PASTOR’S MEANDERINGS
FIFTH SUNDAY EASTER “C”
23 – 24 APRIL 2016
STEWARDSHIP: In today’s Gospel, Jesus gives His disciples – and us – a new commandment:
“Love one another.” Good stewards who spend their time and talents in service to others are
well on their way to fulfilling this commandment.
Goethe
Kindness is the golden chain by which society is bound together.
READINGS SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER
1 MAY ‘16
Acts 15:1-2, 22-29: After the great Council of Jerusalem, Paul and Barnabas continue to work
for the inclusion of the Gentiles in the new covenant.
Rv. 21:10-14, 22-23: The apostle John shares his great vision of heaven, where Christ will
reign for ever and we shall see God face to face.
Jn. 14:23-29: Jesus teaches His apostles that they will become temples of the Holy Trinity,
and the Holy Spirit will be the guiding light of the Church.
St. John of the Cross
“The center of the soul is God, and when the soul has attained to Him according to the whole
capacity of its being, and according to the force of its operation, it will have reached the last
and deep center of the soul, which will be when with all its powers it loves and understands and
enjoys God.”
EASTER SEASON: Most people think of Easter as a single day. It’s never had the commercial
appeal of Christmas, and because it always falls on Sunday, most people don’t get an additional
day off from work. But for Catholics, Easter isn’t just a day, it’s a whole season. The Easter
season stretches all the way to the feast of Pentecost, when as a symbol of the change of
seasons we discontinue lighting the Paschal Candle at every Mass. Lent, which sometimes feels
like it’s stretching on forever, is actually forty days long. Easter, on the other hand, is all of fifty
days long. About these fifty days theologian Nathan Mitchell writes:
‘The great fifty days of Pentecost are not an unwelcome, unrealistic obligation to “party on,”
even if we don’t feel like it, but an invitation to explore more deeply “the weather of the
heart,” to awaken our memory of God’s presence and power in our lives, to look more closely
at all the rich and varied textures of creation.’
One way the church pursues this goal of seeing God present in the world is through the reading
of the Acts of the Apostles. At Masses all through the Easter season, our usual practice of
reading from the Old Testament is replaced by reading from the Acts of the Apostles. These
readings tell the story of the church’s earliest days, and the beginnings of our faith’s spreading
throughout the ancient world. These stories of heroism, controversies, persecutions and
miracles all testify to the continued presence of the Risen Christ in the world, through the lives
of His disciples, and the actions of the Holy Spirit.
All of this should be an encouragement and a sign of hope for us today. Despite war, violence,
personal struggles, and under-performing economy, issues dividing our society and challenging
our culture, and the uncertainties of the political climate, God has not abandoned us, nor left us
to our own devices. The Risen Savior is still with us. These 50 days of Easter ask us to reflect on
His presence, and – even in the face of danger or fear – to live with joy.
MONTHLY DEDICATIONS MONTH OF MAY AND MARY:
Each month of the calendar year has a special spiritual dedication, and May is the month
dedicated to Mary. January is dedicated to the Holy Name of Jesus or the Holy Childhood of
Jesus, February to the Holy Family, March to St. Joseph, April to the Holy Spirit or the Eucharist,
May to Mary, June to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, July to the Precious Blood or the Immaculate
Heart of Mary, August to the Blessed Sacrament, September to Our Lady of Sorrows, October to
the Rosary, November to the faithful departed and the Poor Souls in Purgatory, and December
to the Immaculate Conception.
MARY AND MAY: The Christian custom of dedicating the month of May to the Blessed Virgin
arose at the end of the 13th cent. In this way, the Church was able to Christianize the secular
feasts which were still in vogue at that time. In the 16 th cent., books appeared and fostered the
continuing growth in devotion to the Blessed Virgin.
The practice became especially popular among the members of the Jesuit Order – The May
devotion to our Lady in its present form originated in Rome where Father Latomia of the
Roman College of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), to counteract infidelity6 and immorality among
the students, made a vow to devote the month of May to Mary. The practice took hold among
the students of the Jesuits at the College in the 1700’s and in time it was publicly practiced in
the Gesu Church in Rome. From Rome the practice spread to other Jesuit colleges and in time
to nearly every Catholic church of the Latin rite.
The practice was granted a partial indulgence by Pius VII in 1815 and a plenary indulgence by
Pius IX in 1859. With the complete revision of indulgences in 1966 and the decreased emphasis
on specific indulgences, it no longer carries an indulgence; however it certainly falls within the
category of the First General Grant of Indulgences. (A partial indulgence is granted to the
faithful who, in the performance of their duties and in bearing the trials of life, raise their mind
with humble confidence to God, adding — even if only mentally — some pious invocation.
The month of May according to Pope Paul VI’s Encyclical on the Month of May is the "month
which the piety of the faithful has especially dedicated to Our Blessed Lady," and it is the
occasion for a "moving tribute of faith and love which Catholics in every part of the world [pay]
to the Queen of Heaven. During this month Christians, both in church and in the privacy of the
home, offer up to Mary from their hearts an especially fervent and loving homage of prayer and
veneration. In this month, too, the benefits of God's mercy come down to us from her throne in
greater abundance".
Following the Vigil Mass on Saturdays and the Sunday Masses during May the rosary will be
prayed. All are invited to join in taking part in this devotion which will take place on the choir
side of the church by the statue of Mary, unless otherwise indicated.
SACRAMENTS OF INITIATION: “The Sacraments of the New Testament were
instituted by Christ the Lord and entrusted to the Church. As actions of Christ and of the
Church, they are signs and means by which faith is expressed and strengthened, worship is
offered to God and our sanctification is brought about. Thus they contribute in the most
effective manner to establishing, strengthening and manifesting ecclesiastical communion.”
(The Code of Canon Law {CIC}, 1983. Canon 840).
From the time of the apostles, becoming a Christian has been accomplished by a journey
and initiation in several stages. This journey can be covered rapidly or slowly, but certain
essential elements will always have to be present: proclamation of the Word, acceptance of
the Gospel entailing conversion, profession of faith, Baptism itself, the outpouring of the
Holy Spirit, and admission to Eucharistic communion
During this Easter Season the Sacraments of Initiation are especially prominent in their
presentation and our participation in them as a congregation. On Holy Saturday night at the
Vigil Mass of Easter members of this year’s RCIA were baptized, confirmed and received their
First Communions. This coming weekend children of the parish will be receiving their First Holy
Communions at the various Masses celebrated on Saturday the 31st of April and Sunday the 1st
of May. And on two evenings in May, the 16th and 17th the youth of the parish will be
confirmed by Msgr. Lane.
According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church; 1212 “The sacraments of Christian initiation
- Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist - lay the foundations of every Christian life. "The
sharing in the divine nature given to men through the grace of Christ bears a certain likeness to
the origin, development, and nourishing of natural life. The faithful are born anew by Baptism,
strengthened by the sacrament of Confirmation, and receive in the Eucharist the food of
eternal life. By means of these sacraments of Christian initiation, they thus receive in increasing
measure the treasures of the divine life and advance toward the perfection of charity.”
These three sacraments are recognized as the three primary sacraments which the rest of our
life as a Christian depends. Originally tied very closely together, the three sacraments are now,
in the Western Church, celebrated at different milestones in our spiritual lives. (In the Eastern
Church, both Catholic and Orthodox, all three sacraments are still administered to infants at the
same time.)
The Sacrament of Baptism
This is the first of the sacraments of initiation, and serves as our entrance into the life of God
and His Church forming us into God’s people as we are gifted with the dignity of being His
adopted children, a new creation through water and the Holy Spirit.. Through Baptism, we are
cleansed of Original Sin and pardoned of all of our sins, and receive sanctifying grace, the life of
God within our souls. This grace prepares us for the reception of the other sacraments and
helps us to live our lives as Christians – in other words, to rise above the cardinal virtues, which
can be practiced by anyone, to the theological virtues of faith, hope and charity, which can only
be practiced through the grace of God.
To be continued.
SAINT OF THE WEEK:
CATHERINE OF SIENA, VIRGIN & DOCTOR
1347-1380
29 APR
Catherine was the youngest of twenty-five children. At the age of six, she began to have the
mystical experiences which she would have throughout her life. Catherine resisted the urging
of her parents to marry, and entered the Third Order Dominicans when she was sixteen.
Her calling was to minister to the ill in hospitals and Catherine devoted herself to caring for
those with particularly distressing illnesses such as leprosy. Increasingly, she experienced
visions of Christ, Mary, and the saints. Her supernatural gifts and her outspoken support of the
pope attracted ardent supporters, as well as enemies. The later caused her to be brought
before a chapter general of the Dominicans in 1374 at Florence where, upon investigation, the
accusations against her were dismissed.
Returning to Siena, Catherine dedicated herself to caring for those stricken by a plague that was
devastating the city, as well as to ministering to condemned prisoners. She was widely
acclaimed for her holiness and for her abilities as a peacemaker. In 1376. Catherine was
instrumental in returning the papacy to Rome from Avignon, France, where it had been moved
some seventy years earlier. She also helped reconcile the differences between the city-state of
Florence and the Holy See, a situation which had caused great turbulence throughout all of
Italy.
On Pope Gregory XI’s death in 1378, the great schism of the Catholic Church began when Urban
VI’s election as pope was disputed by a group of dissident cardinals. This group elected an
antipope and set up a papal court in Avignon. Catherine worked unceasingly to secure support
for Urban though she never hesitated to criticize him for some of his actions. The pope brought
her to Rome as his advisor, where she continued her efforts on his behalf until her death in
1380.
St. Catherine of Siena is the patroness of Italy, of fire prevention, and of nursing. She was
declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Paul VI in 1970.
Catholic Easter Prayer
Lord, the resurrection of Your Son
has given us new life and renewed hope.
Help us to live as new people
in pursuit of the Christian ideal.
Grant us wisdom to know what we must do,
the will to want to do it,
the courage to undertake it,
the perseverance to continue to do it,
and the strength to complete it.
source: New Saint Joseph People's Prayer Book