Bulletin

5th Sunday of Easter – Actively Loving Each Other

| Fr. William Smith

Photo by Max Harlynking on Unsplash

Fr. Smith’s Commentary on the Second Reading
Fifth Sunday of Easter
1 John 3:18-24
May 2, 2021

Have you ever been asked if you were “saved” and felt that you didn’t quite know the answer John the Presbyter (elder) who wrote the first letter of John will help us answer this from today’s reading.

If the person who asked the question is a traditional Protestant, he is assuming that to be saved means to have had a strong and unmistakable experience that God has chosen you for his own. If she has a good grounding in Calvinism, she knows that this reflects the belief that humankind is hopelessly corrupt and broken, and even God cannot make us holy and whole. Therefore, God accepts – saves – some people by ignoring their sins. They are not changed by God’s grace, it is a free and gratuitous gift of God.  Therefore, after one has had this experience, a person cannot be unsaved. It is permanent. No wonder that it is called being “born again.”

There is a great truth here. No one can save himself; God’s action must come first and is absolutely necessary. Yet Catholicism believes that we are not totally corrupt. God’s grace – that is a relationship with Jesus – can change us so that we become more like Him. Therefore, although the church has an ancient and well-developed mystical tradition, no one experience of God is definitive. Although our actions cannot save us, they will show if we are in a right relationship with God. The Catholic question is “Is your conscience clear?” After examining our consciences, do we find ourselves free of Mortal – deadly – sin which would sever our relationship with God?

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Homilies, Videos

Fourth Sunday of Easter – Homily (Msgr. LoPinto)

| St. Charles Borromeo

The first reading today comes from the Acts of the Apostles. That’s that story, that lengthy story that Luke records of the experience of the early church.

And one of the things that is very much noted in that presentation is transformation.

You have, as we see in the first reading today, the transformation of Peter.

The one who was so fearful that he denied the Lord three times, rather than acknowledge that he had awareness or knowledge or relationship with him.

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Scriptual Commentary

Good Shepherd Sunday – Beginning with Justice, Ending with Love

| Fr. William Smith

The Good Shepherd, c. 300–350, at the Catacombs of Domitilla, Rome (Wikipedia)

Fr. Smith’s Commentary on the Second Reading
Good Shepherd Sunday
1 John 3:1-2
April 25, 2021

The risen Jesus determines how we view the past, live in the present, and what we expect in the future. Today’s reading from the 1st Letter of John most directly looks at the future but will shed light on the others as well.

The writings attributed to St John were the product of an entire community over a considerable period. This community formed around the “beloved disciple” an eyewitness to the events of Jesus’ life. The first writing was the original edition of the Gospel. This was composed by John “the Evangelist” and directed to the early community which knew the Beloved Disciple and had a grasp of Judaism. Over time the community grew and become more diverse. The leaders could no longer count on familiarity either with the person and witness of the beloved disciple nor a common and basically Jewish understanding of Jesus and his mission. The letters are a product of this diversity and written by a person we are calling John “the Presbyter,” or elder.

The question of an afterlife was a very live issue among the Jews of Jesus’s time. Many, perhaps most, Jews did not believe in an afterlife in any way we would desire. The exception were the Pharisees. They held that to vindicate the faithfulness of God we must expect an afterlife.

Their reasoning may seem foreign to us, but I find it profound and convincing.

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Events, Videos

Community Mass – 4th Sunday of Easter

| St. Charles Borromeo

Please join us to celebrate the 4th Sunday of Easter – Good Shepherd Sunday – on Sunday, April 18th.

Our current mass times are:

Today’s readings and hymns are available to download below.

2021-04-25Download
  • Please follow the instructions of the ushers, and observe all of the posted health precautions so that we can continue to worship together safely.
  • Hymnals, bulletins, and other handouts will not be available at the church. Please download on your phone or tablet, or bring your own missal.
  • Support our Parish – Please contribute to our General Collection online here.
  • Help us support the Easter Collection for Retired Priests

Homilies

Third Sunday of Easter – Homily (Fr. Smith)

| St. Charles Borromeo

This is the third Sunday of Easter, and the Gospel is always a resurrection appearance of Jesus.  The author shows that Jesus was neither a Ghost nor a Zombie and that this is important for how we live as Christians.  We need to hear this just as much as the original audience.

This year St Luke continues the story of the disciples on the way to Emmaus. This is Easter day. Mary Magdelene and other women went to the tomb and found it empty. Two angels told them that he was raised. They told the disciples in the upper room, Peter investigated and returned dazed and confused. Two disciples left Jerusalem for a small-town named Emmaus and Jesus joined them, but they did not know that it was him.  The roads were dangerous, and the disciples assumed that this stranger wanted to join them for safety. They discussed Jesus, his death, and the mysterious disappearance of his body. Jesus explains these events from the perspective of scripture, their hearts burned within them, and they invited Jesus to eat with them. At it he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, they recognized him, and he disappeared.

Thus far his risen body is human enough that no one comments on it but different enough from the one that the disciples were used to that they did not recognize him. He was also able to appear and disappear at will. Obviously, Jesus was not simply resuscitated.

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