Our Lady of Hope Blog

My Dear Friends,

In the Gospel of Mark today, we hear Jesus tell his disciples to preach the Good News. But we also hear him say to his disciples that “whatever place does not welcome you or listen to you, leave there and shake the dust off your feet in testimony against them.” Jesus was sent by the Father to reconcile the Twelve Tribes of Israel and bring forth the Kingdom of God. He was also sent so that no one may be lost; the Father desires the salvation of all. But we also know that there are some who will not be saved. They will reject the offer from our Lord.

My Dear Friends,

As someone who loves movies and who also loves books, I have come to appreciate the simple fact that the novel is nearly one hundred percent of the time better than the movie. There are, of course, exceptions. For example, I find Francis Ford Coppola ’s movie The Godfather to be far superior to Mario Puzo’s novel. Stephen Spielberg’s movie, Jaws is also superior to Peter Benchley’s novel of the same name. Ken Kesey’s novel One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest also pales in comparison to Milos Forman’s movie version with Jack Nicholson.

My Dear Friends,

It is hard to believe that we are coming up on July 4th. The Revolutionary War, or the War for Independence, is our history as a people and as a country. We, the United States of America, have been at war with many countries ever since, with occasional years of peace between the conflicts and wars. We will continue to be at war for many years to come, as long as we remain a country.

My Dear Friends,

Tomorrow, June 24th, we celebrate the solemnity of the birthday of St. John the Baptist, six months and one day before Christmas, the birthday of our Savior. Our Lord (December 25th), our Blessed Mother (September 8th), and St. John the Baptist are the only three birthdays on the liturgical calendar that we commemorate and celebrate. Interestingly, the birthday of our Blessed Mother is only considered a feast, a lower rank than a solemnity, while St. John the Baptist and our Lord are both solemnities. Yet, the conception of our Blessed Mother (December 8th) and the conception of Jesus (March 25th) are both solemnities.

My Dear Friends,

Last Sunday was the choir ’s last time singing at Mass until the fall. They did a wonderful job as usual. I am grateful for all their hard work and dedication to helping us enhance the celebration of Mass. This past year, especially, has been a challenge since Dan Ringuette left us to pursue another position in Litchfield at St. Louis de Montfort parish. With his leaving we also lost some choir members, but the choir members who remained did a marvelous job under the direction of George Murphy (in Immaculate Conception Church) and the Immaculate Heart of Mary choir remained steady under Loni Birkenburger, all held together under the direction of AJ Bunel, who willingly stepped up to play at all Masses until we find someone who can assist him.

My Dear Friends,

As mentioned last week, Archbishop Christopher Coyne is asking us to implement a new venture in the Archdiocese of Hartford, Called by Name. He is asking each parishioner of every parish in the Archdiocese of Hartford to identify a person who you think might make a good priest, a good deacon, or a good religious sister or brother. Fostering an environment of vocations is the responsibility of every Catholic.

My Dear Friends,

Today is the solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, more commonly known as Corpus Christi. Even though Catholics have been a minority in the United States since our founding, yet still Catholics, especially the Franciscans, Dominicans, and Jesuits, were responsible for much of the missionary work. We see this in the names of cities throughout what is now the United states; places like San Diego, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Santa Monica, Santa Clara (all in California), St. Louis Missouri, St. Paul Minnesota, St. Augustine Florida and San Antonio and Corpus Christi Texas. Corpus Christi, in Latin, means Body of Christ.