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.”

 

6th Sunday of Easter
May 9, 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:

Closer Than Ever

Your best friend is leaving town. There is no way to change things, it is certain. What do you do with your sorrow?

Jesus told Mary Magdalene he had to go to the Father. He had plunged into death and swam to shore, but he could not stay on in this world. We grieve. But in Sunday's liturgy, he says, “If you loved me you would rejoice.”

This is the story of the Gospel for Sunday. The crucifixion took him away from us and his ascension will make it final. The apostles are slow to accept this.

Sounds like what we experience at a funeral. We are truly glad that our beloved no longer has the pains and shortages of this life. But what about us? We do not get our burden lifted, we get more added to it. We are lonely for the loved one who has gone.

But then, surprise, Jesus tells the disciples something quite puzzling. “Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. I am going away and I will come back to you.”

Going away and coming back? What kind of sense does that make?

It is hard to express in a few words, but of course the present writer will rush in. It may seem abstract, but let's give it a try, and please have patience.

(1) Start with the pre-Jesus world. God the Father had been with the people for all ages. The First Testament tells about this over and over.

Throughout these ages, God the Father remained unknowable in very important ways. Moses is not allowed to look directly. God says, “I will set you in the hollow of the rock and will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand, so that you may see my back [really it says “so that you may look upon my hindermost quarters”]; but my face is not to be seen. To see God directly would destroy a human being (see Exodus 33:18-23).

(2) To close this gap, God decided to show us everything about himself in a way we can understand. He spoke out his very self and he used a Word that left nothing unsaid. Humanity is the language he used, and Jesus was the Word spoken in that language. Now God can be known because we can know Jesus.

(3) Jesus dies, resurrects and ascends to the Father from whom he came. Are we abandoned? No. Just like the Father did, Jesus speaks out his own very self in another Word that leaves nothing of himself unsaid. That Word is the Holy Spirit.

This Spirit is the full reality of the divine/human being called Jesus, and is already the very interior Spirit of God. We are to be closer to Jesus and to the Father than the apostles were!*

If you and I say yes to this Spirit, we will know Jesus just as sheep know the voice of their shepherd. In knowing Jesus we will know the Father. We will find him in the Mass, in the Great Eucharistic Sacrament, in prayer, in the people around us. We will be side by side with each other, in the closest possible presence of the God of love.

Was it too abstract? Well, it is the story of our very fleshly life with God on this earth. Let us put it into action.
 

Greetings and Peace!

Hello and Peace!

This Sunday is of course a very special day! And to help us celebrate this Mother’s Day, Kathy and Jane will be holding a Mother’s Day plant sale. So please don’t forget to pick up something for mom! We all know by now the quality of the products Kathy provides for us is first rate. And you’ll be helping the parish out as well.

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.

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!

We are also planning to form a parish choir.  If anyone is interested to share their talents in singing or playing an instrument, please contact Geety or Anthony.

We’ve all seen over the past weeks how attendance at our Sunday mass has been astounding. And there is no better sign of how our parish is growing. Our parish council will be meeting to discuss the direction our parish is headed, and what we can do for each other and the community as we grow ever larger.

In the parish where I grew up it was customary for one of our priest's to make a "visitation" to each of the homes of the parishioners of the parish. I would like to revive this custom in our parish. In order to do this I will need to ask you to help me coordinate the effort, so if you would like me to visit we can create a schedule for this to happen.

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