Our Lady of Hope Blog

My Dear Friends,

Lent is now three weeks finished, and we have three more weeks before Holy Week and Easter Sunday. On this fourth Sunday of Lent, where the priest and deacon are allowed, if they so choose, to wear rose-colored vestments, it is an appropriate time to reflect on how we are doing with our Lenten promises.

My Dear Friends,

Several decades ago, when I was in high school, I attended Mass at The Church of the Immaculate Conception (now Basilica) in Waterbury. The pastor was Father John Blanchfield, who was also a long time principal at Sacred Heart high School (although by the time I was in high school the principal was Father (now Monsignor) James Coleman. Eventually, Father Blanchfield was reassigned to St. Aloysius in Plantsville, where he served as pastor until he died in 2006 (died after celebrating Mass). I remember when he died because it was a couple of weeks before my ordination to the priesthood. I was privileged to be able to vest as a deacon at his funeral Mass. I learned many things from Father Blanchfield, but the one thing that sticks with me the most is how he felt about a Mass filled with young children and babies. Many times, after Holy Communion, he would comment on how beautiful it was to have a church filled with these “little angels” and how their voices and cries were beautiful music to his ears.

My Dear Friends,

Since I have been preparing for my talks on the 33 Days to Eucharistic Glory, I came across a talk by Terence Cardinal Cooke, Archbishop of New York. It is a beautiful talk he gave at a conference.

“The spiritual energy, the grace that comes with each reception of Holy Communion, we absorb only in proportion to our dispositions at the time we receive … A hunger and thirst for union with our Divine Lord will result in a good preparation and thanksgiving. Sometimes we start our preparation for Holy Communion for no very great longing for union with our Lord, but our preparation results in an increased desire for him … From experience we learn that little or no desire for Holy Communion will result in no preparation or only a minimum of preparation. In return, we should not be surprised to receive from the Blessed Sacrament only a minimum of divine grace.

My Dear Friends,

Lent has begun, and today we celebrate the First Sunday of Lent. The readings are always taken from the temptation accounts of Jesus in the desert. St. Matthew and St. Luke give us the account of the dialogue between Jesus and Satan. St. Mark just casually mentions that he went into the desert to be tempted after His baptism. Lent is a time for us to look at what tempts us, what leads us to sin, and how we are called to fight those temptations. These temptations traditionally come to us through the three avenues of the flesh, the world, and the devil. Not every temptation is of the devil.

My Dear Friends,

This week begins the great season of Lent, starting with Ash Wednesday this Wednesday. As Catholics, we are obligated to fast on the days of Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. We are also obligated to abstain from eating meat on Ash Wednesdays and the Fridays of Lent, including Good Friday. Of course, there is nothing to stop you from fasting on other days and from abstaining from meat on other days as well.

My Dear Friends,

I recently watched four movies that are centered on World War II. They are all classics: The Bridge on the River Kwai, The Guns of Navarone, From Here to Eternity, and The Caine Mutiny. It was the first time I watched The Guns of Navarone with Gregory Peck, but the other three movies I have seen several times. I do enjoy war movies or movies that have a war as a backdrop, especially World War II, but I also have a fondness for Vietnam War era movies as well.

My Dear Friends,

After the perennial long January, it is difficult to believe that we are already more than half way through February, which means we are also that much closer to the beginning of Lent. I have been reading the Eucharistic consecration book (33 Days to Eucharistic Glory) that I gave the parish for Christmas. Many parishioners have approached me to let me know how much they love the book. I will be offering a Lenten series on the book for the six weeks of Lent, the days and times to be determined.

My Dear Friends,

Today is my little Barley’s 12th birthday. I know that not everyone is a dog person. I myself was bit three times in my life by dogs, and I was terrified of other dogs in the neighborhood and in my parishes. But the dogs we had growing up in Watertown were very special, and many dogs that belonged to friends of mine were also wonderful to be around. For most of my life, I was a medium to large dog lover and was not really a fan of the little ones.

My Dear Friends,

When we read the letters of St. Paul, or truly listen to the words of Jesus Christ in the Gospels, or even listen intently to the prayers of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, we begin to notice that we are a theocentric religion; in other words, we praise and worship the Trinitarian God. But it goes deeper than just worshiping the Trinity. All of our prayers are, or should be, directed to the Father, through the Son and in the Holy Spirit. Jesus wants to bring us to the Father’s heart. In the second part of chapter three in Pope Francis’s encyclical, we see this more clearly. Francis writes, “Jesus wants to bring us to the Father. That is why, from the very beginning, the Church’s preaching does not end with Jesus, but with the Father. As source and fullness, the Father is ultimately the one to be glorified.” (paragraph 70). Francis quotes Pope St. John Paul II in paragraph 71, “the whole of the Christian life is like a great pilgrimage to the house of the Father.”

My Dear Friends,

Next Sunday, February 2nd, the Church celebrates the Presentation of the Lord. This feast is scriptural, meaning that in the Old Testament, the law prescribed that parents would take their newborn child to the Temple forty days after birth. Joseph and Mary are fulfilling the law by bringing Jesus to the Temple, forty days after the Nativity. It is in the Temple that Anna and Simeon both approach the parents and acknowledge that this child is who they were both waiting to see. It is Simeon’s words that give the foundation for blessing candles on this day (commonly called Candlemas). Simeon says, “Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared in the sight of all the peoples; a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel.” (Luke 2:29-32)

My Dear Friends,

Chapter Three of Pope Francis’s encyclical on the Sacred Heart begins with understanding the veneration, adoration, and worship of the Person of Jesus Christ, which can be found in the image of the heart. The heart is truly a symbol of friendship, love, and affection. Pope Francis writes, “Indeed, throughout history and in different parts of the world, it has become a symbol of personal intimacy, affection, emotional attachment, and capacity for love…When two persons fall in love and draw close to one another, their hearts beat faster; when we are abandoned or deceived by someone we love, our hearts sink. So, too, when we want to say something deeply personal, we often say we are speaking ‘from the heart’. The language of poetry reflects the power of these experiences.” (Paragraph 53)

My Dear Friends,

“He loved us,” Saint Paul says of Christ (cf. Rom. 8:37), to make us realize that nothing can ever “separate us” from that love (Rom. 8:39). Paul could say this with certainty because Jesus himself had told his disciples, “I have loved you” (John 15:9,12). Even now, the Lord says to us, “I have called you friends” (John 15:15). His open heart has gone before us and waits for us unconditionally, asking only to offer us his love and friendship. For “he loved us first” (cf. 1 John 4:10). Because of Jesus, “we have come to know and believe in the love that God has for us” (1 John 4:16).

My Dear Friends,

Today we celebrate the Epiphany. This important feast can be a Holy Day of Obligation, and is in many other countries. Since we have already had Christmas and Mary, Mother of God on December 25th and January 1st (as well as Immaculate Conception on December 8th) as Holy Days of Obligation, the United States Bishops decided to move Epiphany to the second Sunday after Christmas so that we could benefit from the mystery without yet another obligation.