Dear Friends,
My heart has been immensely filled with gratitude to God for all the blessings God has showered upon us as we have completed the three days celebration of the first anniversary of the dedication of our Church. I join with the Psalmist who sang of the beauty of God’s house saying: “How lovely is your dwelling place of Lord” (Psalm 85). For such grace to be able to worship in such a lovely dwelling place of God, I am filled with gratitude. This attitude of gratitude has become my song of sorts. I remember Maya Angelou who said in her book “Celebrations: Ritual of Peace and Prayer” this way: “Let gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel to say your nightly prayer. And let faith be the bridge you build to overcome evil and welcome good.” I am so sad to know of one of our former parishioners who left us and his reason for leaving us was because he thought we didn’t need a new church as he thought that the hall we used was good enough.
Today we celebrate the 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Times and the readings prescribed for us today invite us to see what a sacred place, a sanctuary can do for us and what it says about the people who worship in the dwelling place of God. The Book of Nehemiah speaks about Ezra the priest who read from the scroll about the Law of the Lord and those who listened to him were weeping as they heard the words of the law. Ezra the priest would say: “Today is holy to the Lord your God. Do not be sad, and do not weep.” The Gospel of Luke tells us how Jesus himself would go to the synagogue to offer prayers and would read from the scrolls and teach them. Being a devout Jesus he himself would trek days together to visit the Great Temple in Jerusalem to offer his prayers to the Father. This is what we do as followers of Christ. We set aside a space dedicated for this purpose and continue to offer the best sacrifices of all, “The Eucharist” in memory of him who offered himself to the Father that each time we celebrate the Eucharist we bring alive the sacrifice that Jesus offered to his Father on Calvary. Our God is a consuming fire, a jealous God (Deuteronomy 4:25) and He deserves better. How blessed are we to worship in this lovely dwelling place of God.
I am so very grateful to all of you for responding to our invitation to celebrate the anniversary of our church combined with the feast of Fr. Basil Moreau, the founder of the Congregation of Holy Cross. The organ recital by Rudy Lucente was outstanding and those who were present were in for a big treat. He truly mesmerized us.
The Adoration on Saturday was another way to sit at the feet of the Lord singing his praises. I thank all those who made it a point to visit the church and spend some precious time with the Eucharistic Lord.
I thank all of you for joining the Eucharist and the picnic a grand celebration in the true spirit of the word. We had an astounding variety of rich side dishes and dessert. Thanks to Lynn Vera, Drema Tellson, Schonda Rodriguez and the incredibly committed kitchen crew of SJE, and the many number of volunteers who helped to make our celebrations a true blessing to our parish. All I want to say to those who could not make it for any one of the celebrations, we truly missed you.
The work on the courtyard is in full swing. I wanted so much for it to be blessed on the first anniversary, but due to so many factors the work got delayed. It should all be ready for the blessing on Saturday, 2nd of February 2019. There is a big surprise waiting for you that day. Give yourself a treat by attending the blessing of the courtyard at 5.30 p.m. after the 4.30 p.m. Mass on 2nd February, 2019.
Have a Blessed Week! With love
Fr. John