From Pastor's Desk
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From Pastor's Desk
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My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, with the feast of the baptism of Jesus on Monday, the Christmas season came to an end and we entered the ordinary time. We come to Mass today and hear another account of the Baptism of Jesus, this time according to the Gospel of Saint John. John the Baptist uses the words, "This is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world." What incredible news. This Jesus who came over two thousand years ago is the same Jesus who continues to come today to take away the sin of the world. Sometimes we feel discouraged by the reality of sin: the violence, the injustice, the oppression. But Jesus is coming, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. In this way, he encourages us to have confidence and hope.
Tomorrow our country will interrupt its ordinary rhythm to remember the testimony and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, great prophet of non-violence. This hero gave testimony with his words, and in the end, with his life to value the fight against oppression and discrimination. Dr. King began his career as a civil rights leader, speaking out against the segregation that was a part of daily life in this country. Little by little, he spread his message to the causes of poverty, and the injustice of the war in Vietnam. He spoke of light, of fidelity to the path of Jesus, of the power of non-violence. He left us a vision of the possible, based not on the reality of time, but on the promise of a God of love. How good to hear today the Gospel according to Saint John. We see that the words "This is the Lamb of God, the one who takes away the sin of the world" have value in our day, within a reality that continues to be changed by sin. Jesus continues to work in the lives of sincere Christians who are dedicated to bringing justice. John's role was to testify about Jesus; tell people that Jesus was the Savior; proclaim that the Kingdom had already begun. The prophets of our day, including us, have to proclaim the same thing. God is a God of justice, and his kingdom is manifested through non-violence. Today we have the opportunity to reflect on the words of John the Baptist, within the reality of the violence in the streets and the celebration of Doctor Martin Luther King. We see that it is possible in our days, in our culture, in our communities to live according to the vision of the gospel. May the Lord bless us with the grace we need. In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen Fr. Paschal Chester, SVD. My dear brothers and sisters, we are in the middle of the Advent Season and the Prophet Isaiah in the first reading says “The desert and the parched land will exult; the steppe will rejoice and bloom. They will bloom with abundant flowers, and rejoice with joyful song. The glory of Lebanon will be given to them, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon; they will see the glory of the Lord, the splendor of our God.” This is also the joy of Advent, and that of every day: Jesus is near us. He is nearer every day and he brings us joy and not affliction.
The Angel said to Mary “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you”. It is the nearness of God which makes the virgin rejoice. And the nearness of the Messiah will make the unborn Baptist show forth his joy in the womb of Elizabeth. Later, the Angel will say to the Shepherds: Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people; for to you is born this day a savior… Joy is to possess Jesus; un-happiness is to lose him. Rejoice, because the Lord is hand and you will see his glory. We come close to him whenever we want to. In a few days it will be Christmas, a great feast for us Christians, but also for the whole human race, which without knowing it, is looking for Christ. Christmas is coming, and God wants us to be joyful like the shepherds, like the wise men, like Mary and Joseph. We shall be full of joy if our Lord is really present in our life, if we have not lost him, if we have not allowed our sight to be clouded by tepidity or lack of generosity. When one attempts to discover happiness along other paths which lead away from God, all one finds in fact is sorrow and misery. All those who, in one way or an-other, ever turned their back on God have had the same experience: they have proved that apart from God there is no true happiness. There can be nine. To find Christ and to remain in his company, is to possess a deep happiness which is new every day. It is true that there is tension between what we expect with the coming of Jesus and what we see. But the mes-sage of this third Sunday of Advent is that Jesus is near and he comes to do works of compassion and mercy in the person of his Church. We can live with hope, rejoicing because now, as always, God is with us. May the Lord bless us, in the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Fr. Paschal Chester, SVD. My dear brothers and sisters, on November 2nd we commemorated all the faithful departed and we are reminded to pray for the Holy Souls in purgatory. Although Jesus requires us to be perfect, most people- even those who die in God’s favor-never reach this state of perfection prior to their death. These imperfections often include attachments to created goods, inordinate desires for earthly pleasures, and small but habitual sins. They also include the satisfactions still owed to God, to restore the equality of justice for the many sins that they committed during their lives.
The bible says “nothing unclean” shall enter heaven, and without holiness no one can see the Lord. So, how can the souls hope to behold the face of the all-perfect and holy God? The answer is purgatory. In purgatory, God purifies the soul of its imperfections through the fire of his divine justice. During this process, the soul is purged of its evil inclinations and makes final satisfaction to God for its sins. After the purification is complete, God admits the soul into heaven where it enjoys the Beatific Vision for all eternity. The word “purgatory” comes from the Latin ‘purgare’ which means to purge, purify, or make clean. The church teaches that it is a place or condition of temporal punishment for departed souls who are destined for heaven but not completely purified from sin. Through this purgative process, spiritual contamination is removed and the soul is made wholly pleasing to God so it can live forever with Him in heaven. Many people have mistaken ideas about purgatory. Some people think that purgatory is a place where people get a “second chance” after death to accept God and be saved. Others think that purgatory is an alternative destination for people who are “too good” for hell but “not good enough” for heaven. Some also think that purgatory is a place where the soul works for heaven and gains additional merits from God. These views are erroneous. Purgatory is not a “second change”, nor an “alternative destination or a middle state between the place of the saved and the place of the damned. In purgatory the soul does none of the work of purification; rather God does all the work. We can assist the holy souls through penance, the sacraments, and indulgence. We can offer Holy Mass for them, pray for them. May we remember them and offer them to the Lord. Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May the souls of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace. Amen. Fr. Paschal Chester, SVD My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, prayer is very powerful, and in today’s gospel, “Jesus told his disciples a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary”. All people who have been close to the Lord, will speak about the primary importance of prayer in the Christian life. The Lord said, “Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says. Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them? I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily”. Jesus tells us to persevere, and praying when it is more difficult might be the best time to pray.
When we pray, we may ask for things necessary for our salvation, piously and with perseverance; this can make our prayers more effective. God will hear our prayers and he is pleased that we pray on behalf of others. God knows what is best for us and he will give us what is best for us, even if we are not asking as we should. Saint Paul tells us that he prayed to be delivered from a temptation, but instead God gave him the grace to endure it. God knows the difference between our needs and wants. He knows the right time to grant our request. What is necessary for our salvation? The virtues, faith, hope, love, humility, temperance, meekness etc. To die in the state of grace, the grace to love God, the grace to know our vocation, and the grace of perseverance, prayer is necessary for salvation so pray for the grace to pray effectively. In prayer, little Therese says, we are like a baby learning to walk. We come to the foot of the stairs but as of-ten as we try, we fall back again till our mother standing at the top comes down to pick us up. My dear friends, when we pray there are two people involved; God and us. But the temptation is for us to focus only on ourselves. We need to pay attention to God a little more and let him do the good that he wants to do. He tells us in Ps 46:10 that “be still and know that I am God”. Perseverance is our proof that we mean what we say. The more difficult a thing is, the more we have to work at it. We grow in gratitude, humility and holiness through perseverance. That is why devotion to the angels, rosary, and divine mercy chaplet are so powerful. Through them we ask for God’s graces for ourselves, family, friends, and others. May the Lord grant to us the grace of prayer. In the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen Fr. Paschal Chester, SVD. Each year, we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15 to October 15) to recognize the achievements and contributions of Hispanic Americans who have inspired others to achieve success. “The day of September 15 is significant because it is the anniversary of independence for Latin American countries Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. In addition, Mexico and Chile celebrate their Independence days on September 16 and September18, respectively. Also, Columbus Day or ‘Día de la Raza’, which is October 12, falls within this 30 day period.” We are very proud as a parish to celebrate the history and culture of our brothers and sisters and to recognize the contribution that they play in our community and parish. May we continue to be enriched through the presence of one another.
On the third Sunday of September, the church celebrates ‘Catechetical Sunday’, which began as an opportunity for catechists, parents and guardians to recommit themselves to the mission of catechesis, and to celebrate and affirm in them this great vocation. This year, the Church celebrates Catechetical Sunday on September 19, 2021, and the theme is: “This is my body given for you.” We are very grateful to all those who provide faith formation to diverse age groups and settings. This is a wonderful opportunity to reflect on the role that each person plays, by virtue of Baptism, in handing on the faith and being a witness to the Gospel. The readings of this Sunday reflect on being a good steward of the goods of the world. Can we call the rich of the time Amos shrewd? They became wealthy by cheating the poor, had no respect for ‘holy days’ and they busied themselves with their own selfish interests. In the eyes of people they were certainly shrewd, but in the eyes of God they ruined themselves. This is what the first reading teaches us. Jesus tells us in the gospel that we are ‘shrewd’ if we use the goods of this world to help others. In this way we acquire the only thing that counts, the friendship of the poor. To understand this truth, so difficult to accept, we need prayer. Paul tells us this in the second reading. May the Lord bless us. In the name of the father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Fr. Paschal Chester, SVD My dear brothers and sisters, today, all three readings have the same theme. In the first we see a God who forgives the people of Israel though they had returned to the worship of idols. His forgiveness is without conditions, he does not wait to see if they are going to deserve his forgiveness. He is led only by love. The gospel says the same thing: what could the little sheep have done to merit the attention of the shepherd? Nothing. It had just got lost, that’s all. The example of Paul proposed in the second reading completes today’s catechesis. Some may say that Paul was wrong without knowing it (1 Timothy 1:13); the people of Israel had reverted to paganism because of ignorance; the little sheep had gone astray by mistake…That is why the Lord was so good and understanding of them. But I say, is there anybody who sins in any other different way?
A story is told of a father who has two sons and who loses them both. One son is lost in a far country, and the other is lost in the wilderness of his own hostility. One leaves home in the fond hope that he will experience happiness in the unfamiliar, only to discover it is found at the heart of the familiar. One stays at home but is such a stranger to the love and acceptance which surround him that he might as well be an alien in a foreign land. They are a mixed human family in which tenderness and selfishness and hostility vie with each other for possession. The young son yearns for a life different from that at home. He leaves home and soon discovers that his promised land is barren. He experiences failure, but his failure is not unimportant: through his failure he comes to himself. It appears that the younger son has gone on a fruitless journey to end up where he started; but if he ends up in the same place, he is different. At journey’s end he is a man of new insight. The elder son does not leave home, but staying at home has not led him to hospitality. When he returns from the fields, with the sweat of the slave on his brow, he hears music and dancing. Rather than hurry in to join the party, he reacts with anger. Unlike his father, he does not have the generous instinct to rush to meet the younger brother. The elder brother refuses to move. He sees himself as a slave: “All these years I have slaved for you…” His own anger immobilizes him. Now, it is he who is far from home. He is “the separated one” who cannot move to except his brother and rejoice with him. But the father loves both of his sons and he lives in the hope that they will love and accept each other. The father's attitude reflects the generosity of Jesus’ way of dealing with sinners. May we encounter this love in the sacrament of reconciliation and may we put it into practice. Kay the Lord bless us with peace and love. In the name of the father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Fr. Paschal Chester, SVD. My dear brothers and sisters, chapter nine of the book of Wisdom has a wonderful prayer that asks God to grant us his wisdom. Let us not confuse the ‘wisdom’ of the Bible with all that we learnt at school. The author of the book was a very intelligent and highly educated person and yet he still felt the need to ask God for wisdom. This is because the kind of wisdom he wanted can only come from God and it cannot be earned. In today’s first reading, the author reflects that it is hardly surprising that we have trouble figuring out the intentions of God when we have so much trouble figuring each other out. He warns: “And scarce do we guess the things on earth, and what is within our grasp we find with difficulty.” There are times when those within our reach puzzle us, just as we puzzle them; there are times when we have to work at understanding our own intentions and behavior because we are a puzzle to ourselves. And even though God has revealed himself through the Holy Spirit, nobody can claim to fully understand the mystery that is God. We cannot discover truth just by using our intelligence. In the gospel, Jesus gives a twin parable, anyone intending to build a tower would: first sit down and work out the cost”. If he started without finishing, the sum of his achievement would be a monument to his own stupidity. Likewise, the king who discovers that his forces are outnumbered would “first sit down and consider” whether the opposing troop is too heavy. If he wants to be a smarter survivor “he will send a delegation to ask for peace terms”. In both instances the advice is clear: take time; sit down; look at the demands; figure out whether you can honestly meet them. Much of our lives involve figuring out what is within our reach and what we ourselves can realistically achieve. May the Lord bless us with his spirit, the Spirit of Wisdom to discern what is best for us. In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Fr. Paschal Chester, SVD “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” The message of this week’s Gospel is clear. Jesus wants humility. He gives some examples of humility that leave no doubt of its importance. So, it is worth thinking about the sense of humility. True humility depends on our attitude and the recognition that God is the giver of all the good that we are. We have to do the best we can, not to win over others, but to develop our gifts. Our goal should not be to beat others, but to use the good we have to improve the world.
Humility is a Christian virtue. It is foundational to all the other virtues. It symbolizes lowliness and submission, but not passivity. It takes its root from the Latin word Humus, that is earth, which is beneath us. Applied to persons, it is first, to be reminded or to be conscious of our own human smallness in the face of God. And second, being conscious of your own worth and yet submitting yourself to others. Not because we are weak or timid, but because that is what God asks of us, and that is how Christ would act. There we are invited to “have among ourselves the same attitude that is also ours in Christ Jesus, who, though, was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, even death on a cross. Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every know should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:6-11). Humility is the opposite of pride and Proverbs 16:18 says “Pride goes before a disaster, and a haughty spirit before a fall”. Pride is the inordinate desire for one's own excellence. Humility is its opposite, because a humble person seeks his or her own excellence in a proper manner and degree. My dear friends, humility produces countless fruits, and it is linked to all the other virtues (prudence, chastity, meekness, patience, brotherly and sisterly love, kindness). Let us find countless opportunities each day to live a life of humility. May the Lord bless us in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Fr. Paschal Chester, SVD My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we wish to welcome all our students, faculty and staff to the new academic year 2022-2023. The beginning of the new school year is an opportunity to ask God’s blessings on the school community in the coming year and to help prepare the hearts of students, parents, teachers and staff. We kindly ask all parishioners to help the students feel at home in our faith community. We begin our religious education this Sunday, and we wish to thank all our students and catechists for their desire to participate in sharing the faith and growing in it.
We live our faith through the profession of faith (the creed), the celebration of the Christian Mystery, Life in Christ, and Christian prayer. There is the need for us to better understand the faith we profess. When we profess the creed in the liturgy, we keep the principal truths of the faith alive in memory. In the celebration of the Christian Mystery, the proclamation of the Gospel finds its authentic response in the sacramental life, through which we experience and witness, in every moment of our existence, the saving power of the paschal mystery by which Christ accomplishes our redemption. Life in Christ recalls the ways through which we manifest our commitments to the faith we profess and celebrate, through our actions and ethical choices. We are called by the Lord Jesus to act in a way which befits our dignity as children of the Father in the love of the Holy Spirit. May this year be a time to reaffirm, renew and deepen our faith. To do this we are invited to reflect on our faith in God. Devote time each day in reading the Word of God, because your faith will be strengthened by the power of the Word. In Roman 10:17 we read that “faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes from what is preached”. Devote time for your personal prayer. Constantly ask the Blessed Mother Mary to intercede for you and may we learn from her faith journey. Ask pardon from God in the sacrament of reconciliation. May the Lord fill us with his blessing and lead us along the right path. In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen Fr. Paschal Chester, SVD My dear brothers and sisters, The Synod on Synodality is a two-year process of listening and dialogue which began with a solemn opening in Rome on October 9 and 10, 2021 with each individual diocese and church celebrating the following week on October 17. The synodal process will conclude in 2023. Pope Francis invites the entire Church to reflect on a theme that is decisive for its life and mission: “It is precisely this path of synodality which God expects of the Church of the third millennium.” This journey, which follows in the wake of the Church’s “renewal” proposed by the Second Vatican Council, is both a gift and a task: by journeying together and reflecting together on the journey that has been made, the Church will be able to learn through Her experience which processes can help Her to live communion, to achieve participation, to open Herself to mission. (From USCCB website)
The theme of the Synod: “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission”. It invites the whole church to question itself on synodality. Even though it's not a new concept in church history, synodality is a new term for most Catholics. Synodality denotes the particular style that qualifies the life and mission of the Church, expressing her nature as the People of God are journeying together and gathering in the assembly, summoned by the Lord Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit to proclaim the Gospel. This Synod is intended as a Synodal Process to provide an opportunity for the entire People of God to discern together, how to move forward on the path towards being a more Synodal Church in the long-term. A basic question prompts and guides us: How does this journey together, allow the Church to proclaim the Gospel in accordance with the mission entrusted to Her; and what steps does the Spirit invite us to take in order to grow as a Synodal Church? The Theme: Communion, Participation and Mission. Communion: The communion we share finds its deepest roots in the love and unity of the Trinity. Together, we are inspired by listening to the Word of God, through the living Tradition of the Church, and grounded in the sensus fidei that we share. We all have a role to play in discerning and living out God’s call for his people. Participation: Participation is based on the fact that all the faithful are qualified and are called to serve one another through the gifts they have each received from the Holy Spirit in baptism. In a Synodal Church the whole community is called together to pray, listen, analyze, dialogue, discern and offer advice on making pastoral decisions which correspond as closely as possible to God’s will. Mission: Our mission is to witness to the love of God in the midst of the whole human family. This Synodal Process has a deeply missionary dimension to it. It is intended to enable the Church to better witness to the Gospel, especially with those who live on the spiritual, social, economic, political, geographical, and existential peripheries of our world. Bishop Wack invites each of our parishioners to prayerfully consider sharing your feedback in a six-question Synod Survey. Visit to participate. (https://ptdiocese.org/synod) to participate. The link can be found in the bulletin, on the parish Facebook page, and the parish WhatsApp group. God bless you. Fr. Paschal Chester, SVD |