Happy Father's Day

06-16-2019Weekly ReflectionFr. James Aboyi

Dear Parishioners,

I wish all fathers in our parish community a Happy Fathers' Day! It is hard to talk about fathers and their roles in the family these days without sounding old-fashioned. However, on this Father's Day, it is good to remind ourselves that, in spite of all the changes in our society, the father always remains a very essential figure in the ideal Christian family. Studies have shown that the crisis of faith among many people today is mostly related to their early life experiences in which a good relationship with a loving father figure was missing. This is essentially because the relationship we have with our earthly fathers often mirrors our relationship with our Heavenly Father, God. Let us pray for all fathers today that they remain faithful to their vocation as fathers and be good role models for their children and society.

On behalf of the parish community, I would like to thank Michael Templeton, Chettie Dodson and Kathie Marcoux for their services to our parish community as members of the Parish Pastoral Council over the past several years. They completed their terms as members of the Council this month. Thank you for your commitment and we look forward to your continued support of St. Benedict Parish in the other ministries of which you are involved. In the same way, please join me in congratulating Julie Davis, Frank Polimene and Russ Spencer who were elected as members of the Council last week. We look forward to your services to our community in the coming years.

A number of our parishioners told me they were not comfortable with my article in the bulletin last weekend in which I encouraged everyone to avoid too much chatting before Mass. One of the reasons, I was told, is because Jesus always moved with the crowd and did not tell people to keep quiet in his presence. My response to this is that, yes, it is quite true that Jesus was mostly with the crowd and with lots of noise around him. However, if we use this as a reason to chat in the church, will it then be okay to chat during Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament or during Mass? It is good to pay attention to the difference between the mood at the Last Supper and the mood during his public ministry in the street and out in the countryside.

The three main reasons the Church asks that we observe a moment of silence before Mass begins are

1. to create a sense of reverence and respect for the presence of Jesus in the Tabernacle,
2. to respect others who are praying, and
3. to give ourselves some quiet me to pray and prepare for the sacrifice of the Mass.

We read in the scriptures that each me Jesus wanted to pray, he always went away from the crowd to a quiet place (Lk 5:15-16; Mt 14:23; Lk 6:12; Mk 1:35; Mt 26:36-38). Jesus also drove people away from the Temple area for turning it to a marketplace (Jn 2:13-16). I encourage us to take time to chat and socialize more after the Mass in the church vestibule or anywhere around the church.

Thank you and Remain Blessed.
Fr. James