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6/5/22 Father Owen's Bulletin Message
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Dear Parishioners,
As we gather this weekend to celebrate the Feast of Pentecost, we celebrate the birthday of the church. On this day we give thanks to God for the gift of the Holy Spirit who came upon the apostles and thus empowered them to bring Christ’s message to the world. It is incredible to realize that within 300 years the Catholic faith was active in the Near East, North Africa, Southern India, and Southern and Western Europe. Within the next 400 years, the faith was brought to Central and Eastern Europe as mid-and Southern Africa, the Americas and Australia were discovered; the nuns and priests travelled with adventurers and brought Christ’s gospel to the area. Asia too was Christianized as the traders moved through China, Japan and Vietnam and though many persecutions ensued, many areas have remained Christian for over 1,000 years.
In this present year of 2022, sadly the Catholic faith has waned in many western countries. Under the Pontificate of Pope Francis, we reach out with enthusiasm to lapsed Catholics and to those who have no faith. The Holy Father reminds his priests, “That the shepherd must smell like his sheep.” We, the hierarchy and priests of this millennium must always be aware of the needs of our flock; their joys and challenges, their struggles and achievements. As your pastor, I love to meet you where you are at and for you to know where the rectory is should you need me and that I am available in good times and in bad to help you navigate your journey of life with Christ as your guide. We all know that it is a struggle to be an active Catholic during these days, we also understand that it was a struggle in the early days to follow in the way of the Lord. Do remember my dear parishioners, where Christ has gone before us, he will continue to guide us forever. Until the day Christ returns, we remember the Father has created us, the Son Jesus saves us, and the Holy Spirit empowers us. In the name of Christ, I invite each of us with a sense of joy to invite people we know in our community circles who are non-practicing to join us here at St. Luke and feel the love that comes directly from God.
I am thrilled to baptize Karam, to initiate Kyle and to confirm several members of our community at the 11:30 am Mass this weekend. I am so pleased and proud to have been able to celebrate the sacrament of Confirmation for so many since Holy Saturday. You will notice at Mass today, our Easter candle, the “Paschal Candle” will be extinguished after the gospel reading. We are invited to bring the Good News of God’s love with us on our journey. Today, Mass ends with the great Alleluia and thus concludes the Easter season.
As a parish we have committed on a regular basis to supporting the working poor in Paterson. Thanks for your generosity to this great endeavor. However, as I mentioned at Mass last weekend, every parish in our diocese is collecting food for Paterson on the Feast of Corpus Christi, Father’s Day weekend. Please remember to bring cans of tuna/salmon and fruit to church on the 19th and place them in baskets on the altar, where we, at St Luke play our part in union with the diocese to support those in need.
A gentle reminder that from next week on, Mass will be at 11 am instead of 11:30 am. Also, we look forward to beginning our outdoor Mass on June 25th weather permitting.
Fr. Owen