1. The Mass today was offered for Wayne Johnson (By Mary Johnson), as well as for all of you, the parishioners.
2. Novena to the Holy Spirit: Day Six
The novena is live-streamed every night at 7:30 from the parish facebook page. Again, the prayers are available
here. The video for today's video is available
here: https://vimeo.com/423429328.
3. Sign ups: The sign up sheet for the daily Masses this week is
here. There are still slots available Thur - Fri. Anyone is welcome to sign up.
4. Confessions. Friday confessions are available. I've added some evening slots as well. Sign ups are
here.
5. A reminder that daily Masses open up June 1st, and then June 6/7 will be the first weekend where we can have significant numbers back in Church!
The reading from the book of Acts today presents St. Paul's farewell to the Ephesians, who have come to Miletus to bid him goodbye as he heads for Jerusalem. Bishop Barron, in his homily, pointed out that there is a strong contrast between the strong, bracing words of St. Paul and the very tender goodbyes that they all exchange.
The goodbyes are described in this way:
They were all weeping loudly as they threw their arms around Paul and kissed him, for they were deeply distressed that he had said that they would never see his face again. St. Paul had worked with the Ephesians for years, and poured his heart and soul into building up the church there. They were deeply indebted to him, and their gratitude overflows into tears.
At the same time, the passage relates that St. Paul warns the priests of the Ephesians with really strong language. This is what he says:
Keep watch over yourselves and over the whole flock of which the Holy Spirit has appointed you overseers, in which you tend the Church of God that he acquired with his own Blood. I know that after my departure savage wolves will come among you, and they will not spare the flock. And from your own group, men will come forward perverting the truth to draw the disciples away after them.
Then he draws his conclusion:
So be vigilant and remember that for three years, night and day, I unceasingly admonished each of you with tears.
What a farewell speech! We should learn something, I think, from what St. Paul focuses on now that the moment for goodbyes has come. In this important moment, the last time he will see them and speak to them, he does not leave aside his religious teaching and moral exhortation, as if that was his job before and now its over. Rather, he sees it as his last chance to confirm what he has worked so hard to accomplish. He does not even shrink from saying that some of the very people he is speaking to,
from your own group, will be a serious problem.
My strong suspicion is that St. Paul's directness was one of the very reasons that the Ephesians bid him such an affectionate farewell. What binds people together is the love
of something, not the love of love. St. Paul's main goal is the salvation of the Ephesians, not that they love him. And it's precisely that priority that sparks their love.
May we too follow St. Paul's example in aiming at the Gospel above all things!