Parish Bulletin for Sunday, June 4, 2006

The Feast of Pentecost

It is interesting to note that mystics of times gone by often referred to the Holy Spirit as God's kiss. If we take that a step further, on this feast of Pentecost we celebrate the grace of being filled with the Spirit and, thereby, of being kissed by God.

Paul tells us in his letter to the Corinthians that God's kiss enables the one kissed to profess faith in Jesus as Lord. That same Spirit endows each member of the community with gifts. These gifts are, in turn, meant to complement one another so that all may work together for the common gift. This kiss of God who is the Spirit also enables the community of diverse people with varying backgrounds, desires, and concerns to maintain an authentic unity among themselves – to form the one body in Christ. It is both a blessing and a challenge that we should celebrate this unity on this feast of the Spirit precisely because we are now prompted to examine whether or not our unity is true or even possible.

Luke tells us in the first reading today that the gift of the Spirit is a universal gift. Let's think about this for a minute. The Spirit did not descend solely upon the speakers in that room of disciples, hidden from view and terrified to move. Those flames as of fire must surely have eaten their way into the hearts of the listeners of that first Pentecost and inflamed all present in one common experience of the same Christ. When the Spirit was sent forth by the risen Christ, all was overturned and set afire. Those who welcomed the Spirit were able to become a life-sharing community from whom love began to overflow. All were fired with the same burning love that drew them irresistibly together. Love became in those first believers a "holy must." Just as Jesus drew his own to himself as friends, so the Spirit drew and can continue to draw Christians radically together.

And here is the challenge. In order to use the power of the Spirit to make us one, we need to overcome our fears and come out from behind locked doors, just as those first disciples were challenged to do. We need to remember the gifts that are ours to enjoy and then to disperse them in this world – the gifts of Jesus' own peace, the ever-present breathing of his Spirit within all of us and the mandate of forgiveness that we are to realize.

Some of you may say that the Pentecostal power of the early church contrasts too sharply with the church as it is today and some may believe that this contrast is too sharp to overcome. Nevertheless, despite our weaknesses, sins, and lack of responsiveness to the power and presence of the Spirit, that same Holy Spirit continues to bless each of us, anointing us to continue the mission of Jesus. The Holy Spirit, whose presence we celebrate this day, shapes its power to our crookedness so that even in our weakness, we can be worthy witnesses of God's universal love and the good news of salvation to all of humankind.

TUESDAY, June 6

Weekday

8:30 a.m. - † Desire LeBlanc

Requested by wife Margaret and family

WEDNESDAY, June 7

Weekday

8:30 a.m. - † Claritag Dayot

Requested by Trisa and J. J. Dayot

THURSDAY, June 8

Weekday

8:30 a.m. - † Bernadette Umdezinwa

Requested by Felicia

FRIDAY, June 9

Weekday

8:30 a.m. - † Iwona Sukiennik

Requested by sister

Parish Bulletin for Sunday, June 11, 2006

Feast of Trinity

The Big Picture

We stand together today before a mystery, an absolute mystery! We do not fully comprehend it even after it has been revealed. As a doctrine, the Trinity is a mystery in that it is hidden in God and is approachable only because God has revealed it. As a doctrine, the Trinity is an absolute mystery in that it remains forever such. Affirmed at the second Vatican Council, this teaching forms the basis of the profession of faith from the time of the Council of Nicea in 325 to Pope Paul VI: "We believe in one God…Creator of heaven and earth and in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord … . We believe in the Holy Spirit who proceeds from the Father and the Son… ."

The Trinity is the way we express our most fundamental relationships with God as well as God's relationships with us. We relate to God and God relates to us as Parent, as Son and Brother and as abiding, loving Spirit. Therefore, when we reflect on the doctrine of the Trinity today, we can do so because the doctrine is already there. It is a given aspect of our Christian experience and our faith.

Christian faith in God as Trinity invites each and every believer not only to act upon that faith or to stir our emotions about it but also invites us to think, to open our minds and use our imaginations to wrestle with the implications of the nature of God. Our imaginings can lead us to the largest canvas possible, to vision the big picture.

If we are serious, we need to accept the invitation extended in today's first reading, to grapple with the questions posed in wonder and in awe. Did anything so great ever happen before? Did a people ever hear God speaking from the midst of fire and live? We can continue that questioning by asking ourselves — did anything so wondrous as creation occur? Did any other God venture into human history and become so wed to a nation as to lead it to freedom, to give it an identity, to forge with it a love relationship that leads to life and fulfilment?

Did ever a God so love sinners that he became one with them in order to save them from themselves and redeem them from death and destruction? Did any other God dare to die in order to bring life? Did ever a God arrange for the continued care and well being of sinners by leaving them a legacy of Spirit to be ever-present, ever-powerful, ever-enlightening?

Such a big picture of God nearly defies our imagination, but it is only our imagination that will allow our minds to grow so that we can see something of that big picture. As we try to see God more clearly and appreciate God more dearly, we remember that the goal of Christian theology is to prompt us to a growth that allows us to open our minds and hearts to the God who is acting in our lives. Our God is all-good; our God is omnipresent; our God is omniscient; our God is all-powerful; our God is, was, and forever will be. This is the big picture before which we can only marvel and toward which we can only hope to grow.

Yet, and as Paul points out in the second reading from Romans, this God of the big picture, whose greatness hobbles any attempt to define, predict, or rationalize God's ways, this very God loves us as a parent loves a child, desires that we be the very heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. This God wants to be called Abba, Papa, Daddy, and assures us that the response we receive when we call will be intimate, loving and parental.

This God also desires to be the guiding force that feeds our efforts at ministry and service. Therefore, whatever we do, whatever we say, whenever and however we preach the good news, we are to do so as Jesus has commanded, while witnessing to the big picture of God. For this God has promised to be with us always as we go forth to make disciples of all nations in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. AMEN.

TUESDAY, June 13

St. Anthony of Padua

8:30 a.m. - † Eric Goguen

Requested by Margaret LeBlanc

WEDNESDAY, June 14

Weekday

8:30 a.m. – Intentions of Dorothy John

THURSDAY, June 15

Weekday

8:30 a.m. - † Anton Veersingham

Requested by Rohini

FRIDAY, June 16

Weekday

8:30 a.m. – Intention: Thanksgiving

Requested by Joseph and Desiree Viegas

Parish Bulletin for Sunday, June 18, 2006

For All Our Young Graduates!

(And for all of us who continue on the journey!)

For all of you who are graduating in this fine season and for those who have celebrated graduation recently, this reflection is offered as a gift. One of the things you may have been advised to do is find a model or a mentor to help you on the new paths you are about to travel. I would like to offer a suggestion: Saint Thomas More. Or, at least, the Thomas revealed in the play "A Man for All Seasons" by Robert Bolt.

Thomas was Chancellor of the Realm under Henry VIII. As you may know, when Henry could not get an annulment to marry a second time, he broke from the Church of Rome and started the Church of England. He required that everyone sign an Oath of Allegiance to him as leader of this Church. Thomas refused, saying that he was the good servant of the king – after God. "Besides," Thomas protested, "You have Cromwell, the lords, the army, the people.". Henry sighed, "Ah, but I don't have Thomas."

Just imagine: Thomas was known for his honesty and his integrity and even the king felt he needed the approval of Thomas for what he had done. In Henry's eyes, the legitimacy of his kingship depended on this one good person.

Sometimes, when you wonder if who you are makes any difference, if someone else could as well do what you are doing, think again. When you begin to believe that someone else will do it or that your vote doesn't count or that your little bit won't matter, remember Thomas. And imagine God saying to you: "I have the angels and the pope and the prime minister and all of the people – but I really need you."

Richard Rich was an up-and-coming young man who wanted a job in the king's court. Thomas looked around and told him, "The only opening at present is teaching." Ambitious Richard complained: "Who would see me doing great things as a teacher?" Thomas answered, "You will see, the students will see, God will see. That is a good audience."

Most of us go through life worrying about what other people think of us. Forget it! Nobody is thinking about you – they are too busy worrying about themselves. Yes, there is an audience – and they do matter. We ought to act always in such a way that people are edified and God is glorified by what we do. We never act alone. What we do affects our friends, our church, our country, and the world. Even alone at midnight, God is watching. And that is a pretty good audience.

Since Thomas would not support the king, he had to be labelled a traitor. So, the king offered to make Rich the collector of taxes for the country of Wales if he testified falsely against More. After Rich perjured himself, Thomas passed him on the way out of court and whispered: "Rich, there is no profit in selling yourself for the whole world - but for Wales?"

If you ever begin to doubt the value of yourself, if you ever think of bartering it, negotiating your integrity for anything at all, tell yourself this: "I might trade myself for the whole world - but for a promotion? For a date? for a deal?"

Because Thomas would still not sign the Oath of Allegiance, the king put him in the Tower. When his daughter came to visit, she tried to reason with her father: "It's just a piece of paper, you don't have to really mean it, it will be over in a minute and we can go on living a good life." But Thomas told her, "Meg, when you take an oath, you place yourself in the palms of your hands. And if you spread your fingers only a little, your whole self runs through like sand."

To appreciate this response, you have to know the difference between self and ego. And ego is that selfish, niggling thing that says, "I want this, this is mine, that is mine." Whereas the self is that expansive, generous essence of us that goes out to others and gives to others. Jesus said that the self is worth more than the whole world.

When Thomas approached the scaffold of execution, he politely asked the jailer, "Please help me up - I will come down on my own." Not much of a joke, but it instructs us twice. First, a sense of humour – especially about oneself – is essential for living a good life. Shakespeare wrote that we do things that make the angels weep, so let's make . them laugh. Second, you must not fear death. Most of the wrong things we do, we do out of fear of death or diminishment.

We drink and drive and succeed and lust and work and play to feel alive. We are forever anxious that our life is rapidly running out. Relax. Accept the fact that you are at this moment dying. It's OK! It's a good thing, since that is the only way you can live forever. So follow your bliss, live large, defy death. Because you cannot really live until you love something enough to die for it.

TUESDAY, June 20

Weekday

8:30 a.m. - † Charles O'Sullivan

Requested by family

WEDNESDAY, June 21

St. Aloysius Gonzaga

8:30 a.m. - † Anita Chu

Requested by Margaret

THURSDAY, June 22

Weekday

8:30 a.m. - † Ed Kelly

Requested by wife Barbara

FRIDAY, June 23

Sacred Heart of Jesus

8:30 a.m. - † Samuel Johns

Requested by wife Dorothy and family

Parish Bulletin for Sunday, June 25, 2006

12th Sunday in Ordinary Time

In Asia and Africa, killing hundreds of thousands while leaving on the day after Christmas, 2005, in the wake of a 9.0 earthquake as measured on the Richter scale, a tsunami of inconceivable proportions struck 12 countries thousands more missing. As the world looked on in shock and horror, entire villages were wiped out, families were destroyed, natural resources were compromised and the human suffering proved to be immeasurable.

In February 2005, a flood raged in the Pakistan winter, killing over 500 and leaving thousands homeless and exposed to the cold. In June of that same year, floodwaters ravaged India, sweeping away 1,200 more lives and disrupting countless others.

At the height of the storm season in the American South, a late August hurricane by the name of Katrina defied the direst predictions of forecasters and proved to be the single most devastating natural disaster ever to hit North America. With its levees breached, New Orleans became a cesspool of sewage, carnage and debris, while the cries of the poor seemed to be heard only by God. As the days dragged on, the death toll climbed. More than 6,600 people, 1,300 of them children, are still missing almost a year after Katrina struck.

Hurricane Rita followed Katrina and took with it the homes and livelihood of thousands more victims. Torrential rains all over our planet have created floods and lethal mud slides t

hat have buried their victims alive, some in as much as 30 feet of mud and rubble.

In the face of these powerful watery cataclysms of nature, where can believers find hope? How can we continue to believe? How can the helpless and defenceless try to maintain their sanity in the midst of what can only be conceived of as chaos? Doesn't it seem that the God who created the universe in all its balance and beauty has turned a blind eye and a deaf ear to the perils of humankind?

Yet, even amid the chaos, we are told by the author of Job in today's first reading that God can shut the doors of the sea, set its limits, fasten the bar of its door and command that proud waves be stilled. Mark also tells us today that Jesus has the power to command both wind and sea, and that these elemental giants of nature shall obey him. The responsorial psalm adds words of comfort to the voices of Job and Mark. In psalm 107, the ancient writer tells us that the same God who can command the storm to blow can also shush it into a gentle breeze and bring travellers to their desired haven upon calmed and placid seas.

If, indeed, all these words are true about the power of God being greater than the surges and swells of the turbulent seas and oceans and flooding rains and rivers of this earth, then what shall our posture be before such greatness? To find the answer to this question, Mark draws our attention to the boat wherein Jesus and his disciples were sailing the Sea of Galilee. Tossed about in the squall, with waves breaking over its sides, the listing boat was beginning to take on water. Yet, while the disciples panicked, Jesus lay in the stern, fast asleep.

In Jesus, we discover the attitude that we are to follow in order to weather the storms of life. That attitude, one of complete trust and faith, would see Jesus through all that lay ahead of him; that same trusting faith is our to cultivate by daily giving ourselves over to God's care, God's will. God's design for our lives.

Encouraging that trust, and affirming the truth that faith and faithfulness must be daily components of our lives must lead us to ask the question: Do you apply the same standards of faithfulness to your spiritual life as you do to other areas of your life? If your car starts once every three times, is it reliable? If the paper carrier skips delivery every Monday and Friday, is that person trustworthy? If you stay home from work a few times a month, are you a dependable employee? And on it goes!

While we expect faithfulness and reliability in many things, great and small, should not our reliability and faithfulness in God be comparable? Faithfulness must characterize all our dealings with God-not part-time faithfulness, but daily, deliberate trust. Only such daily efforts can possibly prepare us for life's inevitable disasters. Even when panic chokes our hope and fear threatens our faith, we must always remember that a greater power than panic or fear is sleeping soundly in our sinking boat. Amen.

TUESDAY, June 27

Weekday

8:30 a.m. - † Giuseppe Pierri

Requested by wife, Francesca

WEDNESDAY, June 28

St. Irenaeus

8:30 a.m. - † Leonard and Numeriano Rico

Requested by Flora and Lydia

THURSDAY, June 29

St. Peter and St. Paul

8:30 a.m. - † Martha and Michael Virgilio

Requested by Francesca

FRIDAY, June 30

Weekday

8:30 a.m. - † Cecilio and Edwardo Pierri

Requested by Francesca