| Third Sunday of Easter
My heart is glad and my soul rejoices, and my body, too, abides in confidence; because you will not abandon my soul to the netherworld, nor will you suffer your faithful one to undergo corruption. (Psalm 16)
In the First Reading, St. Peter quotes King David’s words in Psalm 16, and goes on to recount how Jesus is the fulfillment of this promise of God: not to abandon David nor to let him see corruption. We all know David died and was buried; yet the promise was still fulfilled because Jesus is a descendant of David, and since he rose from the dead, with a glorified body, Jesus’s body did not undergo corruption. As the Son of God, Jesus, therefore has the power to save the souls of all who believe in him; even if our bodies are corrupted in death, our souls will not be, if we are united to the Risen Lord. On the last day, we also will be raised up, and our souls reunited with our (perfected) bodies!
Next, the Gospel tells us how to be united to the Risen Lord: when Jesus walked with the disciples on the road to Emmaus, their hearts burned within them as he explained the Scriptures to them, and they recognized him in the breaking of the bread. Even so for us: as Catholics, we celebrate the Eucharist (the Mass) because in it Jesus is present through the Scriptures we proclaim, and our hearts burn within us as we hear God’s Word; we also listen to the homily, in which the scriptures are explained to us anew, with respect to our own current life situation; then Jesus becomes present to us in the breaking of the Bread: in the form of bread and wine be comes to us to feed us with his Body and Blood.
For now, we are not able to gather in his name to hear the Word and receive Holy Communion, but we can watch it online and receive a “Spiritual Communion” simply by desiring to be in communion; God remains with us and gives us the grace to remain in him, until we can physically be together again for the breaking of bread!
Sunday Mass will be live-streamed from St. Catherine Labouré at 9:30 AM in English and 1:00 PM in Spanish, every Sunday until the Pandemic subsides.
You can join us on YouTube or Facebook Live.
Another way to view the Mass:
We will be offering a more polished version of the Masses on U-tube some days after the actual event. To see the Mass from April 12 (Easter) on U-tube to go:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1nSuDW02DKzyQJHnAUcxu2WjVrJKwslyc
The rosary will be livestreamed on facebook.live Tuesdays at 7:00 PM.
Don’t forget your financial donation to support the parish, as our expenses continue. Consider an online donation at our website: stcatherinelaboure.net – click on the online giving link. You can also mail in your donation; or put it in the office mail slot. Thank-you for your support.
See News Postings on the website for ongoing periodic updates.
For now, we remain united in faith, hope, and love – from a distance!
Fr. Brian Hayes
Pastor |
