Today I would like to take a few moments to remember Frank Cenna. Frank recently died, April 5, 2023, at age 69. I know Frank because he and I went to grade school together. We attended and graduated from St. Joseph Grade School is Port Vue, PA. Frank and I were from different parts of Port Vue, so I would not say we were best friends. But we were part of the 1968 8th Grade graduating class of St. Joe's and had been together for 8 years. Frank and I played on the 7th and 8th grade basketball team at St. Joe's and if I remember right Frank was a much better player than I. We traversed the eight years of grade school together, sometimes in the same groups and activities and sometime going in different directions.
I have not seen Frank since June of 1968, some 55 years ago, when we graduated from grade school. Frank and I would have gone to Serra Catholic High School together but in the fall of 1968 my family moved away from Port Vue, first to Harrisburg for a year and then on to Buck's County just outside of Philadelphia. I returned to Port Vue a few times since then for short visits but never ran into Frank. However, over the past few of years thanks for Facebook, I was able to reconnect with Frank through his sister Jocelyn. It was during this time that I learned that Frank had been living with TSC (Tuberous Sclerosis Complex). TSC is a rare genetic disorder. A lifelong chronic condition with no cure at least at the moment. Frank not only lived with TSC but worked mightily as an ambassador for finding a cure. I had hoped to visit Frank, but life got in the way, or should I say, "Well there is always tomorrow!" and then I ran out of tomorrows! Procrastination that often comes with a busy life can be our worst enemy or at least it is mine. As I said Frank and I were never the best of friends but connecting with someone even over Facebook from our youthful years is often lifegiving. Over the last few years, I have enjoyed reading about Frank and his living life to the fullest. He has been an inspiration and a member of my daily prayer list! In reading his obituary I found it interesting that Frank was an English major in college. In my memory of our time together I would not have thought of Frank as an English major, though he probably would not have thought of me as a Social Work major or a priest! It is interesting how lives are lived. I wish I could attend his funeral mass this coming Friday April 14th, but again the busyness of life and my own responsibilities will not allow me to do so. Later this morning I will celebrate mass in Frank's memory. Just my little way of honoring his life and the connection we shared at St. Joe's many, many, many years ago. I will pray also for Frank's family and friends who morn his loss. I pray that his funeral and all who gather for will truly celebrate the gift his life was and continues to be in our memory. As I close my little reflection in honor of Frank, I would just say that I am sure that when Frank took his last breath in this life and met God face to face - God simply said, "Well done Frank, good and faithful servant come share my eternal joy!"
6 Comments
Today’s Thoughts: Easter Sunday is the highpoint of the liturgical calendar, the key to the season of Lent. The resurrection of Jesus is what centers our faith, the mighty deed done by God in relation to us and our need for salvation.
That’s all the facts of the matter; but what really matters is how each one of us lives into the mystery of the resurrection of Jesus. This season of the resurrection beginning today, Monday of the Octave of Easter, provides the opportunity to understand the depths of that mystery by discovering how it impacts our lives. Wherever and whenever we encounter Christ, the effects of his resurrection extend to us. Encountering Jesus clearly flows from the sacraments. When we celebrate the Eucharist; when we receive forgiveness for our faults and failings in the Sacrament of Reconciliation to name but two of the sacraments, we encounter the Risen Christ. These weeks of celebrating Easter invite us to set our sights on Jesus, raised from the cruel death of the Cross by God’s loving hands only to come alive again as the Risen Christ present to us all in so many remarkable and simple ways. Our task is to open ourselves to the Risen Christ, to the many ways that he is present to us, even in these unusual times, and to continue to grow as women and men of faith, hope, and love because of his presence in our lives. Our task these next few weeks during the Easter season is like Mary Magdalene and the other Mary in our Gospel today, to keep our eyes on Jesus, our ears attuned to faith, our heart compassionate toward the world, our hope beyond the reach of frustration, anger and the struggles of our world. No rumors, lies and scandals will detour us, no human attempts at explanation, no payoffs, no bribery will compromise us. No politicians, no hate groups, no disrespect will take way the presence of God in our lives. We are simply yet profoundly called to “not be afraid!” To go and carry the Good News to our sisters and brothers as best we can even in these struggling times. One other aspect of our Gospel reading today is the fact that it is the women in Jesus’ life who are the first to encounter the Risen Christ. They become the first proclaimers of the Good News. They are the Apostles to the Apostles. In a mediation I read la couple of years ago at this time the author asked the question – “Who are the women who have most impacted your own life? Have you done justice to the contributions they made to your well-being, perhaps your status? Have you ever stereotyped women or denigrated them because of their gender? Pray for women today – and include the fearless Mary Magdalene.” (Ronald D. Witherup, PSS) So, to all the women who have touched my life and who continue to be a part of my life I say thank you! Thank you for your life, your witness, your faith, your love and your presence in my life! Happy Easter and have a blessed and holy Easter Monday everyone! Today’s Thoughts – Easter Sunday
"The Lord is risen, Alleluia! Happy Easter everyone! I have chosen some words from Pope Francis to give us a little food for thought as we celebrate this Easter morning “If we think that things are not going to change, we need to recall that Jesus Christ has triumphed over sin and death and is now almighty. Jesus Christ truly lives…. Christ, risen and glorified, is the wellspring of our hope, and he will not deprive us of the help we need to carry out the mission which he has entrusted to us. Christ’s resurrection is not an event of the past; it contains a vital power which has permeated this world. Where all seems to be dead, signs of the resurrection suddenly spring up. It is an irresistible force. Often it seems that God does not exist all around us we see persistent injustice, evil, indifference and cruelty. But it is also true that in the midst of darkness something new always springs to life and sooner or later produces fruit. On razed land life breaks through, stubbornly yet invincibly. However dark things are, goodness always re-emerges and spreads. Each day in our world beauty is born anew, it rises transformed through the storms of history. Values always tend to reappear under new guises, and human beings have arisen time after time from situations that seemed doomed. Such is the power of the resurrection, and all who evangelize are instruments of that power.” (Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium: The Joy of the Gospel) These words of resurrection today from Pope Francis remind us of what Easter is all about. He challenges us to believe in the empty tomb and like Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, we are to believe and proclaim the risen Christ to all we meet. There is goodness and newness of life today and the question before us is do we believe? The Messiah is among us, the Messiah is one of us. Are we willing to bring the risen Christ to the world? This Easter Sunday hopefully we take the opportunity to celebrate with Easter Sunday Mass and a family gathering. And within these celebrations we take up the challenge to be like Mary Magdalene and the other Mary and believe in the Risen Christ and proclaim that belief in the living of our lives. We believe in the mystery of Easter and that it is about relationship it is about friendship with God so that when we encounter the empty tombs of life we too will believe, proclaim and live! Easter Sunday blessings to all! Have a blessed, holy, and joyous Easter Sunday! Today’s Thoughts: Once again Pope Francis offers us these words to help us on our journey through Holy Saturday – “There are Christians whose lives seem like Lent without Easter. I realize of course that joy is not expressed the same way at all times in life, especially at moments of great difficulty. Joy adapts and changes, but it always endures, even as a flicker of light born of our personal certainty that, when everything is said and done, we are infinitely loved. I understand the grief of people who have to endure great suffering, yet slowly but surely we all have to let the joy of faith slowly revive as a quiet yet firm trust, even amid the greatest distress: “My soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is… But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness… It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord” (Lam 3:17, 21-23, 26).” (Evangelii Gaudium: The Joy of the Gospel)
I offer you these words from Pope Francis because I think they reflect what Holy Saturday is about. We sit and wait. Will there be an Easter? Yes, we know that there will be but those disciples and friends of Jesus who lived through this day many centuries ago did not. They lived this day in their grief, but they also lived this day in hope. It was a time when they remember the story, it was a time when they hoped, it was a time when joy was conceived in their hearts. Today we live in the hope that once again joy might be conceived in our hearts! The word that I always use for Holy Saturday is hope. After a long Lent, after the gift of Love which we call Good Friday we wait in Hope on Holy Saturday. The elements of the Easter Vigil which we will celebrate later today all point toward the virtue of Hope. We retell the story of creation, our creation, of how God so loved us, of how we are created in the image and likeness of God. We retell the story of our release from slavery; How God with a mighty arm brought us from slavery to freedom. We hear how God provides for all those who are thirsty, who are hunger. The rich table, the rich food God provides for us. On Holy Saturday night we light a new fire. We bless new water. We welcome people, through baptism, confirmation, Holy Eucharist into the community of faith. It is a night of hope for us, for our church, for the world. I once read that the most common one-liner in the scriptures is, "Do not be afraid." Someone counted, and it occurs 365 times. This is not really accurate but “Do not be afraid” does appear often in the scriptures. In our Gospel for the Easter vigil this one-liner appears twice. First the angel who meets the women at the tomb just after the earthquake tells them, “Do not be afraid.” Then as they go running from the tomb, they run right into Jesus who also tells them, “Do not be afraid.” Fear can be a crippling emotion. It can sometimes hold us back from seeing, experiencing and proclaiming the Good News. The world can throw many experiences, situations and encounters at us that can cause us to live our life in fear. The message of our Easter celebration is to not be afraid, but to have hope! “Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul and sings a tune without the words and never stops at all!” (Emily Dickinson) We wait in faith today, we wait in love, and we wait to hear the tune of hope that perches in our soul singing a tune of love that never stops. Yes, today we wait...in hope! Have a blessed Holy Saturday! Today’s Thoughts: “To be evangelizers of souls, we need to develop a spiritual taste for being close to people’s lives and to discover that this is itself a source of greater joy. Mission is at once a passion for Jesus and a passion for his people. When we stand before Jesus crucified, we see the depth of his love which exalts and sustains us, but at the same time, unless we are blind, we begin to realize that Jesus’ gaze, burning with love, expands to embrace all his people. We realize once more that he wants to make use of us to draw closer to his beloved people. He takes us from the midst of his people, and he sends us to his people; without this sense of belonging we cannot understand our deepest identity.” (Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium: The Joy of the Gospel)
Pope Francis’ words remind us today of what the Cross is all about. He asks us to stand before the Cross of Christ today. He asks us to see and feel the depth of God’s love, of Jesus’ love for us. We are reminded that Christ’s love cannot remain just within us but that it is to be shared! As I reflected on John’s Passion (John 18: 1-19:42) and the other readings (Isaiah 52: 13- 53:12; Hebrews 4:14-16; 5: 7-9;) that we encounter in today’s liturgy I began to think about the image of gesture that Pope Francis used in his Holy Thursday homily a number of years ago. He said the Last Supper reading provide us with two gestures. Jesus’ gesture of love and service and Judas’ gesture hate. What gestures do we find being played out as we listen to St. John’s Passion today? The gesture of love or the gesture of hate. The gesture of mercy or the gesture of violence. The gesture of compassion or the gesture of indifference. What gesture do we see and live when we gaze into the eyes of Jesus on Good Friday? The words of Pope Francis that I began with remind me of why I am a Passionist. Each day as I arise, I try to stand before the Cross of Christ and I look through the lens of his Passion to see his burning love. Each time I put on my habit and attach the simple sign that only Passionists wear I am reminded that Christ’s great love must be in my heart. Each time I wander into a new day I am reminded because of that sign over my heart that I am to bring Christ unrelenting love to every person that I meet. Because I am a Passionist and a man of faith I am connected to Christ’s Passion story. I think we all need to find our own way of connecting to the Passion story. We need to find our own way to understand, to feel, the mystery of Jesus' Passion. We need to make the connection with the characters of the story and with Jesus. We might not understand but we need to make the connection, we need to feel the story. We need to find our own liturgy sometimes. At this point in life as I pause to keep Good Friday holy I am truly blessed and honored to be a Passionist and a priest. Often in the past, I have been privileged to lead a community in the liturgy of the Lord's Passion. I have had the honor of preaching, of sharing the Good News on this day. I have been given the opportunity to help others look through the lens of the Passion of Jesus Christ. This year I not only remember the Lord Passion with a community of faith but also through these words on my web site. My friends in faith, however you remember the Lord's Passion of this Good Friday my prayer for you is that the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ will always be in your heart! Good Friday peace and blessings to all! I hope you will at least take a little time to sit before the Cross of Christ today and remember God’s great love for you! Today’s Thoughts: In his Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis writes, “If we are to share our lives with others and generously give of ourselves, we also have to realize that every person is worthy of our giving. Not for their physical appearance, their abilities, their language, their way of thinking, or for any satisfaction that we might receive, but rather because they are God’s handiwork, his creation. God created that person in his image, and he or she reflects something of God’s glory. Every human being is the object of God’s infinite tenderness, and he himself is present in their lives. Jesus offered his precious blood on the cross for that person. Appearances notwithstanding, every person is immensely holy and deserves our love. Consequently, if I can help at least one person to have a better life, that already justifies the offering of my life. It is a wonderful thing to be God’s faithful people. We achieve fulfilment when we break down walls and our heart is filled with faces and names!”
These words of Pope Francis reflect the spirit of this most holy day that we celebrate. Yes, Holy Thursday is about the institution of the Eucharist. Yes, Holy Thursday is a special day for priests as we look to this day as a starting point for our life and ministry as priests. Yes, Holy Thursday is a day when we remember the beginning of Christ Passion which will lead to his Death and Resurrection. Yes, Holy Thursday is about a meal, Christ’s last meal and a meal that calls us to remember the history of our faith as God’s people released from slavery and beginning a journey to freedom. Today, is also about service, about looking beyond ourselves to the gift of God within us and sharing that gift. Pope Francis reminds us that all of us are God’s handiwork. All of us reflect the glory of God. It was on this day that Jesus showed his infinite tenderness by washing the feet of his friends and by sharing himself in the Eucharist. It was intimacy, tenderness and a gift that defined Jesus life and ministry. As Pope Francis reminds us, it is this very way of life that Jesus calls us to as people of the Gospel. I pray that this Holy Thursday may truly help us to break down the walls and open our hearts that they may be filled with face and names! Have a blessed, holy and grace filled Holy Thursday everyone and please give a little personal time to God before the day is over! Today’s Thoughts: Spy Wednesday, (Isaiah 50: 4-9a and Matthew 26: 14-25), the day when we pause to remember Judas’ actions many years ago. A companion, a friend of Jesus yet he allows the forces of darkness, the forces of evil to become more a friend than Jesus.
We do not truly know what motivated Judas. Was it his desire for money? Was it that he truly thought he would scare Jesus into changing his approach to life? Was it that he saw Jesus as a threat? Was it that he was angry with Jesus? Had he been caught stealing money? Was he upset that Jesus challenged him at Lazarus’ house? We just don’t know the motive. What we do know is the Judas sold Jesus out to the religious leadership of his time. What we do know is that Judas could not admit to Jesus what he was about to do. He could not tell the truth and that until the end he continued to see himself as Jesus’ friend. The Prophet Isaiah today reminds himself of who his friend truly is, God. That no matter what happens God is there to protect Isaiah in his ministry as prophet. It is not easy, but Isaiah is faithful to his ministry and God is faithful to Isaiah, helping him through the struggles. We encounter Isaiah’s words and in them we see Jesus. We listen to Isaiah’s words and hear Jesus speaking. Jesus is the servant who suffers, the servant who trusts in God, the servant who is abandoned by everyone except by God. The questions for today – Are we with God or against God? Can we remain friends of Jesus or will the trappings of the world, will anger and hate, will the uncertainly of the times, will the fear of the unknown, cause us to betray him once again? Can we trust in God even in the midst of our struggles, the world’s struggles? It is often said that every person has her or his price, what is our price? Blessings and peace to all on this Wednesday of Holy Week! Today’s Thoughts: Troublemakers and troubleshooters are two very different types of people. Troublemakers are those people who create anxiety, frustration, agitation and cause calamity, i.e., there are a host of people we can call troublemakers these days in culture and society, outside religion and inside religion, outside the Church and inside the Church. Troubleshooters are those people who can identify, locate and eliminate the source of the disturbance. Unfortunately, there are not many of these today! In today’s Gospel (John 13: 21-33, 36-38) Judas is a troublemaker and Jesus is a troubleshooter.
In the Gospel we are told that Jesus is deeply troubled and as we read on and picturing the scene we quickly understand why. The scene today is the Last Supper and Jesus is aware of the events ahead of him. He knows that Judas will betray him and during the supper Jesus sends him on his way. We all know what it feels like to lose a friend. We invest time, effort, our emotions and feelings only to have the person move on, decide that we are not worth the time, effort and trouble. Jesus has given three years to Judas, but Judas needs to move on. Jesus has given three years to all his disciples, yet he knows they will all run away before the night is over. One of his closest friends, Peter, will deny that he knows Jesus even though we listen to his bold statement of loyalty in the Gospel. Yes, it is a troubling time for Jesus. However, unlike the troublemaker Judas, Jesus does not run away. He identifies the problem, the struggle, the difficulty. Jesus realizes that humankind has “fallen from love.” That is our original sin; we have fallen from God’s love. Jesus the troubleshooter is going to restore the gift of that love by his journey to the cross the empty tomb. Jesus set us free to embrace the mystery of God’s love. It is up to us to turn away from sin but through the action of Jesus, the troubleshooter, we are given the chance to once again “fall in love with God!” As we journey through this day let us remember what Jesus has done for us. Let us look at the cross and “fall in love once again!” Have a blessed Holy Tuesday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: As we begin this most Holy of Weeks our readings (Isaiah 42:1-7 and John 12: 1-11) remind us of the good of this week and the bad. We are reminded of the compassion and love of Jesus. We are reminded of the caring and friendship of Martha, Mary and Lazarus. We are reminded of the impact that Jesus had on peoples' lives. We are reminded how Judas lost his focus and turned away from Jesus.
These early days of Holy Week set the scene, the characters and the focus for the Triduum. They give us the background of the story that will lead us to Calvary and the empty tomb. They remind us of how easy it is to get lost in the trappings of the world. They remind us how easy it is to be distracted by the things of the world and to not recognize the presence of God. They remind us of how hard it is to be faithful people. The scene today also reminds of the fact the Jesus is willing to accept extravagance when it is done in love. Jesus appreciates the extravagance of Mary's true love because Jesus and the Father are always about offering true love, the true love of the Cross which we will celebrate later this week. What extravagant gesture of love can we offer someone this week? How can we make God's presence known and felt in our world this week? Remember God never turns away from a humble and contrite heart. Let us not be like Judas, someone who cannot grasp the love and support of God, rather let us be like Martha, Mary and Lazarus people who are friends of God! Have a blessed and holy Monday of Holy Week everyone! Today’s Thoughts: As we enter this most holy of weeks my reflection today centers on a line in Matthew’s Passion, “But Mary Magdalene and the other Mary remained sitting there, facing the tomb,” (Mathew 27:61)
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary probably had many unanswered questions about the time they were in. Life had just changed drastically for them. They had lost a very important, special person in their lives. What was going to happen without Jesus? What will tomorrow bring? How were they going to continue to live on? Or maybe, they both had great faith. Perhaps they trusted in the words of Jesus that he would rise on the third day, and they were just going to sit there and wait. My guess their feelings and thoughts were somewhere in between. They believed but they were still a little unsure, concerned, hopeful but cautious, faithful but full of questions and a few doubts. Perhaps just the way we often feel as we live our life. Yes, I believe we are just like the Mary Magdalene and the other Mary as we live our journey of faith. Faithful, hopeful but uncertain and with a few doubts about the future. Perhaps as we begin this most holy of weeks, we have the opportunity like Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to sit and look at the tomb that life presents to us these days. We can question, wonder, doubt, hope and have faith in what lies ahead. Today, we are reminded of Jesus’ triumphant entrance into Jerusalem of a wonderful, “Hosanna” filled day, which becomes the starting point for the central story of all the Gospels, Jesus’ Passion, Death and Resurrection. We reconnect ourselves to all those first gatherings of the Church as we listen to Matthew’s accounts of Palm Sunday and the Passion of our Lord. We remember the triumphant ride over the Mount of Olives into Jerusalem and the lonely walk to Calvary. We once again tell the story of triumphant, glory, hosanna, struggle, pain, sorrow, blessing, truth, giftedness, prayer and most importantly love. Like the early Church and all the centuries of Church that have gone before us, we are asked to remember, to believe, to have faith and to hope in the love of God as lived out by our Lord Jesus Christ. As we journey through this Holy Week, as hopefully we take the time to sit and look at the tomb that we will let “The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ Truly Be Always in Our Hearts!” Have a holy and blessed Palm Sunday everyone! |
Fr. Paul R. Fagan, C.P. "Preacher on the Run"Just a few thoughts to help you on your journey through life...let me know from time to time what you think... Archives
April 2024
Categories |