My dear brothers and sisters,

Jesus, the Word of God, is a two-edged sword.  This does not mean that he contradicts himself, on the contrary, the truth and wisdom of God living and effective in him heal and redeem the world, and at the same time, judge and expose the evil of this world, including the evil behind some appearance of good.  Jesus’s life and words reveal what we truly have in our hearts, when love is a mere word and not our code of life and conduct, our true colors are revealed.  One cannot say that they love God and hate their neighbor.   The man of the Gospel was a good man, but he loved money more than he loved God.  The same can be said for so many people today, they love money, country, religion, persons, themselves, etc., more than they love God.   When God truly is everything in your heart and the only one, you learn to love with pure love, your family, friends, neighbor, and all people.  Putting God first and above all, makes us love others with the very love of God himself.   In true love there is not double standards, and some people are not more lovable than others.  The love of God saves.  That is the love that made Saint Denis become a martyr.  He learned God’s love, lived in that love, and shared that love even to the point of self-giving.

In the Love of Christ,

Fr. Nelson. 

 October 9/10 at all Masses we will celebrate and honor our patron saint, St. Denis. Denis of Paris was a 3rd-century Christian martyr and saint. According to his hagiographies, he was bishop of Paris (then Lutetia) in the third century and, together with his companions Rusticus and Eleutherius, was martyred for his faith by decapitation. Some accounts placed this during Domitian's persecution and identified St Denis of Paris with the Areopagite who was converted by Paul the Apostle and who served as the first bishop of Athens. Assuming Denis's historicity, it is now considered more likely that he suffered under the persecution of the emperor Decius shortly after AD 250. Denis is the most famous cephalophore in Christian legend, with a popular story claiming that the decapitated bishop picked up his head and walked several miles while preaching a sermon on repentance. He is venerated in the Catholic Church as the patron saint of France and Paris and is accounted one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. A chapel was raised at the site of his burial by a local Christian woman; it was later expanded into an abbey and basilica, around which grew up the French city of Saint-Denis, now a suburb of Paris. Following all Masses, ALL are invited to join us in the coffee shop to share faith and fellowship.