Dear Parishioners,

Early this past Easter Monday, I woke up and discovered almost immediately that our Holy Father, Pope Francis, had passed into eternal life. I was both surprised and not surprised at this news. I was surprised because, even though the pope did not preside at any of the Holy Week Liturgies, the Vatican media seemed to intimate that his health was stable and that he was conserving his energy for upcoming papal tasks by not acting as celebrant for these sacred rites.

Dear Parishioners,

Happy Easter!

Who doesn’t love Easter? It comes in the springtime of the year and heralds the imminent return of warm weather, colorful flora, rejuvenated trees, and meaningful rites of passage like First Communions, Confirmations, graduations, and weddings. Easter day typically brings families and friends together (without the gift-giving agenda as at Christmas) for light-hearted laughter, elaborate feasting, and heart-warming recollections of loved ones who have since gone home to God. Regardless of how strictly one may or may not have observed the disciplines of Lent, Easter Sunday is a day of conscious excess for everyone with the universal call to REJOICE. This call is the human response to the divine action of the Resurrection—the action by which God the Father vindicated the sacrifice of His Son on the cross. Without this action, there could be no Christianity. Our faith would be empty and, in the words of Saint Paul, we would be the most foolish of people (1 Cor. 15:14).

Dear Parishioners,

Today we begin that week which every year we call Holy. In the purest understanding, we believe that all time is holy. Time cannot be considered “profane” since all time is consecrated by the Grace of the Incarnation. Thus every moment in this human construct that we label “time” is sacramental and capable of revealing some aspect of divinity. But by annually designating this one week as Holy, we are able to re-discover the root of that holiness in what we call Pascha. This allows us to deepen our appreciation for the Christian faith and helps us continue the work of Jesus in a more credible manner.

Dear Parishioners,

With Holy Week and Thursday’s Celebration of the Lord’s Supper fast approaching, I thought it beneficial to offer some REFLECTIONS and REMINDERS that pertain to the Holy Eucharist – that great mystery that Christ gave us at the Last Supper. The word Eucharist comes from the Greek word eucharistein, which means “thanksgiving.” It is one of the church’s seven Sacraments and, like each of them, can be broadly defined as a visible sign of an invisible grace. In other words, the Eucharist makes visible that invisible presence of Christ which manifests itself in four distinct ways: the gathered assembly, the minister of the priest, the proclamation of the Scriptures, and most especially in the consecrated elements of bread and wine—Christ’s Body and Blood.

IF...

The title of this article, "If," is so short that it's easy to overlook—yet few words carry so much weight in the Catholic imagination. These two simple letters hold the potential to launch beautiful dreams or plant seeds of destructive doubt.

On the positive side, the word "if" opens possibilities, like saying, "If I work hard, I can succeed." It encourages hope and stimulates creativity, like wondering, "What if we did it this way?" It motivates action by highlighting the rewards, like a teacher saying to their student, "If you study, you'll pass the exam." And it suggests a promising outcome, like me predicting: "If you are reading this article, you are probably a disciple of Jesus."

Dear Parishioners,

“Lent,” the word used to name the current liturgical season in which we are immersed, was most likely derived from an old Germanic word that meant “to lengthen.” It is a fitting word for this time of year as we watch daylight lengthen and nighttime shorten. The word, therefore, came to be synonymous with spring. Once Easter became an annual celebration for Christians, as well as, the major occasion when the church initiated its new members into the Christian community, the weeks of spring preceding Easter, became known as Lent. These Lenten weeks, which gradually turned into months and sometimes years, marked the period of preparation for the candidates of initiation who were called “Catechumens.” They were also called “the Elect,” because they had been elected by the bishop as those who would receive the Sacraments of Initiation that included: Baptism with water in the name of the Trinity, anointing with oil that, will eventually be called “Confirmation” or “Chrismation” (after the word “chrism” – which was the oil used for this ritual anointing), and reception of the Eucharist.

Dear Parishioners,

Nearly two weeks ago on Ash Wednesday, when we began this season of Lent, we participated in a ritual that, despite its antiquity and archaic quality, has retained enormous appeal throughout the centuries of Christendom. Our foreheads were marked with ash, the remnants of last year’s branches from Palm Sunday. These symbols, which were once expressions of exaltation and triumph, were now expressions of human mortality as we were told, "Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return." And so, we entered a sober forty-day period of self-examination and renunciation intended to foster conversion—a change in the way we view the world and a change in the way we live within it.

Dear Parishioners,

Having entered the liturgical season of Lent, which began this past Wednesday, we hear recurring references to the three time-honored disciplines that are associated with this time of penance: Prayer, Almsgiving, and Fasting. Over the centuries, the church has found that these three practices help to maintain a stable Christian life. No one would disagree that prayer is always necessary for deepening one’s friendship with God; and almsgiving is a practical (as well as spiritual) undertaking that supports our programs, projects, and physical temporalities that are essential for making the church visible to the world. But fasting can be somewhat controversial.

Dear Parishioners,

In last week’s bulletin article, I offered a very abridged history of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In that brief sketch, I failed to include a fascinating feature from the early seventeenth century which impacted this devotion. Around this time the first modern atlas of human anatomy got published. Soon afterward, William Harvey published his treatise on the movement of the heart and the circulation of the blood. This scientific description of the body’s blood pumping muscle fueled the religious imaginations of people, particularly artists. They, in turn, reflected this anatomical understanding in their iconography. All of this demonstrates that religion and religious practices are typically not created in vacuums.

Dear Parishioners,

As we continue to reflect on Pope Francis’ encyclical letter Dilexit Nos (“He Loved Us”), on the human and divine love of the heart of Jesus Christ, we have the opportunity to deepen our understanding of this time-honored Catholic devotion. While devotion to the heart of Christ has strong biblical roots, especially in the Passion narrative of John’s Gospel, it emerged more explicitly in the 13th century, due in part, to the mystical writings of the Benedictine nun, St. Gertrude (1256-1302). Gertrude lived in the monastery of Helfta in Saxony and is said to have received the stigmata (the physical wounds of Christ crucified) along with a divine light that pierced her own heart. Besides St. Gertrude, there were a number of other religious women during this period who nurtured a deep spiritual affection for Jesus as the Sacred Heart.

Dear Parishioners,

Our parish nurse, Pat Pusateri, who faithfully serves all of us at St. Joan of Arc in a variety of ways that promote good health (physical and spiritual), reminded our staff that February is named National Heart Month. I was not aware of this designation previously and suspect that the identification of February with the heart is partially due to Valentine’s Day, the celebration of which most often features the symbol of a heart. (The other identifying symbol of Valentine’s Day is the plump cherub brandishing bow and arrow as instruments used to foster romance and love. I much prefer the image of the heart!) No doubt our national medical professionals are hoping to remind us of the essential role that our hearts play in keeping us alive. This anatomical organ is centrally located on our torsos, allowing it to perform its most essential task, namely to purify our blood and re-send it throughout our bodies. The heart’s steady, rhythmic beating (the first sound that a child in the womb hears) is the sound that indicates life. When this unique bodily chant is silenced, we presume the person is dead.

Dear Parishioners,

With today’s feast of The Presentation of the Lord, the church brings the Christmas Season to what was its official traditional end prior to the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council. One can still see traces of this understanding in Rome and parts of Europe where Christmas Nativity Scenes and other decorations are kept in place until this day. Here at St. Joan of Arc, we honor that traditional closure by keeping most of our church decorations up until this day.