My Favorite Liturgy of the Year

I’m already looking forward to Mass on Thanksgiving morning (9:00AM at St. Joseph’s).

It always seems especially joyful and uplifting.

Perhaps it’s because everyone comes, sans any sense of obligation, with hearts ready to offer thanks to our generous and gracious God.

Perhaps it’s because everyone who comes longs for a focus on faith and spirituality on this otherwise secular holiday.

Perhaps they can’t wait for the family to gather to savor the feeling of community that comes with joining with others in prayer, song, and thanksgiving.

And then there are the special collections that take place. On Thanksgiving, people come here with gift cards to drop in the collection basket for families who will need help with groceries and gifts this Christmas. Everything collected on Thanksgiving goes toward our efforts to support these families, usually about 35 families with upwards of 100 children.

At the offertory, people spill out of their pews to cover the foot of the altar with food – bags and bags of non-perishables that are immediately whisked away after Mass by our Food Van ministers to our sisters and brothers in need downtown.

On no other morning are the words more true, “This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad!”

May your heart be filled with gratitude this Thanksgiving!

Blessings!

Catholic Identity & JFK

I confess that my pre-school perspective on the assassination of our first Catholic president will forever be intertwined with memories of the ill-conceived “Fluffernutter” sandwich. 

On November 22, 1963, childhood friend Raymond Bauer and I spent the morning playing at his house. His mother—one of a handful of Protestants in our largely Catholic and Jewish Long Island suburb—served peanut butter and marshmallow Fluff for lunch. Though I really had trouble eating the sticky stuff, I got through it knowing that obediently eating our lunch would get as a trip to the local J.C. Penney Store. Pulling out of the driveway in their family station wagon, I was delighted when Mrs. Bauer turned on the car radio. My dad didn't like car radios so we never had one. A few split-levels away from the Bauer home, Raymond’s mother gasped and pulled over to listen to a news report. President John F. Kennedy had been shot. She took me home.

I was met by the very scene I expected. My mom was saying the Rosary in front of the TV as the news reports were coming in. It was comforting. Life as we knew it would not come to an end as long as Mom prayed the Rosary and she sympathized with me about having to eat that terrible sandwich. There was hope for the Kennedys, the country, and the religious melting pot of our immediate world.

And so this historic and tragic moment left me with a gift -- one of my clearest, earliest memories of my mother -- and one of my first moments of clarity that I was indeed grateful we were Catholic and had Mary to intercede for us in the worst moments of life.

May President Kennedy rest in peace, along with all the faithful departed.

Blessings!

Blest Are They

I don’t know why I continue to be surprised at the sense of community that happens when people come together for the purpose of learning something about their faith.

The “Brownbag Bible Study” group at St. Joe’s is no exception . Generally, when we come together for six weeks at a time to study a particular book of the Bible, or a saint as we did last month, the group is largely women. Most of us are, as our pastor would say, “on the back nine of life.” Each time we come together there often is a lone male who braves the group. For our first session of the Gospel of Matthew that was (appropriately) Matt. Today a second guy joined us, a young guy, Vince, one of our RCIA candidates. We were delighted to welcome him.

A few minutes after Vince arrived, our eldest participant arrived for the first time in months. Marian has had a few health setbacks recently so we were really delighted to welcome her back. Everything came to a standstill as she approached the room and got settled.

Between Vince and Marian is a span of about 70 years. Yet, each of them, and everyone in between, brings their unique gifts of faith, wisdom, and insatiable curiosity about Scripture and Catholic tradition. You’re never too young or too old.

As we focused today on the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew—the Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes—a new beatitude became part of my prayer:

Blest are they who share faith with others; theirs is the nearness of God.

Blessings!

Ladies who Lunch

Today I have the privilege of lunching with my dear friend Millie who resides at the Clover Blossom Legacy in Brighton. This is one of the very best parts of being a pastoral associate at St. Joe’s – developing relationships with the senior members of the community and sharing in the special moments of their lives, and they in mine.

Millie has been an active parishioner of St. Joseph’s for decades. She and her late husband John met in the choir at St. Francis in downtown Rochester and were dedicated to many community organizations throughout the years of their long marriage, including activities and ministries at St. Joe’s—The 60+ Club and St. Joseph’s table celebrations each year;  John was a remarkable lector, Millie knits prayer shawls.

I treasure my special connections with Millie. She has welcomed me into her home in times of joy and sorrow, including praying with her family in John’s final days and the planning of his funeral; and the more recent loss of their beloved son-in-law, Ronnie, husband of her daughter, Marianne.

Millie also is part of my family – she was a wonderful friend to my daughter Laura when she interned at the Legacy. Laura was there to help organize activities for the residents with her co-worker Indira, who became her good friend. I look forward today to sharing pictures with Millie of Indira’s recent wedding to Ben. I know she’ll delight in Indira’s happiness and seeing Indira in her wedding gown and Laura as her maid of honor.

Yes, this is one of the very best parts of my ministry – what it’s all about really. Having time with people, one-on-one, for conversation, prayer, and a shared meal. It’s a lot different than the concept of “ladies who lunch” that I knew when I worked in Manhattan 20 years ago; I’ve been graced with the better part.

Relationship.

Prayer.

Love.

Who are the very special people in your life? Share your story.

Blessings!

St. Joe's Rocks!

St. Joseph’s Church rocks! It really does. This was the thought I had back in August when I attended Mass at the Church of the Nativity in Timonium, MD, the subject of the much-acclaimed book Rebuilt by pastor Fr. Michael White and pastoral associate Tom Corcoran. This is not a criticism of Nativity so much as a renewed appreciation for the vitality and leadership of our St. Joe’s Penfield, New York parishioners and the glory of our liturgy where the Gospel is made accessible for all to take into their hearts and Christian lives.

Recognizing that all churches and organizations have room for growth and enhancement, the St. Joe’s Parish Pastoral Council is reading and discussing Rebuilt. It has many best practices to offer to parishes in the areas of hospitality, faith formation, small groups, preaching, and music ministry.

Last night our Council meeting started with a gut check about members’ reactions to the book. In summary, what matters to our Council members is that we never lose focus on two things: the proclamation of the Gospel and our PEOPLE. ALL of our PEOPLE.  There’s no room here for the “mean-spirited” commentary about parishioners that is the serious flaw of Rebuilt.

Pastoral year seminarian Jorge Ramirez, a native of Colombia, beautifully articulated that we need to study the best practices of the Church of the Nativity in the context of where St. Joseph’s is as a parish community today. What are the needs of our people, of the community around us, now, in this time and place?

My prayer last night and today is one of gratitude to our gracious God because St. Joe’s really does rock! I am grateful for the diverse views of our many parishioners, for the leadership of our ministry teams, for our Council members, and for the fellow staff members with whom I have the opportunity every day to collaborate, to pray, and most importantly, to LAUGH!

I cannot conclude this first journal entry without another note of gratitude on behalf of St. Joe’s staff to my husband, Greg. For the past few weeks he’s been donating his time and talent in the social media arena to help us up our game on Twitter, Facebook, our website, and now our blogs. He’s the best.

Blessings to all!

Welcome!

I am excited to share my journal thoughts with you as a Pastoral Associate at St. Joseph's in Penfield.  Each time I post a new blog, I will let you know via Twitter and Facebook.  Please feel free to read, enjoy and comment.  Look for my first blog soon!