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.”

 

5th Sunday of Easter
May 2, 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:

A Love We Can Understand

We will hear about it in Sunday’s Gospel. God will be glorified and will glorify Jesus. He do it right away, Jesus says. But most of us admit that we do not understand what it means to give glory to God or to Jesus.

The word glory is defined as “very great praise, honor, or distinction bestowed by common consent.” I was at a concert a number of years ago in which the audience gave unrestrained, wild approbation to three performers, all of it deserved. We thundered appreciation and shouted and whistled after every song in a two and a half hour concert.

The performers were not much past twenty years old, but they had complete musical mastery. Half way through the concert I noticed that, without intending to, I had been smiling the whole time.

When at last they tried to close the concert, the audience threatened to mob them. One of the performers called out, “Everyone deserves this experience! We are going to line up the whole audience and each of you gets to come up here and have everybody go crazy over you!”

Maybe so, but how would we deserve it? A member of Nickel Creek (which, by the way, is the group I have been speaking about) had written a song that might show the real meaning of glory. It is called “The Hand Song.”* Here is the story.

A young boy breaks off some garden roses for his mother. Trouble is, she has been tending these roses with great care, and he has pulled them to pieces. The thorns dig into his hands as he brings his present to her. She lovingly extracts these thorny reminders of her roses,
and she knew it was love.

It was one she could understand.
He was showing his love
and that’s how he hurt his hands.

Some time later, held close on her lap, the boy listened stories from the bible. He saw a picture of Jesus and cried out, Momma, he’s got some scars just like me.

And he knew it was love.
It was one he could understand.
He was showing His love
and that’s how He hurt His hands.

Finally grown up, the young man is called by Uncle Sam. His “number” is drawn, and he throws himself in front of a friend to shield him from gunfire. He gave his life, a deed he had learned from the roses and the cross. “And they knew it was love. It was one they could understand. He was showing his love, and that’s how he hurt his hands.”

Did the boy/man earn “glory” in the usual sense of the word? He learned what love was and he gave it on the battlefield. It is a small story, with no stadiums of people to give applause.

And yet, isn’t love the very essence of human life? Jesus says so in this Sunday’s Gospel:

I give you a new commandment:
Love one another.
As I have loved you,
so you also should love one another.

This is a love we can understand. Jesus it without reserve on the cross. It hurt his hands. It took his life. The beauty of the pain and death he incurred for others is filled with quiet glory.

Can we love each other in this way? We may hurt our hands, but we will be part of his glory.
 

Greetings and Peace!

Hello and Peace!

Thank you all for being so understanding about the rescheduling of our monthly parish brunch. Our brunch IS scheduled for THIS SUNDAY!!!!

I hope you all like the new carpet in the chapel. Just one of the little things we can do to show our appreciation for having a chapel to call our home.

At this time, we are discussing ways to spread the word about our existence. We are considering taking out a ½ page ad in the Star Ledger. We think this will be a good way to tell people who we are, what we do, and of course, all are welcome to join us in celebration.

Remember that on Wednesday, May 12, our first gathering of “Holy Grounds” at Eclectic Café (444 Bloomfield Ave, Montclair) is scheduled for 7 pm. So if you can, please join us in an enjoyable evening of spirituality!

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.
 
Have a great week and we’ll see you all on Sunday! 

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