Pastor's Letter -- July 4, 2021

My dear parishioners,

Grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus to you and
your household!

It was such an honor to meet most of our parishioners this past
weekend. I enjoyed talking with you after Mass, and learning your
names. I look forward to knowing each parishioner better and the
good work you are doing for our parish. Like I said in my homily at
one of the Masses this past weekend, feel free to stop me wherever
you see me and say hello or introduce yourself. I would like to know
you whether in church or outside.

During the week we received a donation of an incense boat and
thurible/censer from our parishioners, Ross and Angie Higginbottam.
They had observed that the censer we are currently using seemed to
have seen better days, and was in need of changing. We thank them
for their generosity in putting their resources at the service of divine
worship, and pray that the Lord would bless them in ways only God
can.

The readings for this weekend bring to focus our response to
rejection. Do you avoid speaking the truth because it would not be
accepted? Have you ever offered words of advice and it felt like your
words blew back in your face? Do you feel reluctant to speak words of
correction to a family member or friend simply because of how they
would react? We all have that one person or persons who would
never accept us as capable of giving them advice or correction. They
have become too familiar with us. Well, do not worry too much, you
are in good company. Both the prophet Ezekiel and our Lord were
rejected by those who should have listened to them.

In this week’s First reading, Ezekiel was sent to the rebellious house
of Israel. Although the Lord knew they would reject Ezekiel, he
nonetheless sends him to go speak to them. All he needed was the
courage to communicate the message of the Lord to them. He was not to worry whether they would accept him or not. We need courage in order to do God’s will. And this might mean speaking the truth to
people who might not be open to it. But we must do so with love. The
fear of opposition should not be a reason to avoid correcting one
another in love. If we all waited until we were sure we would be
accepted before we spoke the truth to others, we may never speak up.

Paul, in our Second reading was given a thorn on his flesh, and an
angel of Satan to beat him in order to keep him humble. Scholars do
not agree on what this thorn on his flesh means, but Paul’s continued
reference to the Lord’s strength in the face of his obvious weakness,
leads us to assume he was speaking of some personal shortcomings
for which he was not proud. And like Ezekiel, he too suffered rejection
at the hands of his own people, especially because they allowed his
former identity as a persecutor get in the way of accepting him as one
who now preaches Christ. Do you find it difficult to gain the
acceptance or even approval of family or friends simply because you
lived a life that was contrary or opposed to who you are now? Do
people still judge you based on what you stood for in the past, rather
than accepting you for who you are now? Or do you judge people by
their past failures and sins rather than being open to what the Lord is
doing in their lives today? Remember Romans 8:1 “There is therefore
now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk
not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”

Our blessed Lord also had to deal with the rejection of his own
people simply because they knew him too well and could not believe
he was the anointed messiah. His humanity became a stumbling block

to seeing his divinity. They asked, ‘is he not the carpenter, the son of
Mary?’ To call him the son of Mary, even though true, was intended to
denigrate him, because it was customary to address people by their
father’s name rather than their mother’s. How familiarity breeds
contempt! Many of us might not be different from the people of Jesus’
time. We allow our familiarity with the sacred get in the way of
appropriate disposition before the holy. Although we have intellectual
knowledge that the Lord is truly and substantially present in all the
tabernacles of the world, sometimes, our disposition in the presence
of our Blessed Lord does not speak much about this knowledge. If I
truly believe that I come to Mass to encounter the Lord and to feed on
his sacred Body and Blood, there would be a necessary transformation

in how I approach the holy Mass. When we come to communion, do
we truly believe the Lord is offering himself as food for our souls? Do
we allow the forms of bread and wine, in which he comes to us in
holy communion, to get in the way of recognizing that we are before
the same Lord who made the heavens and the earth? It is all too
common to see Catholics come into Mass just when Mass is about to
begin, without proper preparation to enter into the most opportune
encounter with the Lord, or they walk in casually when procession is
already underway, and leave right after receiving communion or even
before the priest. I often wonder where we rush to after Mass.
Perhaps we have reservations at restaurants for meals, and we
prioritize that over spending some quiet time in thanksgiving to the
Eucharistic Lord who has fed us with his Body and Blood? One prayer
I always pray is that the Lord will not allow me to become too
familiar with the mysteries I celebrate.

Beloved, if we, who are ourselves flawed, feel pained in the face of
the rejection of our friends and family, how do we imagine the allholy God feels when we reject him and act as though he does not
matter?

May Jesus bless you, and may Our Lady protect you!
With blessings from my heart,