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Worship with us via LIVE STREAM or watch on your own time on YouTube We encourage all of our parishioners to live their spiritual lives the best they can from home. MASS CARDS - Available upon request, please call the Rectory at 856-667-8850.
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Asleep on a Cushion!
My Dear Spiritual Family,
In the midst of a violent squall on the sea, the disciples panic, seek out the Lord, and find that “Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion!” Mark adds the lovely detail of the cushion, a simple word that reveals comfort and planning in a chaotic situation. Christ Jesus is also at the stern, in the position of leadership, where the one who steers the boat from the rudder would sit.
At times life can feel like a storm, wind blowing and rain coming in sideways, little to no visibility. We can even lose our sense of direction. And at times in our lives, it can feel very much like Jesus is asleep at the rudder. Yet Jesus challenges us with the question, “Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?” He may even command our hearts and anxieties to be still just as He commands the storm.
“Don’t Hurt to Ask”
My Dear Family in Christ,
People tell me I have a green thumb. I love to garden but really can’t take much credit. I merely read the directions on the seed packs and do my best to pay attention. Watching and getting in tune with the plants is the most important; they don’t talk but we can learn how they communicate. Still, almost all the credit belongs to the seed itself. Inherent in the seed, is what God put there for fruitfulness whether tomatoes or spinach or peas, as you please.
Jesus uses many agricultural parables to describe the Kingdom of God. Alongside the parable of the sower, in which the focus rests squarely on the farmer, today we focus on the seed itself, in what is often called “seed growing secretly.” Credit belongs to the seed, not the sower. The farmer merely sows and reaps; all the important steps in between are beyond his control. That is how I feel as a gardener! Sure, I water and weed and pay attention, but in essence my effort just cultivates what is already inherent in the plant. If bad seeds or weeds are mixed into the seeds, I am powerless. So much of life is like that. And as Jesus teaches through the parable, so much of the Kingdom of God is beyond the designs of the sower.
Why Attend Mass Anyway?
My dear spiritual family,
A full year has passed since we returned to public Masses. June 8th, 2020 public Mass returned to OLPH and to most of the parishes in the Trenton Diocese. In a rare use of ecclesial law, the Catholic Bishops of New Jersey gave a special dispensation. Now almost a year to the day later, they are removing that dispensation. This unique occasion offers a rich backdrop for understanding better the nature of sin and our motivation.
Henceforth, missing Mass on Sunday without serious reason (grave illness, homebound, unavoidable work as essential medical, police and fire personnel) is a grave matter. All grave matter should be confessed and absolution sought in the Sacrament of Confession before returning to the Sacrament of Holy Eucharist. Furthermore, should one commit a grave sin, with full knowledge and full consent of the will, then the conditions are met for mortal sin, meaning one has cut oneself off spiritually from God. See here in our Catechism for further explanation.
