Our Parish Update - Tuesday, July 7, 2020

   
    Weekdays:  Tuesday and Thursday mornings at 9:30 am, starting this Thursday, July 9.  
    Weekend:    Saturday at 4:45 pm and Sunday morning at 10:00 am.  

There is a limit of 50 persons maximum at all Masses.  This includes the priest and parishioners doing volunteer ministries at  Mass.  To ensure we do not exceed this limit, you are asked to register for the Mass you wish to attend by phoning the Parish Office - 754-0170 during regular hours - 8:30 am - 3:00 pm or by email - stpiusx@nl.rogers.com.

You can find more information about some changes you might see at church by going to our parish website www.spx.ca  to read the Tuesday Update of June 30 and the Sunday bulletin of July 5.
 

                

Last week, we celebrated  the Feast of the Apostle Thomas, the so-called “ Doubting Thomas”. Now, I’ve always thought that St. Thomas gets a rather bad rap. After all, he was one of the most faithful of Jesus’s disciples. You’ll remember that in the story of the Raising of Lazarus, in the Gospel of John, some of the disciples were worried about returning to Bethany, Lazarus’s home, because it was in Judea, where things were dangerous for Jesus.

But Thomas was undeterred and encouraged everyone to go. But because he was not with the other disciples at one of the original appearances of the Risen Christ, he doubted the Resurrection. He says that unless he himself puts his hands in the wounds of Jesus, he won’t believe. Now, on the one hand, Thomas should have known that nothing was impossible with God. On the other, no one had ever been raised from the dead in that precise way before, even Lazarus, and so he can be forgiven his doubt. But when the Risen Christ appears again, he knows what Thomas needs, and he shows him his wounds.

In this story, two things jump out at us. First, the necessity of asking for what we want in prayer. Thomas wants physical proof and asks for it. For another, trusting that God speaks to us in very personal ways, tailored to our own circumstances. Jesus gave Thomas what he needed: physical proof. This is something I can see about God especially in my work as spiritual director: God meets people where they are. For some people, God meets them through relationships, with others through books; with others through nature.

Maybe this week you can look around to see the very personal and unique ways that God encounters you and invites you to believe, just as Thomas did.

SOURCE:   Fr. James Martin, SJ
                         
 
SOURCE:   Sister Christine Koelhoffer,IHM, www.jesuitresource.org


         
    
•    After explaining the commandment to honor your father and mother, a Sunday School teacher asked her class if there was a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters.

    One boy, the oldest in his family, immediately answered,
    “Thou shalt not kill.”


•     A father was reading Bible stories to his young son.
    He read,
     “The man named Lot was warned to take his wife and flee out of the city,
    but his wife looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt.”

    His son asked,
    “What happened to the flea?”


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The word “change” normally refers to new beginnings. But the mystery of transformation more often happens not when something new begins, but when something old falls apart. The pain of something old falling apart—chaos—invites the soul to listen at a deeper level, and sometimes forces the soul to go to a new place. Most of us would never go to new places in any other way. The mystics use many words to describe this chaos: fire, dark night, death, emptiness, abandonment, trial, the Evil One. Whatever it is, it does not feel good and it does not feel like God.

We will normally do anything to keep the old thing from falling apart, yet this is when we need patience and guidance, and the freedom to let go instead of tightening our controls and certitudes. Perhaps Jesus is describing just this phenomenon when he says, “It is a narrow gate and a hard road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Matthew 7:14). Not accidentally, he mentions this narrow road right after teaching the Golden Rule. He knows how much letting go it takes to “treat others as you would like them to treat you” (Matthew 7:12).

While change can force a transformation, spiritual transformation always includes a disconcerting reorientation. It can either help people to find new meaning or it can force people to close down and slowly turn bitter. The difference is determined precisely by the quality of our inner life, our practices, and our spirituality. Change happens, but transformation is always a process of letting go, living in the confusing, shadowy space for a while. Eventually, we are spit up on a new and unexpected shore. You can see why Jonah in the belly of the whale is such an important symbol for many Jews and Christians.

In moments of insecurity and crisis, “shoulds” and “oughts” don’t really help. They just increase the shame, guilt, pressure, and likelihood of backsliding into unhealthy patterns. It’s the deep “yeses” that carry us through to the other side. It’s that deeper something we are strongly for—such as equality and dignity for all—that allows us to wait it out. It’s someone in whom we absolutely believe and to whom we commit. In plain language, love wins out over guilt any day.

SOURCE:    Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation, Wisdom in Times of Crisis, July 5, 2020