Oremus pro invicem!  I’ve been concluding this column with this simple Latin phrase for the overwhelming majority of my tenure at Saint Richard.  It was a fairly common phrase around the seminary, but out here in the real world, it’s not used as often as it should be.  So, as a refresher: it’s translated as, “Let us pray for one another!”  As I finish my time here at the parish, it seems to be a phrase worth reflecting on.

First, I want to share three important pieces of news, in an attempt to over-communicate things.  I’ll tackle these chronologically.  First, Bishop Zubik will be presiding and preaching at the 5:00 pm Mass on Saturday, August 11.  Friends of the Bishop are celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary that day, and the Bishop wants to be here to celebrate with them.  Please give him a warm welcome (and more importantly, pray for John and Noreen).  Second, as of the time of this writing, the plan is to release the new Mass schedules the weekend of August 18/19.  I’m not exactly sure how that’s going to work, but the Diocese has told us that they’re going to try to over-communicate the message.  Remember that the new Mass schedule does not go into effect until Monday, October 15, with the rest of the On Mission changes – so you’ll have two months to figure out a strategy should “your” Mass be changed.  Finally, we have a date for Confirmation – Saturday, October 6, at 10:00 am.  This is relatively soon, so I encourage the parents of our Confirmation candidates to be particularly mindful of any communications coming from the Faith Formation Office.  I have no room to talk on this one, but: don’t procrastinate!  If they need something in terms or paperwork, get it done.  Bishop Zubik will be our celebrant this year.

Bringing in a guest speaker today…Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.  This is from his Angelus address of July 15, 2012.  Enjoy!   “Today, 15 July, in the liturgical calendar is the Memorial of St. Bonaventure, a Franciscan, Doctor of the Church and the successor of St. Francis of Assisi at the helm of the Order of Friars Minor. It was he who wrote the first official biography of the “Poverello,” and, at the end of his life, he was also Bishop of the Diocese of Albano.

After last weekend’s surprise announcement, I probably ought to use this space just to make sure we’re all on the same page.  So here’s what’s going on:   · My new assignment begins on August 6, and yes, I was the one who requested that it start earlier than October 15.  Waiting until October would have been a real disservice to the students at those colleges I am being called to minister to, and if I have to leave St. Richard anyway, we might as well do it right.  I’m grateful to the Bishop for making this change.

Today’s Gospel offers a rare framework -- a story in a story. Most of the healing miracles are standalone encounters. One person approaches Jesus, demonstrates faith, and is healed. The evangelist tells the next story. This Gospel, however, is different. Jesus is on his way to heal one person, a young girl of twelve, and is interrupted on his journey by “a woman afflicted with hemorrhages.” She bravely approaches Jesus in a crowd, despite being ritually unclean from her bleeding, and stretches out to touch his cloak. She is healed! Jesus meets her eye, confirms her faith, and continues on to resurrect the young girl.

I don’t want to alarm anyone, but Christmas is only six months away.  That should still allow for plenty of time to buy a nice gift for that special pastor in your life, but you can’t put it off.  It’s a process, after all.  Now that the rummage sale has come and gone, opportunities to pick something really nice might be few and far between.  (As a side note, we’ll have a final report from the rummage sale shortly.  There are still a few outstanding bills and such, but it looks like we did very well once again.)

“This is how it is with the Kingdom of God.” What is a kingdom? Is it the brick and mortar that build up the castle? Is it the expanse of land a king can reasonably defend? Our notions of kingdoms may be romanticized in the modern era, but for the Israelites, a kingdom held deep historical meaning. Thousands of years before the birth of Christ, the Israelites had asked God for a king. After the reigns of David and Solomon, the united kingdom dissolved into factions, and the land was conquered by the Assyrians, Babylonians, and, finally, Romans. For the Israelites, a kingdom was something to build, both structurally and civilly. While this had ended in ruin for their ancestors, many of Jesus’ contemporaries longed for the restoration of an earthly kingdom.

I have nothing against the man, but I very much doubt that the late John Denver is going to show up on anyone’s list of the greatest theologians of all time.  He was one heck of a good songwriter, though, and he does make at least one bold theological claim that I am aware of:  that the State of West Virginia is, in fact, almost heaven.

As we celebrate the Feast of Corpus Christi, the Body and Blood of Christ, let us reflect on the words of Saint Thomas Aquinas written in the 13th century, entitled “O Precious and Wonderful Banquet.”   “Since it was the will of God’s only-begotten Son that men should share in his divinity, he assumed our nature in order that by becoming man he might make men gods. Moreover, when he took our flesh he dedicated the whole of its substance to our salvation. He offered his body to God the Father on the altar of the cross as a sacrifice for our reconciliation. He shed his blood for our ransom and purification, so that we might be redeemed from our wretched state of bondage and cleansed from all sin. But to ensure that the memory of so great a gift would abide with us forever, he left his body as food and his blood as drink for the faithful to consume in the form of bread and wine.

This week’s column isn’t necessarily On Mission for the Church Alive! related, but you could say it’s inspired by On Mission.  What I mean by that is, at the time of this writing, I don’t have any new information to share with you, but I do have a couple things for you to think and pray about.  Maybe these apply to you; maybe they don’t.  All I ask is that you give them your consideration anyway.

I’m going to indulge my inner Church nerd this week and write about a part of the liturgy today.  That part is, of course, the sequence that preceded the singing of the Alleluia.  I’ve written about sequences before, both in this column and in my weekly email, but the sequence for Pentecost – the Veni, Sancte Spiritus – is too good not to write about.  In fact, in medieval times, this sequence was known as the “Golden Sequence” because of it’s beauty.

Mother’s Day isn’t really a thing in Rome.  They are aware of it – American culture is pervasive, after all – but they aren’t ready to adopt it.  Not because they don’t love their mothers – seriously, look at the respect an Italian grandmother gets form her clan – but because to them, the day seems superfluous.  Isn’t every day a day in which you should give particular honor and respect to the mothers in your life?  (I again refer you to an Italian grandmother.)  This probably says more about the Italian notion of family life than it does the American ideal.

Now that the dust is mostly settled from last weekend’s announcements, I want to try to unpack them a little bit.  First, just in case there are any rumors out there to the contrary: I did not ask to leave Saint Richard.  All the priests and deacons were asked to rank their top three preferences, and this place was definitely my number one choice.  However – and this says a lot about this parish – the grouping of Saint Richard and Saint Catherine was the most requested grouping in the entire diocese by a wide margin.  Returning to my previous assignment was my second choice; and I had picked a random parish in the South Hills as my third (just to be closer to my parents).  I had also expressed an interest in doing educational ministry – I didn’t think that would get me three colleges, but I like a good challenge.  But enough about me.

There’s much going on this weekend – not the least of which are all the On Mission announcements.  I’ll try to delve into those in next week’s column.  More important to the life of the Church is the fact that we celebrate – this weekend and next – our second graders receiving Jesus in the Eucharist for the first time.  Worthy reception of the Eucharist is absolutely fundamental to our incorporation into the Body of Christ, so I leave you with this reflection on today’s Gospel from Pope Francis:

This week is going to be a very busy, and may I add stressful, time concerning On Mission for the Church Alive! So, even before I outline what will be happening, let me begin with a very sincere and important request.  Please pray every day of this week for our diocese, Bishop Zubik and all the clergy (Deacons and Priests).

I haven’t written much about On Mission for the Church Alive recently, but given that major announcements are going to be made at the end of this month, I figure I probably ought to.  Hopefully this will provide some clarity as to what’s coming.   On Thursday, April 26, all the clergy of the diocese will meet at the seminary for the annual spring clergy convocation.  Normally, these things serve as a chance for some continuing education and spiritual enrichment (and dinner!); this time will be more about praying together and being commissioned for On Mission.  At the convocation, the new parish groupings will be announced and the clergy will receive their new assignments.

Should we be a little easier on Thomas? The last few days have been a whirlwind. On Thursday, a Passover celebration went horribly awry as Jesus was betrayed and taken into custody for unstated crimes. Less than 24 hours later, the simple arrest has turned into a death sentence to be carried out that very afternoon. Most of the disciples fled, including Thomas. He would have heard of the events of Good Friday secondhand, in shock over the death of his Lord and Master. Then Sunday morning arrives with joy from a few disciples - Jesus is risen! But there is no persistent sight of him, only Mary Magdalene’s quick moment in the garden and an empty tomb. Another day passes. The Apostles are gathered that Monday night, but Thomas is absent. He returns to a jubilant report of the risen Lord. Again, Thomas has seen nothing.

Happy Easter!  There are so many different things worth reflecting on today, it’s almost unfair … so I want to focus on something that is probably the most easily missed.  It’s the opening line from the first reading of Easter morning:  Peter proceeded to speak and said…

I love Holy Week.  I really do.  But man, is it busy.  It’s more than just busy, though; it’s intense.  The readings and prayers for the first few days of the week are poignant enough, but once Thursday morning rolls around, things get really serious.  We start with the Chrism Mass at the cathedral, at which all of the priests of the Diocese will renew the promises they made at their ordination.  The Bishop will also bless and consecrate all the holy oils to be used throughout the Diocese during that Mass, which always helps make concrete the reality that the Diocese isn’t a collection of churches but is, in fact, one Church.  That night, we’ll celebrate as a parish family the institution of the Eucharist at the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, and then we’ll have an opportunity to visit our Lord in the Eucharist at seven different churches as we remember the agony he endured in the garden.