Messages from the Pastor

16th Sunday of Ordinary Time – Everlasting Hope for Our Restless Hearts

| Fr. William Smith

Photo by Mike Enerio on Unsplash

16th Sunday of Ordinary Time
Romans 8:26–27
July 19, 2020

Last week’s reading began with

I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth
comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us.

(Rom. 8:18)

This is a common theme in the New Testament. We saw when reading the 1st Letter of Peter that his community suffered from the scorn of family and former friends. We will see in Matthew’s Gospel the suffering of internal divisions. Each of these authors use these experiences to relate the present situation of that particular community to Jesus’ ministry, death and resurrection. Paul does the same, but he broadens the perspective to the whole of creation and indeed God himself.

Jewish law was evidence-based. Testimony was always required. To prove that today’s sufferings are insignificant to the glory for which we are intended Paul gives us three witnesses:

Continue reading “16th Sunday of Ordinary Time – Everlasting Hope for Our Restless Hearts” →
Homilies, Videos

15th Sunday Ordinary Time – Homily (Msgr. LoPinto)

| St. Charles Borromeo

Transcript:

We come to this 15th year [Sunday] in ordinary time. We listen to 3 very powerful scripture passages: one from Isaiah – and a very interesting one from Isaiah, because it factually passage at the end of the second book of Isaiah, just before the people are returning from exile. The reading from Romans began as great, for it speaks about the growing of all creation as it awaits the final resolution of God in regard to human history – all of history. Continue reading “15th Sunday Ordinary Time – Homily (Msgr. LoPinto)” →

Events

Book Discussion of Field Hospital Begins on Thursday

| St. Charles Borromeo

Join us on Thursday at 7:00 PM as we start the discussion of a new book Field Hospital: The Church’s Engagement With a Wounded World by William T. Cavanaugh. Field Hospital is inspired by the pastoral vision of Pope Francis, and has chapters entitled: “Are Corporation People? The Corporate Form and the Body of Christ” and “Actually, You Can’t Be Anything You Want (and It’s a Good Thing Too).” A serious, but fun read!

For the first meeting, we’ll discuss the Introduction and Chapter 1 (“Are Corporations People? The Corporate Form and the Body of Christ”), pages 1-31.

 

Events

Online Community Mass – 15th Sunday Ordinary Time – 7/12 11:15 am EDT

| St. Charles Borromeo

Please join us for our Online Community Mass for the 15th Sunday of Ordinary Time – Sunday, July 12 at 11:15 AM EDT.

Instructions to view the Mass are available here. You can also watch the video via YouTube Live in the window here.

Messages from Parishioners

Watering the Seeds God Has Sown – David Austin

| St. Charles Borromeo

David Austin in Bhutan where he helped to set up that country’s first law school.

This Sunday’s reading from the Gospel (Matthew 13:1-23) emphasizes the important role that our surroundings play with respect to the ability to develop our God-given potential. The parable of the sower is one that has occupied my thoughts repeatedly over the past year, during which time I had the privilege of living in Brooklyn Heights, teaching at Brooklyn Law School, and attending St. Charles Borromeo parish. As I started my new job, settled into my new community, and introduced myself to Father Bill, I couldn’t help but wonder about the quality of the soil in my new surroundings. Would I grow in my faith and would that faith bear fruit? Or would it wither away, suffocated by worldly anxiety and the potential damage that comes from repotting a plant with fragile roots?

As a gay man, I cannot take for granted that every community will be welcoming and inclusive. Even within our Church, unfortunately, there have been many examples of intolerance towards members of the LGBT community. In Illinois, for example, the Bishop of Springfield instructed priests in his diocese to refuse Communion and funeral rites to persons in a same-sex marriage. I belong to that group: my husband and I have been in a committed relationship for a quarter of a century and were civilly married in Illinois as soon as it became legal to do so. Continue reading “Watering the Seeds God Has Sown – David Austin” →