June 2025 Newsletter – Heart and Life

As in water face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects the man.

Many passages in Scripture discuss our outward bearing, our words, the way we treat others as a reflection of what is within us. Is that a sorry prospect for us? Is our first instinct to work on covering up and over those things that are not so pleasant? If that is our instinct, and if we are truthful, we quickly realize that covering up isn’t going to work. Remember our parents telling us that lies only compound lies. If we are old enough to remember the Watergate scandal, we may recall one of the lessons learned: The coverup is often worse than the crime. It is daunting to recognize the brokenness we may have, taking account of those things that are not so good, how they seep out of us in words and actions, and how they turn our thoughts to evil things. Thankfully there is a whole bunch of medicine offered this June.

There is of course the gifts we receive from the Holy Spirit celebrated on Pentecost – particularly Wisdom and Understanding that help us recognize what is broken and commit to all need to heal. On Trinity Sunday we see the relationship of the Father, Son, and Spirit and aspire to the mutual love They have. In the Holy Eucharist celebrated in the Octave of Corpus Christi we draw close to Jesus and take Him into ourselves – He Who is the source of all healing and love. On The Solemnity of the Word we ascent to God’s Word given to us, to walking the way Jesus showed we must walk. There we find ideal compliance with God’s way of life.

Throughout the month we most particularly focus on Jesus’ Sacred Heart. His heart is the model for ours. His outpouring is the manner by which we are healed. As His blood and water was poured out for the sake of love and healing, let us set to work on carrying the image of His heart stamped on our hearts so that His heart in us shines forth in our outward bearing.

Welcome to our June 2025 Newsletter. June is all vocations. Prayer for vocations, support for vocations, good news about vocations and so much more. We celebrate five wonderful Solemnities this month – :Pentecost, Trinity Sunday, Corpus Christi and its Octave, the Sacred Heart, and the Word of God. Let each speak to your heart. Also check out our summer activities, prayers for dad, PNA News, and our full calendar. Check it out and so much more in our June 2025 Newsletter.

Reflection for the Solemnity of Pentecost 2025

They were astounded, and in amazement they asked, “Are not all these people who are speaking Galileans? Then how does each of us hear them in his native language?”

Let us take account of those in the upper room under the leadership of not quite leaders, the Apostles.

Apostle itself, a word meaning one sent. Disciples learn, Apostles are sent. What were these sent ones doing locked upstairs and out-of-the-way?

Now certainly they were following Jesus’ instruction: not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. (Acts 1:4)

Could or should they have done more in the interim? Were opportunities lost in that ten-day period between the Ascension and the descent of the Holy Spirit?

That is a whole bunch of observations and hanging questions.

First, as noted, they were from Galilee or very near. Only Judas wasn’t. Their Galilean accent was different from the Judean one. They stood out. Remember on the night of Jesus’ arrest the woman at the fire identified Peter by his Galilean accent. One interesting thing, and something often misinterpreted, was that these were simple and ignorant men. They were not.

Galilee was a cosmopolitan region. People were more educated, were exposed to more of the world. A good number of the apostles were businessmen. They were not fools.

Like us, these Apostles were ready to be leaders, they were intelligent, they had already been sent, they knew that they had to get to work because if they did not the salvation Jesus offered would be lost to others.

Jesus knew their knowledge, skills, and abilities. He knew they needed just one more thing, the inspiration, gifts, guidance, and power the Holy Spirit offers, so He asked the Father, and the Father sent the Holy Spirit.

All the observations and questions we covered earlier apply equally to us. As with them, we must each lead, go out as ones sent, and follow Jesus’ instruction. And… we have all we need because we have the Holy Spirit here.

The opportunities await and can be easily lost unless we act.. 

Reflection for the 7th Sunday of Easter 2025

“I made known to them Your name and I will make it known, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them and I in them.”

Christ is risen! Alleluia!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Over the past month we have focused on the ways Jesus reveals the Father. Jesus reveals the Father so that we might know Him and most particularly know His great love.

As we discussed several weeks ago, the Father’s nature and character is love. It is love expressed in relationship with the Son and Spirit. It is love expressed in the extension of that relationship to us, and our participation in it.

St. John captures this revelation so well (why it is called the Book of Revelation) in recording: The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” Let the hearer say, “Come.” Let the one who thirsts come forward, and the one who wants it receive the gift of life-giving water.

Today, we see Adrianna with her parents and godparents doing this very thing. She will be asked through her godparents: What do you ask of the Church? The answer: Baptism. In all its fullness the answer is: I want to come in, to receive, and to have a share in the great love the Father offers.

Throughout the Easter Season in the Asperges, the blessing with Holy Water at the start of each Sunday Holy Mass we are reminded of our own baptism. In Polish this Easter Rite is known by the title of the hymn that is sung: Widziałem Wodę, in Latin: Vidi Aquam, in English: I Saw Water.

Consider that the sight of water flowing from the right side of the Temple as in the vision of Ezekiel (Ez. 47) and from Jesus’ right side on the cross is not just something to be observed, looked at from a distance, but rather something we must run toward and enter so that it touches each part of us. Let us enter that washing and filling where love is made new each day.

The gift of God’s love resides in us both now in an imperfect sense and in eternity perfectly. The gift is new for Adrianna today and will abide in her as it does in all of us. Let us together ensure we live out that love and help her do so. 

Reflection for the 6th Sunday of Easter 2025

“Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.”

Christ is risen! Alleluia!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Last week we discussed Jesus’ continuing revelation of the Father, His nature and character, and the interrelationship of the Father, Son, and Spirit.

In a few short weeks we will celebrate the mysteries Jesus is revealing to us as we encounter Trinity Sunday, Sunday in the Octave of Corpus Christi, and the Solemnity of God’s Word.

Today Jesus is discussing that fruit of the Father’s love which is peace. We who are the object of the Father’s love are given the gift of peace – a peace greater than the world can give.

Jesus’ offer of peace is given before His arrest, crucifixion, and death. Facing this, Jesus tells the Apostles to be untroubled and unafraid.

We know in retrospect that they did not immediately listen. Most ran away and hid behind locked doors in fear. Jesus literally had to break through those locked doors with His risen body to show them the truth of what He had said. Finally, with the gift of the Spirit they lived in His peace, unafraid.

The Apostles had something so powerful, so wonderful. They had an assurance of peace flowing from love. What is equally excellent is that we have the exact same thing.

In our Offertory/Secret Prayer we will hear: Grant that we may be ready to receive the peace and love of Your risen Son.

How important it is that we do, that we continually revive our trust in Jesus’ promise of peace and that we live unperturbed, unafraid, untroubled lives.

It is incumbent on us to live in trust.

Brothers and sisters, it is evident. Look at our parish, its situation fourteen years ago. We together decided to trust in God and move forward without the worrying and handwringing that destroys many communities. I could point out many parishes that do the same and those that unfortunately are hiding behind closed doors in trepidation and fear.

To trust and have peace is Jesus’ command and our choice. Let us live that way as we do His work. 

May 2025 Newsletter – Perfect Love

“For God so loved the world…”

In this Easter Season we hear much about God the Father’s character, i.e., what He is all about.

Each of us may see God the Father in different ways. Perhaps some really connect with what Jesus told us, He is our dad, a loving and caring Father. For others, we may see Him as a judge. Some may see in Him the balance of justice and mercy. St. John, the beloved disciple, would later write much about the character and nature of love as found in God: So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. (1 John 4:16-18) The thought of God as love moves John to talk about God’s love “perfected among us.” The Greek word translated “perfected” (teleios) means “reaching a goal”, or “finishing” and “completing” something. It is the word Jesus cried from the cross, “It is finished!” (John 19:30). Jesus was telling the world that in His death God’s redeeming work was finished, having reached the Father’s goal.

As much as John speaks of love he speaks of us. He uses words like we, us, and those who abide. God’s perfect love completed the work of salvation in Jesus on the cross, but we who abide here still have much to do. As we accord more and more to the way of Jesus we reach a perfection of love that is like the Father’s. We come into a unity of love as exists between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God’s love takes active action in us reaching love’s goal and causing His Kingdom to grow. We have a goal we are headed toward. So, let us live His love in greater and greater ways, eventually reaching that point where we can truly empty ourselves for love of our brothers and sisters, and can say along with Jesus, we have completed our work.

Welcome to our May 2025 Newsletter. A bit late, but here nonetheless. We continue to celebrate the fifty day Easter Season. We celebrate our moms and our heavenly mother, Mary. We look forward to great summer events – read up on them. All that and more in our May 2025 Newsletter.

Reflection for the 5th Sunday of Easter 2025

“This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Christ is risen! Alleluia!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

As we have been journeying through this fifty-day celebration of Easter, we may have noticed one theme that re-emerges week after week. That theme is Jesus’ revelation of Who His Father is.

That revelation was made clear from the cross, where obedience to the Father’s will caused His very Son, Jesus, to give Himself up to death to save us.

From the empty tomb we learned that the resurrected Lord appearing in glorified body had opened the gates of heaven to us. We will be like Him in that same glory for all of eternity.

Last Sunday we heard Jesus tell us that the Father, upon His throne, holds us in His hands. The Father declares that we are His and no one can take us away from Him.

Today, Jesus speaks of the Father’s powerful love. Love is what motivates God, love is His character. God is the perfection of love.

The perfection of love calls us to love, calls us to move our love from imperfect to perfect.

God’s perfect love is now in the Church by Jesus’ very command: “I give you a new commandment: love one another.”

Jesus speaks of glory: “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him.”  What we might understand of glory is far removed from God’s self-understanding of what glory entails. Glory is simply perfect love.

Glory is not crowns or treasures or power in the earthly banal sense, but rather a treasury of love that we can draw from. As we draw from it, we have cause to share, grow, and perfect love (by God’s grace) in ourselves and in our interactions with others.

St. John in Revelation shares his vision of the new heaven and the new earth. That reality is very much dependent on our cooperation with God and our work in building His Kingdom.

We will not get it done through earthly power nor riches or special wisdom. That work is completely dependent on how well we love.

Reflection for Good Shepherd Sunday 2025

“My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all, and no one can take them out of the Father’s hand.”

Christ is risen! Alleluia!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

The eternal creating God, the just God holds us like this.

Jesus calls out a very key point we sometimes fail to grasp. We may miss it because of images like that of Jesus cradling the lamb. In calling Himself the Good Shepherd, it is natural to focus only on the image of Jesus as Shepherd. Yet, what Jesus calls us to today is focus on His Father in heaven holding us. 

The Father, upon His throne, holds us in His hands. The Father declares that we are His and no one can take us away from Him. 

We could liken this image to that of a father or mother holding their infant in their arms as they rock away in a chair. We, through our experiences, have all seen that image of perfect love and care, of defense and protection. Love when poured out before our eyes, is naturally understood.

Today we are called to see our Heavenly Father doing that for us. His magnificent, overwhelming, and unconditional love is poured out on us as He holds us. 

Some smarty-pants people when talking about our faith, and they are usually ‘insiders,’ make ridiculous statements like love is more important than doctrine. That is because their definition of doctrine is corrupted. In this 1700th year of the Nicaean Creed which we will profess in a few moments we declare a doctrine the tells us who God is.

And this is Who He is: A Father sending His beloved Son into the world and to the Cross for us; A Father with love so great that He spent it all to bring us into His arms.

If we live what we believe we live love. If we are one with the Father and Son in the Spirit, we bear the image of our loving God.

Yesterday, we experienced the ordination of a new shepherd in the model of Jesus. Fr. Sean. Toward the end of the Holy Mass, after pledging his obedience, the Prime Bishop leaned over and gently kissed him on top of his head. The shepherd’s love in the model of the Father exemplified. I cried because God opened my eyes to see that He loves us like that.

Reflection for the 3rd Sunday of Easter 2025

“Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.”

Christ is risen! Alleluia!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

There is an amazing amount of material and symbolism contained in today’s gospel message.

Seven of the remaining eleven Apostles have gone back to their former way of life, and their former failures. As when Jesus first called Simon, James, and John their nets were empty.

Jesus tells them to try again – meaning not just the fishing, but the ministry they were called to.

Jesus is not big on going back or backsliding. He wants us to, through the power of His resurrection, move forward, to persevere in the ministry we have been given.

After the catch and their recognition of Jesus, Peter finds himself undressed and quickly covers himself and then swims toward the Lord. Peter takes the first step in recovering himself with grace, putting on not just clothes, but the Lord.

Jesus reasserts His resurrected humanity at the campfire by the lake where He eats with them. During that meal, they are reminded of that supper they shared with the Lord before His death, and they are recalled to the ministry of that supper.

Jesus calls Simon Peter aside to reconcile his betrayals. Jesus questions him about his love. In the original Greek, Simon Peter says he loves Jesus as a ‘brother.’ Jesus is asking him if he loves Him with his whole self – just as Jesus loves us.

Even though Simon’s answer is weak, Jesus still calls him to feed and tend His followers, recalling him to ministry.

Finally, Jesus tells Peter that he will have to forego his sense of self-determination and self-control. Jesus tells him that he will learn to let go, even to the point of sacrificing his life for the life Jesus offers.

Like the Apostles that day let us hear Jesus’ call and offer Him all our love. Allow Him to take control of our lives.

Reflection for Low Sunday 2025

Many signs and wonders were done among the people at the hands of the apostles.

Christ is risen! Alleluia!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

We all may have heard of the term ‘shock and awe.’ That term first emerged as a military strategy based on the use of overwhelming power and spectacular displays of force to paralyze the enemy’s perception of the battlefield and destroy their will to fight. While as a concept, the term and strategy had been around for some time, it came into the public lexicon during the Gulf Wars against Iraq. 

We might perceive the day of the resurrection and its following week as a time of shock and awe. The overwhelming power of God was fully on display as the resurrected Jesus appeared to His followers over and over. God’s might was spectacularly displayed.

We would all like to think that if we were there we would get it, understand. But, that’s unlikely.

In the first hours after the resurrection Mary Magdalene understood. John the Apostle got it. The disciples on the road to Emmaus had their eyes opened and Simon Peter finally understood. The rest, well, it took them time.

As we proceed through this season of joy, we will arrive at that moment when Jesus is taken up into heaven, the Ascension. Even there, some of the Apostles did not believe. Scripture records in Matthew 28:17: When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted.

Jesus had appeared over and over, He ate and drank with them, built a campfire, helped them with their catch, and repeatedly offered them peace.

My brothers and sisters, it is ok to be like Thomas, like the others who  still doubted. The problem comes when we persist in doubt and when doubt turns sour.

Jesus’ direction is very clear. It starts with the peace He gives us, a peace beyond the absence of conflict. It is a grace of peace that allows us to stand in the midst of conflict and still be at peace – because we have Jesus. So let us take Jesus’ command to heart: do not be unbelieving, but believe.”

Reflection for the Solemnity of the Resurrection 2025

He saw and believed.

Christ is risen! Alleluia!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Today we encounter the greatest image ever, the empty tomb.

That image is the one, beyond the cross, that God wants us to remember most.

God envisioned that empty tomb for us. It is our hope, it is our comfort. Most importantly it is our assurance, the vision God has for us resurrected and with Him forever.

On that Easter morning, Jesus encounters His faithful in varieties of ways. He greets Mary Magdalene as the Gardener. He walks with the disciples on the Road to Emmaus. He enters the upper room. In each encounter we see God’s image of how life should be, lived with Jesus’ resurrected reality and in the family of faith. There is truly nothing better than to be loved to the extent God loves us.

We concluded on Palm Sunday by remembering the totality of God’s gift of love, great grace, restoration, and His amazing promise. Today we see the reality of that fulfilled promise at the empty tomb. As the Apostle John did,  let us see and believe it.