Tag: Deacon Steve

One of the things I enjoy about living in New England is the changing of the seasons. Yes, as crazy as it sounds, I still love these changing seasons despite the challenges they can bring with likes of finger numbing cold, oozing spring mud, biting summer insects, and falling leaves that suddenly reappear after I thought I had picked the last one up. Despite these annoyances, the changing of the seasons often reminds me of the phases of life and how each of those phases gives us a chance to see and experience life differently.

Our first reading this weekend, from the Acts of the Apostles, looks at the process of spiritual change, as it focuses on the conversion of Cornelius. Just as we see in this reading the Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us that Baptism is the principal place of conversion as we actively “reject what is evil and receive the gift of new life.” This call to conversion is not just a call to a single person but “a call to the whole Church… to penance and renewal.” As followers of Jesus, we are called as a both individuals and community to look carefully at our lives, ask ourselves are we living out our baptismal promises and continue to actively ask God for the strength to live this call to renewal (CCC 1427-1433). As our Psalm response reminds us, this “saving power” has been revealed to the nations and is available to all people.

This call to all people is precisely what Jesus means when He says we are to love others as he has loved us. The word love in the instance is not the unconditional love that God lavishes on us, but filial love. This filial, or brotherly love, is a reminder that because of our common origin we are all children of God and thus a single human family. That as individuals and as a community of believers, we are called to look beyond the human weaknesses and resistance to the unconditional love of God — to see the inherent human dignity that resides in each person. We are called do this by being a person and community that is humble, approachable, and genuine. Being true to what God wills, allows those gifts of the Holy Spirit to work through us, which leads to healing and transformation beyond anything we could ever achieve through human efforts alone. 

This process of conversion — like the changing of the seasons and their challenges — offers periods of renewal, growth, harvest, and rest. Ultimately, these periods have the power to heal, restore, and transform all of the human family.

Readings for Sunday, May 9, 2021

On this second weekend of Easter  we celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday. All of our readings this weekend have this theme about trusting in the mercy and goodness of Jesus. 

Our reading from Acts of the Apostle s reflects on how the early Christian community shared things in common as a means of demonstrating a trust in the mercy of Jesus who through his disciples would take care of the needs of their growing community.The Psalm  response reminds us that the love of God is “everlasting”.The reading from 1 John reminds us that that the Spirit testifies to the “truth” born from the water and blood which is a reference to that which flowed from the side of Jesus during the crucifixion.Lastly we  have these acts of mercy by Jesus by giving his disciples the power to forgive sins as well as encouraging Thomas to overcome his disbelief by probing his wounds 

I thought this weekend might also be a good time to reflect on Saint Faustina. “Saint Faustina was a young, uneducated nun in a convent of the Congregation of Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in Poland during the 1930s.  She came from a poor family that struggled during the years of World War I.  She had only three years of simple education, so hers were the humblest tasks in the convent, usually in the kitchen or garden.  However, she received extraordinary revelations — or messages — from our Lord Jesus.  

Though the Divine Mercy message is not new to the teachings of the Church, Sr. Faustina’s Diary sparked a great movement, and a strong and significant focus on the mercy of Christ.  Saint John Paul II canonized Sr. Faustina in 2000 making her the “first saint of the new millennium.”  Speaking of Sr. Faustina and the importance of the message contained in her Diary, the Pope called her “the great apostle of Divine Mercy in our time.”

Today, we continue to rely of St. Faustina as a constant reminder of the message to trust in Jesus’ endless mercy, and to live life mercifully toward others.  We also turn to her in prayer and request her intercession to our merciful Savior on our behalf. There is a National Shrine of The Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. 

The message of The Divine Mercy is simple. It is that God loves us – all of us. And, He wants us to recognize that His mercy is greater than our sins, so that we will call upon Him with trust, receive His mercy, and let it flow through us to others. Thus, all will come to share His joy

This message and devotion to Jesus as The Divine Mercy is based on the writings of Saint Faustina who in obedience to her spiritual director, wrote a diary of about 600 pages recording the revelations she received about God’s mercy. Even before her death in 1938, the devotion to The Divine Mercy had begun to spread. 

The message and devotional practices proposed in the Diary of Saint Faustina are completely in accordance with the teachings of Church and are firmly rooted in the Gospel message of our Merciful Savior. Properly understood and implemented, they will help us grow as genuine followers of Christ. 

Personally I am deeply moved by St Faustina’s prayer for the Healing of the family tree which we will pray this Sunday from 2:30 to 3:30 pm here at St Rose as part of our Divine Mercy Holy Hour. I hope you will consider joining Father Mark and myself. 

Jesus I trust in you.

Source information St Faustina from https://www.thedivinemercy.org/message

Readings for Sunday, April 11, 2021

It has been been a long and strange year. Last year as we celebrated the vigil for the sake of safety there was only a few of us in this space at Saint Rose. Tom and Doreen were here recording. There were only 2 to 3 music ministry and enough readers to proclaim the Word of God were also present. Although we are still not back to where we want to be, we are getting much closer than we have been. For the most part we have been able to celebrate the Triduum as a family in faith.

Along those lines… can you imagine how you are going to feel when the headlines, TV news, and updates from the states announce: Covid-19 no longer a threat, all restrictions lifted across the globe. How will you feel at that moment… relieved, happy, excited, joyful? Personally, I am going to do the snoopy dance… maybe even in public. Who are the first people you want to see… children, grandchildren, parents, friends? And when you see them, how will you greet them… hug, dance, cry, laugh? What will you do first… travel, go on a shopping spree without a mask, go to a concert or a sporting event, take a trip with a long plane ride? Me, I want to invite all my family, friends, and fellow musicians to a huge picnic and jam session lasting way into the night, and the next day, go play out in the woods. Have you captured the feeling of that and subsequent moments? I want you to make note how you feel as the burden of this experience is lifted from you, those you love, and our world. This, my brothers and sisters, is akin to the Easter joy we celebrate this weekend! The gift of having a burden… the burden… lifted that we could not lift by ourselves.

Tonight our readings recall not only the kind of world God longed to provide for us, but the lengths that God went, and continues to go, to bring us back to his protection and love. Tonight our readings recall the people, places, and things that he used to lift the weight of sin and division from our backs. In all that time, whether we accepted or rejected God, He never gave up on us or stopped fighting for us — even to the point of sending his son, our brother Jesus to “lift from us the prison bars of death”. That death, being more than the end of lives on earth, but a separation from the God who loves us and who is the source of life — not just for a day or two, but for eternity. This is a true reason for celebration and joy. It is like having the joy that you feel about having the virus lifted from you by multiplying it by the number of breaths you will take in a lifetime. That does not mean that the road ahead of us will always be easy or joy filled because we still live in a broken world. What it does mean is knowing how this story ends that we can experience the joy and peace of his presence here as well as in the world to come. Through the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus, no matter where we go or what we do, there is no escape from love of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

Jesus has risen! Happy Easter!

Readings for Holy Saturday at the Easter Vigil

Holy Thursday marks the end of the Lenten season. I hope this Lent has been a very positive one for you that through your prayers, fasting, acts of reconciliation and helping the less fortunate, your faith has been enriched and that you are now more excited to serve our Lord.

On Holy Thursday we celebrate the many gifts and facets of our Catholic faith. By Catholic faith I mean the universal faith that calls all people to God himself. Our gathering this evening starts right off with recognizing these gifts as the Holy Oils are presented. The Holy Oils remind us of course of the sacraments those moments of personal encounter with God that transform, heal, and leads us more deeply into the mystery of God‘s love. The Holy Oils also represent how God through the gifts of the Holy Spirit uses all of our senses to help us to better understand and to experience the richness of His Being. This richness of sensory experience surrounds us in this beautiful worship space, is enhanced by the beautiful linens and vestments, by the candles, the fragrance of the flowers and incense, wine and bread that is transformed into the body and blood of Christ and the chambers of this hall filled with glorious and beautiful music. This celebration of our senses by God emphasizes the beauty of what it means to be a human being when we are United to him.

Holy Thursday is also the night when we celebrate the washing of the feet which is a symbol of service most often associated with Holy Orders and the living out of consecrated life. As a baptize people we are all called to be Priest,Prophet and King but some of us have the wonderful privilege to serve God and his community in some very intimate ways. Through our ordinations Father Mark and I share in this wonderful gift of consecrated service to the people of God.Ordination into the priesthood takes this ministry of service one step further by adding to  it the charism  of sacrifice. That a priest gives all that he has to the service of God. It is through the gift of priesthood that we have the Bishops, the Cardinals, the magisterium and the Pope whose mission is be stewards of the gifts of God and to make sure that we the people of God stay true to what God has instructed.

Linked with the priesthood we celebrate tonight our most treasured gift, the Institution of the Eucharist.Jesus told us that he would be with us even to the end of the age. The Eucharist is the mechanism by which Jesus remains present and fully alive in creation. Through this wonderful gift of the altar we not only have a chance to see with our eyes and touch with our hand the very flesh and blood of Jesus himself but he invites to consume him so that he may travel with us out into the world.Through this most sacred gift our own bodies become living vessels that carry Christ out into our communities and the world so that we get to share in his most holy ministry.

My brothers and sisters as we celebrate these gifts and move through the Triduum may our love for God be ever deepened, our desire to serve be renewed  and our hearts be filled with joy for the celebration of Easter that awaits us.

Readings for Thursday, April 1, 2021