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June 2021
June 6, 2021
My Dear Ones,
May the Grace of Our Lord remain always with us!
This is the 116th “From Father Jordan” that I am writing for you. I have not written them for anyone else, but for you and our life together here at Saint Sebastian. Through these columns I have tried to teach, preach, challenge and console you. They are like another homily because there are never enough opportunities to preach. I apologize for all the typos, I do proofread and proofread again, but some still get by. From her great teaching background I know these typos were a special cross for Susan Elliott, who was always gracious about all my mistakes; thank God I found out that Elaine Kehoe is a copy editor before I leave! Elaine patiently proofs the entire bulletin!
Today, June 6, is a particularly important day! First, it is the great Solemnity of Corpus Christi, the Body and Blood of Christ – the Eucharist, the source and center of our lives. Second, if today was not a Sunday, it would be the Feast of Saint Norbert – the great “Apostle of the Eucharist” who believed, taught, and lived that by coming together around the Eucharistic table all wounds and divisions will be healed.
The providential alignment of the Feasts of Corpus Christi and Saint Norbert doubly draw us to contemplate the great gift of the Eucharist. We are all aware of the discouraging poll results that inform us that only 33% of all Catholics believe that the Eucharist is truly the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ: heartbreaking![1]
Recalling these words of Jesus, the Catholic Church professes that, in the celebration of the Eucharist, bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit and the instrumentality of the priest. Jesus said: "I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink" (Jn 6:51-55). The whole Christ is truly present, body, blood, soul, and divinity, under the appearances of bread and wine—the glorified Christ who rose from the dead after dying for our sins. This is what the Church means when she speaks of the "Real Presence" of Christ in the Eucharist. This presence of Christ in the Eucharist is called "real" not to exclude other types of his presence as if they could not be understood as real. The risen Christ is present to his Church in many ways, but most especially through the sacrament of his Body and Blood.[2]
The real presence of Christ and the graces that flow from His Presence in our lives is the motivating reason I have led you so determinedly to enhance and renew our celebrations of the Mass each Sunday; on weekdays and Feastdays; and especially the Cardinal Feasts of Christmas, Holy Week, the Triduum, and the Easter Season. While music may have been the most tangible experience of this enhancement and renewal, it was never simply about music! I have tried to break open for you the riches and the fullness of the great “Feast of Faith”[3] given to us through the Mass. The Mass is not fast food, but a banquet, the joy of Sunday – Family – Dinner, a celebration where we find welcome, peace, healing, and unity. Everything deserves to be the best: the environment of the Church; the priests’ vestments; the proclamation of the Word; the preaching; and the music. Please remember my little phrase: “No one leaves humming the homily.”
May the celebration of today’s great Feast of Corpus Christi and the example and intercession of Saint Norbert bring us to the fullness of this Feast of Faith!
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!
In the Lord,
Fr. Jordan, O.P. -
May 2021
May 16, 2021
My Dear Ones,
May the Grace of Our Lord remain always with us!
Last weekend was a great time of celebration of God’s love for us made manifest in Jesus Christ, and for the many ways we encounter God’s love: the Sacraments and the Word of God; the gift of family and friends coming together to celebrate the milestone that is First Holy Communion; and especially, the beauty, wonder, and awe of our children as they came forward to receive Jesus for the first time. There were tears of joy from parents, aunts and uncles, and…. me!
Throughout this week memories of First Communion Day keep coming to my mind. In the midst of one of those memories, I found my self singing, “that we might walk in the light of one faith, and in one communion of love!” These words, written by my Dominican brother, Father Jim Marchionda, are part of his beautiful communion hymn, One Communion of Love.1 One Communion of love!
One Communion of Love and First Holy Communion
Throughout the time of preparation for First Communion, I have witnessed how much our children are loved by their parents as their parents graciously received catechesis about the Sacraments their child would receive; and also some challenges about what it means to be the primary teachers of the faith. Last weekend, I saw this love blossom as each family approached the Prieu Dieu and parents saw Jesus nourish and strengthen them and their family’s bond of love was deepened through the great Sacrament of the Eucharist.2
Our teachers proclaim this One Communion of Love as week in and week out as they find creative and successful ways to hand on the faith to the students in front of them. They give of themselves as Christ gave Himself for each of us.
One Communion of Love and our Daily Lives
One of the greatest effects of the gift of the Eucharist is our growth in the infused virtue of charity: charity, the grace to love one another spiritually and in action as we will the good for another. Here are some suggestions about how to show our growth in the effects of this Communion of Love:
1. Rather than using bad language, especially in front of children, use a word to replace the bad language. Mr. Bob says “oh my goodness” very frequently. I asked how this phrase became a frequent part of his speech? He replied, “Father, so I don’t say anything worse!”
2. Throughout the pandemic and now do you feel your heart becoming harder in a way that just isn’t you? Things like road rage; impatience with your spouse and children; judgmentalism, etc. If so, ask the Holy Spirit to soften your heart. Remember, there but for the grace of God could we be that other person.
3. Tempted to see the glass half empty? Remind yourself of all the blessings God has given you, and see the glass half full!
4. As you go about your day remember that through the grace of the Eucharist we are strengthened to grow in the likeness of Christ. Live your day aware of the presence of God.
One Communion of Love and Christ’s Victory
When Dominicans gather in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament to pray we recite a prayer that says in part, “.. and a pledge of future glory is given to us.”3 Through the Eucharist our Communion of Love leads us throughout life to the Kingdom of Heaven. The pledge of future glory that we are given each time we receive the Eucharist strengthens us in our earthly life, making us one with one another and the mystical body of Christ until we are together in heaven.
Twenty – two years ago today, my dear Mom went home to heaven. I miss her every day! My Mother had a saying that I can never forget, and when the ache of not having either she or my Dad at my side I say it to myself: No distance can separate two hearts joined by love!
Through the Eucharist, this One Communion of Love, we share in Christ’s victory until the end of all time. In this Victory all separation and distance are erased, whether across the county, around the world, and especially between heaven and earth!
May our reception of the Eucharist truly strengthen us in holiness, and make us one with one another; one with every soul we have given back in love to God; and most especially one with The Father, with His Son Jesus, and in the power of the Holy Spirit!
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!
In the Lord,
1 One Communion of Love, James V. Marchionda, 1995, One in Faith Hymnal.
2 Ibid.
3 St. Thomas Aquinas, O Sacrum Convivium, Office of Corpus Christi.
May 9, 2021May the Grace of Our Lord remain always with us!
This weekend is a time of great celebration and Grace in our Parish Community! This weekend we celebrate the First Holy Communion of 6 of our younger members!1
There are many wonderfully sentimental things I could write about concerning First Holy Communion Days. But this year, given all that we have gone through, and all that we will continue to go through, my reflection is slightly different.
First Holy Communion Days change our lives forever. While the Celebration of the Mass contains rituals particular to the day, all of these rituals highlight the perpetual change this Day brings about. The special clothing of white dresses, perhaps veils or flowers in the hair of the girls; suits, sport coats, dress shirts, and ties for the boys; each of these highlight the destiny the First Holy Communicants embrace on this day. A white dress as a sign of virtue and purity, carried from the white garment of Baptism, signifies the untarnished Christian Dignity the girls received at Baptism, and which is now strengthened and restored by the Blessed Sacrament in Holy Communion. The formal dress of the boys is like unto what they wear when they attend weddings of aunts, uncles, cousins, and family friends. Today deepens our children’s participation in the great mystery of Christ’s love and unity with the Church. As Saint Paul writes, “… husbands love your wives as Christ loves the Church…”2
First Holy Communion Days remind us that we have been given the Light of Christ; a Light no darkness can extinguish. On the day of our Baptism, our parents and Godparents were given a candle with these words: Parents and Godparents, receive the light of Christ… This light is entrusted to you to be kept burning brightly… Today, the First Holy Communicants will carry unlit candles into Church. At the time of the Creed, those candles will be lit, and they will renew their Baptismal Vows in their own names. At the conclusion of the renewal of the Baptismal Vows by the First Communicants and the entire congregation, they will hear the same words that the parents hear at Baptism, “…. Keep this light burning brightly…”
Today, the Baptismal Foundation of every believer leads these children to the altar, and by the Grace and Strength of the Blessed Sacrament, they are helped to “keep this light burning brightly”!
First Holy Communion Days remind us that we are members of the Mystical Body of Christ.
Even with Covid restrictions, family members of our First Communicants will travel from near and far. And, we are having two First Communion Masses so that, even with just 6 Communicants, as many people as possible can be present for this great day. Parents have been very busy preparing every detail for this big day! Parents have been practicing prayers, rehearsing responses at Mass, praying everything comes together. Parents are the primary teachers of the Faith for their children. Parents, THIS is your GREAT vocation: to give your children our Catholic Faith by your word, deed, and example. Never stop giving your child the Faith! Continue to bring them to Mass each Sunday; pray as a family; see that your son or daughter receives the Sacrament of Penance on a regular basis.
If you go to Confession once a year, start going to Confession twice a year. If you go to Confession before Christmas and Easter, challenge yourself to go to Confession 4 times a year: once each quarter. If you don’t go to Confession: Jesus is waiting for you with His Arms wide open, and a Heart filled with love, mercy, compassion and… the peace that comes from sins forgiven.
Enjoy this life-changing day in the life of your son or daughter!
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!
In the Lord,
1 We have a total of 9 First Communicants. Three of the nine are receiving their First Communion at the Catholic Schools they attend. They are listed with their classmates in the Bulletin.
2 Ephesians 5: 25 – 30.
May 2, 2021
May the Grace of Our Lord remain always with us!
Late last week I returned to Philadelphia to bury another of my former students. Matthew was only 22, and like the other funerals I have celebrated, died senselessly and tragically because of drugs. What can we do in the face of what has become a pandemic? And today, is the first anniversary of death of another student, who like Matt came from a great family. What happens that these two young men, like so many other young people today, would turn to drugs, specifically to heroin?
I offer you the following points of reflection:
· As it has been for generations, our young think they are invincible – “nothing will ever harm me.” Parents, teachers, mentors need to address this thinking. How do we do that? We all need to know that “just a little hit” can be the fatal hit. If a person has been clean and sober, using “just a little” is like taking 5 times the amount they used formerly. We need to talk with our children more and more about the realities of the world, especially this reality, and let them know in plain and loving ways that nothing can change our love for them, and nothing will lead us to give up on them.
· Our schools, churches, and government need to address this crisis head on. We are not doing that. Parish Youth Groups, as well as religious education programs, need to speak and teach about the grave danger of drug use. Simply because our children are attending “the best schools” doesn’t mean that they are safe from this affliction. As parents, you have the great authority and opportunity to urge the schools your children attend to address how prevalent drug use has become: this cancer is not something confined to a lower socio-economic neighborhood.
· Despite our best efforts to offer unconditional love and to offer our children the best of everything we are able, there is a wound deep within them that drives them to try the unknown world of drugs One of the parents at Matt’s funeral said to me, “Father, the first high is so unbelievable that after one use all a heroin addict does is keep trying to recreate that first high.” I thought of the line from the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, “one is too many, and ten thousand aren’t enough!” Very true words!
· The greatest gift we can offer our children to heal what wounds life may bring to them is their relationship with God. They will only discover this relationship by our example and by our leading them to it. The groom of one of the couples I am preparing for marriage is a Baptist. In our meetings, his walk with the Lord has consistently impressed me. He talks about attending Bible Study with his Father; he talks about the Father and Son Fellowship Group he and his Father have attended; he talks about when he is home how he and his Father go to Bible Study and attend a Men’s Fellowship meeting together. What I would give to see that kind of devotion in a young Catholic, in a Catholic Father! As Catholic parents, I urge you to give to your children what this Baptist Father gave to his son. As Catholic parents, I urge you, truly I beg you, to live our Catholic Faith without compromise: pray at home: pray before meals, “hear” your children’s prayers when they go to bed; attend Mass every week as a family; show your children that you go to Confessions regularly; and when they move away to go to college, keep asking them if they are going to Mass on Sunday; encourage them to be part of the Campus Ministry Program. Living our faith doesn’t take away the problems, but our faith will get us through the problems.
I urge you: Be bold! Be Catholic!
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee!
In the Lord,
My Dear Ones,
My Dear Ones, -
April 2021
April 25, 2021
This week Bob Short shares his reflection on his recent small group experience using The Search from FORMED.
For the last six weeks I have been part of two small discussion groups discussing a wonderful video series called "The Search". God brought the exact people together in both of these groups. I have found the conversations inspiring, informative, and profoundly moving. I can honestly say that whoever you are, dear reader, I wish you could be there with us!
What are the things that keep you from coming to our faith formation programming at St. Sebastian? Perhaps your schedule is complicated; you can attend some meetings, but not others. Perhaps we have scheduled the event at a difficult time for you. You need a babysitter! You work late on that day! You would really love to do something to grow in your faith, but the last thing you need is another responsibility! Perhaps you have been learning about your faith for many years and feel the offerings at the parish are a bit "basic". Alternately, you might still feel like you are searching, and honestly feel a bit shy to ask the questions you really need answered in front of other people.
Did you recognize yourself in that last paragraph? St. Sebastian is involved in a program exactly for you: Formed.org-The Catholic Faith. On Demand.
Think of it as the "Netflix" of Catholic educational videos. Want to learn more about the Bible? Look up programs featuring Scott Hahn. Want to get more out of the Mass? Type "Mass" into the search bar and cycle through the videos to see which video fits your needs. You'll find short videos, long series, audiobooks, videos for children, and videos for you.
Make it a gift to yourself and your family to binge-watch something good for you. Many of us commit to extra practices that help us grow in faith during the Lenten Season. What will you do for yourself this Easter Season?
I have three suggestions: three shows you can watch if you have never done anything like this before:
1. The Search is a 6 video series that begins with the question "What do you seek?" and ends with the question "Why a Church?" Each episode is about 25 minutes long. If you haven't asked yourself the big questions lately this is the show for you. If you have felt out of touch with the core of our Faith during this pandemic, this is certainly the show for you. If your spiritual education has seemed more about minutiae than the grand cinematic story of God's love for us, this is definitely the show for you.
2. Lectio: Eucharist with Dr. Brant Pitre is a series for the one who wants to learn things about the Mass and the Eucharist that you will be thinking about for months. This is a meaty series for a meaty topic--10 episodes of 40 minutes each. Dr. Brant Pitre is one of the Catholic scholars who has done the most for my faith. If you do not know Brant Pitre, get to know Brant Pitre.
3. Prayer: A Surge of the Heart is not a series, but a humble and heartful 38 minute long video featuring a bishop, a priest, a sister, a laywoman, and others speaking about the importance of personal prayer. Does your prayer life need jumper cables? Have you gone way too long without anyone taking you aside to teach you how to pray? This is just the thing to whet your appetite for quality time with God.
April 18, 2021
My dear Ones,
May the Grace of Our Lord remain always with us!
Just as in the story of Jesus and the disciples on the Road to Emmaus, today we again here in the Gospel, that disciples recognized Jesus in the breaking of the bread. The breaking of the bread… I was recently going through the First Communion Register of the Parish – the earliest record we have is 1933. As I read through the list of names my heart warmed as I recognized parishioner’s past and present who made their First Communion here. Like the disciples in today’s Gospel, our founding brothers and sisters came to know the Lord in the breaking of the Bread in the very place you and I meet Him today! I love to hear Joan Tracey, Jack Corrigan, Ralph Daniels, Denny Roberts, MaryBeth Wardell and more recount their First Communion Day here at Saint Sebastian!
Bread is such an important part of our lives. When I lived in Denver I remember asking my superior is there any place I could go to get “good Italian Bread”? Can you imagine, no good Italian Bakery in Denver?? How did Mother Cabrini survive when she lived there? One of my favorite moments is “dunking bread” to taste Sunday Gravy; or bread to savor every last morsel on my plate. Have you ever had the delicious Easter Bread our Slavic/Polish Brothers and Sisters make at Easter Time? Delicious beyond words!
In our Catholic Imagination every bread serves as a symbol to remind us of the Bread of Angels that we are privileged to have as our Food to strengthen us in our daily lives; to forgive our venial sins; to strengthen us in charity; and, to make us one with one another, all the angels and saints, and the communion of saints in which we especially remember those we love who are part of the Eternal Wedding Banquet of the Kingdom of Heaven. In the Breaking of the Bread we come to know the Lord, and we come to know ourselves!
One of the great sacrifices of the Pandemic has been the months that so many have gone without the gift and grace of this Heavenly Bread. One of the sad side effects of the isolation of the Pandemic is that so many of us have become comfortable in missing Mass, watching Mass at home in our PJ’s and a cup of coffee. In the words of Saint Paul, it is now the hour for us to wake from sleep: come home to Mass!
I am deeply heartened by the increasing number of people attending Mass each weekend. We continue to maintain our safe practices of wearing our masks, no sign of peace, and sanitizing the pews after every Mass.
We are aware all aware of the staggering statistics of the percentage of Catholics who do not attend Mass on a regular basis: before Covid it was 61%. Thankfully, post Covid 51% of that 61% state that they feel that the time has come for them to attend Mass more regularly: a Covid grace?
Why has Mass attendance become such a burden; and, why has it become so tragically less important for so many? I offer you the following reflections:
· Our Church has a high percentage of poor preachers, and an even higher percentage of music poorly chosen and poorly performed. Preaching needs to become the most important thing a priest does: we need the laity to assume more roles of leadership in our parishes.1 Budgets need to reflect the priority music is in celebrations that build faith.2
· We have lost a sense of Sunday as the “Lord’s Day”: the day for God and for families.3
· We have allowed ourselves to be fooled by the premise that I can be “spiritual” and therefore I don’t need to attend Church. You might be spiritual, but you are missing the central point of Catholic Spirituality: feasting on the Body and Blood of Christ.4
In the post-Christian age in which we live, may our Catholic Imagination be revived that all the faithful will grow in a new deeper appreciation for and practice of our Sunday celebrations, and come to know Him in the breaking of the Bread!
Until we meet at the altar, know that I thank God for each of you!
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee!
In The Lord,
1 Rather than administration, pastors need to employ Business Managers and Bookkeepers. We need those who care for and alert the pastor to approaching capital needs and regular preventive maintenance. This will require that parishes become vibrant, sustainable of worship, learning, and service.
2 Music In Catholic Worship: #5: Good celebrations build faith; poor celebrations weaken or destroy faith. USCCB, 1982, revised 1998. And also, Are We Killing our Priests? The increasing demands that a pastor is architect, construction supervisor, accountant, as well as parish priest and all that that entails, we are creating a culture of burn out or worse. Father Francis Dorff, O. Praem., 1990.
3 Dies Domini, Pope St. John Paul II, 1993. “Leave everything on the Lord’s Day”, urges the third century text known as the Didascalia, “and run diligently to your assembly, because it is your praise of God. Otherwise, what excuse will they make to God, those who do not come together on the Lord’s Day to hear the word of life and feed on the divine nourishment which lasts forever?”
4 Ibid, #44. The Sunday Eucharistic gathering is an experience of brotherhood, which the celebration should demonstrate clearly, while ever respecting the nature of the liturgical action (44).
April 11, 2021
My dear Ones,
May the Grace of Our Lord remain always with us!
As I write to you, I look out the window and see the yard and Church - at this moment, both are bathed in the morning sun.
As I look at this beauty it is impossible not to see the yard as it was last Sunday: filled with children carrying their Easter Baskets filled with eggs; the sounds of children yelling to one another about their treasures; parents and Grandparents taking pictures; clusters of friends talking with one another; happy faces and voices grateful to be together!
Is it any wonder we sing: THIS is the Day the Lord has made: Alleluia?!?
My first thought is one of profound gratitude to God for the wonderful graces of the Lenten Season, but especially our celebrations of Palm Sunday, the Triduum and Easter Sunday. How good God is to us! In His goodness the Father sends us His Son to be our redeemer, and in Jesus we witness the fulfillment of the words “the measure of our Love is to Love without measure!” No one loves us like Jesus loves us – the Cross and the Resurrection are perfect examples of this love. But God shows us His goodness in so many ways. Let’s reflect together:
* We behold God’s goodness in the great gift we have to worship Him in the beauty of holiness and the holiness of beauty;
* We experience God’s goodness in the all who attended the great services through the Triduum, but especially for the GREAT crowd of witnesses who attended the 9am Mass on Easter, and the Easter Egg Hunt that followed ;
* We are touched by God’s goodness through the inspiring music offered us through the talented, dedicated, and hard work of Megan Morrow (who is really the Director of Music !) and our guest organist and conductor, Dr. John Romeri;
* We are grateful for God’s goodness in the servers who came forward to make the Triduum Services so prayerful and perfect:
* We are grateful to God for the hard work and generosity of Mike Sullivan who keeps the Church shinning;
* For Karin Schrott overseeing baby sitting (YEAH!) and the Easter Egg Hunt;
* We know God’s goodness in the dedication of Bob Short who is more like our Assistant Pastor, than a Pastoral Associate – we are so blessed in Bob;
* We thank God for Fr. Jordan the Younger, and Fr. Michael, for the hours they spent in the confessional, for their preaching, and for their presence;
* We thank God for the 4 new families who have joined us through the days of Holy Week – inspired by the sense of welcome and the beauty of our Liturgies;
* And most of all: we thank God for the gift of Himself and the wonders and graces showered upon us the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of His Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ!
Indeed, my dear ones, God has loved us with a love that knows no measure! May we always respond with grateful hearts for all the blessings He has showered upon us!
But, as I said last week, Easter begins the Great 50 Days, and today we continue our 50 Days of celebration.
Today is Divine Mercy Sunday. Given to us by Pope Saint John Paul II, at the Mass for the canonization of St. Faustina Kowalska, Pope John Paul II proclaimed to the world that “from now on throughout the Church this Sunday will be called Divine Mercy Sunday.” Pope John Paul had actively promoted the message of St. Faustina.
In his 1980 encyclical on God’s mercy, Rich in Mercy, he developed a scriptural and doctrinal basis for our faith in the mercy of God. By linking the revealed truth about God’s mercy to one of the most solemn Sundays after Easter itself, he illumined the fact that the liturgy already proclaimed the divine mercy.
Pope Francis has urged us “not to be silent about the sorrows and injustices that surround us”. Only the mercy of God can give us the graces we need to not harbor resentment in our hearts towards our persecutors; to not be paralyzed by fear; and to come to forgive those who betray the dignity of another person as they try to invalidate God’s Presence in them because of race, gender, ethnicity, or orientation. The candles that burn by Our Lady of Perpetual Help and our Lady of Guadalupe are symbols to remind us of our need for God’s Mercy and to pray for the hearts of all men and women to live in peace and tranquility.
Until we meet at the altar, know that I thank God for each of you!
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee!
In The Lord,
-
March 2021
March 14, 2021
MY DEAR ONES,
May the Grace of Our Lord remain always with us!
Have you ever wondered how Operation Rice Bowl began? This is a very interesting sketch of it’s beginning.
RICE BOWL MAKES FAMILY TABLE AN ‘ALTAR’ OF SERVICE, SAYS FOUNDER
From its earliest days, the outreach was an ecumenical one, born of hearing “tremendous reports of suffering from Africa, especially sub-Saharan Africa” during the early 1970s, said Msgr. Coll.
“It wasn’t just a question of hunger,” he said. “It was a question of starving to death.”
The horrors of the recent Vietnam War had also left parishioners “wanting to do something, rather than bomb something,” he added. “It was a moment in time, divinely inspired.”
In response, Msgr. Coll organized a meeting with area faith leaders and presented his Rice Bowl idea, which quickly took root.
“We had the whole city of Allentown involved, about 13 Protestant churches and one Jewish congregation, and then about 10 Catholic parishes,” he said.
Word spread beyond the Allentown Diocese, which had been partitioned from the Philadelphia Archdiocese only a decade prior in 1961, thereby incardinating Msgr. Coll – a graduate of St. Cyril of Alexandria School in Lansdowne – into the new territory. He soon received an inquiry from then Msgr. (and later Cardinal) John P. Foley, editor of the Catholic Standard and Times (the print predecessor of CatholicPhilly.com).
“While our little group was designing this project in the basement of the world, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia was planning its Eucharistic Congress,” said Msgr. Coll. “So Jack called me and said, ‘What’s going on?’”
Msgr. Foley was prompted by more than his award-winning journalistic sense: he was also a member of the board of governors for the 1976 congress, and the theme for international gathering (the 41st of its kind) was “The Eucharist and the Hungers of the Human Family.”
With the blessing of Pope Paul VI, the congress sought to examine both physical and spiritual hungers – and Msgr. Foley believed the Rice Bowl initiative “would dovetail perfectly” with such an undertaking, said Msgr. Coll.
Meetings with Philadelphia Cardinal John Krol and CRS soon followed, and by 1976, at least 118 U.S. dioceses had raised more than $5.1 million thanks to Msgr. Coll’s basic concept.
The little bowl also took Msgr. Coll to some of the very places his outreach had been launched to help. Through his new work with CRS, he traveled to Ethiopia, Yemen, Lebanon and Poland, while meeting St. Teresa of Calcutta and bringing relief supplies to several of her Beirut-based Missionaries of Charity sisters, whom he found sheltering “in a bombed-out building” during Lebanon’s long-running civil war.
Ministering firsthand to victims of hunger and violence only confirmed what had been in his heart from Rice Bowl’s beginnings, he said.
In fact, the name “Operation Rice Bowl” was itself chosen in part for its abbreviation as “O.R.B.,” evoking the Latin word orb, or “world,” said Msgr. Coll, noting that caring for others is central to the Gospel message.
“You do not find love — but love first, and then you will find love,” he said. “That’s one of the themes of Rice Bowl. Who is thy brother?”
Please pray for me as I do for you!
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee!
In the Lord,Fr. Jordan
Article by Gina Christian on February 16, 2021 in the Catholic Philly.
March 7, 2021My dear Ones,
May the Grace of Our Lord remain always with us!
Have you ever wondered how Operation Rice Bowl began? This is a very interesting sketch of its beginning.
Rice Bowl makes family table an ‘altar’ of service, says founder
A nationwide Lenten tradition traces its roots to the Philadelphia area – and to a priest who wanted to make the family dining room table an “altar” of sacrifice and service.
Now in its 46th year, Catholic Relief Services’ (CRS) Rice Bowl initiative combines prayer, fasting and almsgiving to help those in need both in the U.S. and abroad. During Lent participants donate to the campaign by contributing money they save through fasting or preparing meatless meals like those eaten in impoverished nations.
Of each year’s collection, 75% goes to support humanitarian response and development programs that CRS – the official relief and development agency of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops — operates in more than 100 countries, benefiting some 159 million people.
The remaining 25% funds local efforts to alleviate hunger, such as those directed by archdiocesan Nutritional Development Services (NDS), which provides assistance to some 50 area food cupboards and soup kitchens in the five-county area.
The change collected in the cardboard Rice Bowl containers has added up considerably over the years. Since its inception in 1975 and adoption a year later by the Catholic Church in the U.S., the program has raised more than $250 million. Some $62.5 million of the total has funded U.S. diocesan ministries and $187.5 million has assisted CRS’s international response.
Spiritual reflections and first-person stories of Rice Bowl beneficiaries round out the program, fostering encounters with the divine and with people from other cultures.
And that was exactly the point from the very start, said Msgr. Robert Coll, who created Rice Bowl while he was pastor of St. Thomas More Parish in Allentown.
“The idea was simple,” said Msgr. Coll, an Allentown Diocese priest now retired and living in Florida. “I have food, my brother has no food, so I will give him some of my food.”
Specifically, Msgr. Coll encouraged his parishioners to “eat a truncated meal, maybe soup and a sandwich, and take the difference between that and what you would have spent as a kind of symbolic” form of aid, he said.
Donations would then be “taken to church and deposited” separately from the general collection, he added.
Article by Gina Christian on February 16, 2021, in the Catholic Philly. Part Two coming next week.
Please pray for me as I do for you!
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee!
In the Lord,
Fr. Jordan
-
February 2021
February 21, 2021
My Dear Ones,
May the Grace of Our Lord remain always with us!
I have had both vaccines! There is great deal of speculation about the side effects of the second vaccine. Luckily, I didn’t have any of the physical side effects, but I am very lethargic. Thank you for all your concern, congratulations, and support: I am most grateful!
Lenten Hallmarks and Accountability
The traditional Lenten hallmarks of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving are calling for our consideration once again. Are we able to look at these in a new way, or do we revert to the knee-jerk response drilled into our DNA from years of repetition? Let’s consider the following:
Prayer is first and foremost a conversation from the heart of God to our heart and vice – a – versa. Prayer is basking in the presence of the beloved. Do we make the time to build this kind of a prayer life, or do we keep making excuses that “we will get to it tomorrow?” Living alone, I can become glued to the idiot box. During Lent I intend to not start watching a show as soon as dinner is over, but use the 60 – 90 minutes for prayer, study, and spiritual reading.
Fasting is to deprive ourselves of something, so that the lack of one thing may be filled by the presence of another greater good. This Lent I want to two small meals and one larger meal each day. I also pledge myself to walking daily. Why do this? First to make a greater space in my life for God; Secondly to become healthier.
Almsgiving calls us to put the needs of another before our own needs, wants, or desires. We can do this monetarily, as we will be asked to do through the Catholic Charities Appeal. But, we can also offer the alms of reconciliation where we might have had a falling out with someone. Or, call someone or send a card to someone who could truly benefit from our trying to reach out to them. Throughout Lent I plan to call every household just to say hello and see how you are doing.
I don’t tell you all of this for some kind of vainglory. Rather, I ask you to check in with me from time to time and see how I am doing this Lent! I need to be accountable to someone.
Some Points of Information
Whether in person or virtually I hope you will participate in our Mission this weekend. Especially, avail yourself to Adoration and Confession. See the schedule in the bulletin for the time Confessions begin. Adoration begins at the end of Mass.
Lenten Masses and Stations of the Cross
There will be one extra Mass throughout Lent, and that Mass will be at 5:30pm on the Fridays of Lent. Stations of the Cross will follow at 6:05.
On the Solemnity of Saint Joseph, which is a Friday, Mass will be at 6pm. I am the celebrant and Monsignor Montecalvo will be the homilist.
Outreach Opportunities
A great way to give alms is by helping with our Parish Lenten Collections: socks, toiletries, and food. See the bulletin for more details.
Please pray for me as I do for you!
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!
In the Lord,
Fr. Jordan, O.P.
February 14, 2021
My dear Ones,
May the Grace of Our Lord remain always with us!
I hope you are enjoying Bishop Conley's reflections concerning beauty, and the necessity and power with which beauty feeds the Liturgy and our works of Evangelization. His reflections are especially poignant during these COVID Days: how, even in the days of COVID, can we nurture beauty in our lives and in the way we Worship? The Bishop offers great moments of reflection: enjoy!
Ever Ancient, Ever New: The Role of Beauty in the Restoration of Catholic Culture
IV. Beauty in the New Evangelization
Clearly, beauty has a major role to play in the New Evangelization. I want to conclude with three points of guidance, which will help us incorporate beauty in our re-evangelization of Western culture.
The first point—and the most essential—is that we must present the truths of faith in a beautiful way. Our liturgical worship, in particular, must reflect God’s own beauty and holiness.
Worship, after all, is the basis of Christian culture. The beauty of the sacred liturgy is meant to radiate outward into the world. Liturgical beauty shapes the common life of believers, and it can also help to attract those who are outside the Church.
A leading liturgical scholar, Monsignor Nicola Bux, has said that: “a mystical liturgy celebrated with dignity can be a great help for people searching to find God.”
“Historically,” he notes, “great converts were struck by grace while attending solemn rites and listening to extraordinary chants.”
Monsignor Bux is right. To renew Catholic culture, and evangelize our contemporaries, we must restore beauty to the sacred liturgy. If we cannot restore beauty and holiness to our sanctuaries, we will not be able to restore it anywhere else.
My second recommendation is that we familiarize ourselves with the beauty of historic Christian culture. We do not all have to be scholars like John Senior. But we should open our hearts and minds to the beautiful things that the Incarnation has made possible.
Recently the fledgling monastery of Benedictine Nuns north of Kansas City have recorded two beautiful CDs of Gregorian chant for the record label Decca and sales have gone through the roof. People recognize beauty when they see it and hear it.
The Benedictine Monks of Clear Creek, the founders of whom are fellow classmates of mine from the IHP, started the monastery with 12 monks in 1999 and now count 42—all young and living lives of prayer and work, ora et labora—centered on chanting in Latin the psalms throughout the day.
It is interesting to talk to the local Oklahoma farmers who have lived in the area for generations, an area which has very few Catholics. They are enamored with the monks. Farming, and friendship, is an important point of common ground. Through dialogue and friendship, we can help the world to understand the Christian worldview that inspired the beauty we all appreciate.
Finally, I would suggest that we open our own minds to beauty, in all its manifestations. It is often said that all truth is God’s truth, wherever one finds it; and the same can be said of beauty: all genuine beauty belongs to God, wherever it may be found.
Christian culture is a supreme expression of beauty in the service of truth. But there is beauty to be found everywhere, throughout God’s creation and the field of culture. The Jesuit priest and poet Gerard Manley Hopkins, a favorite of Pope Francis, wrote that the whole world was “charged with the grandeur of God,” for those with eyes to see it.
So we must develop our own appreciation of beauty, wherever it exists. Then we can help others to see beauty for what it is: an earthly reflection of God’s glory—a glory that leads to truth and goodness.
V. Conclusion
In the midst of our present cultural crisis, we can take courage, knowing that God is not silent. He continues to speak powerfully by means of beauty, even to those who have become dulled to the realities of truth and goodness.
“Beauty will save the world,” wrote Dostoevsky. It will. When it points to God’s enduring love.
There are many souls to rescue, and a vast cultural wasteland to restore. Both tasks will require fluency in God’s language of beauty.
To speak this language, we must first begin to listen. And to listen, we must have silence in our lives. I pray that God will open our eyes and ears to beauty, and help us use it in the service of the Truth.
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee!
In the Lord,
Fr. Jordan
Originally published in Crisis Magazine on October 10, 2013
February 7, 2021My dear Ones,
May the Grace of Our Lord remain always with us!
I hope you are enjoying Bishop Conley's reflections concerning beauty, and the necessity and power with which beauty feeds the Liturgy and our works of Evangelization. His reflections are especially poignant during these COVID Days: how, even in the days of COVID, can we nurture beauty and our lives and in the way we Worship? The Bishop offers great moments of reflection: enjoy!
Ever Ancient, Ever New: The Role of Beauty in the Restoration of Catholic Culture
II. Encountering the Beauty of Christian Culture
As I mentioned, I am a convert to the Catholic faith. I entered the Church in 1975, under the guidance of one of the 20th century’s great teachers—the late John Senior, co-founder of the Integrated Humanities Program at the University of Kansas. John Senior was my godfather, and his ideas about faith and culture are a continuing inspiration to me.
My godfather loved beauty—not for its own sake, but for the sake of Jesus Christ, the creator and redeemer of beauty. Senior saw the beauty of this world in the light of eternity, and he helped others to acquire the same transcendent vision.
John Senior was not an evangelist, in the traditional sense of the word: he did not preach from a pulpit, or write works of apologetics. His goal in the classroom was not to convert us, but to open our minds to truth, wherever it might be found. And he did that primarily through the imagination.
In his own unusual way, Senior was a remarkably gifted evangelist. He had a deep love for the Church, and for the beauty of historic Christian culture. And that love was infectious. There were literally hundreds of converts to the Catholic Church at the University of Kansas in the 1970’s.
The Integrated Humanities program ran from 1970 to 1979, a decade that, with the exception of some really great rock and roll, was a cultural wasteland.
When I began the program, there was little of Christendom’s rich history in my cultural formation. At the University of Kansas, my fellow students and I had very little sense of our own cultural inheritance. We were ignorant of Western civilization’s founding truths, and we had only a passing acquaintance with the beauty they had inspired.
Our lives had largely been shaped by the crass appeals of the mass media, and the passing fads of popular culture. There was a lack of truth in our lives, certainly; but there was also a profound lack of beauty. Our souls were starving for both, and we did not even know it.
But John Senior knew what we were lacking. His fellow professors, Dennis Quinn and Frank Nelick, also knew. They knew that students had to encounter beauty, and have their hearts and imaginations captured first by beauty, before they could pursue truth and goodness in a serious and worthy manner.
Truth was the ultimate goal. But the search for truth involved certain habits of mind, and habits of life, which we—as students—did not have. Our pursuit of truth required an initiation into beauty: the beauty of music, visual art and architecture, nature, poetry, dance, calligraphy, and many other things.
Through these experiences of beauty, we gained a sense of wonder; and that sense of wonder gave us a passion for truth. The motto of the IHP was a famous little Latin phrase: Nascantur in Admiratione (“let them be born in wonder”).
The experience of beauty changed us. When we studied the great philosophers and theologians, we were open to their words. We no longer assumed that truth was found in the dictates of popular culture—just as we no longer saw modern fads and fashions as the pinnacle of beauty. Truth is perennial and beauty is timeless.
As I mentioned, a large number of students became Catholic through the Integrated Humanities Program. But this was not the result of proselytism in the classroom nor was it engaging in apologetics. It occurred because we became lovers of beauty, and thus, seekers of truth. Beauty gave us “eyes to see” and “ears to hear,” when we encountered the Gospel and the Christian tradition.
III. The Transcendent Language of Beauty
I know, from experience, that beauty can reach people who seem unreachable. It can open their minds to truths they might otherwise dismiss. Even hardened skeptics and postmodernists find it hard to deny the reality of beauty, when they encounter it in a setting conducive to contemplation and reflection.
We have to realize that our ambient secular culture has a tight grip on the imagination. It is hard to break through. But the power of beauty still has a force that can penetrate even the hardest of hearts.
The experience of beauty is transformative. It awakens a sense within us, that life is meaningful on the most profound level. Beauty can move us to humility, giving us a sense of wonder before the mystery of life. The encounter with beauty speaks to us about the true, awe-inspiring nature of existence.
This is why we speak of beauty as something “transcendent.” Every instance of real beauty points beyond itself, toward the infinite perfection of God. He invested this world with many forms of captivating beauty, so that created things would lead us to contemplate the transcendent glory of the Creator.
We can think of beauty as a kind of language, through which God speaks to our hearts and souls. He is always speaking in this way—to all of us—believers and nonbelievers alike.
The beauty of creation declares the glory of God, even to those who do not yet believe. In beauty, the Lord reveals himself. In a similar way, artistic beauty shows us that man is made in the Creator’s image—even if the artist himself does not acknowledge this fact.
The language of beauty is especially important in our time, because we live in a period of grave intellectual and moral confusion.
Beauty is not the only language God uses to communicate his glory. Our Creator also speaks to our souls through intellectual truth and moral goodness.
But these forms of communication have become problematic. Many people, especially in modern Western culture, are too intellectually and morally confused to receive such a message.
God still speaks to these individuals in the language of truth and goodness. But their understanding is blocked by popular misconceptions—especially the idea that truth and goodness are purely subjective, and thus relative to the individual or group. “To each his own” or “who’s to say.” What Pope Benedict called the “dictatorship of relativism.”
Fr. Robert Barron, the Rector of Saint Mary of the Lake Seminary in Chicago, a theologian and great communicator of the faith, has lately taught that in the New Evangelization we must “lead with beauty.” Fr. Barron says that postmodern man might scoff at truth and goodness, but he’s still enthralled with beauty. He says that beauty is the arrowhead of evangelization, the point with which the evangelist pierces the minds and hearts of those he evangelizes.
To say with the poet, “look up, look up at the stars” is to point to creation or even to an artistic achievement, invites the nonbeliever first to appreciate what is and then to consider the origin of that which is.
In a cultural environment bereft of wonder, beauty takes on an even greater importance than it would otherwise have. Something in the experience of beauty is almost undeniable, even for the person who rejects the idea of objective truth or goodness. Beauty can get through, where other forms of divine communication may not.
When we begin with beauty, this can then lead to a desire to want to know the truth of the thing that is drawing us, a desire to participate in it. And then the truth can inspire us to do the good, to strive after virtue.
In one of his pre-papal writings, Pope Benedict XVI spoke about the experience of being “wounded by the arrow of beauty.” That is a wonderful image for an experience shared by believers and non-believers alike. God’s “arrow of beauty” can pierce through many layers of confusion and error.
When that arrow reaches its target, a way opens within the heart. The search for truth becomes possible, and an obstacle to faith disappears.
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee!
In the Lord,
-
January 2021
January 31, 2021
May the Grace of Our Lord remain always with us!
Many of you have commented to me about how beautiful last week's Saint Sebastian Day Mass, and the deep sense of awe and celebration you experienced. As our Mission Statement states: ...To Worship God through prayerful beauty…
Building upon both our Mission Statement and our experience last Sunday, I thought this article by Bishop James Conley on Lincoln, Nebraska, might be informative.
Ever Ancient, Ever New: The Role of Beauty in the Restoration of Catholic Culture
When I began my seminary studies, I had only been a Catholic for a few years. I had converted to the Catholic Church during my undergraduate years at the University of Kansas through a course of studies in the Great Books called the Integrated Humanities Program. When I started seminary, I was still learning the ropes of Catholicism.
In my first semester, I discovered that new seminarians needed to find a spiritual director. A number of my brother seminarians recommended Fr. Anton Morganroth, one of our professors.
Fr. Morganroth was a Jewish convert to the Catholic faith who fled Nazi Germany with his family in 1938. He was a tall, imposing figure. He was both loved and feared by the seminarians.
One day I mustered up the courage to introduce myself to Fr. Morganroth and I asked him if he would take me on for spiritual direction. He gazed down at me in silence, sizing me up, and then simply said “report to my quarters next Tuesday at 7pm.”
After dinner in the refectory, Fr. Morganroth would return to his room to play his piano—he played brilliantly. If you had an appointment with him he would leave the door ajar. You were to simply push the door open and take a seat in a chair next to the piano.
I remember making my way down the hallway toward Fr. Morganroth’s rooms for the first time, hearing beautiful classical piano music coming from his room. The door was ajar. I stood outside the door for a moment and just listened to the music. Eventually I pushed the door open, entered the room and took a seat. He looked over at me from the piano and nodded in approval.
I sat there, listening to the music. There was a musical score on the piano—a Mozart sonata—but Fr. Morganroth had his eyes closed the whole time. He was not reading the music. A few minutes went by. Then five minutes. Then seven minutes. Finally ten minutes went by. He completed the piece and there was silence.
I’ll never forget that silence.
We were both caught up in the beauty of the moment. It was probably the first time I had ever really heard classical music at such close range. It was something like perfection.
After a few moments of silence, eager to get started, I broke the silence and said “so, Father, are we going to have spiritual direction?”
Fr. Morganroth turned. He stared right through me and said “son, zat was your spiritual direction, you can go now.”
I returned the next week and we began our regular sessions, which were wonderful. But it was the beauty of that music that led the way; that opened my heart and mind to the realities of the spiritual life.
Most of us love the truth and beauty of our Catholic faith, and we want to share it with others. Most of us also know that our culture is headed in an alarming direction—toward a crisis that cannot be averted without Jesus Christ and his Church.
In fact, those two concerns—salvation and culture—are deeply related. The Gospel involves more than our individual salvation: it is also a universal mandate to, as Pope St. Pius X said, “restore all things in Christ.” Such a mandate extends beyond our own personal sanctification.
When we speak of evangelization, we mean not only the conversion of individuals, but also the transformation of culture. Christ is Lord of the public square, and our common life, just as he is the Lord of our homes and hearts. Thus, the Church’s evangelistic mission is also a mandate for cultural conversion.
The Second Vatican Council confirmed this cultural mandate, in its decree on the lay apostolate. Chapter II of Apostolicam Actuositatem taught that “Christ’s redemptive work, while essentially concerned with the salvation of men, includes also the renewal of the whole temporal order.”
“Hence,” the council said, “the mission of the Church is not only to bring the message and grace of Christ to men but also to penetrate and perfect the temporal order with the spirit of the Gospel.”
Cultural renewal is essential, because the Catholic faith is not just a private conviction. The mystery of the Incarnation changes everything. Our faith is meant to be the basis of a culture—a shared way of life that uses the things of this world to glorify God.
The great theologians teach us that grace does not abolish the good things of this world. Christ brings them, rather, to their fulfillment. Our faith is incarnational. All truth, all beauty, and all goodness, are “through him” and “for him.” These things are part of God’s redemptive plan. Truth, beauty, and goodness are integral to our salvation.
Faithful Catholics care about truth: like our Lord, we want all people “to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” We care, too, about goodness—especially moral goodness, the life of virtue so often spurned by contemporary culture.
But what about beauty? Where is the place for beauty in our evangelization of the culture?
This is an important question, and one we sometimes overlook or misunderstand. It is this question, the role of beauty in evangelization and cultural renewal that I want to consider.
The title of this essay is Ever Ancient, Ever New: The Role of Beauty in the Restoration of Catholic Culture. The title is taken from a passage in Book X of the Confessions of Saint Augustine. In Chapter X, Saint Augustine laments the fact that it has taken him 33 years to discover the beauty of the divine. In those immortal lines he cries out: “Late have I loved thee, O beauty ever ancient, ever new.”
Beauty is both ancient and new: we are at once surprised and comforted by its presence. Beauty exists in a sphere beyond time. And so beautiful things expose us to the timelessness of eternity.
This is why beauty matters, in an eternal sense. Beauty was part of God’s creative plan in the beginning, and it is just as much a part of his redemptive plan now. God has placed the desire for beauty within our hearts, and he uses that desire to lead us back to himself.
Truth and beauty are both gifts from God. So our New Evangelization must work to make truth beautiful. By means both ancient and new, we must make use of beauty—to infuse Western culture, once more, with the spirit of the Gospel.
By means of earthly beauty, we can help our contemporaries discover the truth of the Gospel. Then, they may come to know the eternal beauty of God—that beauty Saint Augustine described as “ever ancient, ever new.”
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee!
In the Lord,
Fr. Jordan
Bishop Conley’s article will continue in next week’s From Fr. Jordan.
Originally published in Crisis Magazine on October 10, 2013
January 24, 2021
My dear Ones,
May the Grace of Our Lord remain always with us!
I am composing this column on the Solemnity of Saint Sebastian, and the day on which Joseph R. Biden, Jr. becomes the 46th President of the United States of America. Spiritually and socially it is a day of informational and emotional overload.
Emotionally, to watch a 78-year-old man become the leader of the free world, and to assume this Office with such determination, zeal, and heartfelt pleading plumbs the depths of the human heart, no matter on which side of the isle one places themselves. President Biden’s zeal for and his repeated appeal for reconciliation flow from his Catholic faith and education; from the crucible of the realities of life; and from, his deep-seated desire for America to truly be the city set on a hill. Today is also emotional as we step back and consider the life of our Patron, Saint Sebastian and what his life and example mean for each of us today.
Information informs and shapes our emotion. Saint Sebastian, a “double martyr” shines in our day as a beacon for our healing as well as reconciliation.1 The story of President Biden’s life informs us that faith in God; living the virtue of fortitude; and, humbly accepting what God allows and to what He calls us leads to our own flourishing and the wellbeing of others. Combining the emotion and information that today brings, causes me to remember the words of the Book of Revelation: I stand in wonder and awe in all that You do for me, Lord, Mighty God!2
As we celebrate our Patronal Feast this Sunday, our Parish observes a great achievement: at the 10am the Mission Statement, written and ratified by the members of the Parish Council, will be presented to the entire parish. Our Mission Statement reads:
To Worship; To Serve; To Learn
Inspired by the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and filled with love for our brothers and sisters,
The people of Saint Sebastian gather regularly,
To Worship God, the source and end of our lives through prayerful beauty;
To Serve our brothers and sisters, especially the poor and the marginalized, who are incarnate reflections of the Trinity;
Through prayer , Faith Formation and works of evangelization we strive to grow in
Faith, Hope, and Love.
A Mission Statement is a living, breathing statement that articulates our vision; shapes our priorities, guides our stewardship; and forms, our community. I urge you to pray with, read and study our Mission Statement. What does the Mission Statement call forth within you? Where does the Mission Statement invite you to serve? Reading the Mission Statement what resonates within you that you would invite a friend to “Come and See” the way we Worship, Serve, and Learn; the way we live?
I will receive my first vaccine on Monday, January 25. As we are cautioned about the Corona Virus let us remain vigilant to stay healthy; but let us also be people of prudent hope! Remember, our Patron, Saint Sebastian healed those suffering from the plague of the Black Death, may he also free us from the Pandemic!
Please pray for me as I do for you!
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee!
In the Lord,
January 17, 2021
My dear Ones,
May the Grace of Our Lord remain always with us!
This week Mr. Bob and I have been visiting with our Candidates for Confirmation, as well as with their parents. I am grateful to Bob for organizing this, as well as for the families to make time for us to “visit” their homes. Our Confirmation Candidates are bright, articulate, shy, and delightful young men and women. How I miss their presence on “our campus” for in person education, as well having their physical presence at Mass. At one time we were accustomed to the phrase “all the world is a stage”. In our day that phrase has become, “all the world is a screen – a Zoom Screen”. In a few weeks, Bob and I will begin the visits with the parents and students preparing for First Confession and First Holy Communion.
Last week, my column ended with these words, “Let’s dream about what a Catholic Culture can look like for us, here in 02906!”: have you thought about that at all? As your Pastor and as your Spiritual Father, I urge you to consider this question of Catholic Culture. Culture shapes our beliefs and forms our thinking and our actions. What opportunities for Catholic Culture are present to us at this time? Try these:
If you do not feel comfortable coming to Mass in person, watch our livestream 10am Mass found on our Facebook Page. (These Masses are recorded and can be viewed later if 10am doesn’t work in your schedule.) For those preparing for the Sacraments, weekly Mass, either in person or via livestream, is required. If there are any technical difficulties, please contact Bob at ssricgs@gmail.com. he will do all he can to help you.
In today’s bulletin you will find a “Do It Yourself House Blessing”. Take Epiphany Water home with you and follow the directions found in the bulletin.
Monday is Martin Luther King, Jr, Day: spend time as a family discussing how there is more that unites us rather than divides us: pray for greater racial unity in our country and throughout the world.
On Wednesday of this week for the second time in the history of our nation a Roman Catholic, Joseph Biden, will become the 46th President of the United States. First and foremost, pray for the safety of our new president, as well as the safety for all who will gather in Washington, DC to celebrate this new chapter in the life of our country. Much has been said about President Biden’s living of his Catholic Faith: how well do we live ours?
Wednesday is also the Solemnity of Saint Sebastian – the Patronal Feast of our Parish. Our Patron was quite zealous in living his faith: martyred twice. A few years ago one of our young parishioners took “Sebastian” as his Confirmation Name. When I asked him why he chose this name he said, “Saint Sebastian was willing to die not once but twice for Jesus, I hope I would have the same strength and character to witness to Jesus.” From the mouths of babes….. Through the intercession of Saint Sebastian may we, by the manner of our lives, become great missionary disciples, drawing many to Jesus, and to our Parish!
In Italian culture there is the well-established tradition of Sunday dinner: 3pm at either Nonna’s house or one of your Zia’s; everybody was invited, everyone knew they had better be there; and in reality, everyone wanted to be there. All generations together around the table, agreeing and disagreeing; watching whatever game was on TV or playing outside; everyone learning from one another, and even in the arguments, knew we were loved! Sounds a lot like Mass, doesn’t it?
May we bring that kind of Catholic Culture into 02906 - - - you might be surprised how happy we will become!
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee!
In the Lord,
January 10, 2021
My dear Ones,
May the Grace of Our Lord remain always with us!
Today’s liturgical celebration of the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord concludes the Church’s Christmas Season. The Christmas music concludes today, the Christmas decorations will be taken down tomorrow and throughout the week; and, the poinsettias, magnificent as they are, are yours to take home – first come, first serve.
I have found myself savoring these many days of Christmas! I love to come to Church, or go into my chapel, and gaze upon the Nativity Scene. Romantic that I am, I looked forward to each afternoon as I would come to Church, turn on the Christmas lights, and sit in our Church and behold the altar and its splendor, gaze at Our Lady and Saint Joseph in their new homes, and again look upon the Christ Child. One of the great gifts of these holy days has been seeing so many people coming to make a visit. One day, in the midst of the silence there was the sound of a cooing baby – perhaps two or three weeks old – his mother brought him before the Manger, and I thought I was looking at the reality of the Incarnation right before my eyes!!
Our celebrations were nothing short of perfection! The appearance of the Church, Megan and Patrick and their gift of music, and the “marvelous exchange” of Christ becoming incarnate for our sake – all magnificent moments of grace! At first my heart sank at the small attendance, and then I simply thanked God for all those who were there and hoped many of you were watching from home.
Albeit, this was a vastly different Christmas, but still, it was Christmas, and it was so beautiful!
This difference led to some reflection. How do you celebrate the 7 Fishes with three people; how could it possibly be Christmas without family; how do we celebrate our customs – those events and practices that are just part of our culture?
Culture - - there is so much discussion about it today. Do we still have any culture? If we lost it, how did we lose it? And, if we have lost our culture, how do we regain it?
Growing up in a very ethnic neighborhood in which every home sat in the shadow of our Parish Church, the Church was the foundation of our culture – our Catholic Culture. Throughout the Christmas Octave and in these days after the Epiphany I have reflected very much upon our “Catholic Culture”. I mentioned some points of this culture in my homily on Christmas Eve: the 7 Fish Dinner; the sharing of Oplatki (communion wafers) and the mandatory mushroom soup for so many Slavic and Polish peoples; “Babka” or Christmas Bread; keeping the tree and most of the decorations up until at least the Epiphany; the giving of gifts on Christmas Day and on Epiphany Day; and our celebration of the Epiphany on the 12th day of Christmas – January 6 – all of these and more formed our Christmas practices of our Catholic Culture.
All of these practices helped to reinforce that we are Catholics, and we live in a different way, by different ideas, and by different dreams. Josef Piper writes that “leisure is the basis of culture”;1 our Catholic Culture helped to provide that leisure even in the midst of business. Culture, the patterning of symbol to express a common meaning, leads us beyond the immediate, the impulsive and calls to meditate upon those dreams that form us into the people we are.
On Christmas Eve I preached about how Christmas gives us the path to a better future. I mentioned that dreams invite us to see what is and what could be. Dreams invite us to choose – perhaps much like Robert Frost and the “road less traveled that makes all the difference” how we will live. And dreams call us to ACT: how will we make our dreams a reality.
How ironic, as well as crushingly sad, were the events of Epiphany Day 2021! On the very day we celebrate Christ manifested as the Savior of all people, making us one, our country had etched upon our eternal memory that we are a divided nation; that the separation between right and left is leading us in a perilous direction. Everything about Catholicism and Catholic Culture is about unity, the oneness of mind and heart that calls us to live in charity with one another, even when we disagreed.
I am convinced that the more we regain every aspect of our Catholic Culture rather than bifurcated idea of culture offered to us by society, government, the media, and every other false prophet the happier we will become, and the many dreams we have for ourselves, our children, and our grandchildren, will become ever more a reality, and not a nebulous idea “light years away”.
Let’s dream about what a Catholic Culture can look like for us, here in 02906!
Merry Christmas; Blessed New Year; I love you!
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee!
In the Lord,
January 3, 2021
My dear Ones,
May the Grace of Our Lord remain always with us!
A Blessed Feast of the Epiphany! Happy “Little Christmas”! As a child growing up this was a wonderful day! At Mass, the Children’s Choir would sing all the songs we sang for Midnight Mass; and, as on Christmas Eve, we would wear our special “Christmas Angel Robes. Because the Feast was celebrated on its traditional day, January 6, we were often in school. The Sisters made sure it was a special day: the older grades would go and sing to the younger grades and the younger grades had treats for the upper grades. The cafeteria prepared a special “Epiphany Lunch” of traditional ethnic foods. The day would end with an all school assembly during which our Pastor, Father Pekarik would give a talk about the significance of the Epiphany, and his talk always ended with a “surprise” that like the wise men, we were to find our way home immediately and the school day ended early. Why all this fuss about the Epiphany?
Today’s Feast, transferred to a Sunday in the revision of the Liturgical Calendar by the Second Vatican Council, demonstrates to us that although the searching of the Magi was completed when they found the Christ Child, a new - interior journey began in them which would change their whole lives. The Magi went in search of justice because they longed for the renewal of the world. They were pilgrims in search of the justice that they expected from God – the justice that would set right all the wrongs and all the sufferings of their lives. They imagined a King, and they found a Child. And the Child was not even rich, He was so poor they adored Him in a manger surrounded by cattle and lying in straw. How could such a King bring them justice?
As the Magi discovered, God is so often manifested in our lives in the way we least expect, not according to our plans or our imaginings. Like the Magi, we discover this difference begins our interior journey. The Child in the manger, God made flesh, asks us to change our ideas about power, about God and about humanity, and about ourselves. The Christ Child asks us to become like Him as we offer Him our hearts and pour ourselves out in loving service for others; no lesser gift is sufficient for Him! The Christ Child asks us to conform our lives to His divine exercising of power, to God’s way of being. Jesus invites us to become people of truth, of justice, of goodness, of forgiveness, of mercy. How does this inner journey take place?
Much like these months of quarantine and isolations, with the Magi, we must “go into the house” and encounter Jesus. To find the Savior, we need to enter the house, which for us is not the manger, but our hearts and the Church. As the Magi encounter Jesus, they fall down in adoration; and their adoration blossoms into acts of faith and love, which acknowledges Jesus, who is born of Mary, is the Son of God, made man. We experience the same encounter as we come to the manger today and anytime, we enter the Church. And, during these months we have encountered the Lord as we took our limitedness and gave it to God.
I am sure our grade school Sisters wanted us to have this encounter with Jesus as they made Epiphany Day so special. They hoped that this encounter with Jesus would lead us to know, love and serve God with every fiber of our being. What has been your encounter with Christ this Christmas? You need not bring gold, frankincense or myrrh: bring your heart; our Infant King will do all that needs to be done!
the challenge, the seeming defeat, or the joy!
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee!
In the Lord, -
December 2020
December 13, 2020
My dear Brothers and Sisters,
May the Grace of Our Lord remain with us always!
Happy Gaudete (Rejoice) Sunday! Today we light the rose candle, the celebrant wears rose vestments, and there is more decoration in the Church than there has been since advent began, the Day of our Salvation is close at hand!
The first words of the Angel Gabriel to Our Lady are, “Rejoice! Full of grace, the Lord is with you!” The Blessed Virgin Mary is the preeminent person in the world capable of rejoicing, for joy is the elation we experience when our will desires something ordered to our true happiness and when we possess that desired good. As a result, Mary can truly rejoice. In fact, her life is an act of rejoicing, for every act of her sinless will stands as the human fulfillment of the will of God: her only desire!
I would like to share a story with you that fills me with hope and a reason to rejoice; I pray it will do the same for you.
Throughout our lives we have known priests who are pastors, and then those who are pastors in bright neon lights; pastors who seem to have an unending resource of energy, ideas, joy, compassion, while also being financial geniuses and plant managers. My story is about a pastor of that later type, and the way he brings joy and hope to his people. His name is Father Bill.
After being a successful Neumann Chaplain, and Vocation Director for his Archdiocese, Father Bill was given his first pastorate. He was appointed to a beautiful Parish, in a wonderful neighborhood, and with a great community spirit. He was succeeding a beloved pastor who, when he was young, had all the ideas in the world and enlivened a parish that had been if not asleep, certainly sleepy. However, after 29 years his energy and ideas had grown dim, and the parish was in maintenance mode. To his credit, he admitted this, and welcomed Father Bill with open arms.
In about 6 months things were changing. The Religious Education doubled; a fledgling Parish School became phenomenally successful and was attracting his caliber faculty and students. And although the pews were never empty, now those pews were crowded, and crowded with young people and young families. At the end of Father Bill’s second year as pastor, there were over 100 weddings, and soon thereafter the subsequent baptisms.
His secret? Father Bill offers four things that serve as the foundation of everything he does:
1.His days begin and end with a holy hour, no matter how early or how late it may be; 2. Be happy and know your people, and in knowing them, love them; 3. See talent and call that talent to service; and, 4. Remember, all of this is to bring your people to encounter Jesus Christ, and for them to come to know, to love, and to serve Him with all their hearts, as married people and parents, or as priests, Brothers and Sisters; or permanent Deacons, and help them discover that this encounter is the source of their joy, their hope, and their freedom.1
Okay, Fr. Bill is a really great pastor, how does this bring us joy? Several weeks ago I received a phone call early on a Tuesday morning, it was Father Bill. He said to me, “Jordan, at 9am today be at your computer and go to the website of the Diocese of Springfield in Massachusetts; you will learn about a surprise”, and he hung up the phone. The surprise? Father Bill has been appointed the new Bishop for the Diocese of Springfield; he will be ordained a Bishop tomorrow morning, December 14, at the Cathedral in Springfield.
In his press conference Bishop – elect Bill said:
I am a Parish Priest and a Pastor. As the Pastor of the Church of Springfield I bring you Christ – He is all I have to give you! I hope that as we work together, we our zeal for Christ will grow, and together we will bring Him to all those may already know Him; those whose faith has grown cold or weak, and to those who don’t know Him at all.
When asked about how he intends to “get things back on track after the Pandemic”, he responded:
Oh I hope we don’t simply get things back on track! God invites us to make things BETTER – better than they have ever been because we need embrace Him, hear the Gospel, and rebuild His Kingdom here in Springfield BETTER than we ever have before – He invites us to be better!
A Bishop who brings us only Christ; a Bishop who calls us to be better; and, a Bishop who walks along beside us, as together we discover and live Jesus as the source of his joyful – freedom.
Bishop William Byrne – a reason to hope; a reason to REJOICE!
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee!
In the Lord,
1 Not only did marriages and baptisms increase, vocations to the priesthood and religious life also began to come from the Parish.
December 6, 2020
My dear Brothers and Sisters,
May the Grace of Our Lord remain with us always!
I am making an online Advent Retreat – it takes about 20 minutes each day. The retreat is entitled, “Unshakeable Joy”. I offer you the following from the first Sunday of the retreat:
The One Thing that Matters this Christmas
For this Unbreakable Joy Advent retreat, I inserted a few written meditations between your 19 videos that are specifically about this holy season. I hope you enjoy them.
From the book: Joy to the World by Chris Stefanick
Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Luke 10:41-42
Searching for happiness and success
You might be familiar with the story of Mary and Martha, in which Mary is sitting at Jesus’ feet while her sister Martha does the cooking and cleaning. When Martha complains about the obvious, Jesus says, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better portion.”
That Gospel always bothered me! If Martha weren’t cooking and cleaning, no one would have eaten!
But if you think about it, Jesus didn’t say, “Martha, Martha, stop cooking.” He said, “Stop being anxious about many things.”
It’s okay to work hard. The Advent and Christmas season are full of hard work. In fact, sometimes we’re so busy we end up snapping at the people we’re working hard to create a beautiful Christmas for! But Jesus is telling us “Don’t be busy. Be occupied.” If there are a hundred things on your plate, make sure only one thing’s on your heart.
“There is need of only one thing.”
And what’s that one thing? It’s love. Receive each task as a gift from God, offer it back to him, and do it all with generosity, in imitation of Jesus.
I know. Easier said than done.
Lord, help me to BE like Mary when I have to WORK like Martha.
In the Lord,
-
November 2020
November 15, 2020
My dear Brothers and Sisters,
May the Grace of Our Lord remain with us always!
Today
Today is a day of great grace for our Parish. The freshening of the sanctuary walls; the more prominent placement of the Icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in what Bob Short has called “the Lady Chapel”; the placement of the statues of Our Lady and Saint Joseph in the Sanctuary near her son, and his foster-father; and most especially the central placement of Our Eucharistic-Lord are sacramentals that offer us outward signs of our encounters with God and His desire to walk with us throughout life. Let us be truly thankful and offer God our fullest praise!
Covid
The numbers are frightening! Please be assured that we continue to sanitize the Church after every Mass. Please, stay safe and stay well!
The Presidential Election
Whether your candidate was elected or not, we are called to be a more united country than we were before November 3. I received an email from someone who attended our Rosary Novena from afar that said, “I guess the Novena didn’t work…”. I would urge those who feel this way to try to look at this from the point of view that God had a different answer than this person wanted. When we don’t “get what we pray for” it doesn’t mean that God has turned his back on us, rather God has another reason for allowing what transpires, or we are not ready for what we asked, or from what God allows, notice I didn’t say “wills”, something better that we have not yet imagined will arise from the answer we did not receive. Let us continue to pray for our country and pray for a peaceful transition of power.
The Church
Once again our Church must face the ugly sinfulness of her members as we are confronted with too many details about the debaucheries of Ted McCarrick and his rise to tremendous ecclesiastical power. These realities break my heart; and, they also infuriate and frustrate me! In a conference call with other pastors, one priest said, “we have no credibility in the eyes of the world, let alone our people: we are an embarrassment.” I fear that this statement is painfully accurate.
I continued to think about these words after the call ended. I looked at the crucifix and thought “no one believed you, Lord, and you were pure goodness, mercy, and love…” Just as my brother priest feels embarrassment, I would presume that Our Lady, the Beloved Disciple, and other followers of Jesus felt the same way as they heard the taunting words, “He saved others! Let Him save Himself, if He is God’s Son, as He claimed…..” To say that McCarrick and the other men like him is the Church’s share in the Cross and Passion of Christ, and our constant need for purification is too facile, too little, and extremely short sighted. I believe there are several difficult realities that must be faced.
First, the bureaucracy that is the Church is broken and has failed the Church and will continue to fail the Church until this brokenness and failure is confronted directly. The first step in reshaping this bureaucracy is not sweeping changes in the Roman Curia and Diocesan Chanceries, as tempting as these options are, the first step towards repairing our Church must be rooted in prayer. Every person from the current Pope to the youngest Catholic must pray for the healing, renewal, and restructuring of the Church – not according to MY designs, but according to the desire of Jesus. What does Jesus desire: “Father, may they be one as We are one…”. We must pray that we may healed, renewed and made one according to the mission Jesus gave us, “Go and teach all nations, baptizing in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit…”. After we have prayed for healing, renewal and unity, and only when we have reembraced the Great Commission, then we can reshape curia’s and chanceries, reshaping them according to God’s desire and creating structures that make us one, and that truly serve our mission.
Secondly, we need to be true to who we are, and who we said we would be. In one way or another we have said that we will either be a disciple or a friend of Jesus. What kind of friends are we? Do we use our friendships to manipulate and broker the ends we desire, are we faithful to our fiduciary responsibilities; are we truthful?
While the report lays much of the “blame” for this tragedy at the feet of Pope Saint John Paul II and his Pontificate, two other questions can be asked: did Pope John Paul’s advisors tell him the truth about McCarrick, especially after McCarrick was passed over for Chicago, and twice for New York, and still the Pontiff was inclined to send McCarrick to Washington, DC?1 Were these advisors part of McCarrick’s group; we they true friends to John Paul; did they fulfill their fiduciary responsibilities towards their Saintly boss? Every priest knows what it is to be betrayed, and usually by those who are closest to him, and those who are supposed “to have his back”. Was the choice of McCarrick John Paul’s failure or the self-serving advice of those who advised him? Only God knows.
Lastly, but certainly not finally, to belong to the Church means to belong to Christ, it is in Him we place our trust; our Faith is in Him; and our Faith and trust rest upon no one person and only one person: Christ Himself. The Church is Christ’s divine creation, and the fact that she goes on despite the sinful – broken humanity that act in her name, proves her divinity. Are you tempted to leave the Church or disregard her and her teachings? The words of Saint Peter to Jesus come to mind, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You alone have the words of eternal life!” Let us pray and sacrifice for the renewal of our poor Church!
Please pray for me as I do for you and those you love!
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee!
In the Lord,
.
1 I always found it very disappointing that someone like McCarrick would be chosen to succeed James Cardinal Hickey: one the last great Churchmen of the 20th Century. His Eminence was holy, humble, kind, and always ready to say he made a mistake. To be followed by the likes of “Uncle Ted”: blasphemous.
November 8, 2020
My dear Brothers and Sisters,
May the Grace of Our Lord remain with us always!
Next Sunday at the 10am Mass we will bless the renovated Parish Hall, and dedicate the Blessed Sacrament Altar. Both of these occasions are great accomplishments and moments of profound thanksgiving.
The new Blessed Sacrament Altar places the Lord exactly where He belongs: in the center of the sanctuary, as a reminder that He is the source, center, and end of our worship. The carpenters have been able to use a great deal of the existing frame, which helps the Altar look like it has always been here. The Palanza Group has done a superb job in their construction, painting, and placement of the statues of Sacred Heart, Our Lady, Saint Joseph, Saint Anthony, as well as the placement of the Icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help.
None of this would be possible without the great generosity of Albert Terrano and Allen Walentukonis who have given this wonderful gift in memory of their late mother, Cornelia Lucia Apuzzo. Cornelia will always be remembered when we look at the entire sanctuary, and Albert and Allen’s generosity never forgotten.
The Parish Hall is a project that I never thought would never end. Beginning in August of 2019, the great search began. The search was to answer the question once and for all why, after all the masonry work has been completed; a new French Drain installed on the south side of the Church; why was there always water in the hall?
The search was finally resolved when, through the assiduous study and unstoppable searching of Armando Ricci and his workers, every drain unclogged; unknown drains were discovered; and, every drain in the floor of the Parish Hall removed (they were all collapsed or broken apart) and replaced with new French Drains around the entire perimeter of the Hall.
Once the drains were repaired, before the new floor could be laid, an asbestos abatement was necessary because the old tile was filled with asbestos.
Before the new floor could be laid the entire Hall, as well as the Kitchen, and Miss Marie’s former office had to be repaired and painted. As I recently mentioned in the Sunday announcements, Mike Sullivan has given an uncountable number of hours spackling and painting the walls in the hall, the bathrooms, and even built a new wall in the kitchen. He has spent days sealing and waxing the floor until it is perfect, and most of the time Mike worked off the clock. We can never repay Mike: Thank you!!
I pray that as many as possible will be with us in person or via live streamed.
When I look at all of these great improvements, the innumerable gifts of time, talent, and treasure, the words of Saint Paul’ Letter to the Philippians come to mind:
I thank my God, on every remembrance of you!
Always in every prayer of mine for you,
with joy;
I have you in my heart!
May God reward all of you in only the way He is able!
In the Lord,
November 1, 2020
My dear Brothers and Sisters,
May the Grace of Our Lord remain with us always!
Growing deeper in Grace and in Peace
Perhaps you will remember that I used this phrase in my column last week, as I quoted the words of one of my Dominican Brothers. This phrase (drawing upon the Letters of Saint Paul) has stayed with me and resounds with increasing urgency every day!
Grace and peace seem so far away whether on the streets of Providence, or Philadelphia, or too many other cities throughout our country, or even the world.
The passionate displays of anger, accusation, scapegoating, and deadly violence boggle the mind and crush the heart. People on “both sides” are wounded and killed. Everyone is brought into an emotional upheaval that will take generations to heal if healing is ever possible.
There have been and will be massive mostly unread tomes about the sociological and psychological causes and effects of this pandemic of hatred in which we find ourselves, I offer you this preacher’s reflection about what has thrust us into this malignant environment.
From the malaise of the millennials, to the entitlement and self - absorption of the nouveau – riche, to the those who bemoan the loss of the “new deal” for which we have striven since the 1940s, we have, either accidentally or unknowingly, lost the sense of God. As we remove God, or God as we understand Him, from our sense of being, essence, action, thinking, and legislation, we lose the sense of ourselves. As we lose, sideline, or misplace God, we lose, sideline, and misplace ourselves.
Whether one believes in God or not, this is reality: we are all made in God’s image and likeness, and therefore we are good. God wants two things in our lives: that we are saved, and that we are happy. We can only be genuinely happy when we live in a constant awareness of this reality. Saint Francis de Sales and Saint Ignatius of Loyola would refer to this awareness as our remembrance that at all times and in every place, “we are in the presence of God”. Living in awareness for God’s presence is how Ignatian Spirituality can teach “Magis”,1 or being a man for others. This is how Salesian Spirituality erects “Christian Humanism” as the way to live a happy and useful life. This is how Dominican Spirituality embraces that all men and women are called to be the “Sacred Preaching of Jesus Christ”: that simply by seeing us or hearing us, we radiate Jesus Christ and His constant awareness that ‘what you do to the least of brothers and sisters, you do to me’. The Sacred Preaching of Jesus calls us to bring the saving message of the Gospel to others.
How do we grow in Grace and Peace?
To help us grow in Grace and Peace, I offer you these three steps:
1. When you begin the day, say this prayer:
a. “My God, I give You this day! I offer You now, all of the good that I shall do, and I promise to accept, for love of You, all of the difficulty that I shall meet. Help me to conduct myself during this day in a manner pleasing to You. Amen.”
b. Quickly review your day, and as you do ask God to be with you through everything moment, especially those that may be most challenging.
c. As you come to each moment of the day, especially the difficult parts, say, “Stay with me, Lord!”
2. As you take a break whether for coffee or at lunch, look back over the morning: thank God for what went well; ask for Him for insight about what was difficult.
3. As you go throughout the day, become accustomed to saying, “Mother of God. show me your love in my great need: there are none who can withstand your power. O show us you are our Mother!”
4. When you are going to bed pray, “Thank you, God for this day. For what I have done well: I praise You. For my sins, forgive me; heal those I have hurt; and help me to learn from my fall! I love You!”
Simple, baby steps that I hope will help us to grow in God’s Grace and His Peace!
Please pray for me as I do for you and those you love!
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee!
In the Lord,