Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

     Though this feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross  is celebrated only every seven years on a Sunday it is the powerful reminder that the Cross is the most recognized symbol of our Christian Faith  We see, in whatever setting these two crossed beams are found, and instantly recall the event that  transformed the cruelest instrument of torture into the triumph over sin and death.  He, Who with His foster father, fashioned necessities out of wood for families now fashioned the Table of Sacrifice from which we receive the Bread of Life and the Blood of Redemption.

      So singularly important was and is the Cross that it stirred the Roman Empress Helena, mother of Constantine, to travel, in her advanced years, to the Holy Land in search of this treasure beyond gold.  Miraculously she found the Cross and brought it back to Rome where she had a church constructed for the purpose of protecting this sacred relic and making it  available for the veneration of the faithful.  Over the centuries miniscule slivers have been shaved from the Cross and these relics have traversed the globe.  Your pastor is privileged to have guardianship over one of these relics.  Following several of this week’s Masses you are invited to be blessed with the relic following Mass.  Those who do not receive the blessing this Sunday may do so the following week.

With Blessings,

Father Langan

September 6-7

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

The month of September is dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows, the feast day following “The Exaltation of the Cross”. Monday is Her birthday and of course last month we commemorated Her Assumption and Queenship. Within a month’s time then, we have covered the spectrum of human joys and sorrows that accompany the life of the Mother of God and our own as well.

How we deal with this ebb and flow of daily living is dependent upon the strength, or lack thereof, of our faith. That is why it is so necessary to pray each day for an increase of faith for ourselves. There is nothing self-centered or egotistical about this. How else could we possibly face the unexpected things that come our way? A beautiful phrase and thought comes to us today in the 90th Psalm: “Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain wisdom of heart”. It is the wisdom of heart that enables us to accept the challenges that our Lord, in today’s Gospel, presents to us. He prioritizes our love, our affections by holding the Cross before our eyes. This is the cost of discipleship and it is the wise soul that chooses the better part. We have always the example of our Blessed Mother to show us how to do so. Let our lives be mirrored after Her.

I wish to acknowledge the tremendous work done by our parishioners to bring to fruition the very best flea market we have ever had. Of course that is because of the kindness and generosity of those, known and unknown, who donated everything you could possibly imagine. Our sincere thanks and appreciation to all and indeed to those who purchased what we had to offer. It seems that our reputation has grown significantly. Thanks also to those who have put in a good word for us.

With Blessings,

Father Langan

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

    You may be familiar with the song; “Every Rose Has its Thorn” In other words, every good has its counterpart in evil.  Such is the case in the spiritual life as well: every vice has its virtue.  The question is: Which will prevail?   Today’s Word of God puts it all in perspective: the contrast between pride and humility.

     Pride, of course, is the Original Sin.  Our first parents thought they knew better than God.  By the twisted logic presented to them they made a “good” excuse for eating the forbidden fruit.  How very much that perverted logic infects our culture today.  The rallying cry is “I know better than God what is good for me.”  Despite the constant revelation through the prophets and now through the teaching authority and wisdom of the Church which God uses as His mouthpiece to humanity, pride still raises its ugly head.

     But the Lord ever merciful shows us the better way, i.e. humility.  Everything in our society emphasizes anything but humility.  It is perceived as weakness, degenerate and down right absurd.  We are , after all, supposed to be promoting ourselves, reveling in our accomplishments and always self-asserting.  None of that was observable from the Cross  And yet, paradoxically, it is the humility of the Cross that saves.  This is what our Lord teaches us and sadly with many it does not register.  It’s not that weakness is a virtue but rather the unlimited dependence upon God and our gratefulness to Him which fosters the virtue of humility in our lives.  How powerful and necessary is that simple yet profound admonition we should daily pray: “Jesus meek and humble of heart make my heart like unto thine.”   Then we will know the virtue of humility.

   Beginning on September 9th in the library in the Parish office we initiate the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults in preparation to be received into the Church at Easter.  Anyone who is interested in becoming a Catholic should call the office a week prior to register. Instructions will be held every other Tuesday evening.

With Blessings,

Father Langan

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

      Where did summer go?  Our children will be heading back to school this week -some happy to be with their friends, others needing more time on their bicycles and in their swimming pools or lakes (like I used to be).  Be that as it may there is no stopping the course of time and soon we will be back in the swing of things.  This, of course, requires a certain amount of discipline, like getting up early and designating time for homework and extracurricular activities.  Discipline is part of our human experience if we expect to succeed and accomplish tasks and duties in life.  No less so is this extended to spiritual life and our Scripture today from Hebrews stresses this very point.

     Our Catholic life requires discipline because God knows what is best for us.   His revealed Word to us is that gentle but direct discipline we need in order to accomplish our goal, which is Heaven. The beauty of spiritual discipline is that it comes with God’s grace fashioning and forming us into the Christians He wants us to be and which we ourselves hope to be.   That means getting rid of the sins that weigh us down and prevent our progress in the spiritual life.  Confession/Reconciliation is God’s grace of discipline that scrapes away the impediments to growth.  Perhaps as we are ratcheting up to this Autumnal season we can get in the groove of making Confession a disciplined practice on our life’ journey, kind of like an oasis where we stop and get refreshed and renewed as we trudge through the vicissitudes of this world on our way home to God.

      Throughout these past years tremendous works of charity have been done through our St. Vincent de Paul Society.  Countless volunteers under the guidance of Mimi Gambino have provided food, shelter and clothing, not to mention spiritual consolation to those in need within our expansive community.  God has blessed these labors, but our ministry has grown so large that it is too much for one person to administer.  Therefore, we will soon be having a restructuring of the Society to more evenly distribute the workload.  We thank Mimi for her exceptional commitment to working for the poor and needy and extend an invitation to others to come forth and help continue the blessed work she has accomplished.

    Remember that next week we return to St. John’s for the 10:30 Mass.

With Blessings,

Father Langan