Homily Fourth Wednesday of Easter
Fourth Wednesday of Easter (Acts 12:24)
One thing we notice about Easter Season is we struggle with a lot of unfamiliar personal names and unfamiliar place names in the New Testament readings. All these names mean very little to us, but they meant a lot to the early Christians who read these stories.
The Christian Church in the first century was not a worldwide church that had a billion members. No, it was a church that stretched around the Mediterranean Sea with perhaps a few thousand adherents. When a name was mentioned in correspondence in the early Christian community the people who listened, probably knew who was being talked about right away.
When the epistles were read, which were letters from the Apostles, those who were hearing the writings might have met the writer. The early church was like a large parish.
We often hear Paul, in his writings, greet certain members of the churches he had founded. You could tell he had an affectionate bound with many people he had encountered in his travels.
The hardest part of the last few weeks has been the fact that we have not been able to connect with our brothers and sisters in our parish family. We can probably identify with how the early Christians felt. The first Christians could only keep connected through letters and memories, but they still felt close to each other.
We are living in a trying time, but it does not mean that our parish will disintegrate. The bond that we have would be pretty weak if it could be dissolved so easily. One day soon we will be together again. We will probably be surprised at how fast we catch-up and move forward. The ties that bind us together are strong. As a contemporary hymn says:
We are one in our faith
we are one in our God
we are one in God’s love, a family we are
we are one on the journey
with hope in our eyes
and love in our heart.
1. We have often heard that we need to build community in our parish. What does that mean to me now that I am so separated from my church? How might I help strengthen my parish family once I can see them again?
2. How can I keep from despairing? Can I rejoice in the small things? What are the simple things that can give me pleasure today?
Dear Parishioners,
We have some spiritual activities that are coming up in the next couple weeks. Be with us for a parish rosary this Friday morning at 7:40 a.m. before our livestreaming Mass. Send in names of your faithful departed for our Mother’s Day Masses this weekend. We will read the names at the time of the petitions. Mark your calendar for May 16th. On that day we will have a May crowning ceremony after our Saturday afternoon Mass.
The artisans left our church today. The stained-glass window work is now moving into phase three. There will be about a month pause before that happens. We are hopeful the restoration will be completed by mid-summer. We thank Don Lewis for coordinating the work with Bovard Studios.
May Mother Mary and all the angles and saints watch over you today.
Fr. Mark