…From Your Pastor’s Desk
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
A few years back, we had a very cool conflation of celebrations. Mother’s Day and Pentecost were on the same day. And, as was brought to my attention just before mass that day, a mother and her daughter were both celebrating their birthdays on that same day! A mother’s birthday has a special appeal. It usually evokes a significant response in family members, especially in the strays. There is an awareness of the life she has given and nurtured. The blessings she has bestowed are remembered – at least fleetingly. The opportunities she has created are often recalled with joy. There is a gratitude for the past even if there is a realization that she was not as perfect as was once thought. Overall, there is recognition that the bonds between a mother and those she has formed rarely die totally, no matter how they may have been neglected.
Pentecost Sunday is the birthday of our faith mother, The Church. At Pentecost, we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit on the disciples to begin a new life between them, a life that bound them together as a community of believers who sustain each other in respect-filled hope and generous service and who, through that shared faith, make God’s love present in the world for succeeding generations.
From this mother, we have all received life and Grace. Her begetting and her nurturance have been experienced in a myriad of ways by different people. This mother has cradled saints and forgiven sinners. She has inspired heroism and battled against selfishness. She has been served by the faithful and manipulated by the ambitious. She has been trusted by the poor and exploited by the powerful.
Through it all, she has kept faith in Jesus alive over the centuries and handed on to us Baptism, Reconciliation and Eucharist despite persecution, sin and failure. This achievement shows that God is truly with her and truly lives within her.
So, this weekend we salute you Mother Church. We claim you, own you and return to you. We rejoice on your birthday and hope that all the family members make contact soon, especially those who have been away. The door is always open as is the heart of a Mother’s Love.
God Bless us all, great and small,
Father Ron
