Hi Everyone,
Updates:
1. Church re-openings
As many of you know, Governor Scott announced that churches may open with up to 25% capacity this weekend. The Bishop has been anticipating this news for awhile, and has been working with a team of people to prepare for more numbers at Mass. Unfortunately, he and his team have been planning for June 1st for daily Masses and June 6/7 for Sunday Masses. So, per the bishop, that remains the policy. Protocols for being able to re-open will be provided by May 28th.
"Bishop Coyne thanks you for your patience in this matter and asks that you let your parishioners know that we will open for public Masses beginning June 1st."
2. So, the good news is that the daily Masses starting June 1st are unrestricted (!!), since crowding isn't a concern.
3. Novena to the Holy Spirit
Has begun! It will be at 7:30 pm each night unless otherwise noted. I tweaked the prayers; the updated version is here. There should be a link attached in this email to watch the video...
4. Also, unless the Church is already jammed, feel free to come by in person for the novena, as well.
Reflection
(http://www.usccb.org/bible/
The Gospel today comes from the Gospel of John, in which Jesus is speaking to his Apostles before his passion and death. He says,
Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn,
while the world rejoices;
you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.
When a woman is in labor, she is in anguish because her hour has arrived;
but when she has given birth to a child,
she no longer remembers the pain because of her joy
that a child has been born into the world.
So you also are now in anguish.
But I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice,
and no one will take your joy away from you.
On that day you will not question me about anything.
Amen, amen, I say to you,
whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.
I quoted the whole thing because otherwise you might not have the same sense I did reading the passage. As I read it, it seemed that the line on that day you will not question me about anything seemed rather tacked on. I wondered what it was doing there. Here we are talking about intense stuff: suffering, death, separation, child birth, and then Jesus basically says, "Oh, and by the way, you won't have any questions." At least, that was the way it struck me. Why this line about not having questions?
But if we think about it a little, we'll begin to see. What is the relentless question that nearly everyone at one point or another cries out to God? The one question that, even if it fades away, never really seems answered?
Why.
Isn't it the case that in great trial, suffering, tribulation, whether from persecution from without, or turmoil and distress within, betrayals of trust or failures to achieve, loss of friends or difficulties with them, the relentless question is "why?" The question running under all the other questions is "why?"
If this is so, then the passage clicks into place. Jesus says that when he returns the Apostles will be filled with joy and will not question him about anything ... because their main question will be answered. They will see that it was all worth it. The new life, like a new child, has entered the world, and the suffering no longer stings. With the new life before their eyes, they will not question him about anything.
In these final days of Easter, may our faith in the risen Christ, and the new life he brings into the world, be deepened in our hearts and souls.
God bless you all!
Fr. Rensch