View the Sunday Mass with Fr. Daly by clicking the link below:
THE SOLMNITY OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, KING OF THE UNIVERSE

This past week, the Vatican released a report promised by Pope Francis on how Theodore McCarrick was able to rise through the ranks to positions of authority and prominence in the church and eventually become the Cardinal Archbishop of Washington DC. You may have seen it in the news. He was able to do this despite persistent rumors and reports over many years of inappropriate behavior with sexual implications especially with seminarians subject to him when he was a bishop and an Archbishop in New Jersey. The report gives evidence of an unusual degree of transparency for such documents.

The actual decisions to advance McCarrick to bishop of Metuchen, NJ, Archbishop of Newark, NJ, Archbishop of Washington DC and subsequently Cardinal were made over a period of almost 20 years by Pope St John Paul II. John Paul II chose to advance McCarrick to Archbishop of Washington DC and Cardinal over the firm advice to the contrary from John Cardinal O'Connor of New York and others. The Holy Father was convinced and ultimately misled, it appears, by a strenuous letter of denial from McCarrick. I'm afraid it tarnishes John Paul's memory and is only another incident that challenges the hierarchy's ability to deal with this crisis which, it seems, never ends.

As you may be, I am troubled by this mess. The process of selecting bishops appears to be one that is secretive and reserved to an exclusive network. There is a need for inclusion, openness and lay input especially from women. After all, through baptism, we are the church and the slowness to adopt this profound teaching of Vatican II is causing great damage. 

In this month of all saints we need to be reassured about the "communion of saints." This incident shows the wisdom of not rushing to canonize. At the same time, it reassures that the imperfections to which we are all subject need not be an obstacle to our welcome from a gracious God. As Pope Francis pointed out in his letter on "The Call to Holiness in Today's World," we should find inspiration and motivation in the lives of those around us who exhibit "next door neighbor" holiness or what he termed "the middle class of holiness."

All of us have considered someone or a number of people we have known as saints. They may show extraordinary piety and self-effacement; they may care for someone with devotion beyond what we might think humanly possible; they might show courage that risks everything for another or offer forgiveness to an adversary or they may simply offer generous and devoted day-in and day-out care for children and family. You know what I mean.

I don't mean to talk around what we might call the McCarrick incident. It and so many instances of sexual abuse and the slowness of those in authority to respond or worse has damaged the lives of so many and created, hurt, disgust and a challenge to our faith. 

I am left with my faith in a God who embodies everything this whole sordid chapter does not. For me, at this point in my life, being here pastoring with you is what saves me and gives me hope. You are my next door neighbor saints and with you I try to be yours. In the midst of this ongoing sorrow, let us be a blessing to each other.
~ Frank

On Sundays at 10:00 AM we will offer Mass in the Church in addition to the Sunday Vigil Mass in O'Connell Hall on Saturdays at 4pm. Public Health guidelines require us to limit the number of those attending to 40. In order to do this and have a list for contact tracing should that become necessary, we need everyone planning to attend to sign up beforehand. Click the link below for the Mass you wish to attend or call the parish office at 781-784-2265.

Saturday November 28th 4 PM in O'Connell Hall
(Please bring your own chair)
Sunday November 29th at 10 AM in the Church

MASKS ARE REQUIRED. With the cold weather upon us, you will want to be sure you are warmly dressed. Windows will have to be open because of the need for adequate ventilation. We also add the public health caution for those 65 or older or those who have a compromising condition. If you have any questions please contact the parish office at parish@olossharon.org or 781-784-2265.

There are many service opportunities this holiday season. Please click HERE to see what ways you can help your community. 

I have found it difficult to put thoughts together to comment on the trauma that our world and especially our country and society are going through. While I have been musing, the moment of intense attention has passed but the problems certainly linger. As if extraordinary divisions in our national community and an illness that has killed more than 150,000 of our brothers and sisters were not enough, the stark and chilling murder of George Floyd in front of our eyes on the streets of one of our major cities reminds us that there is something wrong in our national psyche.

Statements have been made from all quarters, including a very forceful one from our own Archbishop, Cardinal Sean and one wonders what there is left to say. Let me share some of the thoughts I have had in this struggle. 

As a baptized Christian and a priest, my first reference is Jesus of Nazareth. The scriptures present not only what he said. His words are compelling. They also present who he is. Time and time again, Jesus challenged the attitudes, the culture, the institutions and the societal structures of his day. He stood up for the powerless they were designed to oppress and it led to his death. We might imagine that “take your knee off their neck” was his cry. He was an inspiration to Ghandi who stood up to an Empire, to Archbishop Romero and Fr. Rutilio Grande SJ who challenged evil power and paid with their lives as well as to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr who confronted racism without a sword and like his savior also paid with his life. 

Despite the variety of depictions of Jesus over many centuries, the fact remains that he was a middle-eastern male with more color in his skin than I have in mine. In his public life, he was homeless, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” (Luke 9:58). Not only that but he reminded us of the importance of that perspective in each of our lives: “For we have here no lasting city, but we are looking for the city that is to come” (Hebrews 13:14).

Notwithstanding that stark reality, I sometimes think we have managed to domesticate Jesus into a middle class religious leader guiding us comfortably to salvation. In fact, he was in the streets, in the plazas, in the temple courtyard, in the dwellings of the outcasts challenging the customs, structures, institutions and attitudes of his day that stacked the deck against the powerless, the marginal, and the vulnerable. Where do you think he would be today?

It brings to mind the TV ad “Banks don’t do that,” “Yes, they do.”  

You don’t challenge the law of the Sabbath and cure the man born blind. Yes he did. 

You don’t disrupt the established custom and economics of the temple courtyard in defense of poor people who are being extorted. Yes he did.

You don’t defy custom by sitting in the middle-eastern noon-day sun listening and responding to an outspoken woman from an outcast people. Yes he did.

He is the Word of God, a word which speaks and acts. Undeterred by the power structures of the day and the drive to protect the status quo, He is concerned only with doing the will of his father. 

We too should adopt that posture undeterred by the distractions and the politics and listen to the marginalized who demand to be heard and the thousands who have marched in our streets in support of them.

Pope Francis’ first visit outside of Rome after his election was to the island of Lampedusa off the coast of Sicily, the destination of refugees from Africa many thousands of whom perished crossing in less than seaworthy vessels risking all to seek freedom. In his speech, Francis denounced the “globalization of indifference.” He challenged the structures and attitudes designed to keep them out even if it cost them their lives. Refugees are not entitled to less rights, less dignity and less loving care. Francis listened and his response was in word and deed. He followed the pattern of the savior and became a model for us.

Like him, we are called to do no less and follow in word and deed the road travelled by the savior in the world in which we find ourselves.

~Fr. Frank

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Click HERE to view our Annual Report.

All are welcome to join our Zoom Bible Study on Wednesday from 10am to 11am. 
The group, which meets weekly, includes and welcomes sisters and brothers of other faiths. Our examination of the biblical text honors the bible in both the Hebrew and Christian traditions.We are currently reading Exodus.

For more information email Lynn Jacobs at the parish office at ljacobs@olossharon.org.

9-22-2020