June 2024 Newsletter – Take A Chance

But there are some things that you cannot be sure of. You must take a chance. 

Ecclesiastes 11:4 goes on to tell us: If you wait for perfect weather, you will never plant your seeds. If you are afraid that every cloud will bring rain, you will never harvest your crops.

This past May brought us some pretty awesome weather. We had quite a bit of August in May.  Did we expect that? Perhaps not. On Memorial Day we expected cold and rainy weather, but we persevered and held Holy Mass at the parish cemetery. The rain stopped, the sky cleared, and the sun came out. It was perfect. Every cloud did not bring rain.

In our faith lives – which should define the entirety of our lives – Ecclesiastes advises us that taking a chance, setting aside worry, is worth it. In fact in Matthew 6.25-34 Jesus commands his followers not to worry. He even goes so far as to say that worrying is a characteristic of an unbeliever. We are called to be the same kind of risk takers the Apostles and saints were because if we take those risks we build the Kingdom.

Setting fear aside and taking chances in small things leads to doing so in bigger ways. We realize that even if we make a few mistakes or get rejected once and awhile God will work it all out for good. Indeed, God makes good use of us if we only trust and move forward with Him. Moses had a speech impediment and told God, “I can’t talk.” Gideon told God, “I’m too young.” Abraham said, “I’m too old.” Yet look at what God accomplished with them once they trusted in Him and accepted His call.

What is God saying to us right now? What dreams has God placed in our hearts? What steps have we been hesitant to take? Now is the time to hear Him, pursue those dreams, take those steps, and watch as God opens doors, provides resources, and works miracles in our lives. Today, choose faith over fear. Trust that God’s plans for us are good, even if the path ahead seems uncertain. There are some things that you cannot be sure of. You must take [the] chance God offers.

Welcome to our June 2024 Newsletter. This beautiful month is filled with celebrations of God’s goodness. We pray especially for His gift of vocations to the priesthood and diaconate. We celebrate dads. Join us for worship, thanksgiving, and a wonderful breakfast on Father’s Day. We consider our offering to support our retired priests and bishops. It Men’s spiritual Retreat time — be there. We also prepare for all the wonderful summer events ahead of us. Take a look at some great offers from the PNA (IRAs, insurance, and annuities); the rates are really good. Also, how do you speak truth in love when it comes to admonition? Take a look at God’s advice. All this and more in our June 2024 Newsletter.

July/August 2023 Newsletter – On the Faithfulness Track

And the LORD opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me

Balaam’s ass is one of two animals in the Bible that can speak. She is also one of two who are a blessing to their human companions. I encourage you to read the whole story found in Numbers, Chapters 22 through 24. This story has much to tell us about our walk of faith.

Baalam was a soothsayer or magician. The King of the Moabites had called on Balaam to curse Israel who were coming out of Egypt into his land. At first Balaam would not go, listening to God, but later relented under much pressure. All along God tells Balaam not to go, but he later chooses to go, agreeing to say only what God tells him. Along the journey Balaam’s ass bows humbly and will go no further. Balaam beats the animal three times. Finally the ass speaks and asks Balaam why he has hit her. He gets angrier and tells her he would kill her. Then God opens Balaam’s eyes and he sees the Angel of the Lord with sword drawn standing in the road. The angel tells Balaam: Wherefore hast thou smitten thine ass? behold, I went out to withstand thee, because thy way is perverse before me: And the ass saw me, and turned from me these three times: unless she had turned from me, surely now also I had slain thee, and saved her alive.

This is a story of faithfulness and of weakened faith. The Angel (of course) and the ass are absolutely faithful to God, and in terms of the ass, to Balaam. This loyalty failed in Balaam. He chose to neglect God’s command, preferring to try making a deal with God so he could please the King of the Moabites. He also chose to hit his animal. Balaam’s disloyalty causes God to show that He is the One in charge. He can send angels and cause animals to speak. Balaam (and we) are reminded that we must follow God’s instruction. We cannot double-deal. We cannot bargain out of doing as God asks without consequences.

Our walk of faith is to be a life of loyalty to God’s command, His Word Who is Jesus, the Holy Spirit’s work in the Church. Let us not veer!

Welcome to our July/August 2023 Newsletter. We are enjoying the hot summer days and are engaging in many wonderful activities that grow our faith, serve our community, and foster our fellowship as the family of God in Schenectady.

Read a report from the Men’s Spiritual Retreat. Join in the great activities offered for our youth, musicians, and parish. We have replaced our organ – take a look. Our Food Bank partnership is underway and CarePortal is serving those most in need (23 requests met, 67 children served, and an economic impact of over $32,800).

Please join us for our parish/community picnic on the church grounds on Sunday, August 20th after the 10am Holy Mass.

BTW – we still need help in getting our funeral candlesticks refinished. Let Fr. Jim know if you have the skillset to help. 

Check out all that and more in our July/August 2023 Newsletter.

April 2023 Newsletter – In All Things New Life

The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one

The short excerpt above is from John 17:22, part of the Last Supper narrative between Jesus and His disciples, near the end of it. Whereas in the other three gospels Jesus actually eats a passover meal before He dies, in John’s gospel He doesn’t. The Last Supper is actually eaten before the beginning of Passover. So, the sequence of events leading up to the actual crucifixion are very different in John’s gospel. John’s gospel account records Jesus’ extended teaching (see John 13– 17). Although John does not retell Jesus giving the bread and the cup and instituting the New Covenant in His blood, the symbols and words used in the Lord’s Supper are abundant in John’s Gospel. While Jesus does not mention the new covenant in His blood in John, He does give the new commandment centered in that covenant (John 13:34), “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.”

Jesus’ teaching in this narrative are instructive to us as we move through our lives. As on Palm Sunday for Jesus, we experience times of glory and triumph. As on Maundy Thursday evening, we experience times of fellowship and bonding. As on that night and Good Friday we experience times of great sorrow and seeming defeat. Because Jesus fully understood and experienced our human condition, our joys, fellowship, pain and sadness, He wanted us to know what we have in Him.

Easter reminds us of the glory Jesus’ Father gave Him which He has now given us. This not just for the sake of having God’s glory, but so we may be one in that glory.

Easter reminds us of our new life in Jesus. It reminds us as our status as family to God and each other. We have an opportunity each day to live in this new life, so we see even our sufferings and trials in a much different way. They are not permanent. God’s love and life and our fellowship in Him overcomes even death forever. Happy Easter!

Welcome to our April 2023 Newsletter. We begin April in Holy Week and arrive quivckly at the Easter Season, reveling in the joy of Jesus’ resurrection which is also the promise of our resurrection. 

Join us throughout Holy Week and walk with Jesus through His passion, death, and burial so to arrive at His resurrection. One set of events cannot be understood without the other.

Our newsletter contains our full calendar of events, reminders of upcoming events, including the ever popular Basket Social on April 30th.

We look forward to seeing you.

Check out all that and more in our April 2023 Newsletter.