Corpus Christi 2026 - Why Eucharist?

 

During my eighth year of seminary, we devoted an entire semester to study the Sacrament which is at the heart of today’s feast: the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, the Eucharist. We studied how the scriptures, like the great Bread of Life discourse from John’s Gospel, as we heard today, influenced the early Church’s understanding of the Eucharist. We studied some of the ancient Eucharistic Prayers and the early Church fathers.

St. Ignatius of Antioch, for example, around the year 130, wrote about how sad it was that there were some who claimed to be Christian but did not confess the Eucharist to be the real flesh and blood of Jesus Christ. We continued through the early Church fathers to the medieval theologians, especially St. Thomas Aquinas, who composed the prayers and hymns for today’s feast.

At the end of the semester, our professor, Fr. Michael Woost—now Bishop Woost gave us some advice for the upcoming exam. He said, the best way to prepare for the exam is to “study everything”, as the exam would be comprehensive of all the material we’ve covered since class one.

Well, exam day arrived, and I thought I was ready! Bishop Woost handed us a small piece of paper with the exam’s only question, which consisted of two words and a question mark.  The big exam question was “Why Eucharist?”

Bishop Woost said, “you have two hours, I suggest you use it wisely.”  I watched my classmates open their exam book and start writing, but I just sort of sat there stunned for a moment. Now I promise you, I had studied. I had studied St. Justin Martyr, St. Fulgentius of Ruspe, Theodore of Mopsuesta, Blessed Sacrament Priest Eugene LaVerdie, Cardinal Ratzinger; I memorized the third Eucharistic Prayer, and most of the first and second ones. And this simple question, “why Eucharist?” just stunned me.

I sat there for 5 minutes, unable to write anything, kind of embarrassed. I’m 8 years into seminary, and I can’t think of where to start writing about the Most Blessed Sacrament. So, I prayed. “Dear God, help me. Why DID you give us the Eucharist?” And immediately an image popped into my mind: an image of the Eucharist contained in the monstrance. And I thought of the many holy hours that I had made as a seminarian: holy hours in the seminary chapel here in Cleveland, holy hours when I was a student in Rome, holy hours in my home parish. And at the conclusion of each of those holy hours is prayed the prayer composed by St. Thomas Aquinas for today’s Feast of Corpus Christi:

“O God, who in this wonderful Sacrament have left us a memorial of your Passion, grant us, we pray, so to revere the sacred mysteries of your Body and Blood that we may always experience in ourselves the fruits of your redemption.” And then I was able to begin writing. Now, I didn’t always get A’s in my seminary classes, but that was one exam that it all seemed to come together.

What the Church believes is expressed in her liturgical prayer. And that collect prayer for Corpus Christi answered Bishop Woost’s question: “why Eucharist”. Firstly, God gave us the Eucharist as a memorial of Christ’s passion. And secondly, “so that we may experience in ourselves the fruits of redemption”.

Let’s look at those two parts of the Collect prayer. Firstly, the Eucharist is a memorial. Jesus, at the Last Supper said, “do this in memory of me”. On the night before he died, our Blessed Lord took bread and wine and transformed them into his Body and Blood, and taught us—commanded us—to do the same. “Do this” Jesus says, “in order to remember what I have done for you—in offering my Flesh and Blood to the Father for your redemption on the cross, in my Passion.”

At Mass, bread and wine are truly transformed into our Savior’s Body and Blood. And those with eyes of faith are able to see Him, know Him, and be in Communion with Him as we receive His Body and Blood in the Eucharist.

And that brings us to the second part of that beautiful prayer:  Jesus gave us the Eucharist “so that we may always experience in ourselves the fruits of redemption.”

When we receive the Eucharist with Faith, in a state of grace, that produces certain fruits, certain effects in us. The particular fruits we receive in the Eucharist flow from his saving passion. When we receive the Eucharist our venial sins are forgiven and we are strengthened in unity with God and each other. As the Lord taught in the Gospel today, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life” Jesus is the Eternal Word, who has risen from the dead, and lives forever, and when we receive the Eucharist, our souls are united with His Eternal Divine Life, so we too, may live forever.

This is why St. Ignatius of Antioch called the Eucharist, the remedy for our mortality, it’s the antidote against death. “whoever eats this bread will live forever." That’s the ultimate fruit of redemption, the reason Jesus died for us on the cross was to obtain for us eternal life, and that eternal life is communicated to us through the Eucharist.

This is why it is so concerning when Catholics stop going to Church and receiving the Eucharist in a state of grace. Without the eternal life that the Eucharist nurtures in us, we become deprived of the antidote for the powers of sin and death which seek to corrupt us.

The pride and lust and greed and selfishness which seek to drive us away from God are counteracted when we receive the Eucharist with the desire to overcome them. The fruits of patience, kindness, gentleness, and self-control grow in us, when we receive the Eucharist with openness to these grace.

Through the Eucharist, we become whom we are meant to be. Without the Eucharist, we are not complete. We lose our identity. For Christ defined Christianity at the Last Supper, to include taking, eating, drinking, remembering His Body and Blood. So we pray that all those separated from the Lord’s table may find their way home, here, to the altar, where we fed, nourished, and sanctified.

Dear ones, today we celebrate the greatest treasure Jesus left His Church—the gift of himself. He invites us to share in His divine life, to participate in His eternal sacrifice, and to carry that life to others.

Today’s feast reminds us of our great privilege, but also our great responsibility: to cooperate with the grace available here, to allow Christ to shape and form us, and to bear the fruit of conversion out in the world.

We offer ourselves along with the bread and wine to be transformed, that our lives may become Eucharistic, that we may become what we receive, as St. Augustine said, blessed, broken, and given, poured out for others, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

June 5 2026 - St. Boniface, martyr - Courage to pick up your axe

 

Today we celebrate the feast of Saint Boniface, who is known as the apostle to the Germans. Boniface was born in what is now England in the 7th century, at a time when Western Europe was still rebuilding itself after the fall of Roman Empire.

 

By the time he was about forty years old, Boniface was known as a gifted scholar and preacher, and was abbot of a Benedictine monastery. At the request of the Pope, Boniface traveled from England to mainland Europe to spread the Gospel in places unevangelized or only partially converted, in what are now the Netherlands, Austria, and Germany. His initial efforts were unsuccessful.

 

One of the obstacles Boniface faced was the people’s attachment to their false gods like Odin and Thor. There’s a famous story that Boniface learned of a giant oak tree where the germans gathered to offer false worship to the God Thor.  So Boniface, took an axe, and he begins chopping down this Thor’s Tree.

 

The pagans cursed Boniface and waited for him to be struck dead by their gods for his sacrilege. But when Boniface had chopped just a small notch into the tree, God finished the job: the tree was blast apart from above.  And the germans who had before cursed Boniface now began to believe in the One True God.  This is why you’ll often see stained glass windows and statues with St. Boniface in his bishops attire, holding an axe, standing on a tree trunk.

 

In his 80^th year, Boniface was preparing candidates for confirmation when they were attacked by barbarians and massacred, martyred for the faith.

 

In a letter written to a Benedictine abbess, Saint Boniface wrote: “Let us stand fast in what is right and prepare our souls for trial…let us be neither dogs that do not bark, nor silent onlookers, nor paid servants who run away before the wolf” referencing the Gospel used for today’s feast.

 

Like Boniface, each of us are called to do what we can for the spread of the Gospel, and to do so with faith and courage.

 

Working for the spread of the Gospel in our modern world seems like daunting work, but remember that Boniface only needed to take those first courageous swings with the axe before God did the rest of the work. Boniface saw through the errors of the pagan culture, how those errors were keeping souls from Faith in Christ. And he took a stand.

 

He left his homeland, he went to a people who spoke differently, had different customs, had confused beliefs, and met them where they were with the Truth of the Gospel. He could have stayed in the comfort of the monastery, but was filled with missionary zeal.

 

What would your life look like if you allowed yourself to be filled with missionary zeal? Consider how the faith might spread, if each of us, in our own way, was little more courageous in witnessing to Christ, just in this neighborhood.

A parish church is much more than a place where the faithful gather for worship, it is our barracks, for training in the outward mission of the Gospel. May St. Boniface help us and intercede for us in our share in the Gospel mission for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

That our bishops and clergy may be zealous in preaching and teaching the truth of the Gospel, and for an increase in Courage for all Christians in the task of evangelization.

 

That St. Boniface, patron saint of Germany, may enliven the faith of the German people and those of Germanic descent who have made their home in this land.

 

For our young people beginning summer vacation, that they may be kept close to the truth and heart of Jesus.

 

That the love of Christ, the divine physician, may bring healing to the sick and comfort to all the suffering.

 

For the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, for the deceased priests and religious of the diocese of Cleveland and all those who labored for the faith we now profess, for the poor souls in purgatory, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom.

 

O God, who know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the prayers of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ our Lord.

 

Reading 1ACTS 26:19-23

Paul said:
"King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.
On the contrary, first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem
and throughout the whole country of Judea,
and then to the Gentiles,
I preached the need to repent and turn to God,
and to do works giving evidence of repentance.
That is why the Jews seized me when I was in the temple
and tried to kill me.
But I have enjoyed God's help to this very day,
and so I stand here testifying to small and great alike,
saying nothing different from what the prophets and Moses foretold,
that the Messiah must suffer and that,
as the first to rise from the dead,
he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles."

Responsorial PsalmPS 117:1BC, 2

L  (Mark 16:15)  Go out to all the world and tell the Good News..
Praise the LORD, all you nations;
glorify him, all you peoples!
R.    Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.
For steadfast is his kindness toward us,
and the fidelity of the LORD endures forever.
R.    Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.

AlleluiaJN 10:14

R.    Alleluia, alleluia.
I am the good shepherd, says the Lord,
I know my sheep, and mine know me.
R.    Alleluia, alleluia.

GospelJN 10:11-16

Jesus said:
"I am the good shepherd.
A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
A hired man, who is not a shepherd
and whose sheep are not his own,
sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away,
and the wolf catches and scatters them.
This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep.
I am the good shepherd,
and I know mine and mine know me,
just as the Father knows me and I know the Father;
and I will lay down my life for the sheep.
I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold.
These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice,
and there will be one flock, one shepherd."

 

June 3 2026 - St. Charles Lwanga and martyred companions

 To many of us the name of the Ugandan Martyr Charles Lwanga is unfamiliar.  But, he is well-known and revered in much of tropical Africa as a patron saint of young people.

 

Uganda only began to be evangelized in the early to mid-1800s by the Society of Missionaries of Africa, known as the White Fathers because of the white cassock they wore.

 

Charles Lwanga was one of the early native Ugandan converts. Charles was a servant in the royal court of the Ugandan king, King Mwanga, who ruled in the south eastern part of the country. Mwanga was a violent ruler and a pedophile who forced himself on the young boys and young men who served him. Due to the preaching of St. Charles Lwanga, many of the boys had converted to Christianity, and refused the advances of the King. This infuriated the King. So, he gathered up the Christian, and demanded that they renounce Christ. When they refused, he had them killed. King Mwanga thought that killing Christians would break our resolve. But the faith was strengthened.

 

Charles, who had already made many converts, was arrested and killed, along with many of those who refused to renounce the faith. They were marched for two days to their place of martyrdom, starved, beaten, stripped, bound, and burned to death on the 3^rd day of June, 1886.

 

Charles’ death shook the country, and instead of throwing other Christians into panic, in inspired many unconverted Ugandans to become Christian.

 

The story of the Ugandan martyrs is striking similar to our reading from 2 Maccabees, no? There too, young men were faced with a choice: compromise with evil, or suffer and die. There too, a cruel ruler thinks he can crush fidelity to God by torture and fear. And there too, the persecutor is wrong. The faithful do not break. They endure.

The brothers in Maccabees speak openly of resurrection: “The King of the world will raise us up to live again forever” The martyrs know that tyrants can wound the body, but they cannot conquer the soul that belongs to God.

Most of us will not be asked to die for Christ in flames. But we will be asked to suffer for him in smaller ways: to resist temptation, to reject impurity, to endure ridicule, to remain faithful to God amid the pressures of the culture. The martyrs remind us that courage is possible, because eternal life is real.

 

“Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven” says the Lord in the Gospel. Heavenly reward. Courage for Christ is pleasing to God for it imitates the Courage of Christ who himself suffered for our sake.

The martyrs remind us of our calling to witness to Christ even in the face of the hatred of the world. Some will continue to hate us, but others will convert, like Charles himself. Today, Catholics make up about 37% of the population of Uganda: 17 million Catholics who can trace their faith back to the courageous witness of the St. Charles Lwanga and his martyred companions.

May St. Charles Lwanga assist us in our call to witness to Christ with Courage, to bring the Gospel like Charles into the areas of the world plagued by evil, so that souls may find the presence of God, and know his help and his promises to those who love Christ for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

Holy Trinity 2026 - "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit"

 

“In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

 We do that so instinctively, don’t we?  I’m speaking of course about the sign of the cross.  It’s almost as reflexive to us Catholics as breathing or blinking our eyes.  And it should be! For the sign of the cross is the first prayer most Catholics learn—invoking the three divine persons of the Holy Trinity while marking ourselves with the sign of our salvation—the Holy Cross of Christ.

 

Most of us were taught by our first catechists, our parents, how to sign ourselves. I always love to see parents picking up their little ones, dipping their little fingers in the holy water font and tracing the cross, forming a habit that they will take with them into eternity. We do well to begin each day invoking the trinity with the sign of the cross, signing ourselves before getting out of bed—hopefully, even before checking our iphones.  Most of our formal prayer, as Catholics, begins invoking the trinity with the sign of the cross. We are absolved, we are confirmed, we are anointed, and we will be buried with that sign of the cross. 

 

We invoke the Trinity in moments of danger and difficulty and penitence. Sometimes we even find baseball players making the sign of the cross as they come up to home plate. Whenever I go to restaurants I look around to see if people are making the sign of the cross before they eat.  At funerals and weddings you can often tell who the non-Catholics are by who makes the sign of the cross or not.  And this makes sense because the sign of the cross signifies an IDENTITY!  You know if someone is Catholic if they begin their prayer “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”.

 

The sign of the cross professes the two most important doctrines of our Faith.

 

The first doctrine is of course the Doctrine of the Most Holy Trinity, which we celebrate in a special way this Trinity Sunday. God is a Trinity of Divine Persons—the Divine Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are consubstantial, coeternal, coequal, distinct, yet united.

 

The catechism says, “The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of the Christian faith and life.  It is the mystery of God in himself. It is therefore the source of all the other mysteries of faith, the light that enlightens them. It is the most fundamental and essential teaching in the ‘hierarchy of the truths of faith’.”

 

This doctrine, our belief that God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit because he has revealed Himself to be so, is the line of demarcation. To deny it is to be outside the Christian fold. It’s what separates us from the Jews and Muslims and the rest of the religions of the world.

 

The second doctrine expressed in the sign of the cross flows from the first: by the cross we are saved.  Every time we sign ourselves with the cross, we confess our faith that by the cross, the incarnate Son, the second person of the Trinity, won for us eternal life.

 

Trinity and Cross. It’s no accident that these two ideas converge in the Church’s most fundamental prayer, the sign of the cross: for the cross is an image in time of the Trinity’s eternal love. The love poured out on the cross is the most powerful sign of the love of God in himself and his love for us. The Son is so full of love for us and the Father that he is willing to embrace unfathomable suffering and death for us.

 

So when we make the sign of the cross, we call to mind the love that conquers all sin—the love of God that is more powerful that evil and death, the love which is the cause of our salvation.

 

When we stand before the judgment seat of Almighty God, our passports won’t help us, any academic degrees aren’t going to any good, any stock portfolios, our check book, driver’s license, our proof of American citizenship or lack thereof aren’t going to do us a bit of good. 

 

What IS of vital importance in this life unto eternity is our Faith—claiming the mercy of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit through the cross of Christ.

 

Just as we make the sign of the Cross each time we pray, in order to direct our prayer to the one true God, may this Trinity Sunday, help direct our lives. The true God is not a creature of our own making, a product of our imaginations. God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and we bow our lives to his majesty, we surrender our wills to His Divine Will, to his commandments, and plead his mercy.

 

Everything we do is meant to be directed to the Holy Trinity, done to honor the Holy Trinity, out of love for the Holy Trinity.

 

So, we should invoke the Trinity many times every day: when we wake, when we take our breakfast, when we get in a vehicle, when we start our work, our chores, and our studies, when we exercise, when we are meeting friends, especially if we have a tendency to gossip. We should invoke the Trinity with the sign of the cross when we hear an ambulance, when we hear someone blaspheme. Parents before disciplining your children, take a breath, make the sign of the cross, invoke the Trinity who is the font of love, for all disobedient children.

 

When you enter a hospital, a nursing home, a funeral home, or the home of someone who is suffering, invoke the Trinity. When you receive good news, invoke the Trinity in thanksgiving. When you receive bad news, invoke the Trinity for strength. When passing or entering a cemetery, pray for the dead in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

 

The point is this: the Christian life is not meant to be lived only with the occasional remembrance of the Trinity and the power of the cross. No, we have been baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Trinity is not meant to be a distant doctrine, but the very atmosphere of our life

 

 

May our faith, hope, and love of the Triune God keep us from all sin, protect us from all evil, be the source for us of mercy, and may all of our actions, all of our choices, all our decisions, all of our sacrifices be done for the glory of the Triune God and salvation of souls. 

 

Begin each day, end each day, and every endeavor worth doing, “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” 

8th Week of Ordinary Time 2026 - Wednesday (Last school mass) - Summer Growth

 

Well, we have come to our last school mass of the school year. Soon you will be able to relax a little bit and enjoy your hard-earned summer vacation.

As you see by my vestments, the Church is back to the season of the year called Ordinary Time. During Ordinary Time the priest wears the color green to symbolize growth. Green is the color of growing things.

The Green of Ordinary Time represents the new, vibrant life and spiritual growth that is to occur within Christian souls during this time of the Church’s Year.

Much of Ordinary Time coincides with the growing summer months in this part of the world. Farmers have planted their seeds, the summer wheat and corn and vegetables will be growing throughout the summer through harvest time. All of you will continue growing through the summer months; many of you will show up to school next fall a several inches taller.

During summer vacation, no doubt, God wants all of you to continue to grow, not just your bodies of course, but your minds and hearts. Now our bodies will grow without much effort, all we have to do is eat right, sleep right, and exercise rightly. But as you it takes much more effort for our minds to grow. And it takes more effort for our hearts to grow.

For our minds to grow, we have to read and study. So, this summer, please, I beg you, and I know I beg you on behalf of your teachers, don’t let your mind go to waste by spending all summer playing video games and scrolling through social media posts. Yes, you’ll have a lot more free time over the summer than you do during the school year, please read books, please limit screen time, spend time outside learning about nature. Summer can even be a time to be able to study a subject you didn’t have time to study during the school year or study and develop a skill, an art. Grow your mind when you have the opportunity.

But, also, this summer, God will want your hearts and souls to grow. And our hearts and souls grow through the choices we make. The choice to be patient, the choice to be kind, the choice to make peace with someone we’ve been arguing with, the choice to forgive, the choice to remain faithful to God when we’re being tempted, the choice to be generous, the choice to turn away from being selfish.

“Love one another intensely from a pure heart”, St. Peter said in our first reading today. And to love is choice. And when that choice is made our hearts and souls grow as God intended.

Dear ones, I pray your summer is restful and rejuvenating, but I also pray that you may continue to grow, that your hearts might become ever more like the heart of Jesus, full of love. Love for your families, love for your country, love for your fellow Christians, love for all people, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

- - - - 

 

For the Church: that during this season of Ordinary Time, all Christians may continue to grow in holiness, charity, wisdom, and faithfulness to the Gospel. Let us pray to the Lord.

For our nation, especially as we celebrate 250 years of the birth of our nation this summer: that leaders may seek the common good, protect the young, serve families, and work for peace and authentic justice.

For all students beginning summer vacation: that they may use their time well, grow in knowledge and virtue, limit distractions, enjoy God’s creation, and choose each day to love one another from a pure heart.

For the students, teachers, staff, and families of our academy: that this summer may be a time of rest, renewal, safety, and growth in mind, body, heart, and soul

For those who are sick, lonely, poor, afraid, or burdened in any way: that they may know the help of God always, and that we may be attentive and responsive to those whom we have an opportunity to help.

That those who mourn may be comforted by the promise of the Resurrection, and for the repose of the souls of our beloved dead.

Heavenly Father, you have planted the seed of faith within us. Help us to grow in wisdom, virtue, and love throughout these summer months. Hear the prayers we offer today, and grant them according to your holy will. Through Christ our Lord.

Pentecost 2026 - New beginnings

We have come to the end of the Easter season. But this great Feast of the Holy Spirit, Pentecost, is not really about an ending. It is about a new beginning.

Pentecost is the beginning of the Church’s public mission. It is the beginning of the Apostles’ courageous preaching and the Gospel going out to the nations. It is the beginning of new life made possible by the Holy Spirit.

In our first reading, the Apostles are gathered in the Upper Room. They have already seen the risen Lord. They know that Jesus has conquered sin and death. But they seem stuck, like the Lord Jesus’ mission is over.

And then the promised Holy Spirit comes: a strong driving wind fills the house, tongues as of fire come to rest upon them, and the Apostles are changed. Men who had been hidden behind locked doors begin to proclaim the mighty works of God. Filled with the Spirit, they burst out of the Upper Room and begin preaching to the nations. Those once divided by language and sin begin to hear the Gospel in their own tongues.

That is Pentecost: it is the end of something. It’s the end of inactivity due to fear or confusion and the beginning of the Church living out the mission.

In the Gospel, we hear a particularly important dimension of the Church’s mission. The Lord appears to the apostles, breathes on them, and declares, “whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained."

This certainly makes us think of the Sacraments of Baptism and Confession Because one of the first fruits of Pentecost is not simply that the Apostles go out and speak. It is that they go out with the power of Christ to bring forgiveness, reconciliation, and new life. The mission of the Church is not merely to give good advice. It is not merely to inspire people to try harder. The mission of the Church is to communicate the grace of Christ.

And that grace always means a new beginning.

In Baptism, there is the new beginning of becoming a child of God. In Confession, there is the new beginning of forgiveness after sin. In Confirmation, there is the new beginning of being strengthened for Christian witness. In Holy Communion, there is the new beginning of being nourished more deeply by the Body and Blood of Christ. In the Anointing of the Sick, there is the new beginning of grace and strength in suffering. In Marriage and Holy Orders, there is the new beginning of a vocation lived with special grace from God.

So each of the Sacraments have a special connection with Pentecost; for it is through the Holy Spirit that our Sacraments are efficacious.

In the Sacrament of Confession, when the priest raises his hand and prays the prayer of absolution, he says:

“God, the Father of mercies, through the death and resurrection of his Son has reconciled the world to himself and poured out the Holy Spirit for the forgiveness of sins.”

Through the Holy Spirit our sins are forgiven. That’s why when we go to Confession, we are not engaging in a therapy session, just getting something off our chest, or simply receiving encouragement to do better next time. God’s mercy is truly bestowed upon through the Holy Spirit.

And again, just like Pentecost, a valid Confession is the end of something and the beginning of something new. It is the end of separation from God and the beginning of restored communion. It is the end of being trapped by past sin and the beginning of freedom in grace. It’s the end of an unhealed festering wound, and the beginning of real spiritual recovery. It is the end of carrying the shame of our guilt, because we hear from the priest, that in the name of God we are forgiven: God loves you and is so pleased to offer you a new beginning--a new beginnings of peace with God.

This is why we should never be afraid of Confession. Now, the devil wants us to be afraid of Confession. He wants us to stay locked in the upper room of our own guilt, our own embarrassment and discouragement. He wants us to think that our sins define us, that our failures are final, that nothing can really change.

But Pentecost tells us something different. The Holy Spirit opens locked doors and carries the peace of Christ into ours souls, and sets us back on the right path.

Each of the Sacraments, in some way is a new beginning. And yet, the new beginnings God wants for us are not limited only to sacramental moments. The Christian is called to be open to the newness of the Holy Spirit every day. New beginnings every day: new beginnings of a deeper prayer life. A new willingness to serve. A new courage in witnessing to the faith. A new effort to leave behind fear or complacency. A new growth in patience, humility, chastity, generosity, or charity. A new attempt to rebuild a bridge where there has been division. A new willingness to forgive someone, or to ask forgiveness ourselves.

So the question for us today is simple: are we open to the Holy Spirit beginning something new in us?

Are we open to being moved out of fear and into courage? Out of complacency and into mission? Out of discouragement and into hope? Out of sin and into grace? Out of isolation and into communion with God?

So today, at the end of Easter, we do not simply close a season. We ask for a new beginning for ourselves, our families, our parish.

Come, Holy Spirit. Fill the hearts of your faithful. Kindle in us the fire of your love. Renew the grace of our Baptism. Lead us to the forgiveness of sins. Strengthen us for the mission of the Church. Unite us more deeply to Christ. Help us to begin again in holiness, in courage, in charity, and in faith. And lead us, through Christ, into the fullness of life with God forever for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

 

7th Week of Easter 2026 - Wednesday (School Mass) - There will be wolves

 

We are arriving rapidly at the end of the school year, and it will be time for some of us to say farewell, for a time.

In our scripture readings today, both St. Paul and Jesus are saying goodbye.

In the first reading, St. Paul was saying goodbye to the Christians of Ephesus. He had come to them as a preacher of the word and stayed with them for three years, seeking to build them up to be good, strong, effective, and faithful Christians.

Before leaving them, he gave the Christians of Ephesus a warning. He says, after I leave, “savage wolves will come upon you” so be prepared. Now, he’s not actually talking about actual, physical wolves. He’s talking about a spiritual threat—those who would come and attack the flock of Christ. He’s talking about the bad influences of the world, and false teachers who would cause division in the Church, people who preach their own opinions instead of the truth of Christ handed on by the Apostles. So before his inevitable departure, Paul said, be on your guard, they’re coming.

Dear ones, as you prepare for summer vacation, of course, I hope you have a lot of fun and relaxation this summer. You’ve worked hard this school year, most of you. But, as st. paul said to the Christians of ephesus, I say to you, be on your guard. There are wolves out there.

Wolves that want to drag you away from Jesus in your thoughts, in your words, in your actions. Wolves that don’t want you to pray, wolves that don’t want you to go to church, wolves that want to cause you to forget all the good things you learned this year. Wolves that will propose corrupt images and ideas on the internet.

Be on your guard. Make sure your faith in Jesus is as strong as it possibly can be.

In the Gospel, as Jesus gives his farewell speech to his apostles, he prays to his Father, that his disciples be protected from the Evil One and that they be consecrated in the Truth. The Truth of Jesus, his teachings are protection against evil, protection against the wolves. Every time you studied your religion lessons this year, that was an opportunity to take up protection against those wolves, against the evil one. So as you face the wolves of summer, hold fast to the truth you have received. Read your bible this summer—see if you can read through the four Gospels. I would LOVE if you came back to school next fall and told me that you read the Gospels. Pray the Rosary, this summer. I would love if you came back to school next fall and told me you prayed the rosary, even just a few times.

This is the last school mass for our 8^th graders. You especially, are going to face some pretty savage wolves in high school. Our prayers go with you. You always have a spiritual home here, to recouperate from the battles. Don’t be a stranger.

And may each of us know the loving protection of Christ, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

Trusting in the Lord Jesus, who prays for his disciples and protects them in the truth, let us bring our needs before our heavenly Father.

For Holy Father Pope Leo, all bishops, priests, deacons, teachers, and all who hand on the faith: that they may preach Christ with courage and help God’s people remain strong against the spiritual dangers of the world, let us pray to the Lord.

For our parish school community: that as the school year draws to a close, students, teachers, and families may give thanks for the blessings of this year and continue to grow in wisdom, faith, and virtue, let us pray to the Lord.

For all students during the summer months: that they may be kept safe in body and soul, remain faithful in prayer and not be drawn away from Jesus by bad influences, let us pray to the Lord.

For our 8th grade students, as they prepare to move on to high school:
that the Lord may strengthen them, protect them from the evil one, and help them remain firm in the truth they have received.

For our families: that homes may be places of prayer, peace, faith, hope, and love.

For the sick, the suffering, and for all the faithful departed: that the Lord may bring healing to those in need and eternal joy to those who have died, let us pray to the Lord.

Heavenly Father, hear the prayers we offer you today, and keep us always close to you Christ your Son. This we ask through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.