June 2017

Sunday in the Octave of Corpus Christi (“A”) – June 18, 2017

From the Pastor /

When life begins for any of us those first gifts are the ones we need. We need the presence of those who love us. We need the daily nourishment of food so that w emay grow stronger. And we need the joy and the interest and the stimulus of others, wider family and friends to introduce us to the world. When the Lord began to form His own family, His community of disciples, His first gift to them was His very presence. They lived with Him night and day. Each day they grew in their understanding of Him and of who He was. His presence inspired them and gave them joy and hope for life. He fed them with every word He said and the people flocked to hear what He would say. This word was truly nourishing to their lives. A new company was born into the world, the followers of Christ, and it was the word of Jesus and the presence of Jesus that nourished and formed this family. His presence among us would now take the form of a sacred and sacrificial meal, a sacramental gift to bind His Church. Present in these sacred signs, in His word and in bread and wine, the Lord would preserve and nourish His Church throughout the ages. His followers, now called His friends, indeed His brothers and sisters, would become the living presence of the Lord in the world.

By receiving the Body and Blood of Christ into ourselves we can become part of that living Lord in this world. The first manifestation of this is our human presence to others. To be present to others is a simple and powerful act of self-giving. To be present to others in an attentive and kindly manner is to allow the grace of the Lord to be there at work in the world. The second manifestation of Christ is in our speaking. Whenever our words are kind and thoughtful, patient and understanding, then the word of God is alive and active through us. People’s lives are nourished by the words they hear from us. The third gift of Christ to the world comes through the sharing of love and affection, kindness and consolation. The company of the Lord, His friends, live by this spirit. And so the feast of Corpus Christi is the feast of life’s fullness. The presence of the Lord among us, the gift of Himself in the holy Sacrament, and the joy of being part of His company, the Church, is what we celebrate today: gathered together, fed by His word and sent out into the world.

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Most Holy Trinity (“A”) – June 11, 2017

From the Pastor /

We cannot actually know God fully. Our attempts to get a grasp on God by natural reflection are better at telling us what God is not rather than what God is. The Church always taught there is no contradiction between the God of reason and the God of faith, but our faith takes us into realms of perception and imagination that reason struggles with. The mystery of the Holy Trinity emerged gradually in the Church’s thinking and teaching, and there have been many different ways of reflecting on it. What God reveals to us is always for our salvation. That is why God the Father sends His Son into the world. The Son has come not to condemn the world but so that through Him the world might be saved. We, His followers, are the ones who proclaim that message and who try in our lives to live out the pattern of truth and love expressed in the mystery of His own life which God has shared with us.

When things go wrong in our lives, when we lose our jobs, fall ill or have any sort of trial or tribulation, we need those who are close to us to hold us and help to offer each other excitement and adventure, risk and new horizons, challenge and inspiration.

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Pentecost (“A”) – June 4, 2017

Frackville, From the Pastor /

On the day of Pentecost the disciples, likewise, were afraid of what might happen to them. The huddled together in an upper room with locked doors, waiting for something to happen. The Lord had promised them that the Spirit would come and so they waited. Now the room shook and the sound of the wind could be heard, and the vision of tongues of fire came upon each one of them. Each individual and the whole group together were gifted with the coming of the Spirit. It didn’t take long for the effects of that Spirit to be seen and heard.

This day is known as the „birthday” of the Church. We were born on this day. The Spirit came and enlivened a group that had almost died. The risen Lord sent His living Spirit to be our life. Each oen of us, as well as the whole Church together, receives the gift, and the gift is to be used. We begin with a gift of peace. Not the world’s peace, initially, but our own. We seek to grow in the gift of a peaceful mind and heart, and peaceful relationships in our life. The second gift is the mission. You are sent out from this church into the world around you. You are able, with the Spirit’s help, to be outgoing and to help bring a gift of peace into the lives of those you live with and work with. You have a responsibility now. It is a grace given to you. Do not let it go for nothing. Finally, the third gift is the grace to reconcile people who are at war with one another. There is the power to forgive others and the power to call people to justice. Do you believe this? Do you accept this? Come, Holy Spirit.

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