Church of The Holy Spirit

Parish Bulletin for Sunday, March 2, 2008

Fourth Sunday in Lent

The Man is Born Blind

The miracles that Jesus works are signs of what God continues to offer us today. The physical healing in today's gospel story points to this deeper spiritual reality. Let's look at the story.

As events unfold we find Jesus mixing the simple elements of saliva and dirt to create a paste, which is slathered on the eyes of the blind man. He is then told to go wash off the paste and when he does he finds he can see. The hoopla created in the discovery attracts the attention of the Pharisees, who feel compelled to question the man at length.

Two things happen: the man enters more deeply into the mystery of Jesus as his faith in him grows; the Pharisees become convinced that Jesus is a sinner who, in spite of appearances, cannot possibly come from God. The Pharisees argue themselves into the position that no good can come from disobedience to the laws of the Sabbath and blind themselves to the good that Jesus is doing. The man is not swayed by their arguments and holds to the belief that Jesus is truly a man of God.

The Pharisees do not want to believe and drive the man from their presence. The climax comes in the encounter between Jesus and the former blind man. When Jesus reveals himself as the one who has cured him, the man confesses his faith without hesitation and bows down in worship. His healing is complete. He sees not only with his eyes but with his heart as well. He is now seeing with the eyes of faith.

What is the greatest tragedy here? It is not physical blindness, but rather the spiritual blindness that envelopes all those who choose not to hear the good news of salvation. Jesus says that he came into the world so that people might see the truth about themselves and above all about God and God's intentions for all of us. Jesus reveals God.

For those shut into the blindness of refusal, the choice will result in never knowing their need of Jesus. For those who are healed, Jesus is the true light who is capable of enlightening everyone who turns to him. Reflection upon the experience of the man born blind and the fact that the Pharisees chose not to see Jesus for who he truly was should lead those of us today to check out our own ability to see.

Most of us are more than likely blind to someone or something at one time or another in our lives. Our vision can be affected by biases, preferences and even prejudices that can cause a form of blindness. Perhaps it would be wise of us to stand for a minute with the man born blind and allow the healing power of Jesus to heal our blindness.

What could we possibly see as a result of that healing? Perhaps we would realize that the relationships we have with family, friends and within our communities of faith are what bind us together and allow us to experience God's love. Then maybe we would understand the call to strengthen those relationships so that our relationship with God could be deeper, stronger and more faith-filled.

We can sometimes not see what is important in our lives – is it the job or the other myriad interests that can consume us and take us away from those life-giving relationships? Maybe it is the ability to see, truly see, the silent voices that call to us in need. The ones who are unseen and unheard because they are unimportant! The poor, the homeless, the hungry, the out-of-work, the immigrants, the underemployed, the marginalized and the handicapped who do not count.

At times, they can force us to look because their burden makes them demanding and pushy. Yet, the sight that Jesus gives allows us to see them with eyes of love and patience and caring. It allows us entry.

And we, like the blind man, will also be able to see with fresh eyes the love God has for us. To see with those eyes will open us to the beauty that surrounds us as gift from God. It will engender within our hearts a profound gratitude for the God who saves. To see the burdens of life as opportunities for leaning more deliberately on God will bring us new strength. To see the image of God reflected in the faces of those we love, and in those whom we have yet to learn to love, can lead us to deeper insight into the very mind and heart of God.

Yes, it is a good idea to stand with the blind man so that we too can move beyond mere physical sight to the seeing that we call faith. Amen.

Rev. Thomas G. Moore

That all our beloved dead, especially

WEDNESDAY, March 5
Weekday
8:30 a.m. - † Amy Tavares

THURSDAY, March 6
Weekday
8:30 a.m. - † Giuseppi Pierri

FRIDAY, March 7
Weekday
8:30 a.m. - † John Water

may live again in the presence of the God of limitless love . . . for all who are grieving the loss of their health, their youth, their lost hopes, their loved ones
. . . Lord, in your mercy . . . hear our prayer.

Special Intentions

For the special intentions of all members of our parish family and in particular for:

TUESDAY, Mar. 4
Weekday
8:30 a.m. – Tom Donaghy

that he may be surrounded with the healing power of God, Lord, in your mercy…hear our prayer.

Please remember the sick in your prayers during the coming week, especially:

Ken Tai, Hassan Kingrabe, Benjamin Rubio, Mervyn Cardoza, Jack Hamilton, Melita Juliana, Carmelita Cosgrove, George Annett,Sister Jemma and Joe Crocco

. . . who have asked for our prayers . . . for healing for the sick . . . for courage for those in pain . . . for those who struggle with the challenges of everyday life . . . Lord, in your mercy . . .hear our prayer.

Parish Bulletin for Sunday, March 9, 2008

Fifth Sunday in Lent

Life and the Promise of Life Everlasting

The Story of Lazarus

Unlike the other gospel writers who focus on Jesus' preaching of the kingdom of God, John emphasizes the importance of Jesus himself. It is Jesus who, in all that he says and does, reveals the Father and who offers us the gift of eternal life. Faith, for John, is above all faith in Jesus and in the gracious God who sent him and who works through him. In John's gospel, Jesus is presented in turn as the bread of life, as a source of living water, as the light of the world, as the true vine of which we are the branches.

In today's reading, Jesus identifies himself as the resurrection and the life. All these different descriptions focus our attention on Jesus and on the gifts that God is offering us through him. The words resurrection and life clearly go together. Jesus is the resurrection because of the hope he offers to all who believe in him. He is the life because he is the source of that new life that one day will flow into eternal life. Those who believe in Jesus share in that life even now. Although they will die a physical death, they will never die spiritually.

Unique to the Johannine Gospel, the account of the raising of Lazarus is the last and greatest of the seven signs that mark John's writing. Each sign has served to reveal something of the person and purpose of Jesus. Through the restoration of Lazarus, Jesus is revealed as the resurrection and the life; through his suffering, death and resurrection, the gift of everlasting life is available to all who believe. The story of Lazarus challenges our growth in faith.

Over these three weeks, we have taken giant leaps of faith; the Samaritan woman fills us with an initial coming to faith; the man born blind shows us how faith acquires a depth when it is tested; Lazarus shows us a faith that deepens as we face death head-on. John tells his story in such a way that we cannot help but come to a more profound understanding of death, just as Jesus leads Martha to a more complete faith in everlasting life. True faith sees Jesus as the source of unending life.

Lazarus can only point the way to the eternal life that God gives through Jesus in the resurrection, but it is a sign-post well worth our attention. In truth, Lazarus, who was awakened from death to life by Jesus, experienced not a resurrection but resuscitation, and he would eventually die again. However, because of Jesus' saving death and resurrection, Lazarus and all who believe will one day be awakened to never-ending life. Until then, Lazarus stands out in the Gospels as one in whom the power of Jesus is revealed and the effects of the Christ-event are anticipated. The effects of this Christ-event – his suffering, death and resurrection- are meant to transform. Jesus gave us life and the promise of everlasting life, and so we believers are to live in the light of that gift. The death that sin brings has been defeated! The Spirit of God is meant to shine forth in us.

If Jesus, in his preaching, miracles and final destiny, was the resurrection and the life present in the world, he continues to be that for us today through the power of the Spirit. For us, the Spirit is the Spirit both of God and of the risen Christ. By the gift of the Spirit, we belong to Jesus and share his life. The Spirit is for us the Spirit of life. Paul tells us in the second reading that it was the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead. We have, therefore, every reason to believe that the same Spirit will one day raise us to eternal life with Christ.

Easter celebrates the resurrection of Jesus, the coming home of Jesus in the fullness of his humanity to the God from whom and for whom he lived and died. Our celebration of Jesus' triumph is, at the same time, a celebration of the gift of life he came to share with us, a gift that we first received in baptism. It is a celebration, too, of the hope we have of one day being brought by the power of the Spirit to share in fullness in the risen life of Christ. Just as Jesus asked Martha, "Do you believe this?" – so Jesus asks us. Martha answered, "Yes, Lord." What is our response?

Rev. Thomas G. Moore

That all our beloved dead, especially

WEDNESDAY, March 12
Weekday
8:30 a.m. - † James Coyne

THURSDAY, March 13
Weekday
8:30 a.m. - † Lucia Damian

FRIDAY, March 14
Weekday
8:30 a.m. - † Salvatore Beltrano

may live again in the presence of the God of limitless love . . . for all who are mourning the loss of a loved one . . . for those who are dying and those who tend them as they die . . . for those who are alone and afraid . . Lord, in your mercy . . . hear our prayer.

Special Intentions

For the special intentions of all members of our parish family and in particular for:

TUESDAY, Mar. 11
Weekday
8:30 a.m. – Bekir Horzum

that he may be surrounded with the healing power of God, Lord, in your mercy…hear our prayer.

. . . who have asked for our prayers . . . for healing for the sick. . . for courage for those in pain . . . for those who live in the shadow of the cross . . . for those whose suffering is severe . . . Lord, in your mercy . . .hear our prayer.

Parish Bulletin for Sunday, March 16, 2008

Passion/Palm Sunday

Today, we remember one who died violently, shockingly, suddenly – but not senselessly. The remembrance of the death of Jesus lies at the heart of who we are as believers. He chose to give himself up to death as sacrifice that would bring about the forgiveness and salvation of sinners. We remember one who did not shield his face from buffets and spitting, but who set his face like flint to accomplish God's purposes.

We remember one who was mocked and whose hands and feet were pierced, yet all the while he did not lose sight of his mission. In the end, his death served as a proclamation of praise to God, and because of him many of the descendants of Jacob-Israel learned to revere God and to return to God for forgiveness and mercy. We remember one who was willing to be totally emptied of every right, dignity, freedom and even life itself so that sinners might be reconciled to God. We remember one who was betrayed by a friend, denied by another friend and abandoned when he was most in need of support and companionship.

We remember one who ate a last meal with his friends and gave himself as Eucharist so that his disciples would have a memorial of his saving life, death and resurrection and a means of experiencing his real presence until he should come among them again. We remember one who struggled with God's will all through a terrible and lonely night and, in the end, accepted that will resolutely and in faith. We remember one who refused to allow his friends to behave violently even when his life was at stake. We remember one who did not defend himself before false accusers.

We remember one who was condemned by some of the very people he had healed, by those he had taught, by those he had come to serve and to save. We remember one who was brutally beaten and executed as a common criminal, but who in his dying was fully revealed for who he was and always will be: Jesus, the Son of God. We remember so that we may once more enter into the mystery of our salvation, to know and experience Jesus as present to each one of us, here and now and always.

We are called to be transformed so that grace, working in us, transforms the world in which we live. We are called to celebrate and to grow in faith. We remember, and in our remembering, we become more and more like the one in whom we find our reason for living, our hope in dying and our faith in a future where all our memories will be fulfilled.

Rev. Thomas G. Moore

That all our beloved dead, especially

TUESDAY, March 18
Weekday
8:30 a.m. - † Deceased members of the Knish family.

WEDNESDAY, March 19
Weekday
8:30 a.m. - † Amelia and John Choy

Parish Bulletin for Sunday, March 23, 2008

Easter Sunday

It is a radiant new day that has dawned for us in Jesus. Though divine, Jesus came among us and took upon himself all the burdens and sorrows of our human condition. He held us by the hand. He mingled his humanity with our own. Though innocent, he shed his blood that we may live, and all this he did out of love – a love that makes right what is wrong, a love that bears all, endures all, a love that never fails.

Today, we celebrate that story's happy ending. Jesus, who was dead, is risen! Alleluia! Because of Jesus we have been called to live a new life; we are not talking about a vague connection with resurrection, with heaven, with eternity and immortality. It is more than a place of perfect and boring bliss. Life with God in Jesus is mirrored for us today in the first witnesses of this new life, this new beginning, this Easter event.

The disciples were transformed – not all at once, but in a growing awareness of themselves and of Christ. In their growth and development, they became witnesses to Christ in a fallen world. Peter, who denied and lied, became a rock-solid leader and preacher of the good news. The others also went on to witness to Christ and became the community of the faithful to which we still belong. Those first followers will meet the risen Lord and come to believe what we believe – the dark shadow of death has been driven out by the light of the risen Lord.

Let's look at Peter. Imagine, if you will, his grief at the way things had turned out and feel the guilt and remorse he must have felt in those early hours, before he saw and felt and was surrounded by the light of the Risen One. Does his memory of betrayal slow him down, so that the other disciple running with him reaches the tomb first? We aren't told. But what if . . . and what could this mean – this face to face encounter for Peter with the empty tomb. If Peter comes to faith in the resurrection, everything will change for him. In the face of the risen Lord, Peter will have to accept forgiveness. It will be a gift- not something he earned, but something he must offer to others.

The Lord has said that he must forgive "seventy times seven." Now he will understand what that means. If Peter believes in the resurrection, he will have to view the world through the lens of Jesus; there can be no other lens, no other standard of behaviour. He will have to give total loyalty to the Christ and turn away from all contrary powers. And we now know that Peter embraced the resurrection and the Christ with all that he was and all that he did during the rest of his days on earth.

What happens when we come face to face with the empty tomb? Do we carry heavy burdens and walk with a slow step? Can we look into the empty tomb along with the disciples today and express faith in the risen Christ and accept the forgiveness, mercy and love he offers each one of us? What are the questions we need to ask ourselves? What is the quality of our discipleship? Do we love Christ and are we dedicated to his message? Are we truly in service to our neighbour?

We, like Peter before us, must let go of the past and welcome this new day in faith. The love of God brings us to this day. That love invites us to take a close look at what is before us in this new life. We don't look back over our shoulder at who we were and what we did in the past. This is a new day with new realizations and possibilities. The love we have received is the basis for a new way to live. We can begin - or start again - to act like those beloved of Christ. Because of Jesus' death and resurrection, we trust we will not fall out of the embrace of God's love and so we can take chances on loving others we might not ordinarily take. May the blessings of this new beginning live in you and take root this Easter and for the rest of your life. Alleluia! Alleluia!

Happy Easter

May the blessings of this Easter season surround all of you. May the Light of Easter shine upon you. May the joy of Easter fill your hearts and your homes. May the new life that is Easter fill your life and bring you into deeper relationship with the Lord of all time.

Happy Easter from the priests who offer service in this community of faith – Father Ron Mercier, Father Bob Croken, Father Obinna Ifeanyi and Father John Sullivan, from Lynda, our pastoral worker and from your Pastor,

Rev. Thomas G. Moore

That all our beloved dead, especially

TUESDAY, March 25
Weekday
8:30 a.m. - † John Drake

WEDNESDAY, March 26
Weekday
8:30 a.m. - † Imdad Christopher

THURSDAY, March 27
Weekday
8:30 a.m. - † Nancy Fung

FRIDAY, March 28
Weekday
8:30 a.m. - † Bertha Drake

Parish Bulletin for Sunday, March 30, 2008

Second Sunday of Easter

Eastertime

Today is the second of the eight Sundays that mark the Fifty Days of Easter. The first of the eight Sundays was Easter itself and the last will be Pentecost. The season's early roots are in the agricultural calendars of the Middle East. Churches who knew nothing of the Middle Eastern planting and reaping still used and celebrated these Fifty Days from Easter to Pentecost to mark the Easter season and so this tradition has come down through our faith history to this very day.

In earlier times, these Fifty Days were celebrated as one festival and, along with the revival of the Catechumenate and Vigil entrance of new Elect, we continue to celebrate the whole season as one. Because the season took up almost one-seventh of the year, Eastertime became known as the Sunday of the year. It is the centre and definition of the whole church cycle.

There is an old saying in our history that we should "Let Easter's Fifty Days be to the year what Sunday is to the week." Eastertime then became the time to live as if the promised time has come, as if the kingdom of God was here now. There was no fasting, for who could fast in the kingdom of God? There was no kneeling down, for why would one kneel in sorrow or penitence in the kingdom of God?

For our ancestors in the faith, the land of milk and honey was again a reality in Eastertime. Lent was a time to repent, to seek God's mercy, to receive and cherish the Gospel and to follow the Christ to whom we belong in Baptism. The church needed its Easter on the other side of the Three Days of the Triduum to answer the call to rejoice in all that our God has done. The way Lent shaped a church, the way Lent got people into being the church continued on into the season of Easter. The church – the people – were taken up into all they could never be alone. It was all the gift and the kingdom of God.

The question, then, is this: How do we enter Eastertime when we gather now on its Sundays? Each of these Sundays of the Fifty Days the community gathers to open the scriptures to the same book that tells our faith history. We proclaim from the Acts of the Apostles and we look back to stories of our origins, to stories from the first years and decades of the church, to times when the word was spreading around the Mediterranean and then beyond. The telling of these stories, like all family stories, was shaped by what happened later, by what needed to be remembered and by the present moment as well as the past.

Today's few lines from Acts of the Apostles come early among those stories and seem to speak to our ideal of how we should be and act as church:

"We devote ourselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of bread and to the prayers. Awe comes upon all of us, and many wonders and signs are done through the apostles. All of us who believe are together and hold all things in common.

We sell our property and our possessions and divide them among all according to each one's need. Every day we devote ourselves to meeting together in the temple area and to breaking bread in our homes. We eat our meals with exultation and sincerity of heart, praising God and enjoying favour with all the people. And every day the Lord adds to our number those who are being saved."

Read this out loud. Did you hear it? This is a model Christian community at work! What does this say to us today – here and now? No walls existed between the Eucharistic meal and the meals shared at the table, no lines were drawn between the church gathered at home and the church gathered on Sundays. Baptism meant entrance into a community of faith that changed your life. But the centuries seem to leave us today far from such a world.

Rev. Thomas G. Moore

That all our beloved dead, especially

TUESDAY, April 1
Weekday
8:30 a.m. - † Carmen Pace

WEDNESDAY, April 2
Weekday
8:30 a.m. - † Robert and Dorothea Flynn

FRIDAY, April 4
Weekday
8:30 a.m. - † Nelson Raposo

For the special intentions of all members of our parish family and in particular for:

THURSDAY, April 3
Weekday
8:30 a.m – Tom Donaghy