June 11, 2006

Dear friends in life and in ministry . . .

The Feast of the Holy Trinity is upon us. Today we celebrate God the Creator, Jesus - the person of God with Skin on, and the Holy Spirit - God alive and re-creating within us and the Mystical Body of Christ that is the Church.

I'm sending this on Saturday following our 4 p.m. Mass. This morning at our regional planning group meeting, I met Maureen O'Neil who, on June 27th will become the pastoral administrator of St. Gabriel's in Hammondsport my neighboring parish. Sr. Anne Michelle McGill will officially "retire" on that day and move to the Sisters of St. Joseph Motherhouse in Rochester. If I know Sr. Anne, her retirement will not involve retirement from ministry. Rather, her ministry will continue in a new and as yet unknown form.

Last Sunday, people from throughout the Southern-Tier and in fact the Diocese celebrated her outstanding years of service to St. Gabriel's and the other parishes of our region. The 18 pastoral administrators who now serve the Diocese of Rochester will forever look to Sr. Anne as the pacesetter, whose ministry proved that someone other than a priest could successfully serve as its spiritual and temporal leader. Will great faith, skilled leadership and an outstanding sense of humor, Sr. Anne paved a way to keep parishes vital even as the number of priests dwindled. What a challenge is in store for Maureen - but having met her, I know that she will be warmly welcomed and soon loved and cherished by the people of St. Gabriel's. I know that I look forward to working with her.

Tomorrow at our 9 a.m. Mass we will celebrate the accomplishments and gifts of the parish's graduating seniors. Unfortunately, we just became aware that the senior class trip of one of our nearby high schools is also taking place this weekend. We will have a brief talk at the end of Mass by Colleen Sheehan, one of our very active young people. She will share the ways that her faith has grown through involvement in our parish, our parish choir, and our very active Youth Ministry.

This weekend, in addition to my Column, I'm including another in the very inspiring "musings" of our faith formation and youth ministry coordinator Mary Carol Wall. He column is entitled "The Theology of Pain". It is a must read for anyone who has ever asked "Why me Lord?"

Have a good week. Serve one another well.

Ray

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Mary Carol's Musings: The Theology of Pain

Bulletin: June 11 , 2006

June 11, 2006

Some Thoughts on the Holy Trinity
Today we celebrate the Most Holy Trinity.  What does this yearly feast have to say to us?  Well, Divine revelation -- God speaking to us -- begins with a decision.  In the book of Genesis, we read, “Let us make human beings in our own image, male and female, God created them.” (Genesis 1: 27)

These words tell us something about the Godhead and something about ourselves.   When God decided to fashion us in the divine image, the result was a tiny community, a man and a woman joined in love.  In doing this, our Creator was pointing to the reality that God is also a community of three persons joined in love -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  The life that these three have in knowing and loving one another is so intense that it spills over into the work of creation.  God calls us into being so that we may join the divine community.

In describing the relationship between God and creation, theologian Robert Baron speaks of ecstasy.   God “leaps out” of divinity to bring us into being.   In turn, God invites us to “leap out” of ourselves, to leave ourselves behind in order to join the divine community.  I dare say it is easier for God than for us, but it is not impossible.

If the work of creation was a move outward for God, the incarnation was truly ecstatic.   St. Paul tells us that the Son “did not cling to his divinity” but became one of us.  Jesus reveals a divine love that stops at nothing to reach the creatures it loves.  In Baron’s words, “Jesus is the joining of two ecstasies, the moment when the passionate human thirst for God meets the passionate divine thirst for us.”  (Thomas Aquinas, Spiritual Master)

If God’s Son emptied himself to become human, his human son in turn emptied himself in an unmatchable act of love for his Father and for us. “Greater love than this no one has than they lay down their life for a friend.”

Jesus is the way to the Father.  He is transparent. Looking at him, we see who God is for us; and something of what God was before us and always will be -- unlimited power and beauty that sustains everything that is in a “storm of love.”   This same Jesus gathers us about him in a new family - the daughters and sons of God.

How blessed are we at St. Mary’s to reflect the image and likeness of God - a loving community of persons!

Indications are that our International Food Festival was a great success. I’d personally like to thank our Festival Volunteers and invite all parishioners to celebrate with us on Wednesday evening at 7:00 p.m. for our Ice Cream Social and Town Meeting which will take place at O’Malley Hall

Have a good week. Serve one another well!