You can find a full schedule of events for Forty Hours and Foundation Day for St. André's Parish at our new website: www.standres.org/.
And please do join me in praying to Sts. Peter and Paul (or whomever you might choose) for good weather on Tuesday...
Solemnity of Saints Peter & Paul
Among
the Germanic peoples of Europe,
for
reasons lost to history,
Sts.
Peter and Paul have long been considered
heaven’s
“weather makers.”
Peter’s
considered to be the one responsible
for
sending both rain and sunshine,
for
hanging out the starts at night
and
taking them back in again in the morning.
Legend
says that when there’s thunder,
St. Peter is bowling,
St. Peter is bowling,
and
when it snows
that he’s “shaking out his feather bed.”
that he’s “shaking out his feather bed.”
(Fr. Justin will soon enough learn
just
how many feathers Peter has in his bed!)
St.
Paul, on the other hand,
is
invoked against lightening, storms,
hail, and extreme cold;
it seems he’s been given the task
hail, and extreme cold;
it seems he’s been given the task
of
constantly persuading St. Peter
to actually get the weather right.
to actually get the weather right.
As
we now come to the end of June,
we
ought to thank these two Princes of the Apostles
for
a month that has been pretty exceptional weather wise—
especially
by our North Country standards.
But
this has been a rather special June in other ways, too.
On
the yearly calendar,
it’s
been noteworthy for having five Sundays.
On
the Church’s calendar,
it’s
been noteworthy that all five Sundays
have
been observed as important feasts:
the
Ascension of the Lord
(kept
on Sunday in Canada, where we went on pilgrimage June 1st),
Pentecost,
Trinity Sunday, Corpus Christi,
and
now Sts. Peter and Paul.
And
here in Malone,
as
we’ve made the final preparations
for
the foundation of St. André’s Parish on Tuesday,
June
has been noteworthy in the way it has taught us
to
be “one, holy, catholic, and apostolic.”
At
his Ascension, Jesus returned to the Father
but
did not abandon us:
he
remains vitally present in and through his Church.
The
Church is not a closed circle,
where
we stand around focusing our attention on one another;
no,
the Church is a people on pilgrimage:
a
people on the move—and moving forward together—
following
where Christ has gone before us;
supporting
and encouraging each other
At
Pentecost,
we
were reminded of what it means
to
believe that the Church is one.
Creating
communion is the Holy Spirit’s specialty:
uniting
people with one another
across
differences of race, culture, or tongue;
even
more, uniting the human with the divine—
uniting
people with God.
In
a world marked by so many sad and painful divisions,
the
witness of unity among those who follow Jesus—
On
Trinity Sunday,
we
were reminded of what it means
to
believe that the Church is holy.
We
have been made and remade
in
the image and likeness of the all-holy God;
God
has made us all to be holy—
calls
us all to be saints.
Making
saints is the Church’s primary mission.
On
Corpus Christi,
to
believe that the Church is catholic.
The
very same Eucharist is offered, received, and adored
in
Fr. Justin’s native India
as
it is here in the Diocese of Ogdensburg—
with
great pageantry at the Vatican
or
in secret wherever the Church is forced underground.
Ours
is a truly universal church,
and
the Holy Eucharist helps us to see that big picture:
to
keep from being too parochial, too limited in our vision,
and
instead to be authentically catholic.
we
are reminded of what it means
to
believe that the Church is apostolic.
The
Church is apostolic in several ways.
1.
The Church was founded on the Apostles:
those
men uniquely chosen by Christ
as
witnesses of his Resurrection
and
ambassadors of his Kingdom;
and
the Church continues to be taught, sanctified,
and
guided by the Apostles
through
the direct and unbroken line of their successors:
the
Pope, the Bishops, and the priests who assist them.
2.
The Church guards as a priceless treasure
the
teaching of the Apostles—the apostolic faith—
handed
on from one generation to the next:
the
precious memory of Christ’s own words and deeds,
instructing
us still across the ages.
3.
And the Church, like the Twelve,
is continually
“sent out” into the whole world.
(The
word apostle literally means, “one who is sent.”)
Since
Vatican II,
there
has been a multiplication of ministries in the Church:
liturgical
ministries, ministries of hospitality,
catechetical
ministries, and the like.
But
something of which we seem to have lost sight is the apostolate.
Ministry
is inherently about the Church taking care of herself;
it concerns
members meeting the needs of other members.
The
apostolate, however,
is
by its nature turned outward;
it's all about mission,
about
what happens beyond these four walls,
and
most often concerns giving witness and works of charity.
Is
it any wonder there are fewer people in our pews
if so
many of our efforts have been aimed
at
preaching to the choir?
We must go out!
The Apostles Peter
and Paul—who preached the gospel widely
and
were both martyred in Rome, far from their homeland—
remind
us of the urgency of this task.
What
a powerful and timely lesson this June has been
for
a parish about to be founded!
As
we now come to this month’s end,
as
we quickly approach a new beginning for the Church in Malone,
may
Sts. Peter and Paul not only provide us
with
good weather on Tuesday
(and
I sure pray that they do!),
but
may they also ask of God every grace we’ll need
to
be a community that is genuinely one, truly holy,
faithfully
catholic, and deeply apostolic.
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