St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Parish is here for you.  Sunday Mass is at 12:00 noon at St Francis of Assisi Independent Catholic Chapel: 195 Ridgewood Avenue Glen Ridge, NJ.  Please call the parish office to arrange for the sacraments and please join us at our weekly mass.

“So that none might be Lost.”

 

3rd Sunday of Easter
April 18, 2010

Opening Prayer

Dear God, I am humbly in your presence.
Please open my heart and my mind
so that I may dwell
in your Spirit
in the midst of your assembly.

Second Preparation

I take a moment to remember
and look forward to Sunday

I think of the place where I will worship on Sunday.
I recall its many aromas…
I feel myself within it...

I listen…
I look...

I see
the presider
the readers
the people around me

We will be together, before God, in our faith

MEDITATION:

Do You Love Me?

Jesus asks Peter a question in Sunday’s Gospel. How would you feel if he asked the same question of you?

Here is the story. With Jesus gone, the former disciples were milling around on the shore of the Sea of Tiberius. Actually, Jesus had appeared to disciples twice before, but they did not yet understand. They had not yet received the Holy Spirit and were left at loose ends.

Peter got tired of standing around so he said, I’m going fishing, anybody want to come? They joined him gladly and they fished all night. This is unreasonable from our point of view, but maybe not from theirs. Maybe it was a way to handle stress.

Dawn revealed a man standing on shore.

In the boat, John, the mystic, the one Jesus loved especially well, whispered hoarsely, “It is the Lord”!! Peter hurled himself into the water and wobbled the hundred yards to shore, leaving to someone else the job of bringing in the boat. It seems that Peter, the denier, actually loved Jesus very much

And that is the question. Can you say you love Jesus very much?

He looks at your face and addresses you by your name. “Do you love me more than these?”

Such a question. What will you say? Give the answer to the Lord when you are ready, even if it isn't perfect. Put it into words. Don’t read further till you have done this.

When he hears you answer, listen to him say to you, “Feed my lambs.”

Phew. Thank God the trial is over and you don’t have to deal with any more questions like that.

But he asks you again by name, “Do you love me?”

What does the repeated question do to you? Peter came emotionally unglued and said loudly, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Our hearts go out to him, and also to you since you also have been asked a second time. What is your answer now? Take your time.

“Tend my sheep,” Jesus replies after you answer.

Then, yet again, not just twice but a third time, the tender but unnerving question, before you have had time to settle your mind and heart.

He says your name and asks, “Do you love me?” Let it echo inside you.

Does he suspect that you really do not love him? Consider your daily attitude toward Jesus and toward God. Do not say your answer lightly. Give it quietly in prayer to Jesus, or out loud if you wish. Take your time. Pay attention to how it feels to say it.

Maybe you will reply, “Lord, you know everything, you know that I love you,” as Peter did. Or do you have another answer? Something like, “Lord, you know everything, you know that I want to love you, but also I want to have a good life. You see the fear and the running away and the distraction I live by—are you going to condemn me for them? I want to love you but maybe not yet.”

Jesus answers, “Feed my lambs.”

Stay with it. Think about it. Pray about it.

Doesn’t it mean that we who are sinful can be part of Jesus’ mission? We don’t have to be perfect? We are forgiven? If the answer is yes, then let us act as the Body of Christ always does.

Feed his lambs.

 

Greetings and Peace!

Hello and Peace!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful week! Just because Easter is over, doesn’t mean there aren’t many exciting things in the weeks to come!!!!

We are looking to schedule our first spirituality group meeting “Holy Grounds” at Eclectic Café (444 Bloomfield Avenue, Montclair) for Wednesday, May 12 at 7:00 PM. Come and join us for some fellowship, stimulating conversation, and delightful gourmet coffees!

During the week of July 28 to July 31 my Religious Order will be gathering for our summer Chapter and retreat, entitled “Turned to the Lord”. I want to take this opportunity to invite and encourage all of you to join us for some or part of the retreat. It will be held in at St. Francis Retreat Center, 3918 Chipman Road Easton, PA. During the retreat Anthony and Geety will be clothed in the habit of our Order, the Franciscan Community of Mercy. The clothing will be followed by a celebratory meal, and it would be nice if we could, as a parish, support Anthony and Geety. I will let you know the date and time of the Clothing.
 
We are preparing to launch our new website. Geety has been working very diligently on developing a “new” look for our parish community. The new website has a menu listing our ministries. We need your help in suggesting copy for the following: Children’s Educational Program, Social Ministry and ???
 
Janet has offered to help us with a Mother’s Day fundraiser by selling the beautiful jewelry she crafts. Janet will be able to do this on the two Sundays preceding Mother’s Day.
 
Over the next three week we should be getting the new carpet for the chapel. We have had a benefactor who has contributed a significant amount of the cost, and your generosity as a parish has provided the remainder of the funds, thank you.

Blessings,
Most Rev. Dr. George Lucey,  DD, FCM
Presiding Bishop of the American National Catholic Church

A parish community of the American National Catholic Church Jurisdiction