Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

    Has this ever happened to you?  Not too long ago when dining out at a famous Italian restaurant I ordered a glass of wine with my pasta.  Taking a sip I gagged. It had turned to vinegar and when the owner, who had suggested the vintage, saw my reaction he zoomed to my table and wanted to know what was the matter.  He thought it went down the wrong way.  Have a sip, said I, which he didn’t have to do because he could smell the pungency of elixir gone rogue.   It begs the question how could something so good become so bad?  Such is the query made by prophets, psalmists and our Lord in today’s Scriptures. And again we are faced with the conundrum of God’s  fairness.  What’s God to do?

       Sadly, those who are “in the know” and profess to know the right answer cannot see beyond the length of their nose… everything is about them except when it comes to understanding the truth Jesus lies before them. In their mind His words refer to somebody else.  They are the branches that on the Vine have gone rogue.   They are the ones who have soured the sweetness of the Lord.  But still they cannot see.

      Whenever we hear the Word of the Lord proclaimed we must not think it was for just a later time and a particular crowd.  His Words are for us and though we may not have really soured on the Lord there is always the danger that we might miss the point of God’s  call to conversion and regeneration in His grace. We are the branches grafted on the Vine and sometimes we need that health-giving pruning that revitalizes our faith and the desire to do good.

      One of the ways to put into practice our faith is to let it shine.  We have the opportunity to do that at our Rosary Rally this coming Saturday, October 14th in Central Park.  Following Mass at 11 A.M. we will make our way down to the Park and joyfully offer our prayers to God through the intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  If the weather turns bad we will continue in St. Mary Magdalen’s but hopefully it will be a radiant Fall day.   Please join us.

With Blessings,

Father Langan