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.

Being Open to Encounter and New Relationships

“To overcome discrimination, a community must interiorize the values that inspire just laws and live out, in day-to-day life, the conviction of equal dignity of all.” Therefore, we affirm that participating in or fostering organizations that are built on racist ideology (for instance neo-Nazi movements and the Ku Klux Klan) is also sinful – they corrupt individuals and corrode communities. None of these organizations have a place in a just society.

As bishops, we encourage… visits to institutions of culture and learning… in Washington, DC …and in Atlanta… By listening to one another’s experiences we can come to understand and to empathize, which leads to those right relationships that unite us as brothers and sisters. This justice finds its source and strength in the love of Christ who laid down his life for his friends.

(to be continued)

Today, we celebrate the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord. According to Jewish custom, Mary and Joseph took Jesus to the temple to be presented to the Lord. In the temple was a devout man, Simeon, to whom it had been revealed that he would not die until he had seen the Christ of the Lord. Simeon declares that the child is “a light for the Gentiles and glory for your people Israel.” He also added the startling statement: “This child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel and (will) be a sign that will be contradicted.”You can only imagine what thoughts were going through Mary and Joseph’s minds as they returned home.

Monday, February 3, is the Feast of St. Blaise, and we will have the traditional Blessing of Throats after each Mass. Two candles are held near the throat of each person as the prayer is said and a blessing given. St. Blaise had saved the life of a young man who was choking on a fish bone. All are invited to receive this blessing.

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

Being Open to Encounter and New Relationships

To work at ending racism, we need to engage the world and encounter others – to see maybe for the first time, those who are on the peripheries of our own limited view. Knowing that the Lord has taken the divine initiative by loving us first, we can boldly go forward, reaching out to others. We must invite into dialogue those we ordinarily would not seek out. We must work to form relationships with those we might regularly try to avoid. This demands that we go beyond ourselves, opening our minds and hearts to value and respect the experiences of those who have to a change of heart in those who may be dismissive of other’s experiences or whose hearts may be hardened by prejudice or racism. Only by forging authentic relationships can we truly see each other as Christ sees us. Love should then move us to take what we learn from our encounters and examine where society continues to fail our brothers and sisters, or where it perpetuates inequity, and seek to address those problems.

(to be continued)

Today’s Gospel presents this scene for us: “As he was walking by the sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter and his brother, Andrew, who were casting nets into the sea. They were fisherman. He said to them, ‘Come after me and I will make you fishers of men.’ At once they left their nets
and followed him.”

There is much to think about in this calling of Simon and Andrew – such a radical move to leave what they were familiar with –and their father – to follow this itinerant preacher. We don’t know what preceded this, but it seems that they were ready to begin this new life even though there were many unknowns and questions connected wit their action. This gives us encouragement to follow Jesus even more closely and leave behind what are our doubts and insecurities.

Next weekend, we will celebrate the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord. This feast rarely falls on Sunday, but this year we will celebrate it over the weekend. In the Jewish culture, this was the dedication of the firstborn son to the Lord. In the day’s Gospel, we meet Simeon, in the temple, who declares that this child is to be “a light for revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel.” A “light” for both Jew and Gentile is to be his vocation. This is a rather unusual statement: a light for the Gentiles? Simeon knew what he was saying. We celebrate this pronouncement this weekend. This feast was often called “Candlemas day.” It occurs 40 days after Christmas and candles were blessed on this day for use in church and in homes. The lighted candle symbolizing Jesus the light of the world.

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

Being Open to Encounter and New Relationships

“To walk humbly with God” requires even more. We know that we do not have all the answers, but a missionary disciple is one who willingly meets every problem and every sinful attitude with the confidence that comes from a deep love of Jesus. As Pope Benedict XVI has said, “Being a Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction.”

The Christian community should draw from this central, ongoing encounter with Christ and seek to combat racism with love, recalling the insight of Pope Francis that “if we have received the love which restores meaning to our lives, how can we fail to share that love with others?”With the guidance of the Holy Spirit, this wellspring of strength and courage must move us to act. Consequently, we all need to take responsibility for correcting the injustices of racism and healing the harms it has caused.

(to be continued)

This weekend is the Second Sunday of Ordinary Time. The Christmas season has ended and now we move into Ordinary Time until Lent begins. The Gospel begins with John the Baptist seeing Jesus and saying: “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the World.” Earlier we heard Isaiah say: “You are my servant, Israel, …I will make it a light to the nations.” It is time for Jesus to begin his mission. John speaks about seeing “the Spirit come down like a dove from heaven and remain(ing) on him.”Yes, it is time for Jesus to heal, to teach, to forgive and to gather in the “lost sheep.”

The letter from our Provincial Minister, Fr. Kevin Mullen, that was in the bulletin last week was disturbing, yet it was easy to see that the reality of the number of working Friars has decreased significantly. There are nine of our current ministries that we will be withdrawing from later this year. Two of them are near us: Holy Name of Jesus Church on 96th Street, and Assumption Church in Woodridge, New Jersey. Also, on the list are churches in Orlando, FL, Anderson, SC, Greenville, SC, Raleigh, NC, Campus Ministry in Athens, GA, churches in Wilmington, DE, and a chapel in a mall in Albany, NY. There was much discussion, consultation, study and prayer before these decisions were made. All of these ministries will return to the various dioceses or archdioceses where they are located. Please keep us in your prayers.

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

It is fitting that on this final feast of the season of Christmas, we celebrate Jesus’ baptism, and with it our own entry into Christ’s life through the waters of baptism. During Christmas, we have reflected on the stunning recognition that God came to be one with us in Jesus Christ. Now, as we make the transition to Ordinary Time, we think about what it means to follow this same Christ, the Anointed One of God. In baptism, we too are anointed. Baptism plunges us into Christ’s death and resurrection; in baptism, we receive the Holy Spirit. Baptism, which is available to all who believe, draws us to the very heart of God. In baptism, we become the servants of the Lord, chosen ones who are called for the victory of justice, a light for the nations.

Why are you coming to me?

We can almost hear the amazement in John the Baptist’s voice as he says to Jesus, “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me?” Throughout the time that John preached and baptized people in the desert, he had been preparing people for the coming of the Messiah. Now, Jesus approaches him for baptism! We might share in his wonder. Why would Jesus, who is sinless, come to John for a baptism of repentance? Jesus’ response to John helps us understand. Jesus has come to fulfill all that is expected in the Messiah, and more. As he entered the waters of baptism, Jesus entered fully into our humanity, raising us toward God. Jesus sanctified the waters of baptism, making them holy, opening the heavens through his humble obedience to God’s plan of love.

Christ’s mission is our mission

As Jesus came out of the baptismal waters, the Holy Spirit descended upon him and a voice from the heavens was heard saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” In joining himself to humanity, Jesus opened the heavens for us, and in doing so, was confirmed in his mission of mercy and love. In baptism, we are joined with Christ. Immersed into his life and love, his mission is our mission. It is still early in this new year. Today, reflect on your baptismal call to live as a member of Christ’s body. In what ways do you love God and others? In what ways might you grow as a disciple of our Lord Jesus Christ? How are you living the mission of Christ, to make God’s love and mercy known in the world? Is Christ’s mission your mission?

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