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.”

 

2nd Sunday of Lent
February 28, 2010

Opening Prayer

Great and faithful God,
to those who seek you with a sincere heart
you reveal the splendor of your face.
Strengthen our faith in the mystery of the cross;
and grant us hearts attuned to discipleship,
so that we may follow, as faithful disciples,
your Son, your Chosen One, Jesus the Christ,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God for ever and ever.  AMEN.

MEDITATION:

An Offer You Can Refuse
 
The readings this Sunday will highlight God’s covenant with human beings, offered not once but often, and hardly ever heeded.

The great covenant-offer fits into just eleven words. “I will be your God and you will be my people.” God promises to love us greatly and in return we promise to love God above all things. Even our first parents and God had this relationship in the Garden of Eden, but God watched with anguish as their free will, the gift he had given them, suddenly rejected his love.

The First Reading shows him toiling to re-establish the covenant much later in history, after many such refusals. He singles out a paltry old nomadic man named Abram and says to him,

“Look up at the sky and count the stars, if you can.
Just so,” he added, “shall your descendants be.”

An impossible promise. What is Abram’s reaction?

Abram put his faith in the Lord.
God credited it to him as an act of righteousness.

This last word, righteousness, means something like “holiness,” or, “to be the person you ought to be when you are with God.” God is crediting Abram with fulfilling the covenant: receiving the offered love (“I will be your God”) and in return putting his faith in the Lord (“and you will be my people”). He was signing the agreement, so to speak.

Then an ancient sacrificial cult took place. As the sun was about to set, a trance fell upon Abram. A deep, terrifying darkness enveloped him. Fire appeared among animals that Abram had slain. God spoke, promising a homeland, the “promised land,” to Abram and his descendants. This symbolized God’s half of the covenant.

The other half was up to Abram and his wife Sara. After a very long time they had a son in their extreme old age (Genesis 18: 10ff), and the son’s descendents ran in and out of the covenant. As time went by the agreement was forgotten and ignored.

So, when the time was right, God thought up a brilliant solution. Instead of speaking from on high, or through prophets, he would himself take shape on earth as Jesus, the Messiah, the Christ.

In the first place, Jesus was the very love God had offered for so many centuries. But he was also the people’s loving response, since he was completely a human being. As a human he could say to the Father with complete fidelity, “You are our God, and we are your people, unto death.” As God he could completely accept and trust the covenant.

Think of it. As the God/man Jesus was able to fulfill both halves of the covenant.

There is another covenant ceremony in Sunday’s Gospel. It has a lot in common with the one Abram had gone through. Jesus is transfigured, his clothes dazzling as fire—a counterpart to the fire in the First Reading. Just as with Abram, terrifying darkness closes in. Within the darkness, God’s voice repeats the covenant. “This is my chosen Son; listen to him.”

These words are addressed to us as well. The covenant is finally fulfilled, but we have to opt into it. We have let ourselves be joined to Jesus in his fidelity to God. In Baptism we begin this.

We continue it in each Mass we attend, each communion we receive. We say “Amen” to it.

Try it this Sunday.

Fr. John Foley, S. J. of the Center for Liturgy

 
 

Greetings and Peace!

Hello Everyone and Peace!

Well, again, together as a parish community we gave started our journey with Christ toward Calvary and Easter. Let us pray that God will give us the grace of perseverance to sustain us in our Lenten disciplines.

We had a very fruitful parish council meeting last Sunday. The council has resumed sharing responsibility for planning our community liturgies through Easter. We need some help with our Holy Week liturgies. Please sign to help us with the readings, prayers, singing, and altar service. Anthony or Stephanie will have a sign up sheet.

Heidi has agreed to take the lead in developing our parish catechism program. I will order some materials to begin with. Any help with this would be most appreciated.

Anthony has agreed to help with the Mission Notes and we can direct any information to him for inclusion in the Notes to conrail77@aol.com

Remember this Sunday, Feb. 28 is our first parish brunch. Please join us as we get to know one another, and bring your favorite dish!

We will wait till Spring to start our Holy Grounds meeting at Café Eclectic.

Many of you know one of parishioners, Pierre. He is walking to Washington, DC to raise awareness for the needs of children. We as a parish are sponsoring his efforts, in particular aiding him in finding possible safe places for him to rest and refresh for his journey.

Our jurisdiction, The American National Catholic Church is officially a corporate member of the International Council of Community Churches. This is a significant achievement for us, as the ICCC is a member of the World Council of Churches, and our participation in the ICCC gives us a real ecumenical presence. We as a parish of the ANCC will be able to share in the local activities of the ICCC.

Our next parish council meeting is March 14th at 10:30 A.M. Please try and join us as we will be preparing for our celebration of Passion Sunday, Holy Week, The Easter Vigil, and Easter Sunday.

General Intercessions

As we recall Jesus’ transfiguration and renew our commitment to listen to him, let us also present our petitions, saying: (Our response is:) Lord, transform us in your love.

May government and church officials listen to the voice of the poor and the weak instead of giving in to the demands of the rich and powerful, we pray:
Lord, transform us in your love.

That the radiant face of Christ may shine on all exiles and refugees and be a sign of encouragement to those burdened with sickness, we pray:
Lord, transform us in your love.

Like the apostles on the mountain may we be filled with wonder and have a deep desire to listen to God’s chosen Son. We pray:
Lord, transform us in your love.

Like St. Paul, may strive to honor the cross of Christ by imitating the one who died that we might live.  We pray:
Lord, transform us in your love.

For all women celebrating “International Women’s Day.  (pause)
May their dignity and rights be respected throughout the world; we pray:
Lord, transform us in your love.

God of love and mercy, give us the grace to rise above
our human weaknesses so that we may be faithful to your Son
and to the demands of the Gospel.
Grant this through Christ our Lord.  AMEN.

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