Palm Sunday at St. John is a perfect time to reflect on the love, joy, forgiveness, and mercy at the heart of the Catholic Church. Not only because we all need to have mercy as we navigate the parking lot (which we are looking forward to improving with our Capital Campaign), but also due to the amazing transformation we saw during the 24 Hours of Mercy March 4th-5th. Our priests were busy for hours and hours, with lines ringing the entire church. Father John said in his homily that he personally experienced over 50 people who came to him after being away from the church for decades. They are coming back to our church because of the message of our Holy Father and the truth that is the Catholic faith:
Unfortunately, like the “many” in the Gospel, there is always someone who does not want to stop, who does not want to be bothered by someone else crying out in pain, preferring instead to silence and rebuke the person in need who is only a nuisance. There is the temptation to move on as if it were nothing, but then we would remain far from the Lord and we would also keep others away from Jesus. May we realize that we are all begging for God’s love, and not allow ourselves to miss the Lord as he passes by. “I fear the Lord passing by” said Saint Augustine. Fear that he will pass by and that I will let him pass by. Let us voice our truest desire: “[Jesus], let me receive my sight!”. This Jubilee of Mercy is the favourable time to welcome God’s presence, to experience his love and to return to him with all our heart. Like Bartimaeus, let us cast off our cloak and rise to our feet: that is, let us cast aside all that prevents us from racing towards him, unafraid of leaving behind those things which make us feel safe and to which we are attached. Let us not remain sedentary, but let us get up and find our spiritual worth again, our dignity as loved sons and daughters who stand before the Lord so that we can be seen by him, forgiven and recreated. The word that perhaps touches our hearts today is the same word used to create man: “Rise up!” God has created us to stand up: “Rise up”.
Today more than ever, we Pastors are especially called to hear the cry, perhaps hidden, of all those who wish to encounter the Lord. We need to re-examine those behaviours of ours which at times do not help others to draw close to Jesus; the schedules and programmes which do not meet the real needs of those who may approach the confessional; human regulations, if they are more important than the desire for forgiveness; our own inflexibility which may keep others away from God’s tenderness. We must certainly not water down the demands of the Gospel, but we cannot risk frustrating the desire of the sinner to be reconciled with the Father. For what the Father awaits more than anything is for his sons and daughters to return home (cf. Lk 15:20-32).
– Pope Francis, 3/4/2016 (https://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/homilies/2016/documents/papa-francesco_20160304_omelia-liturgia-penitenza.html)
St. John is proud to be a Parish Family that actively lives our Pope Francis’ call, from welcoming every person that comes to our church with a smile, to serving in the soup kitchen in Immokalee, to creating community here with events and activities for all ages. Thank you for being such an integral part of our Family.