Sacraments

Sunday in the Octave of Corpus Christi (“C”) – May 29, 2016

From the Pastor /

All meals carry with them the potential of nourishment and healing and more. Particularly important meals of celebration, shared with others, confirm our identity and allow us to celebrate our very existence and all our lives give to us. We need the food and drink to sustain us, and we need to be thankful for what life provides for us not just in the meal but in the people with whom we share our lives. All these elements are present when we celebrate the Eucharist together. As we come together to remember what He did for us, as we share the message of God’s kingdom, as we pray for healing, as we eat the bread and wine that have become the body and blood of Christ, we make present the mystery of the cross and resurrection. We are truly Christ’s body in and for our world. Christ’s body is made incarnate again through our own humanity, offered to each other as food and drink to nourish and to heal.

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Maundy Thursday – March 24, 2016

From the Pastor /

As Jesus approaches His death He is concerned with what His disciples will make of His legacy. In St. John’s Gospel we are given a long “farewell” discourse. In it Jesus prepares His disciples for what is about to happen to Him, and promises that after He has left them His Father will send the Spirit to help them. This evening we are given the account of how before the feast of the Passover Jesus washes the feet of His disciples and tells them to do the same for each other. The washing of feet that takes place today is not a sacrament but a symbolic act by which we make present the commandment of love.

Those things we inherit from those we love can make them present to us. The scriptures and the sacraments of the Church are the inheritance that Jesus Christ has left for us. Do we hold them with the love and respect that speak of our love for Him? This question can be asked of us individually, but it can also be asked of us as a community. What role does the word of God play in our life? Do we as communities of Christians make God’s word central to all we do? Do we treat the sacraments with reverence and place them at the heart of our Christian communities? Scripture and sacraments are the words and acts of Jesus Christ. Through them He calls each one of us to share in the love that brings us healing and unites us to God. There are times in our life when we fail to place His legacy at the center of our lives, but at such times He calls us to place ourselves in His hands and allow Him to wash our feet. In this way we learn to love as He has loved us, and become living signs of His love.

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Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time – August 9, 2015

From the Pastor /

When Jesus claims that He is the bread of life, He also states that the bread He gives is His own flesh, which He gives for the life of the world. This is the first time that He explicitly refers to his sacrificial death. Unlike the forefathers of the Jews (who ate manna from heaven in the wilderness and died) those of us who eat Jesus’ spiritual bread and drink his living water will live for eternity if we believe in him in faith. When we take part in the breaking of bread during the Eucharist, we join with Jesus, the saints and each other in fellowship with each other and with God. This spiritual food gives us a share in God’s life, and it is but a small sample of the feast we will have when we eventually sit down and enjoy God’s heavenly banquet.

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Come Holy Spirit – Confirmation 2015

Frackville, PNCC /

Confirmation, the completion of the Sacrament of Baptism-Confirmation, was administered in our parish by Rt. Rev. Bernard Nowicki, Bishop Ordinary of the Central Diocese on Sunday, June 14th at 3 PM. Three faithful were confirmed:

  • Joseph Stephen Karvois “William,”
  • Michael William Russell “John,” and
  • Theresa Leonarczyk “Sabrina Ada.”

May the Holy Spirit fill their lives and draw them closer to Jesus each day.

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Lord’s Baptism – “B” – January 11, 2014

From the Pastor /

At the Jordan, Jesus hears the words of His Father affirming and confirming Him is His true identity as beloved Son of God. This powerful affirmation brings to Jesus all the calm confidence of a person who knows who He is. Jesus is able to go out and begin His public life and work. He is fitted for that task by the voice of His Father and the gift of the Spirit. That voice and that Spirit are given to all Christian people. We are baptized people, and gifts have been given to us. As Isaiah’s says, “I have made of you a witness to the peoples, a leader and a master of the nations.” Such is our vocation. We may not remember the day of our baptism, if we were mere babes in arms, but that does not matter: we are baptized and confirmed people, and God has bestowed favor upon us. Today is the day to respond to the favor you have received, God’s Holy Spirit dwelling in you. You are not just a face in the crowd. You are a child of the living God and God’s favor rests on you.

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