A Word from Your Pastor June 28 - Post Exile Coronavirus time

Dear Parishioners:

The Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul is celebrated June 29.  In some countries of the world, this is a Holy Day of Obligation.  It represents the connection of the Particular Churches (dioceses and archdioceses) to the Universal Church under the responsibility of the Pope, the successor to St. Peter.  It is a reminder to all of us that we are not meant to walk alone.

Jesus “rehabilitated” St. Peter on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, inviting him to make his threefold profession of Love for the Lord after his threefold denial.  The charge given to St. Peter was “Feed my sheep.”  Jesus shared His role as the Good Shepherd with Peter, inviting him to conversion and to the responsibility of strengthening his brothers in the ministry.

We must pray for the Holy Father, so that he may do what he is called to do in his ministry as universal shepherd.  The vision Pope Francis has been communicating to the Church since the moment of his election as Bishop of Rome is one that continuously reaches out to those who are marginalized.  Even in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, he is reminding the leaders that the poor must be kept in mind as all decisions are made.  It is always the poor who show whether we are living up to the call to Love.

The early Christian community was acknowledged as being something very special: “See how they love one another!”  There were no poor among them, because all who lived “the Way” shared what they owned and never called anything their own.  The common good was always in sight.

Our call today is to stay one in mind and heart.  If you find yourself in the pattern of thinking that always differentiates between “we” and “they” or “us” and “them,” then you need to open your mind and heart to the fact that God intends for all of us to be “one,” that is, “one” with Him and with one another.  The devil seeks to divide.  When our minds accept this sense of division as a primary way of thinking about the world, we are already lost.

The “Peter’s Pence” collection is made annually on the weekend before the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul.  It allows Pope Francis to be generous to the poor throughout the world in the name of the whole Church.  Please be generous!