Church of St. Mary at Clinton Heights

I just sent the following note to all 175 of our parishioners who are involved in any of our liturgical ministries following Bishop Edward Scharfenberger’s visit to our 8:30 Sunday morning liturgy on February 22nd, the First Sunday of Lent:

 

Dear liturgical ministers,

First of all, let me thank you for the ministry you share so wonderfully with our parish, with the Church, and with God Himself.  Every time we gather in Clinton Heights for Mass, you know already how we take our place and join with the one heavenly liturgy that is constantly adoring and worshiping God.  And each time our community worships, I am so very pleased to preside and help lead us to a holy service.

This morning’s 8:30am Mass was definitely no different, yet with very short notice that Bishop Scharfenberger was coming to preside!  You might have noticed that throughout our prayer, Bishop Scharfenberger was taking us all in, and was so very pleased to be with us and shepherd us throughout.  Afterward, I took him over to our rectory and whipped up a tidy (yet fattening) little breakfast and we spoke at length about many things.  But the first thing he commented on were the various ministries and ministers.  He watched while our hospitality ministers ushered folks in from the cold with sincere welcome and care; how our numerous altar servers looked so comfortable yet reverent in their service; how our sacred scriptures were proclaimed clearly and with thought; how our music was uplifting and deep; how our Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion were humble and devout in their offerings; and how Deacon Tim served so well, especially since it’s not even been a year since his diaconal ordination.

For my part, I am rightly proud of each of you who offer yourselves for service, often at great personal cost to your comfort and/or convenience.  From the moment of the Collect (Opening Prayer), the bishop commented under his breath when he took his miter, “wonderful, thank you!”  I believed he meant that he was so relieved to find a parish in our great diocese that could welcome him with ease and distinction, and still with an appropriate level of solemnity and respect for the liturgical norms of the Universal Church.  Later, he said it was because he noted no hesitation to “simply be” with him, as the servers approached and attended to his every need as presider and bishop.  Wow!  Honestly, he was so very happy to feel welcomed and at home with us…and for that, all of you, and our entire parish family, deserve to receive the recognition and honor of such a beautiful compliment.

So, in the end, as I’ve just finished the dishes and am getting ready to go practice my golf swing at the simulator on this wonderfully sunny day, I wanted to be sure to get this note out to all of you: thank you, thank you!  All your hard work in ministry shone forth this morning–as usual–and for that–and for you–I am extremely grateful.

Praise God, with love, Fr. David

Happy to announce: Bishop Scharfenberger’s office just called to say that His Excellency will be our presider at tomorrow’s 8:30am Sunday Mass!  I warned them of the coming snow, but they responded, “Snow won’t stop him!”  Let’s welcome Bishop Edward warmly!

Spiritual writer Henri Nouwen guides us: “In a world that constantly asks us to make up our minds about other people, a nonjudgmental presence seems nearly impossible…but it is one of the most beautiful spiritual fruits of deep spiritual life and will be easily recognized by those who long for reconciliation.”

Moreover, such a stance allows us to seek reconciliation with others, rather than keep them at bay and isolated, lost, drifting.  When we take the energy and effort of judgment and transform it into authentic love, there we will witness true charity to toward ‘the other’ as ‘another’.

Every time the Lord Jesus was to enter more deeply into His saving mission, he went off to a quite place where he could be still and know the closeness of his Father.  May we take some time and give some effort to being quiet and still with God today.  Maybe it means we’ll start the car on this very chilly day and then let it idle into warmth as we simply sit, rest, and are stilled.  If you reach out to the Lord in some way such as this, know that you’re longing and reaching out to God, only because God is first longing and reaching out to you.

Each Ash Wednesday, the Holy Father follows his annual Lenten Message with a homily at Santa Sabina in Rome.  This year, Pope Francis delivered this moving message for us:

As God’s people, today we begin the journey of Lent, a time in which we try to unite ourselves more closely to the Lord Jesus Christ, to share the mystery of His passion and resurrection.

The Ash Wednesday liturgy offers us, first of all, the passage from the prophet Joel, sent by God to call the people to repentance and conversion, due to a calamity (an invasion of locusts) that devastates Judea. Only the Lord can save from the scourge, and so there is need of supplication, with prayer and fasting, each confessing his sin.

The prophet insists on inner conversion: “Return to me with all your heart” (2:12). To return to the Lord “with all [one’s] heart,” means taking the path of a conversion that is neither superficial nor transient, but is a spiritual journey that reaches the deepest place of our self. The heart, in fact, is the seat of our sentiments, the center in which our decisions and our attitudes mature.

That, “Return to me with all your heart,” does not involve only individuals, but extends to the community, is a summons addressed to all: “Gather the people. Sanctify the congregation; assemble the elders; gather the children, even nursing infants. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber. (2:16)”

The prophet dwells particularly on the prayers of priests, noting that their prayer should be accompanied by tears. We will do well to ask, at the beginning of this Lent, for the gift of tears, so as to make our prayer and our journey of conversion ever more authentic and without hypocrisy.

This is precisely the message of today’s Gospel. In the passage from Matthew, Jesus rereads the three works of mercy prescribed by the Mosaic law: almsgiving, prayer and fasting. Over time, these prescriptions had been scored by the rust of external formalism, or even mutated into a sign of social superiority. Jesus highlights a common temptation in these three works, which can be described summarily as hypocrisy (He names it as such three times): “Beware of practicing your piety before men in order to be seen by them … Thus, when you give alms, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do … And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by men … And when you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites. (Mt 6:1, 2, 5, 16)”

When you do something good, almost instinctively born in us the desire to be respected and admired for this good deed, to obtain a satisfaction. Jesus invites us to do these works without any ostentation, and to trust only in the reward of the Father “who sees in secret” (Mt 6,4.6.18).

Dear brothers and sisters, the Lord never ceases to have mercy on us, and desires to offer us His forgiveness yet again, inviting us to return to Him with a new heart, purified from evil, to take part in His joy. How to accept this invitation? St. Paul makes a suggestion to us in the second reading today: “We beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. (2 Cor 5:20)” This work of conversion is not just a human endeavor. Reconciliation between us and God is possible thanks to the mercy of the Father who, out of love for us, did not hesitate to sacrifice his only Son. In fact, the Christ, who was righteous and without sin was made sin for us (v. 21) when on the cross He was burdened with our sins, and so redeemed us and justified before God. In Him we can become righteous, in him we can change, if we accept the grace of God and do not let the “acceptable time (6:2)” pass in vain.

With this awareness, trusting and joyful, let us begin our Lenten journey. May Mary Immaculate sustain our spiritual battle against sin, accompany us in this acceptable time, so that we might come together to sing the exultation of victory in Easter.

Soon we will make the gesture of the imposition of ashes on the head. The celebrant says these words: “You are dust and to dust you shall return, (cf. Gen 3:19)” or repeats Jesus’ exhortation: “Repent and believe the gospel. (Mk 1:15)” Both formulae are a reminder of the truth of human existence: we are limited creatures, sinners ever in need of repentance and conversion. How important is it to listen and to welcome this reminder in our time! The call to conversion is then a push to return, as did the son of the parable, to the arms of God, tender and merciful Father, to trust Him and to entrust ourselves to Him.