NEVER FORGET

On this Memorial Day weekend we will never forget the men and women who bravely served our country. May the choirs of angels welcome you and lead you to the bosom of Abraham; and where Lazarus is poor no longer may you find eternal rest.

FROM THE PULPIT

This morning/evening we celebrate this great feast of the Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ. In this great solemnity we celebrate that great sacrament in which Christ gave his church in the upper room on the eve of his death. Did the followers of Jesus understand the great gift that Christ was giving his church? Probably not! We see this in the Gospel reading, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” Of course we don’t hear about it today but if we were to go further on we would see that many of them could not accept this teaching and they left.

My dear brothers and sisters yes it is a difficult teaching to follow. To say that the body and blood of Christ is present within the host and within the chalice we receive at communion is quite a teaching but it’s our faith. Of course the unbeliever would say that it’s simply bread and wine and yes if we were to take a consecrated host or wine and analyzed it would still have all the elements of bread and wine but we know it goes beyond that. We know that this Eucharist is the “living bread [for the] life of the world.” Our “participation” as we heard in the second reading in the Eucharist demands that we like Jesus are to give ourselves to each other. The mystery of the Eucharist is self-giving. It would be incorrect if we were to say that receiving communion would be a private moment between ourselves and Jesus but it’s a communion with the Body of Christ (the church), “we though many are one body.” The manna that was given to the Israelites was only to sustain the body which as we know eventually will die but the Eucharist will sustain a life of self-giving within community, the Body of Christ.

As some of you know that a Eucharistic Congress will be taking place on June 19-22 in Quebec City. Bishop McCormack in preparation for this great event will like all the parishes in the diocese to speak on the Eucharist in a 3 part series. This week we will focus on the Mass. We all come to Mass every Sunday and others make it also during the week. It’s a great moment of prayer for us as Catholics. As Lumen Gentium, a Vatican II document puts it, “the source and summit of the Christian life.” That’s what it should be. To realize that this hour we encounter our Lord in an intimate way. In which we break open the word and celebrate the sacrifice. Why is it called a sacrifice? Unfortunately we have gone away from that term and commonly call it the Sunday Eucharist which would be correct but we also lose the meaning and sometimes it’s good to remind us that it the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. When the priest celebrates Mass he is the one that offers the sacrifice by the grace of his office. Every time the priest prays the Eucharistic Prayer it is at that moment with the epiclesis (the calling of the Holy Spirit) and the words of consecration the bread and wine that was offered by the community become the Body and Blood of Christ in which is called the Transubstantiation. When this sacrifice is celebrated we are united at the foot of the Cross and participate in the one sacrifice that took place at Calvary in an unbloody manner. When we receive the body and blood of Christ we are not just receiving the “dead” Christ but the Christ that suffered, died, rose and sits at the right hand of the Father in his glory.

In today's busy and superficial culture, it is easy for us to lose our sense of wonder in the face of this awe-inspiring gift, to take the mystery and miracle of the Eucharist for granted. But when we stop appreciating this heavenly food, we soon stop hungering for it. We start hungering more for wealth, pleasures, reputation, and success than for God. But then our spiritual lives become weak from lack of nourishment, and we give into temptations, wandering away from the Good Shepherd. Jesus doesn't want that to happen. He wants us to stay as close to him as he is to us, because only he can bring us true, lasting happiness; only he can save us from sin and lead us to Heaven.

Today, then, let's renew our faith in this great sacrament. And let's renew our commitment to receive it in Holy Communion worthily, consciously, with desire. We can help ourselves do that in so many ways. Coming early to church so as to pray in silence before Mass begins; I know some people have shared concerns of being told to remain in silence before Mass. It’s not that we want to take away from the community of sharing with each other but we must realize that there should be some time for quite reflection before this sacred hour that we are about to celebrate. Taking care with how we dress when we come to Sunday Mass, knowing that we are going to receive our King; And above all making sure that we never come to Holy Communion without having first gone to confession, if we have fallen into mortal sin. By going to confession we end our sinful rebellion against God, so that we can once again receive him worthily. And then, when we do receive Holy Communion, with Christ inside us, we can speak to him about everything, following the advice of St Francis de Sales: "When you have received Him, stir up your heart to do Him homage; speak to Him about your spiritual life, gazing upon Him in your soul where He is present for your happiness; welcome Him as warmly as possible, and behave outwardly in such a way that your actions may give proof to all of His Presence."

In just a few moments Jesus will renew his commitment to us by offering himself in the Eucharist, when he does, let's also renew our commitment to him.

FROM THE PULPIT

This morning the Church celebrates the Holy Trinity. Most of us began to learn about the Trinity when we were children. We learned the basic theology of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Not three gods but one God in 3 persons. Many of us have also learned about the story of St. Patrick who used a shamrock to describe the Holy Trinity to the people of Ireland as he began to Christianize Ireland. Of course we need to understand that the Holy Trinity is a mystery and we really will never grasp the full meaning. I know with my own experience when I took a course on Trinitarian theology in the seminary I was more confused than ever on what was the Holy Trinity meant to me. What we should look at this morning and ask ourselves is what does the Holy Trinity mean in our lives?

In Dei Verbum which is a Vatican II document on Sacred Scripture states, “through divine revelation, God chose to show forth and communicate himself.” Whether we reflect on God the Father who is the creator, God the Son who is the redeemer or God the Holy Spirit who is the giver of life we are reminded by the ways in which God reveals and communicates himself to us.

In the first reading we saw the greatest moment of revelation in which God appeared to Moses and Israel on Mount Sinai. In this encounter God revealed to Israel his will in the form of the Ten Commandments and by this he established with them a covenant. Although Israel began worshipping the golden calf they broke the covenant but God graciously renews the covenant by Moses coming back with the new tablets of the Law. When the Lord reveals the divine name, it reveals God’s divine essence which is mercy and compassion. With such an awesome presence and mystery, “Moses at once bowed down to the ground in worship.”

In the second reading we learn that a community that lives communitarian love creates a loving community. In the Gospel God’s intention is to save the world by sending his Son who brings eternal life.

How can we among ourselves bring that communitarian love to the community? How can we be a people that don’t just become concern with oneself but can bring the love of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit to a community that lives to feel the love of God. In the past few weeks we have seen many natural disasters throughout the world and it amazes me how people turn out to help. The other day I was watching a news segment and I was amazed on this woman who moved to New Orleans because after she went to visit New Orleans and experienced the disaster of Katrina she knew she had to commit her life in helping out these people. These our wonderful acts of kindness but why does this only happen when there is a disaster? It should be part of our daily lives to always show that love of God to others.

This mysterious and wonderful doctrine about God, that he is both unity and trinity, is called by the Catechism "the central mystery of Christian faith and life" It's the center of our faith, because it gives us a glimpse into the inner life of God himself, the God we believe in. And it's the center of our life, because we are called to be living images of God, created to love and be loved. Jesus gave his Church the great commandment to "love one another as I have loved you." He did not command us to make millions of dollars. He did not command us to win awards and prizes in our profession. He did not command us to be comfortable. He commanded us to be like him: to love God with all our heart and to love our neighbor as ourselves. And loving God leads automatically to loving our neighbor.

As Pope Benedict wrote in his first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est (God is love): "In the saints one thing becomes clear: those who draw near to God do not withdraw from men, but rather become truly close to them" Today we are drawing close to God through this Mass. As we do, let's ask him to show us how to draw nearer to those around us during this coming week. Let's be the first ones to forgive, even if the other person is at fault. Let's be the first ones to go out of our way to help someone who is struggling. Let's be the first ones to defend the truth when others attack it,. In short, today, let's renew our commitment to make our way through this sin-darkened world by being bright, shining images of God, of the Most Holy Trinity, who is love.

MAY HE REST IN PEACE

Mr. Thomas J. Flately, owner of the Flatley Company out of Braintree, Mass. died at the age of 76. I worked for Mr. Flatley when I was going through high school. He was a generous and kind man and has done so much good for different charaties. He will truly be missed. Thomas may the angels lead you into paradise; may the martyrs come to welcome you and take you to the holy city, the new and eternal Jerusaleum.

image: Boston Globe

FROM THE PULPIT

If you were to go out onto the water you have two types of boat you could use. You could use a powerboat in which you would have total control. You would start the engine, head off in a straight line toward your destination, and get there very quickly.

The other option would be a sailboat. Here you do not have the same control as the boat that is powered by an engine. Rather you must identify which way the wind is blowing and set your sails to catch the wind. You probably won't be able to head straight to your destination but will need to zig zag across the bay. And the speed at which you move will be largely determined by the strength at which the breeze is blowing.

The Holy Spirit in which we celebrate today on this feast of Pentecost is similar to the wind that sails the sailboat. We as a church must allow the Holy Spirit too move us. To put to use the gifts of the Spirit that has been given to us. As I have mentioned numerous times before what a dynamic church we would have if the faithful would just allow the Holy Spirit to work in their lives. Our liturgies would be overflowing with the faithful, the word of God would be spread to the four corners of the world with passion, and the love of Christ would spread in leaps and bounds. We would no longer need to worry about merging or closing parishes because the faithful would come and there would be an abundance of priests to celebrate the sacraments because young men would not hesitate to follow the call if they would just let the Holy Spirit move their hearts. We at times see the Holy Spirit coming in extraordinary ways such as we heard in the first reading of “driving wind” or “tongues as of fire.” It’s to realize that the Spirit just doesn’t come in extraordinary ways but in ordinary ways of life. Such as “forms of peace” as we heard in the 2nd reading or “peace” and “forgiveness” as found in the Gospel.

In the Gospel Jesus showed his disciples his hands and his side. By this action is doesn’t simply show that Jesus was crucified. There is more to it, it shows that because of his wounds we are given peace, we are given forgiveness and we are given the Spirit. Wounds are the only way to peace and the only way to take up the saving mission of Jesus. In the everyday self-giving for the good of others, we show our own hands and side—our own wounds for the sake of life.
During these 50 days of Easter we have seen the Easter Candle alight in our sanctuary. This is our last day of the Easter Season and the Easter candle will be extinguished until next year (except for baptisms and funerals). How can we continue to keep this Easter candle alight? Well we need to start with ourselves.

Most importantly, we have to make sure we keep the flame burning in our hearts. If we do, it will give light and warmth to those around us without our even realizing it. Too many Christians have let the flame die out. They call themselves Christians, but they live mediocre lives. They have none of Christ's wisdom, courage, virtue, or joy, so they can give none of it to those around them. But today, Pentecost, God will renew the flame in each of our souls, and it will be up to us to keep it burning, to feed the flame.

We can do that in two ways. First, we have to make sure that prayer is our highest priority in life. What oxygen is for a flame, prayer is for our Christian identity. If you take away the oxygen, the flame will sputter and die. If we don't make an effort to pray each day, we will become joyless, mediocre Christians.

Second, this year we can make better use of the sacrament of confession. When a candle is lit for a long time, excess wax can accumulate and start to stifle the flame. That wax has to be poured or cut away so the flame can thrive again. When we go about our lives in a selfish world, we inevitably do all kinds of selfish things, and that stifles the flame of Christian wisdom in our lives. Confession is how God cleans away the stifling wax.

So let us this evening pray for a new Pentecost in our lives, our parish, and our world, and let's promise to do our part to make that prayer come true.

Anniversary video

One of the parishoners of the parish that I'm Associate Pastor sent me this. I thought it was worth sharing. To all that have sent me notes congratulating me on my anniversary I really appreciate it. Thank you so much, it truly is a pleasure to serve the people of God as a priest. God bless you always!

Come Holy Spirit

Happy Mothers Day

To my mom and all moms I want to wish you a Happy Mother's Day! Without you we wouldn't be much. Love you Mom!

FROM THE PULPIT

In the movie, The Passion of the Christ, one of the hardest things to get right was the music. Icon Productions worked with three different composers, and just two months from the day the movie was supposed to open in theatres, they still didn't have the score composed. The third composer, the talented and experienced John Debney [DEHB-knee], was working furiously, but he just didn't seem able to get anything right.

He also said later that all kinds of strange, uncommon difficulties kept popping up and delaying him. As the deadline drew nearer, he became really concerned. He desperately wanted to make the music as powerful and beautiful as the film, but it just wasn't happening. At that time, John was a Catholic who had only recently returned to his Catholic faith. While he was working on one of the key scenes in the movie, when Mary helps Jesus as he falls while carrying the cross, he decided to ask the Blessed Virgin Mary to help him.

For three days he prayed the Rosary, which he hadn't prayed in years. And on the fourth day he woke up before his alarm clock, with a song in his head. The song was complete, with full melody and lyrics. It turned out to have the musical form of a lullaby, and it became Mary's theme. And just two weeks later the entire score was finished. The movie soundtrack went platinum. It was then nominated for an Academy Award as Best Original Score.

St Luke gives us a beautiful snapshot of the very first Catholic parish in the history of the Church. He tells us in today's First Reading from the Acts of the Apostles, that after Jesus ascended into heaven, the Apostles and Jesus' other disciples went back to Jerusalem. So there they are, Peter and the other Apostles, some of the women who had followed Jesus, and some of his relatives, gathered together in prayer, to wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit.

It is a very interesting detail that of the whole crowd, St Luke only mentions twelve people by name. First, he lists the eleven Apostles (there used to be twelve, but Judas abandoned them and then committed suicide). Then, he mentions "Mary, the mother of Jesus. Jesus as God gave Mary a special role to play in Christ's life, now she begins to exercise her special role in the life of the Church. Mary gave birth to Jesus, the head of the Church. Now it is time for the rest of the Church, the mystical body of Christ, to be born. And so she is once again present, giving guidance and comfort, and interceding for them in prayer. Jesus, the head of the Church, was in her womb for nine months before his birth on Christmas. Now his followers, the body of the Church, gather with her for nine days in the Upper Room before the Holy Spirit comes upon them and sends them out into the world on Pentecost. Mary, full of grace, is the mother of Jesus Christ, and so Mary, in the order of grace, is also the spiritual mother of every Christian. When we were baptized, we became brothers and sisters of Christ, which means that Mary, his mother, becomes, in the order of grace, our mother too.

As we begin the month of May, we celebrate and honor the Blessed Virgin Mary during this month. We honor her this month with different events and each culture has different traditions in honoring the BVM. In our society we tend to have May processions and the crowing of Mary (as we did before the Mass). Now many of our non-Catholic brothers and sisters don’t seem to understand our relationship with Mary and many do misunderstand our belief in Mary. They don’t understand that we take seriously the command that Jesus gave from the cross to John the apostle, “this is your mother.” A great gift Christ gave to us his mother who watches over us as Queen of heaven and earth.

When I was a younger friar (even though some would laugh at that and say you still look pretty young to me) I would always enjoy hearing stories about friars that went before me. I still remember this particular friar who was labeled as a “saintly man” Fr. Manny Tavares whose bedroom was kept very simple and the only thing that he kept in his room other than the bedroom furniture was a picture of his mother. To him this was so important that he needed an image of his mother to remind him of that love his mother had for him. We also need to be reminded my dear brothers and sisters of our heavenly mother’s love for us. If we don’t have an image of the blessed mother in our homes let us do it today. Let us put a statue or an icon or any type image of the Blessed Mother in a prominent place in our homes. Let us go back to the tradition and gather together as a family and pray rosary especially during this month and really show our love and appreciate for our Mother. Holy Mary Mother of God pray for us!