We will be installing new carpeting in the Sanctuary of the Lower Church this week. This project, which has been in the planning stages for several months, is being made possible through the generosity of a benefactor.

Confessions will be held at the regular times each day but access to the lower church from the 32nd Street entrance will be limited. We encourage you to use the elevator or the 31st Street entrance.

Also, Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament will take place in the Upper Church from 9:00 to 11:15 AM, and 1:00 to 4:15 PM.

Thank you for your cooperation while the work is in progress!

Overcoming racism…

A change of heart…cannot occur without strengthening spiritual convictions regarding respect for other races and ethnic groups. We must, therefore, explain the true teaching of Scripture and Tradition about the origin of all people in God, their final common destiny in the Kingdom of God, the value of the precept of fraternal love, and total incompatibility between racist exclusivism and the universal calling of all to the same salvation in Jesus Christ.

Our individual efforts to encounter, grow, and witness, to change our hearts about racism, must also find their way into our families. We urge each person to consider the dignity of others in the face of jokes, conversations, and complaints motivated by racial prejudice. We can provide experiences for children that expose them to different cultures and peoples. We can also draw upon the incredible diversity of the Church worldwide in providing education within the family and make it clear that God dwells in the equal dignity of each person.

(to be continued)

Jesus says to us: “You are the salt of the earth…You are the light of the world.” He has great confidence in us to be ‘salt’ and ‘light’ because we are sharing in his being ‘salt’ and his being ‘light.’ Sometimes, we may doubt our value and our worth, but this tells us clearly who we are and what are meant to be. How have you experienced being ‘salt’ and ‘light’? It may not be the easiest way to be in certain circumstances and with certain people, but don’t put your “light under a bushel basket.” We can be easily intimidated in today’s world, but no one can take from us what the Lord has given to us.

Please keep in your prayers our Parish Retreat for those who volunteer in the various ministries. We are at Loyola Retreat Center in Morristown, NJ for the weekend. It is good to get out of the city and have time to be refreshed and renewed during a retreat. The theme for the retreat is “our thirst for God” and in the days that we have away, we will have many opportunities to allow God to satisfy our thirst.

Our Franciscan Brother, Roberto Gonzalez, Archbishop of San Juan, stayed at our Friary last week. He had been invited by Cardinal Dolan to preach at St. Patrick’s Cathedral on behalf of the earthquake victims in Puerto Rico. This gave me the chance to present to him a check for $3,000 that was collected a few weeks ago at Masses here. He was very grateful for our thinking of his people.

-Fr. Andrew Reitz, O.F.M.