My dear friends of Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish,
I write this as I hear various people and families depart after the 12 noon Mass - I look forward, finally, to celebrate Mass in the church with you next weekend and to get around putting faces (even masked faces!) with names among the rectory staff, everyone at the School of Religion, at our Parish School and those who are able to come to daily and Sunday Masses!
If today were not a Sunday, the Church would celebrate the Feast of Saint Luke (dare I say he has been quarantined this year!), convert, doctor, coworker with Saint Paul in the mission of evangelizing, author of a Gospel and one who knew the Blessed Mother Mary and painted her according to tradition!
This past week has seen the commemorations of other giants, and those not so well known, in our faith such as:
- Saint Teresa of Avila (Spain), who reformed the Carmelite Order and is a Doctor of the Church for her powerful teaching on prayer.
- Saint Longinus, the centurion who pierced Jesus' side on the Cross.
- Saint Hedwig of Bavaria (Germany), a wife, mother, widow, religious and one who cared for the poor.
- Saint Callistus, Roman Pontiff, and Saint Ignatius of Antioch (Syria), disciple of Saint John the Apostle and third successor to Saint Peter after he moved to Rome, who were martyred by the authorities of the Roman Empire in the early centuries of the Church.
- Saint Magdalene of Japan, virgin and martyr.
- Saint Hosea, an Old Testament prophet who spoke of God's covenantal relationship to Israel in terms of a marriage.
- Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque of France, who received the mystical apparition of Our Lord Jesus' Sacred Heart burning with divine and human love for all women and men.
- Saint John of Egypt, a hermit known for his virtue.
Hopefully, we take time each year to recall and to celebrate our patron (be it from our Baptism or from the Confirmation names we chose - or both!), knowing that our patron Saint, who is a Member of the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ in Heaven, is praying with us for our salvation and what we need now on earth to attain that eternal reward Jesus offers us by His grace.
Since you have had the opportunity to pray Sunday Mass in Church or online, may I offer for your reflection Bishop Robert Barron, Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles. We are blessed in the United States to be part of a religiously pluralistic society, and his words help us to avoid falling into relativism or a religious tribalism.
Have a blessed Sunday as we seek to keep holy the Lord's Day,
Msgr. Luke Sweeney