Reflection for the 6th Sunday of Easter 2024

This is My commandment: love one another as I love you. 

Christ is Risen! He is truly Risen! Alleluia! 

On this Sunday in the Easter season, we are blessed to welcome a new member of God’s Kingdom through the waters of regeneration – rebirth into a completely new way of life. It is indeed a life of love.

Now, this causes us to raise a question as to Kingdom love, our Christian way of life. What’s all so different about it?

Indeed, people of every background provide love and charity for others. Most people regardless of religious affiliation, or no affiliation whatsoever love in ways aimed at the physical, emotional, psychological, relational, and economic well-being of others.

For Tallulah and us this is the difference. It is not the how, where, or work of love, but rather, its source, sustaining power, and goal.

For those in the Kingdom the source of love is the cross of Christ, the total self-giving of God for a people who neither deserved nor merited His concern. St. John tells us: “We love because He first loved us.” In the Cross our sins are forgiven, we are justified, accepted, and loved by God. By the cross fear and greed, the great barriers to love, are taken away as we trust in what God has done in Christ. So, the first difference between secular love and Christian love is that our love is rooted in the work of Christ and its impact in us.

Second, Kingdom love is sustained and shaped by the Holy Spirit, where secular love isn’t. St. Paul calls it the “fruit of the Spirit.” It is the Spirit that takes the death of Christ, causes it to be real for us, and gives us new hearts so that the death of Christ has a love-producing effect on us. The work of the Spirit sustains and shapes Christian love, but not the love of the world.

Finally, Christian love has a radically different goal, All the good we do in our loving has a Godward goal. Our love has more than a here and now goal and effect. Our love is not just for the present, rather it is forever because its emphasis is what is truly good for all, bringing all to God in Christ.

All that was about how our loving is different, what our baptismal faith changes about our outward loving. But there is more. Our commitment to Kingdom love must bring about deep change in us. We cannot remain just as we are. Within ourselves we must be fully convicted of our love’s shortcomings and work to grow our love so to meet Christ’s commandment.

Bible Study for the 5th Week of Easter 2024

This week’s memory verse: “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He may give it to you.“

John 15:16
  • 4/28 – Philippians 1:6
  • 4/29 – 2 Peter 1:5-9
  • 4/30 – Matthew 3:8
  • 5/1 – Psalm 1:3
  • 5/2 – Romans 7:4
  • 5/3 – Galatians 6:7-8
  • 5/4 – 1 Peter 4:10

Pray the week: Lord Jesus, grant me fruitfulness in doing Your work. When my courage lacks, fortify it. Where my witness fails, renew it. Amen.

Reflection for the 5th Sunday of Easter 2024

I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing.

Christ is Risen! He is truly Risen! Alleluia! 

My dear brothers and sisters, we continue in our celebration of the Easter Season. We have not so much journeyed with Jesus as we do in other seasons of the Church year, rather we have sat and listened to His teaching, encountering His Risen presence, and being reassured in what He has won for us. We are having the meaning of all scripture opened to us so we might integrate all we learned as we did journey with Him. In short, Easter is about a deeper learning and integration of that learning into ourselves.

We heard this same gospel of the vine just seven weeks ago on the Solemnity of the Institution. On that occasion we related the meaning of the True Vine and our connection to it corporately as the Church.

Today, we consider our personal union with Jesus. Today is about how we are effectuating Jesus’ life in us in tangible ways, i.e., how we are bearing fruit.

We are given the best of examples of bearing fruit in Acts. Saul has just encountered Jesus on the Damascus Road. This man, who, as Paul, would later write about his life of animosity toward the Body of Christ, and toward Jesus, who lived as an enemy of God in his self-righteousness, now lives washed of all sin. Saul was regenerated and made new in forgiveness and in his desire for unity with Christ’s body. Not only that, but he now lives on fire for evangelization: [He] spoke out boldly in the name of the Lord.

We see fruit in Barnabas who brought Saul into the community. He acted as a true brother in kindness and personal witness.

St. John reminds us of our obligation toward love of God and each other. He tells us: And his commandment is this: we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another just as he commanded us. He also reveals to us the mark of our salvation, the source of the confidence we should have from living in the True Vine and bearing His fruit, the Spirit he gave us.

Having the Holy Spirit in us and carrying out the work of Jesus in building the kingdom, evangelizing the unbeliever, acting in witness and welcome, we glorify the Father and bear great fruit living what we have learned.

Bible Study for the 4th Week of Easter 2024

This week’s memory verse: We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves.

1 Thessalonians 5:12-13
  • 4/21 – Hebrews 13:17
  • 4/22 – Hebrews 13:7
  • 4/23 – 1 Timothy 5:17
  • 4/24 – Galatians 6:9
  • 4/25 – Matthew 20:26
  • 4/26 – Philippians 2:3
  • 4/27 – James 1:12

Pray the week: Lord Jesus, help me when I shepherd to live Your example of complete giving and when I follow a humble and understanding heart. Amen.

Reflection for Good Shepherd Sunday 2024

Grant a loving, wise and courageous spirit to all who pastor, minister and teach in Your name.

Christ is Risen! He is truly Risen! Alleluia! 

The verse above will be re-heard in a few minutes as the Offertory Prayer or, Prayer Over The Gifts, or, Secret. Three terms for the same prayer, but that is not important. What is important is the sense of the prayer, our intention as we are offering our gifts to God Who will transform them from mere bread and wine into the Body and Blood of His Son Jesus.

My brothers and sisters, Jesus speaks to us today of two kinds of Shepherds, Himself Who is the Good Shepherd that gives His all for His sheep and the hired hand who merely works for pay and does not really care for the sheep.

We can draw comparisons between the two types of shepherds, but it is not necessary since it is obvious – it is about the offering.

Jesus’ offering is the perfect giving of Himself, and all of us are called to offer ourselves in His model. We must take care in living rightly in relation to our Chief Shepherd and those among us who shepherd.

The shepherds, as we will hear again in that prayer, are more than the priest. They are all who minister, pastor, teach, lead music – and beyond that – those who take up leadership over projects, events, on committees and teams, and as parents, grandparents, and godparents.

You, brothers and sisters, are those wonderful leaders. You do so much to shepherd this congregation and to help it grow by your varied talents in the roles you have taken up. You lay down your lives for the good of those around you. You sacrifice for Christ and the other. Sometimes you even have to put up with brief tensions or the inevitable well-intended advice that comes your way. Lesser people would let all that get to them. But for us, especially those in leadership, it is about how we shepherd under stress, achieve consensus, and act with loving, wise, and courageous spirits. It is offering.

For those of us who live in relation to the shepherds among us as team members, colleagues, and volunteers, and perhaps just as community members, let us assure those who shepherd of our prayer and act always with charity, kindness, patience, and deference toward them as offering.

In this way shepherds and community members will all be transformed into the beautiful image of the Good Shepherd.

Bible Study for the 3rd Week of Easter 2024

This week’s memory verse: But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

James 1:22
  • 4/14 – James 2:14-18
  • 4/15 – 1 Peter 1:13
  • 4/16 – 1 John 3:18
  • 4/17 – James 2:26
  • 4/18 – 1 Timothy 6:18
  • 4/19 – Colossians 3:23-24
  • 4/20 – Philippians 4:13

Pray the week: Lord Jesus, You provide abundantly, not merely for my good, but so I may act in my home and community, witnessing to all I encounter and drawing them into the Kingdom. Amen.

Reflection for the 3rd Sunday of Easter 2024

Those who say, “I know him,” but do not keep his commandments are liars, and the truth is not in them. But whoever keeps his word, the love of God is truly perfected in him.

Christ is Risen! He is truly Risen! Alleluia! Chrystus zmartwychwstał! Prawdziwie zmartwychwstał! Cristo è Risorto! È veramente Risorto!

What do you do with what you got? A perfect example of bad English. My mother, who was a proofreader would be pulling her hair out, just as she did when I said ‘aint.’ I think my good friend Larry, retired teacher and Chair of the English Department might be doing the same as I speak. I really do try to speak English well; use it properly.

As you may recall, on Low Sunday we stated that it is not who we were or where we came from, but what we allow Jesus to make of us. What He makes of us is what we receive by faith from those who came before us, from the teaching and example of grandparents, parents, bishops, priests, and teachers.

Oral tradition is the oldest form of information preservation and distribution. It is how generation after generation has learned. It is the core methodology by which we share the knowledge of and the teachings of Jesus. I am doing it now, in this homily and in our praying through the Holy Mass. St. Peter was doing in on Pentecost. Remember, most Christians did not have access to the written word until well into the 16th century.

In our age we have many means for sharing information, yet true knowledge continues to be spread through the most trusted of sources, generational families, the Church, our peers, and our community. We continue in transmitting theory, wisdom, and expertise through these more traditional methods.

The term “received knowledge” is the knowledge we possess that we did not earn through direct observation and iteration. What we as Christians have received is the vast treasure that brings us and others to eternal life.

In our opening prayer, or collect, we prayed: “Grant to all those trying to live the Christian ideal the ability to discard all that is contrary to this aim and to hold fast to all that is in keeping with it.”

What we ‘got’ is the life of Jesus taught to us and in us because of His presence here. What we allow Jesus to make of us comes from our knowing Him and doing with what we ‘got’ as His witnesses.

Construction Job Opportunities in Schenectady

Construction job opportunities are available for the DePaul Mosaic Apartments project in Schenectady. This is a HUD Section 3 project with hiring priorities for low-income persons.

There will be an information / hiring session at the Mont Pleasant Library, 1036 Crane St, Schenectady, on Wednesday, May 15th from 1 until 3 PM

For more information, please contact Kelly Stringer at CHRISTA Construction at 585-695-2653 or by E-mail.

Job opportunities in siding, masonry, storefront, fire protection, metals, cabinets and countertops, folding and tile, landscaping, and fencing.

Bible Study for the 2nd Week Easter 2024

This week’s memory verse: For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints

1 Corinthians 14:33
  • 4/7 – Hebrews 12:2
  • 4/8 – Colossians 2:8
  • 4/9 – Acts 4:12
  • 4/10 – John 14:1
  • 4/11 – John 7:37
  • 4/12 – 2 Corinthians 5:17
  • 4/13 – Matthew 6:21

Pray the week: Lord Jesus, Your Resurrection calls me to change and constant renewal. Grant that I may be changed so as to live in faithful clarity concerning Your salvation. Amen.

Reflection for Low Sunday 2024

Whoever is begotten by God conquers the world. And the victory that conquers the world is our faith. Who indeed is the victor over the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

Christ is Risen! He is truly Risen! Alleluia! Chrystus zmartwychwstał! Prawdziwie zmartwychwstał! Cristo è Risorto! È veramente Risorto!

On Easter Sunday, we spoke of the inevitability of change. We opened our eyes to the heavenward change we must be as we live Easter lives unafraid of change Jesus brings and full of surprise for all we encounter.

Today we encounter a kind of weird surprise. Thomas meets up with his friends, co-workers, followers of Jesus who are reporting the resurrection to him. Thomas is incredulous. In modern parlance we might hear him say: You’re taking a horrible situation and are turning it into a bad joke.

The thing about Thomas and Jesus’ other followers is the way they motivate us to place ourselves in their situation and conclude that we would act differently. If I were only there, I would…

For those who went to see Jesus Christ Superstar yesterday, or recently, or perhaps saw the John Legend version of the play on television, or even the original 1973 film adaptation we might connect with Mary Magdala, Judas, Peter, the other Apostles, Pilate, the Sanhedrin, and think along those lines – I wouldn’t betray, deny, question, or persecute. I would stand firm in faith and be clear. I have no incredulity as to Who Jesus is. But then we come to the realization that we would fall short just as they all did.

In the play as in Godspell there is no clear resurrection event. That is left out because it is a matter of faith. It is a matter of surrendering ourselves to the change Jesus wants in us.

St. John speaks of being begotten by God and conquering. John notes that this is completely dependent on faith. If we give ourselves and our shortcomings over to Jesus, we allow Him to change us, to remake us into His very image and to thus become victors over all things and in all things.

St. John is calling us to the confidence of the beloved disciple, the first at the tomb, who stood under the cross with Mary, but who also fell asleep in the garden. John knew that it is not who we were or where we came from, but what we allow Jesus to make of us.