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Letter from Father Daniel
Sunday, July 06, 2008
DEAR PARISHIONERS and VISITORS, What brings you to Mass each week? Is it an act of duty or obligation? Is it the music, prayers or homily that draw s you? Maybe you seek Jesus in the Eucharist; maybe you seek community; maybe yo u can identify with each of these reasons. For those who have come to Mass looking for peace, you have come to the right place! Jesus offers us a pla ce of rest, as we will hear in the Gospel. Perhaps that is the most popular reas on for coming to Mass – to find some peace and holy rest from our complex and overextended lives. This weekend I begin a series I am calling: For the Love of the Mass, where I plan to clarify and explain the different parts of the Mass. My goal is that the parish can have greater appreciation for God’s great gift in this essential and most holy form of Christian prayer. Whatever reasons bring us to Mass, it is important to remember that Mass has begun well before we arrive. For some, it begins when the Sunday scriptures are read and reflected upon during the week. For others it begins when decisions are made on what to wear and/or in the hour of prayerful abstinence from food beforehand. Mass has begun in the journey to the church: in traffic through fair or foul weather; in conversation with others in the parking lot; as one walks through the doors of the church and is greeted; in blessing oneself with holy water from the font and bowing to the cross and altar before settling into a seat. How do you select where you will sit? Does your manner and placement in the pew invite others to sit near you? As we explore together the intricacies of this ancient tradition of prayer we call Mass, remember that whatever our reasons for attending and however we choose to begin, the Mass, in the end, is God’s initiative. It is God who has called us to prayer. It is God who has initiated us into the sacramental life and guides us to be faithful disciples. It is God who desires us to have intimacy with God so that we can become more divine and identify with God’s plans for the world. Growing in holiness is growing to become more like God. Doing God’s work in the world may feel like a heavy burden or an impossible yoke, but through our relationship to Jesus in the Mass, we will come to experience it as light and easy. Yours in the peace and love of Jesus Christ, Fr. Daniel F. Barica, O.F.M., Pastor 
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