In the days to come, I invite you to keep your eyes fixed on the Lord and on the mission that he
has entrusted to us all. Let us come together as a family of faith, “striving to preserve the unity of the
Spirit through the bond of peace” (Eph 4:3).
I joyfully congratulate you on this day of re-dedication and consecration, and as we await the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost Sunday, I join you in prayer, in this our upper room, for a fresh outpouring of the Spirit, such that Resurrection Parish will radiate far and wide the glory of God shining on the face of the Risen Christ, and may God bless you and keep you always in his love!
If we are to have a future, it must be a future of love. The world’s anger passes away into oblivion, but Christ’s love is eternal. Only love is credible. Only love drives the Church’s mission forward.
Today’s Scriptures turn the phrase, ‘to give as good as you get’, on its head. They inspire us not only to transform the meaning of that phrase, but they also reveal why and how our lives should be different, radically different, from the world around us.
In 1960 — two years before the start of the Second Vatican Council — Pope John XXIII established 10 preparatory commissions to lay the foundation of what would become a landmark event opening up the church to the modern world.
By listening to the Word of God, by sharing in Jesus sacrifice on the Cross, and by receiving his Body and Blood under the form of bread and wine, you are being joined to Christ as closely as branches are joined to the vine.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus shows us a better way to be connected. . . connected not just culturally, morally, legally, or electronically – but connected in love.
By willing it, we “give God permission” to unite us to himself and one another by means of his abundant graces flowing from him to us through the Church. In a word, you and I have to decide how, when, and where we will allow the Lord to take us to himself and make us a part of his People.
Above all else let us take this opportunity to think back and to express our gratitude to God for having called us to share in his priesthood, for inviting us to give our lives at the service of announcing the Good News of Salvation, and beg him for the grace to continue to live out this call faithfully, that we might imitate what we celebrate and conform our lives to the mystery of the Lord’s Cross.
The work is so very important. The ministry is so very challenging. The needs are many. But as you leave here take heart: This is God’s work. It will endure. God can take the love and goodness you offer to those who need his healing and multiply that in abundance –such that many may once again know the love and mercy of God.
If we have been mentored by others, let us in turn mentor others in the faith, not only by what we say but by the way we think, decide, and live, by our love for others, especially the poor, and by our readiness to give an account of our hope – with respect, gentleness, and kindness.
For like the Apostles in the reading from the Acts of Apostles, Bl. Michael McGivney bore courageous and loving witness to the Risen Lord, and not only that, he created a pathway for the laity to grow in holiness and to bear witness in their own lives to the truth and reality of the Resurrection, the source of new life, the reason for our hope, the cause of our joy.
