HAVE A BLESSED EASTER SEASON

Additional resources to help you on your journey of Faith

Altar Flowers Offered In Loving Memory of Cristina Abbate
Love
The Matos & Abbate Families

Altar Bread Offered In Thanksgiving Requested by Norma Lora

Sanctuary Lamp Offered In Loving Memory of Lawrence William Class Requested by Soraya Class

Voice of the Family presents Our Lady of the Rosary Family Catechism, an entire online video catechism course which provides children and their families, completely free of charge, with the unique opportunity to learn the timeless truths of the Catholic Faith according to the classic Baltimore Catechism. This program will be a real asset to Catholic parents, the primary educators of their children. The easily accessible lessons of Our Lady or the Rosary Family Catechism are presented by Fr Anthony Pillari JCL, MCL, STB with the view that all children and families commit the Baltimore Catechism to memory, as generations of Catholics used to do. By taking up this delightful challenge, we are invited to join the mission given by Our Lady at Fatima: to work for the salvation of souls by striving for holiness in our daily lives. Sign up today, become crusaders for Christ!

CLICK BUTTONS BELOW TO ACCESS SECTIONS

SUNDAY READINGS AND VIDEO REFLECTION

Seventh Sunday of Easter - Cycle B

May 16, 2021

Work with Jesus in Church - Pray for the Church

Oftentimes, this Sunday is celebrated as the Ascension of the Lord Sunday. But the Solemnity of the Ascension is actually the Thursday prior to this Sunday which is 10 days before Pentecost. This reflection is proper to the 7th Sunday of Easter. We are called to work with the Lord Jesus in His Church. The work of evangelization continues. We are to participate in the life of the Church in our parishes. Pray for the Church and her missionary works, her ministries, etc. We are to bring God to the world and lead the world to Him in Christ Jesus.

FAITH FORMATION

Our ministry aims to help the faithful adult to grow in both Human and Christian maturity.
As part of this goal we offer links to Adult Faith Formation videos.

THE Ascension of the Lord Jesus

Never Tire of Longing and Preparing for Heaven - Live Heaven Now

The Thursday of the 6th week of Easter is the Solemnity of the Ascension of our Lord, but in many dioceses the celebration is transferred to Sunday, the 7th Sunday of Easter. This reflection is proper for the Ascension of the Lord. We are reminded that with the Ascension of the Lord Jesus, we are assured of our eternal and heavenly destiny. Our destiny is union with God for eternity. In this life we have many longings and desires, but only when are with God will we have the fullness of life and the answer to all our earthly longings. Let us never tire in desiring for heaven and to prepare for it. Let us live heaven now. Living a godly life does not only prepare us for heaven but it makes heaven present to us here and now.

FATHERS OF THE CHURCH

Commentary on the Song of Songs

St. Gregory of Nyssa

When love has entirely cast out fear, and fear has been transformed into love, then the unity brought us by our savior will be fully realized, for all men will be united with one another through their union with the one supreme Good. They will possess the perfection ascribed to the dove, according to our interpretation of the text: One alone is my dove, my perfect one. She is the only child of her mother, her chosen one.

Our Lord’s words in the gospel bring out the meaning of this text more clearly. After having conferred all power on his disciples by his blessing, he obtained many other gifts for them by his prayer to the Father. Among these was included the greatest gift of all, which was that they were no longer to be divided in their judgment of what was right and good, for they were all to be united to the one supreme Good. As the Apostle says, they were to be bound together with the bonds of peace in the unity that comes from the Holy Spirit. They were to be made one body and one spirit by the one hope to which they were all called. We shall do better, however, to quote the sacred words of the gospel itself. I pray, the Lord says, that they all may be one; that as you, Father, are in me and I am in you, so they also may be one in us.

Now the bond that creates this unity is glory. That the Holy Spirit is called glory no one can deny if he thinks carefully about the Lord’s words: The glory you gave to me, I have given to them. In fact, he gave this glory to his disciples when he said to them: Receive the Holy Spirit. Although he had always possessed it, even before the world existed, he himself received this glory when he put on human nature. Then, when his human nature had been glorified by the Spirit, the glory of the Spirit was passed on to all his kin, beginning with his disciples. This is why he said: The glory you gave to me, I have given to them, so that they may be one as we are one. With me in them and you in me, I want them to be perfectly one.

Whoever has grown from infancy to manhood and attained to spiritual maturity possesses the mastery over his passions and the purity that makes it possible for him to receive the glory of the Spirit. He is that perfect dove upon whom the eyes of the bridegroom rest when he says: One alone is my dove, my perfect one.

From the Office of Readings
The accompanying scriptural reading from the first letter of the apostle John 3:18-24

ST. GREGORY OF NYSSA

Gregory of Nyssa was the younger brother of St. Basil the Great and St. Macrina. Born around 330 AD, Gregory married and spent several years of his life in secular employment. He was rather lukewarm about spiritual things, but had a deeper conversion to Christ as an adult and eventually entered the monastery founded by his elder brother who consecrated him Bishop of Nyssa in 371 AD. Gregory fought tirelessly for the Trinitarian faith of Nicaea that was reaffirmed by the great Creed of the Council of Constantinople, which he attended. In the last few years of his life, he traveled a great deal since he was in great demand as a preacher, teacher, and spiritual writer. Gregory of Nyssa was a theologian of great depth and originality. He wrote famous treatises against trinitiarian heretics Eunomius and Apollinarius and instructed new Christians about the trinity, incarnation, redemption and sacraments in his Catechetical Orations. But his theological reflections far surpassed controversy and catechesis–indeed, St. Gregory of Nyssa provides us with the first systematic presentation of Christian doctrine since Origen over 150 years earlier. Gregory wrote many reflections and commentaries on Scripture, most notably his Life of Moses and homilies on the Lord’s Prayer, the Song of Songs, and the Beatitudes. Gregory’s most important contribution was in the area of spirituality. While his brother gave eastern monasticism its structure and organization, Gregory provided its heart and mystical vision. For this reason he came to be known as “Father of Mysticism.” St. Gregory of Nyssa died around the year 395 AD and is revered as one of the greatest of the Eastern Church Fathers. He, his brother Basil and their friend St. Gregory of Nazianzen, are known as the Cappadocian Fathers, from the region in modern Turkey from which they came. His feast day is March 9th.

Biography by Dr. Marcellino D' Ambrosio (Dr. Italy)

WEEKDAY READINGS

Monday: Acts 19:1-8; Ps 68:2-7ab; Jn 16:29-33

Tuesday: Acts 20:17-27; Ps 68:10-21; Jn 17:1-11a

Wednesday: Acts 20:28-38; Ps 68:29-36ab; Jn 17:11b-19

Thursday: Acts 22:30; 23:6-11; Ps 16:1-11; Jn 17:20-26

Friday: Acts 25:13b-21; Ps 103:1-2, 11-20ab; Jn 21:15-19

Saturday: Acts 28:16-20, 30-31; Ps 11:4-7; Jn 21:20-25

Sunday: Acts 2:1-11; Ps 104:1, 24-34; Gal 5:16-25; Jn 20:19-23

The Ascension (USCCB)

The Paschal Mystery culminates in the Ascension of Jesus. After his appearance here on earth in his risen body, and “after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen” (Acts 1:2), Jesus “was lifted up and a cloud took him from their sight” (Acts 1:9):

Christ’s ascension marks the definitive entrance of Jesus’ humanity into God’s heavenly domain, whence he will come again (cf. Acts 1:11). . . . Jesus Christ, the head of the Church, precedes us into the Father’s glorious kingdom so that we, the members of his Body, may live in the hope of one day being with him forever. Jesus Christ, having entered the sanctuary of heaven once and for all, intercedes constantly for us as the mediator who assures us of the permanent outpouring of the Holy Spirit. (CCC, nos. 665-667)

ARE YOU AN ACTIVE PARISHIONER?

A Parish is not simply a “branch office” of the Church, nor a periodic audience of people, nor an occasional public; but it is a formally organized social group. It is a portion of a Diocese under the authority of a Priest legitimately appointed to secure in virtue of his office for the faithful dwelling therein, the helps of religion.

The faithful are called parishioners, and they become parishioners by acquiring a domicile or a quasi-domicile within the geographical boundaries or territory of the Parish.

Parishioners could be active parishioners or non-active parishioners, and the question of parishioner status is important because parishioners look to their Parish for many services such as:

- Parishioner tuition rates in our Catholic schools;
- The use of our facilities for liturgical services such as baptisms, weddings and funerals;
- And certification as eligible sponsors at Sacramental celebrations.

These rights and services within the church bring with them certain obligations, as in any form of community.

To be considered “active,” a parishioners must be:

- Registered in the parish;
- Attend Mass faithfully;
- Support the life of the parish by sharing time and talents in service;
- And sharing treasure (tithing) to build up the community.

Active participation in Christian Stewardship makes you an ACTIVE parishioner.