Dear Friends,
We all know and painfully received the sad news about our own Father Martinez being assigned to another parish, namely Saint Cecilia. As I said earlier when I shared the news with our parish family, we were blessed during these past four years with the gift of Fr. Martinez, and we will really miss him. We will have a parish send off for him some time in June. The parish office is working on the appropriate date. Please stay tuned.
At the same time, I would like to announce the coming of Fr. Pius Matthew, who is joining us as Fr. Martinez leaves us to his new assignment. Fr. Pius comes from St. Mary’s Church, as strongly bilingual (English – Spanish) parish in the Diocese of Austin, Texas. He will be visiting with our diocese and our parish in the beginning of June, before he officially starts his ministry with us here at Holy Cross, July 1 st .
Dear friends, as aware as we can all be about the anxiety and stress that come with change in our life, we will always remember that God’s love for us will never falter. And it is precisely that love which makes us love one another as He loved us. The love of God for us strengthen us every time we are worried and concerned about what the next step in our life will be. In the second reading today, we are told and invited to find consolation in God for He is the one to wipe every tear from our eyes.
These two assurances are the stronghold of our Christian life: the love of God for us and His unending support and consolation. Love is the mark by which all will know that we belong to Christ. And of that love Christ says, there no greater than lying one’s own life for the sake of others. This is the greatest and the new commandment: love one another as I have loved you!
Today we are challenged to revisit the meaning of that word in our lives: love. What does it mean for me today to say that I love? What is my understanding of that powerful word. Does it coincide with the meaning Christ has it for me? If today I could imagine love as a basket, what would I put inside. To put it otherwise, what would people find in this basket if I were to be considered as that basket called love? Undoubtedly, we are all challenged when it comes about showing true love, and we are afraid we would always fall short. This is because we tend to rely on ourselves rather than on Him who says, “the more you give me, the more will I increase your capacity for giving.” This means for us that Christ does not expect us to be extraordinary for our love to please Him. He calls us to love Him and one another as we are. With our brokenness and shortcomings; trembling but confident and trusting in Him who is the Source of our love; for He is Love and Mercy itself. He needs only your heart, my heart, your life, my life; for He needs it. A humble heart able to receive his love in order to share it with others is all that God wants from you, from me.
Do I want to glorify God? Love is the secret! For love gives birth to joy. Look around you today, where can you plant the seed of joy that takes roots in love? Today, we are all drawing from the Wellspring of love, from Love itself: the Eucharist which makes us experience God’s unfathomable love through the sacrifice of His Only Son. To embrace that love is to commit ourselves to being sharers and super spreaders of that love. That way, we will all become true living eucharist in our daily life. Let us continue to pray for one another and for our parish family.
Fr. Emery