Waiting with Hope

THE AWKWARD IN-BETWEEN

If the Church is a household, then liturgically we’re in that awkward in-between phase after demolition but before reconstruction; everything looks worse before it looks beautiful again.

For forty days, Jesus appeared to His disciples, raised from the dead, just as He promised. He was back. But those words He spoke to Mary Magdalene stung their memory: “Do not cling to Me; I have not yet ascended to My Father.” And then, suddenly, He did return to God; a cloud took Him from their sight. The question was, “Now what?”

He said something about sending an Advocate, who would lead them into all truth. So, they returned to the Upper Room, where Jesus celebrated the Last Supper with them. They invited Our Lady to stay with them. And there they prayed the Church’s first novena. For nine consecutive days they endured that time after the Ascension but before the Descent of the Holy Spirit, which would take place on the “Pentecost” (fiftieth) day after Christ’s Resurrection.

It feels a lot like Holy Saturday, this week of the Church’s calendar. When Christ was in the tomb, all we could do was wait. But it was a waiting pregnant with hope. Perhaps Christ would have us anticipate the Feast of Pentecost in a similar way, with eager expectation. Come, Holy Spirit! +

THE GOLF OUTING

Here’s an excerpt from the words that I shared in honor of Jack and Ann Malone:

For over 61 years, Jack and Ann have given themselves to the mission of the Catholic Church, which, at its heart, is about what a parish can be for a community. All the religious orders of the Church, all of the institutional organization and bureaucracy, all of the Canon Law - it’s all in service of the parishes, where the Church meets the people of a community, in this case the community of Commack. In fact, the last canon in Canon Law is “Salus Animarum Suprema Lex,” the salvation of souls is the supreme law. That means that the entire structure of the Church exists to serve the people of a parish. +

THE SECOND FLOOR

I would like to apologize to the parishioners of the homeschool co-op that use some of the upstairs classrooms in the school building on Thursdays. I neglected to speak with them before printing in last week’s bulletin that we hope to rent that second floor in the future.

Such arrangements are hard to procure and take time to put in place, so I don’t see it affecting the homeschoolers immediately - and I’m confident we’ll be able to host the co-op here even if we should find a tenant for the second floor. Still, in my haste to get the word out I may have offended a community that is dear to the parish and to me. I’m sorry about that. +