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Dear Brothers and Sisters,
 
This week I would like to share with you some experiences of the youth from the parish who recently arrived from a Pilgrimage to the Holy Land. While we were there, we prayed for our Parish. This year, all the youth from the Neocatechumenal Way in the US were invited to participate in a national vocational meeting in the Mount of the Beatitudes. There were 35 pilgrims from our parish who participated in the meeting that gathered 8,000 youth. They were not there as tourists just visiting the holy sites, instead they had an opportunity to have an encounter with Christ who passed through places where they prayed. Some of them forfeited their summer vacation plans and made sacrifices to be able to participate in this pilgrimage. Below is the testimony of some of them who would like to share this beautiful experience with the whole parish.
 
God Bless,
Fr. Steven
 
“Coming into this trip I was very well excited, mostly because I was able to get away from everything, like a vacation I needed. My first couple days in Israel, I was more of a tourist rather than a pilgrim but I got helped by those with us shortly after and thanks to them I was able to enter the pilgrimage. I was struck the most when doing the procession of Jesus Christ where he walked the streets carrying the cross [Stations of the Cross], repeatedly being beaten. It was in that moment where I, as a son of the Lord, realized I have been very ungrateful. I have so many blessings in my life and simply because I want to do my own will, I push away, I run from the Lord. Yet, this pilgrimage has opened my eyes and to appreciate the blessings the Lord has given and continues to give me, to be grateful that I am still alive, that I have a family, and most importantly the Neocatechumenal Way. Coming back home, I still feel this happiness in my heart, I feel the Lord in my life and I will continue to do so if I let Him lead my life. I am beyond grateful for this experience, this connection with the Lord and all the blessings I have in my life.”
 
“This pilgrimage was life changing for me because it helped change my mentality. I  went into the pilgrimage feeling like I didn’t know anything. I felt very lost, with no purpose to my life. As we visited some sites, it became more clear to me that God lets us suffer in order to mold us into the people that he sent us on this Earth to be. One of the locations that really got me thinking was the place where Jesus Christ got crucified. It’s unbelievable the amount of suffering Jesus went through without complaining and I can’t even go an hour without complaining. This pilgrimage helped me understand what it is that Jesus did for me and sadly I never appreciated him enough.  So now that I have come back I have been opened to a whole new mentality and I look forward to what God has in store for me.”
 
“One of the moments I liked the most was when we visited to the House of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Nazareth. It was very profound. As a proud and weak man, it also humiliates me to ask for help. Praying at the site of the Annunciation brought me to tears as I saw my sins and my weaknesses. Yet the presence of the Mother brought me consolation, by knowing that she doesn’t get scandalized at my weaknesses and my sins but she intercedes for me. Praying there for her intercession also gave me the confidence to keep praying to her for help. Moreover, I am always called to be open to the will of God. Essentially, in this site, Mary also showed her openness to God’s will when the angel Gabriel announced to her the plans that God had for her and she said YES. To me this was the same question that the angel asks me today am I open to the will of God?”
 
“I had the blessing of turning twenty-one in the Holy Land and this pilgrimage was very significant in my life because as a seminarian, I am constantly searching for God through prayer and scripture.  I can put into perspective the agony Christ suffered when they were condemning him to death on the cross.  A pivotal point of my pilgrimage was based on the Passion of Christ.  This is where Christ entrusted himself fully to God the Father.  This event is also where we Christians receive Christ mercy, although we do not deserve it.  As seminarians, we had the privilege of carrying the cross through the Old City, just like Jesus did while he was being persecuted.  As we carried the cross the rest of the pilgrims prayed the stations of the cross.  Everything was a blessing and a grace, to walk on the land where Jesus performed miracles like resurrecting the dead, curing the blind, and saving peoples souls.  I want to truly thank you for helping support me and my fellow seminarians embark on this pilgrimage to the Holy Land.  I will continue to pray for you and I ask that you pray for me, so that one day we may enjoy each other’s company in the eternal banquet with Christ.  Shalom.  Thank you.”
 

​Dear Brothers and Sisters,

This week’s liturgy speaks of prayer.  I would like to share with you a meditation of Pope Benedict XVI: Prayer is a Matter of Life and Death by Constance T. Hull.
God Bless,
Fr. Steven
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In July 2007, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, in the book The Joy of Knowing Christ: Meditations on the Gospels, wrote a meditation explaining how prayer is a matter of life and death. The title of the meditation is in fact, “Prayer: A Matter of Life or Death.”
 
In his mediation, Benedict XVI, looks at the Transfiguration of Our Lord and delves into the prayer life of Jesus and how in this moment, he allows St. Peter, St. John, and St. James to witness the deep intimacy He shares with the Father in communion with the Holy Spirit. It is the same communion that you and I are called to enter into with the Most Holy Trinity.
 
At the Transfiguration, Our Lord goes up to the mountain specifically “to pray” (Luke 9:28). Christ spent hours on the mountain in prayer and would pray all night, but in solitude. On this occasion, he invites his closest Apostles to come with Him as he prays on the mountain. It is during this prayer that St. Peter, St. James, and St. John witness the glory of His union with the Father in prayer.
 
This glimpse of His glory, shows the disciples not only His divinity, but the transfiguring power of prayer and communion with the Most Holy Trinity. It is in going up to the mountain to pray that we are transformed into the transfigured saint each one of us is called to be. This transfiguration is impossible without a life steeped in prayer because it is through prayer that we grow in greater intimacy with God and enter more fully into the Divine life.
 
Benedict XVI shows that Jesus’ prayer at the Transfiguration is a matter of life and death. During this period of prayer, Christ enters into dialogue with the law and the prophets. Moses and Elijah appear and Our Lord discusses with them what He must do in order to bring about our salvation.
 
Through His prayer, Christ enters more deeply into His mission and empties Himself out in love to the Father. His will is perfectly united to that of the Father. Each one of us is called to live united to the will of God. We cannot come to understand and unite ourselves fully to His will if we do not make time each and every day for prayer. Prayer is the very breath we breathe that leads us to a richer and deeper way of living. It is through prayer that we can grow to love God and others. Saints are first and foremost people of prayer.
 
In the busyness of our days, it can be difficult to set aside times for prayer. Depending on the demands of our vocation, we may only be able to squeeze in 10 minutes a day, but we must faithfully set aside those few minutes. The priesthood, of course, needs to be entirely grounded in prayer in order for priests to live in deep intimacy with God, be fruitful, and to avoid burnout. The same is true for families even though the demands are different. Families quickly fall into disarray without prayer being a central aspect of each day.
 
Our prayers are meant to center our day on Christ. We begin by offering our day to God, along with all of our prayer intentions, and we should end each day by thanking God for what He’s given to us. We should also end our day mindful of how we have sinned and failed to love Him and others through a nightly examination of conscience. This makes preparation for the Sacrament of Penance easier since our sins will already have been brought to mind daily. As time allows, other forms of prayer can be used through out our day. We should also keep in mind that by living our vocations each day, we can offer our sacrifices up as prayers to the Father in love.
 
As new seasons blossom within our vocations, we will discover greater time for prayer. The habit of prayer must begin now, however, and not down the path when the kids are grown. The Church’s rich prayer traditions can be molded to fit any vocation. We only need to put in the effort to prioritize it within our day. If we have time for social media or television, then we have time for prayer.
 
The importance of prayer cannot be overstated. Without a regular prayer life, the soul will whither. We become more susceptible to temptations, sins, and our weaknesses. We can very quickly find ourselves in patterns of sin, including mortal sin, if we abandon regular prayer. Prayer will lead the Christian to a fruitful spiritual life, but without it perils abound. Benedict XVI makes the necessity of prayer clear when he states:
 
Dear brothers and sisters, prayer is not an accessory or “optional,” but a question of life or death. In fact, only those who pray—in other words, who entrust themselves to God with filial love—can enter eternal life, which is God himself….Let us ask Mary, Mother of the incarnate Word and teacher of the spiritual life, to teach us to pray as her Son did so that our life may be transformed by the light of his presence.
 
Benedict XVI’s strong words are a reminder of what is at stake in our prayer lives. If we do not pray then we cannot know God. We will not be prepared for the glories of the Beatific Vision because we will lack the love, intimacy, and communion with the Most Holy Trinity that is necessary for the next life.
 
Spouses cannot fully love one another if they only express affection on rare occasions and lack intimacy within their marriage because they rarely spend time together. The same is true of friendships and all other relationships. If we do not put in the necessary time and effort, our human relationships die. This is even more true of our relationship with God, which is the single most important relationship we have in our lives; the implications of which are eternal.
 
Prayer is a matter of perseverance in love. It is not easy, but nothing worthwhile is ever easy. Charity is demanding precisely because the reward is so great. We will fail in our prayer lives. We will fall short. We must come to recognize that our success in prayer is not up to us. It is up to the Holy Spirit. We are simply called to make the time and to pray for the grace to persevere. Prayer is truly “a matter of life and death.” As we go about our day, let us remember to make prayer our top priority, so that we can be transfigured into the saint God wants us to become.
 

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Dear Brothers and Sisters, 
 
There are many Traditions in the Church that dates back to the very beginning of the church. One of them is the name of the parents of Mary, Joachim and Anne. They don’t appear in the scriptures, but early writings and churches named after them in the first centuries confirm that tradition. Since they were the grandparents of Jesus, in the Church, their day was always seen as “Grandparents’ Day,” although never official…until now! And there is plenary indulgence granted under the usual conditions (confession, communion and praying for the Pope) for anyone who devotes “adequate time to actually or virtually visiting their elderly brothers and sisters in need or in difficulty (such as the sick, the abandoned, the disabled and other similar cases.)
 
Back in January, Pope Francis announced the institution of World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly, which will take place each year on the fourth Sunday in July, close to the feast of Saints Joachim and Anne. He expressed the importance of this celebration by saying that “grandparents are often forgotten, and we forget this wealth of preserving roots and passing on what the elderly have received.” Since Pope Benedict, the Church has always spoken against the “throwaway culture.” As everything in society nowadays that is no longer needed, or it has become “obsolete” becomes disposable and it is thrown away. Unfortunately, this is not limited to consumer goods only. Slowly our society has become Utilitarian, in which the value of things or people is defined by the amount of benefit it brings to a majority or if they are useful. Because of that mentality, many of the elderly are being pushed aside from society and often also by family members. Instead of being a wealth of wisdom, they are labeled as “burdensome.”
 
In the Christian tradition, as many other ancient cultures around the world, the elderly have always had a place of honor. Not only because of their wisdom and life experience, but also, as the Pope says, they “remind us that old age is a gift and that grandparents are the link between the different generations, to pass on to the young the experience of life.” It is so important to value everything that the elderly have learned in their lifetime. Even though one may argue that society has changed since their time and what they say is no longer relevant, however, our moral values have not changed. Life lessons are always precious, because difficult situations arise regardless of the culture. Not only that, but knowing history avoids us repeating the same mistakes as those who came before us have done. As Winston Churchill once said, “those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it”.
 
There is one more important factor of the presence of the elderly in our lives. Often, they are one of the greatest examples of faith in our families. Whether our own grandparents or the elderly attending mass, they have always been the strongest people in our churches. I imagine that most of us have memories of our grandparents praying the rosary every day, attending mass regularly and dressing their Sunday best, going to confession every first Saturday and so on. Therefore, this connection with the elderly is more than just treating others with love, it is a great source of help for our own salvation.
 
I would like to say a brief word for the grandparents and the elderly. Please be proud of who you are!!! Do not try to fit in with today’s culture or to measure yourselves by today’s standards. It is like a vintage car or a vintage wine that is rare and is valued much more than something brand new and it cannot be compared with it. Do share your life stories, growing up in a different time, the difference between now and then, the famous Blizzard of ‘78. Also, do not be shy to invite them to pray, to share the wealth of your spiritual life with them as well. Today the kids don’t really have super heroes anymore, so be their heroes! I think that just by saying that in your times there was no cellphones and flat screen TV’s you will already make it!
 
May the Blessed Mother always accompany you, and, by the intercession of St. Joachim and Anne, may God be always your companion to strengthen and console you! Count always on our prayers.
 
God Bless,
Fr. Steven
 
 
 

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
​
It is with great joy that we have welcomed the reversal of Roe v Wade on June 24, 2022. We are still in the dawn of that decision and there is still much more to come. As we embrace for resistance and more extreme measures to permit “abortion on demand” from the individual states that still allow abortion, it is clear that it is no longer a constitutional right under the Constitution of the United States of America. Critics of the overturning of Roe V. Wade have stated that this decision has been political or due to the conservative majority of the Supreme Court judges. I believe that it is important to distinguish what is someone’s right to what people would like to do (what they believe to be their “right”). The two cannot become one, although it is happening everywhere nowadays. The fact that people would like to terminate their pregnancy, change their sex, or what comes next does not make it their “right,” only because they want and claim it as their “right.”

Surely our society is still moving forward in progress in certain aspects, but regarding others it seems that it is regressing. Recently we experienced the general outcry when the right to life of George Floyd was denied. Regardless of his previous actions that led up to his arrest and death, no one had the right to take his life. Surely under certain aspects of the law, it could have been interpreted permissible, as unfortunately still happens, but it is wrong nonetheless. Imagine, God forbid, if segregation of people because of their skin color returned as law. Because certain people may believe that their race is superior than others, it does not give them the right to diminish their dignity as human beings or eliminate their personhood. Something very similar is happening here regarding the right to abortion, where some people hold that there is no life in a woman’s womb. A person’s life does not begin at birth, it begins at the moment of conception. Therefore, it does not give them the right to terminate their pregnancy. There are extreme cases where they pushed that line so far to the point where if a baby survives a botched abortion, it is permissible for that child to die. No longer is a case of whether a “group of cells” constitutes life, but it’s a real
baby.

Part of the problem at hand is the relativism that is deep-rooted in our world. There is no more an absolute Truth. Everything depends on someone’s point of view. Surely there is room for different perspectives; however, there are also absolute Truths that cannot be denied, such as the right to life. Those Truths will always remain the same, regardless of time, country, or civilization. Indeed, once they are compromised, they will be the reason for the downfall of a nation or empire, as we have seen so many times in history.

The bottom line according to many philosophers is that today there is a clear denial of God. Once we re-move God from the equation, then we become God ourselves. We have the power to decide what the truth is and who lives and who dies. We recreate the human race to be whatever we desire. If the whole world were not created by God, as a part of a loving plan to save us, as we hear in Genesis, then there would be no rules. There would be no absolute Truth. Everything will depend on the moment in which the power of the envious decide how to rule the rest. There will no longer be a “Republic with a democratic process under God,” but an aristocracy at best. Therefore, we need to tread these waters very carefully. Once people are denied their basic “inalienable rights,” then everything else becomes fair game.

Let us pray to the Lord that He may guide our society as we approach the midterm elections. The reversal of abortion was only the first of many battles that we will face. In the Gospel Jesus sends us “as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents, and as innocent as doves. (Mt 10:16)

God Bless
Fr Steven