Dear Fellow Disciples,

In Jesus’ day, a banquet was a way to show off wealth. Having a bounty of food for the guests showed that you were a person of means. They also displayed one’s social standing, especially since they were too large to hold indoors. Everyone could see who was in attendance. Important guests indicated that the host was also important. And these guests were given a good seat, so they could see and be seen.

Dear fellow disciples

“The last will be first…”

This Sunday's parable calls attention to the danger of thinking that external practice of religion alone will save a place in heaven.

The situation of those asking the Lord to open the door to them, claiming intimacy with him is dramatic. Even more dramatic is the Lord’s answer “I do not know you or where you are from.”

Jesus’ question “Do you think that I have come come to establish peace to earth? No, I tell you, but rather division”, can generate a lot of misunderstandings. How can we reconcile this with “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God”? What about when Jesus considers Himself as humble and meek of heart?

Here Jesus establishes a clear division between those who chose justice and those who chose oppression. Those who look for their own interests and those who promote the dignity of every human person as God’s children and their brothers and sisters. Those who are moved by love and compassion and those who let themselves be moved by selfishness and greed. Those who strive to put the faith in action in a life of discipleship and those who live a superficial faith based only in the minimal practices, just as part of a check list.

Jesus calls the attention of his disciples to their need to be always alert. Especially against the suggestions of the world. It could be so strong as to convince them to renounce their commitment with the Kingdom of God.

The exigences and difficulties of discipleship can be heavy and discouraging on them and also on us. The fewer number of members in the primitive community can put in danger the success of such a great and demanding mission. Hence the importance and need to stay alert.

Dear fellow disciples,

The parable in today’s Gospel is a warning against the uselessness of greed. Jesus condemns the accumulation of wealth as an end to itself when life is so fragile and death being always around the corner.

Our journey as disciples of His kingdom leads in the opposite direction. Jesus teaches us the beauty of using our wealth to benefit those less fortunate than us.

Dear Fellow Disciples,

This Sunday Jesus' prayer inspires us to address the Father as our Abba (daddy). It also teaches us, as His disciples, to transform our prayer into a continuous dialogue with the Father. God is before all, in Jesus's teaching, Our Father and we are brothers and sisters. So He cares and will care for us.

Dear Fellow disciples, peace and blessings.

The story Martha and Mary in today's Gospel sheds light on our idea of discipleship. Many people have never heard the D word (Discipleship) and others who heard it sometimes think that it refers only to religious persons and priests. Neither Martha nor Mary were religious sisters or priests. So, the first fallacy to expel is that discipleship is just for those especially chosen.

My Dear Fellow Disciples, peace,

“If only we would learn how great it is, to possess divine grace and how many riches it has within itself.” -St. Rose of Lima

With this beautiful quote from our Patron St. Rose of Lima, I would like to thank each and every one of you for your warm welcome to Fr. Javier, Fr. Cyriac, and myself. We feel so blessed to be here with you all already.

Dear people of God in the Parish and School of Saint Rose of Lima, 

Peace and all of God’s blessings. 

It is with a sense of wonder that I, along with Frs. Cyriac and Javier, start the new chapter of my ministry as a priest and pastor, and also this new chapel of my discipleship following Jesus in His Church. Our hope and prayer is that we may assist and accompany Saint Rose of Lima’s community (Church and School) as we continue to grow, strive and prosper in faithfulness, holiness, and unity as true disciples of Jesus in His Church. 

The priests' convocation a couple of weeks ago was held at the new lodge at Paris Landing State Park on Kentucky Lake. It is a beautiful place, both the building and the setting. One especially striking feature is the view from the room set up to be our chapel. It was perfect! It has a pitched ceiling and a glass wall looking out onto the lake. Every time I saw this view during prayer or Mass, I kept being reminded of an experience from my pilgrimage to the Holy Land. When we visited Magdala on the Sea of Galilee -- it's actually a lake -- we entered a chapel there that had a glass wall facing the water, like the lodge at Paris Landing! The views were remarkably similar.

A few weeks ago, I was in Washington, D.C. for an ordination and to visit my sister, who teaches at Catholic University of America. One day we had taken the metro into downtown Washington and were returning to the CUA/Brookland area where she lives. On trains like that, you can end up in a seat facing backwards, even as you move forward. I know that some people don't like seats like that, but they don't bother me. As my sister and I were sitting facing backward, we saw a young man coming forward, approaching us from the back of the car. He came right up to us.

I would like to take this opportunity to introduce you to the new pastor of Saint Rose, Fr. Christiano Nunes da Silva “Fr. Chris.” He will be beginning in the parish during the last week of June. Father was born in Fortaleza, a city on the northeast coast of Brazil, in 1972. He pursued studies in the sciences with the goal of becoming a veterinarian. Along the way, he worked as a quality control supervisor in the clothing industry and as an administrator at a center for medical imaging in his hometown.

I would like to invite everyone in the parish to the Corpus Christi procession after the 5:00pm Mass on Sunday, June 19. Corpus Christi ("Body of Christ" in Latin) is the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Before we move out of the cycle of preparation for and celebration of the Easter Mysteries which started at the beginning of Lent, the Church gives us one more Sunday to focus exclusively on the gift of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist before we move into the Sundays of Ordinary Time once again.

I would like to take this opportunity to introduce you to the new pastor of Saint Rose, Fr. Christiano Nunes da Silva – “Fr. Chris.” He will be beginning in the parish on Monday, June 27. Father was born in Fortaleza, a city on the northeast coast of Brazil, in 1972. He pursued studies in the sciences with the goal of becoming a veterinarian. Along the way, he worked as a quality control supervisor in the clothing industry and as an administrator at a center for medical imaging in his hometown.