, Joseph Califano, Michael DeBellis, Frank Dell’Aglio, Michael Devenney, Bill Dobbins, and our Seminarian Deacon Michael Duffy, and for Sister Anne Marie Dean, CSJ and all those in Religious Life. 

Also, please pray for an increase of vocations to the Priesthood, Diaconate, and Religious Life so there will always be shepherds molded in the image and likeness of Jesus.  Pray that all who shepherd will always be open to the grace, power, and love of the Holy Spirit to serve in the name and in the person of Christ!

Let us pray for Vocations with these words: Heavenly Father, bless us with the grace of many vocations to the Priesthood, Diaconate, and Religious Life.  Through the intercession of the Blessed Mother grant to those, you have called the willingness and generosity of spirit to give of themselves in devoting their lives and their talents to the service of Our Lord and to His Church.  Increase the faith of all, particularly the faith of those you have called and will continue to call.  We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Happy Easter

Fr. Mike

Our Gospel Reading takes up where the Gospel for Easter Sunday Afternoon left off about the two disciples on the Road to Emmaus. The Gospel tells us that they were walking along the road discussing all that had happened on Good Friday and how the women came back with the story that Jesus’ body was not in the tomb. We are told how this stranger came upon and asked them what they were talking about, and when they answered him, he began to speak about how the Scriptures told how the Christ would have to suffer and die so all could be made right again. Only at the end of the day did they recognize Him when they were at table and He broke the Bread. Today’s Gospel begins with the two after they arrived back in Jerusalem. As we read, “While they were still speaking about this, he stood in their midst and said to them, ‘Peace be with you!’ But they were startled and terrified and thought they were seeing a ghost. Then he said to them, ‘Why are your troubled? And why do questions arise in your hearts?’”

Now some 2012 years later, we might ask the same questions about the disciples; why did they have trouble believing in the Resurrection? Well before we judge them, we should ask the same questions of those who refuse to believe in it today. To answer both questions in part, I would like to quote what is written in the commentary from the Workbook for Lectors, Gospel Readers, and Proclaimers of the Word (which we give to all Priests, Deacons, and Lectors to help them prepare for the Sunday Readings). The commentator writes, “Often someone expresses the need to see miracles, some unmistakable sign, in order to believe. Then, when you point to one, they say, ‘That’s no miracle!’ Hearing claims of the Resurrection, most of the disciple insisted on proof-seeing Jesus, today his hands and side. So Jesus appears and what happens? Panic, fright, doubts, troubled hearts, and talk of seeing a ghost. Even when they touch his hands and feet, they remain incredulous, forcing Jesus to consume a fish to convince them he is real. In these first Sundays of Easter Time, we read of post- Resurrection appearances whose original intent was to bolster faith in the risen Christ.”

They did not believe at first, so how can we help those who do not believe now? The same way Jesus convinced the disciples 2000 years ago; He taught them, and eventually He and the Father sent the Holy Spirit upon them. As we read, “‘These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and in the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled!’ Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.” This opening their minds is the sending of the Holy Spirit so they could understand.

And once they understood, He told them, “‘You are witnesses of these things.’” And so are we, not in the way the early Church was, but in the ways that we have seen God work in our lives. In the ways that what we read in the Gospel and the rest of the New Testament resonates in our hearts, and how we know it to be true. We can also be witnesses to this age because we too have received the Holy Spirit in Baptism and Confirmation and the Holy Spirit will give us the right words to say to help those who do not believe, even if they have seen miracles happened or felt the presence of God and still do not believe. To help them, all we have to do is not be afraid. All we have to do is be excited about our faith like the two who returned from Emmaus with what they had seen. We have to proclaim Jesus everywhere, even when people will not listen to us. We must be like Thomas was in last week’s Gospel when he finally saw the Risen Lord and we too must say, “My Lord and my God!”

Happy Easter!
Fr. Mike

     If today were not a Sunday, you know what would be due today! As it is because it is a Sunday and tomorrow is a Public Holiday in the District of Columbia, the dreaded day is put off to Tuesday the 17th, so I hope you have already took care of the matter or you will take care of it by 11:59 PM on the 17th.  To make this fact a little easier to deal with let us focus on the following quote (#699) from the Diary of St. Faustina.  “On that day the very depths of my tender mercy are open, I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of mercy.  The soul that will go to Confession and receives Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment…Let no soul fear to draw near to me, even though its sins be as scarlet.  My mercy is so great that no mind, be it of man or angel, will be able to fathom it throughout all eternity.” 

    These words and others spoken by Our Lord to St. Faustina describe why this Second Sunday of Easter is also known as Divine Mercy Sunday.  According to the accounts of Jesus’ visitations to St. Faustina, this Sunday, which immediately follows Easter Sunday, is to be dedicated to the devotion of the Divine Mercy.  As Jesus told her, “Whoever approaches the Fountain of Life on this day will be granted complete forgiveness of sins and punishments” (#300).  He also said, “This Feast emerges from the very depths of my tender mercies” (#420).  Clearly, Our Lord wants us to approach Him so we can benefit from His love and mercy. He does not want us to stay in sin and darkness, and what better time to take part in this outpouring of Divine Mercy than in the Octave of Easter when we are celebrating the new life given to us through the Resurrection.  This devotion was celebrated unofficially in many places for some years, but on April 30, 2000 Blessed Pope John Paul II canonized St. Faustina and designated this Second Sunday of Easter as Divine Mercy Sunday for the whole Church around the world. To mark Divine Mercy Sunday, we shall have a Holy Hour before the Exposed Blessed Sacrament (today) starting at 3 PM in which we will also pray the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy.

    Today is also known in the Eastern Churches (both Eastern Rite Catholics and Orthodox Churches) as St. Thomas Sunday because of the Gospel reading for today.  Every year we hear from John’s account, of how Jesus appeared to the Apostles in the locked upper room on that first Easter Sunday Night, and how Thomas was missing.  When Thomas returned, he refused to believe that Jesus was there, and he make his pronouncement that he will not believe until he touches the five wounds suffered by Christ.   A week later, Jesus returns and this Thomas is present and Our Lord challenges him.  Thomas after he sees the Risen Lord, not only believes, but he makes one of the most profound statements of faith found in the New Testament, “My Lord and my God.”

    It is because Thomas makes this most perfect confession of whom Jesus truly is, as Savior, Lord, and God that the Eastern Churches honor him. They unlike us in the West do not refer to him as Doubting Thomas, but as Holy Thomas the Apostle who God has gifted with this most perfect profession of faith.   Of course when Thomas sees the Risen Lord, he has no need to doubt, and for us as we contemplate this Divine Mercy Sunday, we too have no need to doubt.  No, need because we are presented with this wonderful Fountain of God’s Mercy.

    Last weekend, at the Easter Vigil, the following people were baptized: Lyndalis Alcantara, Christopher Chamberlin, May Garcia and Miriam Garcia.  The following were brought into Full Communion with the Church: Heather Burke, Esmeralda Braganaca, Miiko Hernandez, Daniel Purcell, Michael Saunders, Linda Brown, and Felix Fernandez. We are so happy for all of these new members of the Church and those coming into Full Communion and for their sponsors and families.  May God bless them always and may we help them to grow more and more in their faith, and may they do the same for us! 

We close with the prayer from today’s Mass.  God of everlasting mercy, who in the very recurrence of the paschal feast kindle the faith of the people you have made your own, increase, we pray, the grace you have bestowed, that all may grasp and rightly understand in what font they have been washed, by whose Spirit they have been reborn, by whose Blood they have been redeemed. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Happy Easter

Fr. Mike

      One of the Gospels read on this day comes from Luke’s Gospel and it is the account of the Road to Emmaus, and no, it is not a Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, or Dorothy Lamour picture. As you may recall, on the that first Easter Sunday Afternoon, two of the disciples were making their way to the village of Emmaus which was about seven miles away from Jerusalem.  They were taking this walk because they were very upset about the events that occurred on the first Holy Thursday and Good Friday.  They hoped that Jesus was the Messiah, and now since His death they had their doubts.   As they were walking along the road, when a stranger suddenly came upon them, and he asks them why they were so upset.   One of them named Cleopas answered this stranger quite sharply with, “Are you the only one in Jerusalem that does not know what has happened during these pass three days?”  The strange replied, “What things?” Then they proceeded to tell him all about the Passion of Jesus, how He died on the Cross and was buried; and now all the hope they had in Him was gone.  After all, the Messiah could not possibly be executed like a common criminal! 

    This stranger looked at them with surprise, and then he proceeds to tell them how wrong they are when it comes to the Messiah.  He then goes throughout all of Scripture, which explains how and why the Christ had to suffer and die, to enter into His Glory.  As they entered the village, the two begged the stranger to stay on with them, as they go into an inn.  While they are at table, this stranger takes bread, blesses it and breaks it, and with that, they recognize who he is.  He is not just a person walking to Emmaus and joins them for company. No He is none other than the Risen Lord and with that, He vanishes from their sight.  They were so excited that they leaped up and ran back to Jerusalem to tell the others, and when they arrived, they were told Jesus had appeared to them in the Upper Room as well. Indeed He has risen, He has truly risen and all of us with Him!

    Let us also keep in mind, that just as the two recognized Jesus in the breaking of the bread, we too can recognize Him every Sunday in the Breaking of the Bread in the Eucharist.  The Risen Lord is truly present in the Blessed Sacrament, in the Proclamation of the Word, and Hopefully In Every One Who Is Gathered In His Name. It should be our greatest Easter wish that every one that looks at us, see the Risen Lord dwelling inside of us, and that is what we hope to confirm as we renew our Baptismal Promises today.  For on the day of our Baptism, we died and rose with Christ, and became the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit.

 It was on that day, that we became living members of His Body the Church and were commissioned to show Jesus in everything that we say and do. 

This is truly what we are celebrating on this, the Greatest Day of the Church’s Year.

     On behalf of Fathers: Boyle, Thomas, Henry, Peter Liu, and our Deacons: James Altonji, Joseph Califano, Frank Dell’Aglio, Michael DeBellis, Michael Devenney, Bill Dobbins, Joseph Dougherty, our Seminarian Deacon Michael Duffy, and the entire staff of St. Joseph’s we wish you and your family a very Holy and Happy Easter!

Fr. Mike

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the kingdom of our father, David, that is to come!  Hosanna in the highest.”  We begin today’s celebration with the people crying out Hosannas praising Jesus as the Messiah, and yet we will leave today not singing praises but in utter, solemn silence.  Silence as we contemplate the Passover of the Lord and as we enter into this truly Holy Week.

    On the first Palm Sunday, the people were shouting out for Jesus because they believed that He was the one sent by God to save them.  The word Hosanna comes from the Jewish word hosia and na, and it is a joyful exclamation of praise meaning; please save or save now.  This word was especially proclaimed at the major feasts of Passover and Sukkoth or The Feasts of Booths or Tabernacles.  As its meaning implies it was originally, a word used to appeal for deliverance, but liturgically it was converted to serve as an expression of joy in the great anticipation of the deliverance, which will be granted to us by the coming of the Messiah.  We as Christians use the word as an expression of great joy for we have experienced the great joy of the coming of the Messiah and of course, we anticipate more joy in the Second Coming of Christ and the coming of the Kingdom of God in its fullest. Yes, the people shouted Hosannas, but as we see in the Passion Accounts, they lost their faith in Jesus because they were caught up in the false words of their Leaders, and the uncaring practices of the Romans, who saw Jesus as a troublemaker that should be silenced!  The Jerusalem crowd was superficial in its faith because they were looking only at the surface meaning of the events that Jesus accomplished in His preaching and Public Ministry.

    Unfortunately, many people today also get lost on the surface when it comes to following Jesus, they are not able to dig deeper into how Christ wishes to be a part of their lives.  To help us dig deeper and not forget all that Jesus has gained for us, we relive the events that brought about our salvation.  That is what we will do today as we read the Passion (according to Mark this year) as we will also do on Good Friday (using John’s Account).  As you may notice, we divide the parts up when we read the account, to remind us that this is not an event happening in the past, but that the Passion is an event that is happening here and now.  That this in not just something we read about, but that it is something we are participating in everyday. We shall do that today, Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday, with the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, Good Friday of the Lord’s Passion, and the Great Vigil of Easter.  Please do your best to try not to make this week like any other week of the year.  Try to do your best to concentrate and meditate on these saving events, that we will live out during this week. 

     The Schedule for the week is as follows: Holy Thursday Morning Prayer at 9 AM, and Mass of the Lord’s Supper at 7:30 PM, followed by the Procession with the Blessed Sacrament to the School Gym.; Good Friday Moring Prayer at 9 AM, the Seven Last Words at 12 Noon, Passion of the Lord at 3 PM, and Living Stations of the Cross at 7:30 PM; Holy Saturday Morning Prayer and Blessing of the Easter Food at 9 AM, and the Great Vigil of Easter starting at 7:30 PM.  Please note that there is no 5 PM Mass on Holy Saturday Night or on Easter Sunday Night, but we will have two additional Masses on Easter Sunday Morning in Carew Hall to accommodate all who come. Please check the bulletin for the times of each of these services and Masses.

     We will celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation on Monday and Wednesday following the 7 and 9 AM Masses, and tomorrow afternoon into night from 3-9 PM.  We will also celebrate the Sacrament on Holy Saturday Morning from 10 AM to 12 Noon.

Let us pray, Father, you invite us to be a part of the drama of your redeeming love, in the dying and rising of Jesus your Son.  May His Cross heal our weaknesses and help purify us in our hearts and minds that we may have a true faith and share it with others.  We ask this through Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Let us now enter into this Most Holy Week.

Fr. Mike

   As we recall the story of the Wedding Feast of Cana, the Blessed Mother went to Jesus to tell Him that there was no more wine.  Jesus replied that this was not His concern, and that His Hour had not yet come!  In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us that now His Hour has come.  This is the Hour for the Son of Man to be glorified and for John the great hour of Jesus’ glorification is the Crucifixion and the Resurrection.  Jesus tells His disciples this because He knows that the powers against Him are getting stronger and stronger.  This had occurred as we read in John’s Gospel (during Sunday cycle A) because Jesus’ fame had spread everywhere over His raising Lazarus from the dead.

    Jesus’ pronouncement in John’s Gospel, goes hand in hand with Jesus’ pronouncement in the Synoptic Gospels that He would go to Jerusalem where He would suffer and die on the Cross.  Now the Hour has come and Jesus, while suffering over it, refuses to leave or run away.  As He said, “I am troubled now. Yet what should I say, ‘Father, save me from this hour? But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour.’”  Jesus like any of us is afraid, but He is also the Son of God, and He knows that if He does not go the way of the Cross all would be lost.  So, He does the Father’s will and gives up His life so all can have life.  Now if we are to participate in this new life, we me must likewise follow Jesus, and lose our lives to this world and focus on the world to come. 

    Unless a grain of wheat dies to being a single grain of wheat, it will not be able to grow into a stalk of wheat, which is something new providing many more grains of wheat and many new opportunities for life.  Unless Jesus dies on the Cross and rises to the life of the Resurrection, then the gift of eternal life and life free from sin cannot be ours.  Likewise, unless we die to our old ways and totally take on the new way of Jesus than we cannot give God the true Glory.  The Glory the Son came to give to the Father is the human family fully redeemed and fully acting as men and women made in the image and likeness of God.  This is what the Father means when He answers Jesus’ prayer, “‘Father, glorify your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven, ‘I have glorified it and will glorify it again.’”  Surely, the Father is glorified in the loving obedience of the Son, and the Father is glorified in every one of us who follows His Son. As we approach the end of this holy season, let us be like a grain of wheat that falls to the ground and dies to its old self and rises up to become something new.

    Next Sunday is Palm/Passion Sunday and it is the last Sunday of Lent as well as being the first day of Holy Week.  Lent will end on Holy Thursday when we begin the short yet very powerful season of the Easter Triduum of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday.  On Palm Sunday, we will read the account of the Lord’s Passion according to Mark.  The Passion according to Mark, Luke and Matthew give us a similar account of the events that take place and the words spoken during the Agony in the Garden.  And while John also tells us about the events in the Garden, his account does not share the same exchange between Jesus and the Apostles.  That is because today’s reading is John’s account of the agony Jesus suffered.

Let us pray: Father in heaven, the love of your Son led him to accept the suffering of the Cross so that we his brothers and sisters might glory in the new life.  Change our selfishness into self-giving.  Help us to embrace the world you have given us, that we may transform the darkness of its pain into the life and joy of Easter.  Grant this through Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Happy last full week of Lent

Fr. Mike

    “Brothers and sisters: God, who is rich in mercy, because of the great love he had for us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, brought us to life with Christ-by grace you have been saved-, raised us up with him, and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.”

    This quote from Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians stands right between the harsh reality from the Second Books of Chronicles and the tender compassion of God, showed us in Jesus’ words from St. John’s Gospel.  This letter stand between the two reading not just because they placed that way in the Lectionary, but as a hinge to bring the two readings together.  2nd Chronicles reminds the people of Israel how they had failed in their practice of the faith, they ignored the Prophets God sent to call them back to their senses, and they disobeyed God so much that they lost His protection when they were invaded by the Babylonians. As the author writes, “Those who escaped the sword were carried captive to Babylon where they became servants of the king of the Chaldeans…” God was indeed angry with the people, but it does not end with this emotion.  For the author wants us to know that when the time was right, and at God’s choosing, Cyrus the King of Persia would come and set the people free, for even though the people had sinned greatly, God forgave them.  As Paul reminds us, God in His rich mercy and love forgives and brings us to new life.

    The King of Persia and the setting the people free from exile is only a foreshadowing of the greater acts of mercy and redemption achieved through the work of Jesus. Paul reminds us that God gives us the riches of His grace through Christ Jesus.  As Our Lord tells Nicodemus in today’s Gospel’ “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that we might be saved through him.”  God’s love for us is truly immeasurable and He will not allow anything to get in the way from having a relationship with us, not even sin and darkness.  So even if the people greatly sinned, God’s love, forgiveness and mercy are always there for the people of the Old Testament and certainly for us the people of the New Testament. All we need do is believe and accept all that God has done for us through Christ Jesus.  But this is not automatic, there is one catch; we have to believe.  Remember God does not force Himself upon us, so we have to be open and accepting of what God wants to do for us.  As Jesus says today, “…the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light…”

 Its up to us, do we turn toward the light and become people of the light or are we going to prefer darkness?

    This holy season calls us to look at our lives and see where we have embraced the light and where we have allowed the darkness to embrace us.  Use this season well, use it so well that when people look at you they will have wear sun glasses because the light of Christ is shinning brightly through us.

        Mark your calendars for next Saturday Evening March 24th when we will celebrate our Patron Saint, St. Joseph with our annual dinner.  Admission is free, but you need a ticket to get in because space is limited; see the bulletin for details.

 Happy Lent and may God bless you always.

Fr. Mike