May 17, 2020
Dear Parishioners and Friends,
Last Sunday was a blessed and wonderful day at Holy Name of Jesus as a large number of parishioners from the KCA and HNJ accepted the invitation from Deacon Chris, Fr. Damian and me to come for a drive by blessing and, if possible, to bring an item or two for the parish food pantry. The response was overwhelming. Seeing and saying hello, along with the food items for the pantry was very emotional for me. Thank you for accepting our invitation to come for a blessing, for saying hello, for your contributions (both food and financial), and thanks to the parishioners from both communities for helping with the logistics. What a blessing to see and experience the parish as one family in the Lord Jesus.
In the Gospel for the Sixth Sunday of Easter, Jesus informs His disciples that He will provide for them after His departure. He promises to ask the Father to send “another Advocate” indicating that He is their first Advocate. He further makes the promise that even though He must leave this earth, the Holy Spirit will remain with them (and us) until the end of time. He will not leave us orphans.
In this context, an advocate is someone who will encourage, beseech, teach and comfort. He is the Spirit of truth and the continuing presence of Jesus in the world. But there is a catch – only those who have accepted the gift of faith will be able to see the presence of Jesus manifested in the things of this world. He further teaches that loving him is manifested by keeping His commandments and furthermore, that being a disciple of Jesus involves more than simply knowing and/or learning the commandments or His teachings. It about our behavior and how we live our lives.
When we think about these past few months, we, who have the gift of faith, can easily see Jesus revealing Himself in the thousands upon thousands of people living out their vocations in many, many ways serving God’s people. May our Lord bless those who live the commands of Jesus daily by offering loving care to the sick, the suffering, the dying, the lonely, the hungry and in all the other service oriented vocations benefittng humankind.
For your information, I thought you might be interested in some items posted on hnjchurch.net: the celebration of the White Mass by Bishop Barres praying for health care workers; a series on the Sacraments offered by Bishop Robert Barron; information about the School of Missionary Disciples offered by the Diocese of Rockville Centre, and finally a letter from the Bishop about the Preparations for the reopening of Churches and public celebrations. You can also click here to view the Bishop’s letter.
So far, all of us at the rectory and on staff appear to be well. Please stay well, be safe and once again, thank you again for your continuing financial support to HNJ.
With a prayer and a blessing for you,
Fr Bauhoff