April 2022

“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”

I remember that saying when I was a child. It was a way of trying to deflect a malicious comment, almost like a protective shield. But I’m not sure if uttering that expression actually helped. Even as an adult, I have been the recipient of hurtful comments, and it’s sometimes hard to let go of them.

Yes, physical sticks and stones can cause pain, but so can words. Hateful words are more prevalent now through the use of social media than the occasional taunts or comments that take place on the childhood playground. Now they take the form of tweets and posts. They might not break bones, but they can break hearts and spirits.  They can cause a great deal of hurt and a great deal of anger.

In today’s Gospel (Jn.8:1-11), the scribes and Pharisees brought to Jesus a woman caught in adultery. This woman was thrown at Jesus’ feet as they reminded him of Mosaic law, and then added: “So what do you say?”Their stones were at the ready. I can only imagine the fear the woman felt, anticipating both then verbal pain of Jesus’  words and the physical pain of the stones that would follow.

The suspense built as Jesus bent down and wrote on the ground. But, all present - the scribes, the Pharisees, the woman, the spectators - were caught by surprise. “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”These words totally shifted the tone of this encounter. They penetrated the hearts of those who  initially threw words of condemnation. How heavy did those stones suddenly feel in their hands? How heavy did Jesus’ words feel in their hearts?

After they dropped their stones and walked away, Jesus spoke directly to the woman. When she realized she was no longer being condemned, Jesus said:  “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin any more.” Jesus spoke words that did not hurt, but healed. They were words of mercy, encouragement, and guidance - so different from the words she heard from the crowd. 

As I’ve continued to ponder this gospel passage, I am reminded that I should pay attention to the words that come out of my own mouth. It’s so easy to “jump on the bandwagon” and arm myself with verbal stones. Even during one-on-one conversations, I need to think before speaking. Will my words build up or tear down? Will they add to discord or bring healing? Certainly something to think about during these last few weeks of Lent!

Lord, help me to drop the “stones” - the hurtful words that I want to throw at others. Help me to use words that build up rather than tear down.
Help me to let go of the hurtful words that I re-play inside my head - the “old tapes” from times past. 
I need to hear your voice spoken directly tome and not heed hurtful words spoken aboutme by others. 
Open me to the words of truth - Your Truth - for the truth will set me free. Amen.

Which line in the prayer above resonates with you today?

In Mercy,

Mary Pollini

“Taste and See” – Psalm 34 in 2022


The third Saturday in Lent, I received a phone call Father Tom. My Mother had asked if I could receive communion in my home. I am young, by some standards – ask the 5^thgraders that I teach religious education to on Zoom and I’m practically a dinosaur! I am 34. I have been in my apartment, from the start of the pandemic. I leave for important doctor appointments, but otherwise, I have been told by my care team to stay home – with 8 auto immune conditions, 2 heart conditions, asthma, and on chemotherapy medication, it’s just too risky. That means that I have not received the Body of Christ in 2 years! I watch mass daily, and say “Spiritual Communion”, but it doesn’t feel the same.

Father Tom came over shortly there after, and started our visit with confession. “Father forgive me, it’s been over two years since my last confession…” I was beet red. I knew that Father Tom knew this, but saying it out loud, I felt like the worst Catholic ever! Then I remembered that Jesus would want me to be home and healthy and that when I do make mistakes, I apologize to God and to that person as best as I can. I was miffed when I learned that my penance was to praise God. I told Father Tom that I do that all day already and wondered if he could give me a BUNCH of prayers. NOPE. Maybe the penance was to annoy me that I really had no penance and to live with that fact…? I’ll ask God later.

Then came the moment I had been waiting 2 years for, Communion. Father Tom prayed and presented the Host. I was transfixed. My heart was bursting with love and yearned to be joined with Jesus. I could feel tears welling up behind my eyes. As I ate the Body, I cried uncontrollably. A wave of joy, hope, and love bathed over me like I was seeing life in all it’s glory and wonder for the first time. I managed to blubber, “I apologize, it’s been so long and I feel so overwhelmed in the best way possible.” Father Tom kindly told me, “You might feel so strongly also because you just had confession and you are receiving this gift with a pure heart.” It was in that moment that I served my penance God for the first of many times and gave glory to God. I could feel the Trinity hugging me in that moment. It was out of body experience and incredibly beautiful. 

Father Tom took his leave and promised that I could receive Communion weekly from then on. I could feel my heart dancing with delight! I realized that almost 30 years of my life that I never truly realized the depth and magnitude of being able to be one with Jesus. 

I am looking forward to receiving Communion again. What a gift that only magnifies my love for God. 

If you would like to “Taste and See” here is my Video

In Mercy,

Jennifer Paragano

“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”Now, what shall you do with that?

We all have been awed.
We all have been struck by something we deemed extraordinarily beautiful: nature, art, surroundings, person, people. The list goes on yet the moment can be fleeting, fading into a distant memory, only to be recalled amongst friends by the very words: “Have you seen…..?”

Beauty, in whatever form you subscribe, has a way of lifting us, elevating our hearts and minds to something outside ourselves. It seems the reason we are drawn to it, why we lift our head. 
Lift our eyes. 
Reach to see. 
Linger longer. 

When we gaze upon the serenity of a mountain top, or look out upon the horizon, cast our eyes into the crashing waves upon the sand; a bird in flight, a skyline silhouette, an exquisite weaving of the threads of a silken piece of fabric- have you ever wondered that it is not perhaps the actual thing upon which we gaze that moves us, but rather it is the maker calling us. 

The very maker.
God himself. 

The maker calling us to bow before the heavens in gratitude and praise.

The maker inviting us to stay awhile and cross the veil between heaven and earth to feast in a moment of encounter, where beauty and beloved are one.

‘Stay awake and pray with me,’ Jesus asks his disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane. 

Stay and pray.

Amen

In love, peace, mercy and the ever unfolding beauty of Our Lord,

Joanne Carey

My family gets together for Christmas and that involves nieces, nephews, and great nieces and nephews.  It’s always amazing when the youngest ones get a gift that we have to help them unwrap and they spend more time with the wrapping paper than they do with the toy they been given!  A friend of mine said we should just give kids cardboard boxes and let them play! Anyway… I think that Palm Sunday can be similar for we adults.  We’re captivated with the palm.  We like to fold or weave the palm into a cross or just hold onto it.  We can sometimes think that the point of Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord (Yes, that’s the actual title of today), is to get new palm for the year.  
 
But if you think of it, the palm is only the wrapping for this Sunday.  The real point of today is that, with palm in hand to honor Jesus as did the children of Jerusalem so long ago, we journey with Jesus through His Paschal Mystery: His Passion, death, and resurrection.  
 
So, as we begin this Holy Week, let’s follow Jesus with lively faith into the mystery of His death and resurrection.  The enthusiasm of that first Gospel reading at the liturgy and our procession with palms leads us in just a matter of minutes to hear of the “Suffering Servant” who humbled Himself to death on a cross.  But what we celebrate today and this week, isn’t the entire story, as we know!  The story is complete for us only when we truly listen to it, and commit ourselves to living it daily.  
 
United with Christ Jesus in His suffering on the cross, may we be united with Him in His resurrection and new life.
 
So, by all means display your palm in your home, but recall that it’s just the wrapping.  Let’s live the gift we’ve received: the Paschal Mystery of dying and rising in the Lord Jesus Christ.
 
Happy Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord!!!
 
In Mercy,
 
Fr. George Farrell

Friends in Christ-Our readings today draw us ever closer into the paschal mystery of
Jesus’ suffering and death. Our First Reading is one of the Suffering Servant 
passages from Isaiah. It reminds us that the Suffering Servant has been called by
GOD from before birth to fulfill the ministry of bringing the Chosen People into a 
closer relationship with GOD. As I reflect on this reading, I think of how much this applies to Jesus. Beginning with His earthly birth, His life’s purpose has been to draw people to GOD. It can seem at times like Jesus is spending His energy without much success.

His work might seem like it is in vain at times, especially as He nears the end of His
life. Yet, Jesus realizes that even the most tragic events of His suffering and death
would be the source of glorification of His Father and how people will be saved and
brought into the Light of GOD.

What intrigues me about today’s readings is Jesus’ choice. Jesus consciously
chooses what He does and whom He wants to be His chosen disciples. Yet int his
inner band of twelve, one will betray Him, and the one who is called to be the leader
will deny his relationship with Jesus. Only one will be brave enough to stand beneath
the cross. Jesus could have chosen individuals who would be totally true to Him.
Yet, in choosing individuals whom He knew would fall short of the expectations of the
close relationship which He is offering to them, Jesus demonstrates for us the
realization that none of us are perfect; that all of us can fall short in our limited
humanity. It is only the saving acts of Jesus which can restore us to the close
relationship with Him. All of us, in one way or another, have betrayed or denied the
relationship we have been called to have with God. Yet the full message of this Holy
Week is that Jesus’ suffering and death brought salvation to all who would look upon
the One Who was lifted up on the cross.

Personal Reflection:

How do I react when I think about the fact that I have been gifted and called by GOD, but have sometimes failed to live up to the calling which I have received?

Have I sought the forgiveness and pardon from GOD for my past failings and sins?

What can I do today ,this week, and the rest of my life, to strengthen my relationship with the Lord Jesus and with others?

In Mercy,

Justina Kwapy

HOLY THURSDAY

Today, this Holy Thursday, we are reminded in the Gospel of John that… “Before the feast of Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to pass from this world to the Father.  He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end.”  And so during supper, Jesus rose and poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet.  Then he dried them with the towel that he had tied around his waist.  Why?  Why did he do this?  By washing his disciples’ feet, Jesus was leaving his disciples with a clear understanding of what deep love meant.  So he gave them a model to follow…that of “emptying of self for the sake of others.”

Actually the washing of someone’s feet with love and compassion is not something I experience very often.  Yet every Holy Thursday I am reminded of my actual foot washing experiences and what they have meant to me?

My first two foot washing experiences took place at my parish.  For years on Holy Thursday our priests would invite us to have our feet washed, and then we would move down the isles washing one another’s feet.   It was a holy and humbling experience to have my feet washed and to wash the feet of another.

My third experience of foot washing took place in 2011.  It was a spontaneous experience, one that I would not have planned, nor expected to have happen.   Yet as I sat alone with my 90 year old Dad, our eyes were drawn to one another, and it just happened.   I found myself washing and creaming Dad’s feet with deep love.  He died the next day.  This holy gift of love was the last gift I was to give to my Dad.
My final experience of actual foot washing took place at my cousin’s wedding.  It was so unexpected to see Adriann and Nick remove their shoes and wash one another’s feet during their wedding ceremony.  There was not a dry eye in the congregation, as we witnessed this young couple reveal to one another Jesus’ clear understanding of what love means.

Foot washing doesn’t only mean the actual washing of someone’s feet, but it does mean that we are to carry on Jesus’ acts of deep love…”emptying of self for the sake of others.”  Jesus has shown us how to carry on his mission of love in the way we live with those we know, as well as with strangers.  Our families, neighbors, those in our country and all over the world are starving for simple acts of love.   How are we living out our mission of love today? 
Perhaps on this Holy Thursday you may want to join me in reflecting on your foot washing experiences, given and received.

Lenten blessings,

Paulette Cicero