Dear Friends,
Today we celebrate the 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time and the invitation for our contemplation and reflection is very clear: Hospitality. We hear from the Book of Genesis how hospitality has been ingrained in our Christian tradition from time immemorial and how Abraham, the Father of Faith, was the first one in the Scripture to exemplify what it is to be hospitable. We are told that Abraham went out of his way to invite the three totally unknown strangers in to his house saying, “Sir, if I may ask you this favor, please do not go on past your servant” (Genesis 18: 3). Then he washes their feet and provided for them a sumptuous food. What a delightful experience it must have been for the strangers who then appear to be angels in disguise. There is a popular icon created by Russian iconographer, Andrei Rublev, depicting this incident as the Theophany of the Trinity. It is called the “Holy Trinity” icon or the “Troitsa.” It is also called the icon of “The Hospitality of Abraham.” This icon is highly symbolic and is believed to be regarded as one of the highest achievements of Russian Art. It is considered the prototype of all future Holy Trinity icons.
In the gospel of Luke, we are treated to the passage where Martha and Mary show hospitality to Jesus and his disciples. Without hesitation I would say that being hospitable is one of the virtues I consider dear to me and making our parish one of the most welcoming parishes is one of my ambitious projects. Of course, I can’t do it alone and I am sure you are very much in line with me when I say that we cannot be a church community without being a welcoming community to start with. If we are not one such, then we go against the grains of being called a Christian. For we believe as Alexander Strauch says in The Hospitality Commands: “Hospitality is love in action. Hospitality is the flesh and muscle on bones of love.”
To this end I have already given a new thrust to our hospitality ministry. At this time, I want to especially recognize and thank our wonderful Greeters and Ushers and Hospitality Ministers who exude so much joy to those who enter the doors of the church. They are so gracious and smiling and selfless in their moto: to serve with love. I would love for more people to join this ministry in order to achieve our goal of making our parish the most welcoming community. Please support those that are serving in this ministry and say a special thanks to them when you see them. Well, you can’t miss them. We also have a wonderful team in the Welcoming Ministry who deal with the newly registered members. One of their chief responsibilities is to host a welcome dinner to the new comers. We are so blessed with so many in various ministries. Hats off to all them.
On behalf of Fr. John Patrick and myself, I thank you all for being such hospitable members and for the hospitality that you have shown us. I am still waiting for the invitation to visit with your family for a house blessing, prayer and dinner. If I have still not been to your house that means…. We have some work to do.
Always grateful to you for the way to support our parish.
We continue today to reflect on the Apostolic Letter of St. John Paul II on the importance of Sundays for us Catholics and how to keep it holy. He had written this lovely piece in 1998 with the title: Dies Domini. Let us set aside a little time to reflect on the following paragraphs.
With love,
Fr. John
CHAPTER III DIES ECCLESIAE (Continued)
The Eucharistic Assembly: Heart of Sunday
The table of the Body of Christ (Continued)
The Mass in fact truly makes present the sacrifice of the Cross. Under the species of bread and wine, upon which has been invoked the outpouring of the Spirit who works with absolutely unique power in the words of consecration, Christ offers himself to the Father in the same act of sacrifice by which he offered himself on the Cross. "In this divine sacrifice which is accomplished in the Mass, the same Christ who offered himself once and for all in a bloody manner on the altar of the Cross is contained and is offered in an unbloody manner".(70) To his sacrifice Christ unites the sacrifice of the Church: "In the Eucharist the sacrifice of Christ becomes also the sacrifice of the members of his Body. The lives of the faithful, their praise, sufferings, prayer and work, are united with those of Christ and with his total offering, and so acquire a new value".(71) The truth that the whole community shares in Christ's sacrifice is especially evident in the Sunday gathering, which makes it possible to bring to the altar the week that has passed, with all its human burdens.
Easter banquet and fraternal gathering
- The communal character of the Eucharist emerges in a special way when it is seen as the Easter banquet, in which Christ himself becomes our nourishment. In fact, "for this purpose Christ entrusted to the Church this sacrifice: so that the faithful might share in it, both spiritually, in faith and charity, and sacramentally, in the banquet of Holy Communion. Sharing in the Lord's Supper is always communion with Christ, who offers himself for us in sacrifice to the Father".(72) This is why the Church recommends that the faithful receive communion when they take part in the Eucharist, provided that they are properly disposed and, if aware of grave sin, have received God's pardon in the Sacrament of Reconciliation,(73) in the spirit of what Saint Paul writes to the community at Corinth (cf. 1 Cor 11:27-32). Obviously, the invitation to Eucharistic communion is more insistent in the case of Mass on Sundays and holy days.
It is also important to be ever mindful that communion with Christ is deeply tied to communion with our brothers and sisters. The Sunday Eucharistic gathering is an experience of brotherhood, which the celebration should demonstrate clearly, while ever respecting the nature of the liturgical action. All this will be helped by gestures of welcome and by the tone of prayer, alert to the needs of all in the community. The sign of peace — in the Roman Rite significantly placed before Eucharistic communion — is a particularly expressive gesture which the faithful are invited to make as a manifestation of the People of God's acceptance of all that has been accomplished in the celebration(74) and of the commitment to mutual love which is made in sharing the one bread, with the demanding words of Christ in mind: "If you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift" (Mt 5:23-24).
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(70) Ecumenical Council of Trent, Session XXII, Doctrine and Canons on the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, II: DS 1743; cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1366.
(71) Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1368.
(72) Sacred Congregation of Rites, Instruction on the Worship of the Eucharistic Mystery Eucharisticum Mysterium (25 May 1967), 3b: AAS 59 (1967), 541; cf. Pius XII, Encyclical Letter Mediator Dei (20 November 1947), II: AAS 39 (1947), 564-566.
(73) Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1385; cf. also Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Letter to the