Father Bill says...for Pentecost

For Pentecost Sunday


You are not going to believe this but I am preparing for another Fiftieth Anniversary – I got through my own – and that of my cousin, Father Tom McGrath (which was a sensational weekend – and I got to renew my friendship with my Irish relatives – all such great folks) – next weekend – we here in Ticonderoga will be celebrating the 50th Anniversary of our school, St. Mary’s School – with all sorts of activities, a dinner – a pig roast – and I am anxious to take part in a Saturday morning, Nun Run – I am not certain what this will be like – but I can’t wait to see.

This Sunday – we all celebrate the wonderful feast day of the Pentecost – the Scripture reading for this Sunday from the Acts of the Apostles describes that first Pentecost event – when the Holy Spirit came down upon the apostles – and the Church was born – they were filled with enthusiasm to overcome any fear and bring the message out to people. Acts describes the coming of the Spirit with the symbols of wind and fire – wind and fire that got the Apostles going and excited – we are told that they were hiding in the upper room – afraid to do anything – and then the Spirit came – and here we are two thousand years later – still alive in the Spirit – still living in our faith and confidence in Our Savior – alive in the Spirit.

To celebrate this – the liturgy calls for red – the color red – the priest wears red vestments – the Church is draped in red – and I noticed one parish (I should have thought of this for mine) – that everyone wear red to Church – so I encouraged you to celebrate the Pentecost and wear red to Church tomorrow.

Jesus ascends to Heaven – and we are told that as a gift of Jesus from the Father, the Spirit comes first of all to Jesus’ disciples so that they might proclaim the truth of salvation they have come to know through Jesus – the truth of the resurrection of Jesus to new life. So the Pentecost day – the apostles set out to build a new community – they spoke a new language – the language of love and co-operation. So – this is truly the birthday of the Church – the infant Church took its first steps – made up not of saints but of sinners – and we are called to continue this task of building our Church, ever stronger and more alive. May we continue to be one family under God in the life of the Holy Spirit. Through the working of the Spirit in the Church, the ministry and mission of Jesus continues to this day.

Pentecost is about excitement and enthusiasm – on this Pentecost Sunday – we pray that our Church may become stronger and more alive in the Spirit. I want to share with you a poem and prayer of the great Churchman – Cardinal Leo Suenens – the Belgian priest and Bishop – who was so important to the success of the Second Vatican Council – a wonderful saint

“The Surprises of the Holy Spirit”

I am a person of hope because I believe
that God is born a new each morning,
because I believe that God is creating
the world at this very moment.

God did not create it at a distant
and a long-forgotten moment in time,
it is happening now;

We must therefore be ready
to expect the unexpected from God.

The ways of Providence
are by nature surprising.
God is here, near us,
unforeseeable and loving.

I am a person of hope,
not for human reasons
not from any natural optimism,
but because I believe
the Holy Spirit is at work
in the Church and in the world,
even where the name remains unheard.

I am an optimist because I believe
The Holy Spirit is the spirit of creation.
Those who welcome the Spirit
will receive each day fresh liberty
and renew joy and trust.

The long history of the Church is filled
with the wonders of the Holy Spirit.
Think only of the prophets and saints who,
in times of darkness,
have discovered a spring of grace
and shed beams of light on our path.

I believe in the surprises of the Holy Spirit.
To hope is a duty – not a luxury.
To hope is not a dream,
but turns dreams into reality.

Happy are those who dream dreams
and are ready to pay the price
to make them come true.

What a wonderful message – thank you, Cardinal Suenens – may we be alive in the Spirit – may we dream dreams of a better world – a world of peace and love and harmony – may we be ready to do what we have to do to make these dreams come true – may we be ready to pay the price.

LET US PRAY

Almighty God, my Father – thank you, God, for sending the Holy Spirit – continue to bring that Spirit into my life – into my parish – into my world – give me the enthusiasm of the Holy Spirit – help me to bring the message of Jesus – the love of Jesus – the peace of Jesus into my life – and into my teaching and preaching. This is my prayer. Amen.

Please join me as we say together the Lord’s Prayer.

Please pray for my diocese, the Diocese of Ogdensburg, that we will soon receive our new Bishop – a good and holy Bishop.

Check out my parish website – http://www.smsh.org/

Father Bill says...for the Seventh Sunday of Easter

The first part of my week was spent at our Spring Priest’s Conference – that we call Emmaus – at Lake Placid – up in the Adirondack Mountains – a perfect place to spend a few days with the priests of my diocese. There is a special bond within a diocese – I must admit I know some much better than others – many of us went to the seminary together – but we are all united together as priests of a diocese – working in the same area with the same Bishop as our leader.

As I may have mentioned to you before – our present Bishop, Robert Cunningham, has been reassigned to the Diocese of Syracuse – so my diocese – the Diocese of Ogdensburg will be without a Bishop until another is chosen for us. I must admit this is a rather anxious time for us – who will the new Bishop be? What will he be like? Will he be easy to get along with? Will he be a good leader, an excellent Bishop, a holy man? – My diocese has been through this transitional period before – in fact, in the last fifteen years this will be the fourth Bishop – someone said to me recently it is like getting a coach for a professional football team – some teams do go through four coaches in fifteen years – however, in this situation all the players, all the priests are the same – the question for us is how much will we have to change – say a prayer for us – that God finds the perfect Bishop for us.

I am sending this letter out to you a little early – this weekend I am going to travel to Syracuse – and attend the anniversary celebration for my cousin, Father Tom McGrath – a priest of the Syracuse Diocese – this will also be his 50th Anniversary – we are only a couple of months apart in age – he is the pastor at St. Mary’s Church, in Skaneateles, New York (I hope I spelled that correctly) – so here we go again – another 50th anniversary. Seems like that is all I have been writing to you about – lately.

This is Memorial Day Weekend – in our prayers – we are invited to remember all of our deceased loved ones – and especially the men and women who have died in the armed services in the various wars that have marred our history as a country. I use these Memorial Day weekends as a time for prayer for peace. I cannot stop praying for peace – if I ever come to believe that peace is impossible – then I know it will be impossible. As we celebrate the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord – in faith, we remember that Jesus ascended to Heaven to prepare a place for us – and to give us the hope and confidence that we will one day follow Jesus to new life – a new life that begins now – a time of hope and confidence in the Savior who loves us so much – and so we should live as people of hope – that good things will happen – that one day there will be peace – when the people of this world will live in harmony – let us never give up – may our world give peace a chance.

This Sunday’s Scriptures include from John’s Gospel Jesus prayer for his disciples – for us. Jesus looks to the Father – and seeks protection for his disciples – that they may be guarded – and that none of them be lost – Jesus is praying for us – in this prayer, he realizes that living and teaching his message of love and peace – care and concern – his message that all are loved in the sight of God – that this message may bring hardship – that many will oppose his disciples – even hate them. So he prays for us – so that we will not lose confidence – that we will not lose hope – that we will never give up – and so his prayer is “Father, Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I send them into the world. And I consecrate myself for them, so that they also ma be consecrated in truth.”

In each and every Mass – in each and every Eucharist - we are truly consecrated by the Lord – made holy – so that we can take the love and peace of Our Savior into our world – we are transformed that we may transform our world.

LET US PRAY

Almighty God, our Father – again, today, I thank you – I offer my gratitude for my cousin, Father Tom, for is 50 years – and I again thank you for my 50 years as a priest – it has been a gift for me – you have watched over me and helped me and rescued me often – I continue to need you, Lord – help me to deal well with the surprises of life – with your surprises for me. I pray for all those who have made these years of priesthood possible for me – I pray for those whose pastor I will be that we may all be consecrated by the Lord – consecrated to the service of our God – consecrated that we may make this world a better place. This is my prayer. Amen.

Please join me as we pray together the Lord’s Prayer.

My parish website is http://www.smsh.org/

Father Bill says...for the Sixth Sunday of Easter

I was showing this picture to Jim – and he reminded me that this is May 16 – and that it is 11:00 A.M. – this is the exact time that I was walking into St. Mary’s Cathedral in Ogdensburg, New York – to be ordained a priest – 50 years ago – in a about thirty minutes – it will be the exact moment – 50 years removed – that Bishop Navagh imposed his hands on me – ordaining me a priest.

This coming week – the priests of the diocese will gather in Lake Placid for our annual Spring meeting – we call it Emmaus. It is always a great week – spending time with the whole priestly family of my diocese – time to share news and gossip – time to pray together – and time to celebrate our priesthood with each other. This week – we will have a farewell party for Bishop Cunningham – it is rather a disappointment – Bishop Cunningham has been with us only five years – and we were just getting to know each other – and this will begin our period of prayer that soon we will receive our new Bishop – and may he be a good and holy Bishop.

In addition – on Tuesday evening – the Mass with the Bishop will be a celebration of the jubilee of many of our priests – so I will have the opportunity of celebrating my 50 years again with my brother priests – we each have an opportunity to give a talk – this is often a rather interesting session – the memories shared are often memorable and sometimes amusing.

Took a break – to go off to the store – and discovered the St. Mary’s 6th graders – having a car wash – so I gave them business – and with the help of their teacher and parents – they did a good job – and missed me completely with the spray from the hose.

I chose the picture this week first of all because this is First Communion Sunday and also as the theme of this Sunday’s Scriptures is love – Jesus’ message of love for us as written in John’s first letter – and John’s gospel. These Scriptures are rather familiar ones – I have used the Gospel reading often at weddings – the question that is presented is How do we know we are a loving person – and – How should we act as a loving person.

The question I often ask of the children at Mass – and tomorrow at the First Communion Mass – will be – why are we doing this? – they will mention some very true things – what I want them to remember – and I will ask the question until I get the answer – “because God loves us” – St. John puts it this way in his epistle, “In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins.” It is a most basic idea that sets the tone of God’s love – God loved us first – we do not come to Church and Mass to get God to love us – but rather because God loves us. It is such an important idea – because it sets the tone of our spiritual life – God loves us – God cares about us – God loves us first.

Then St. John adds this – to show us the consequence of God’s love for us – “Let us love one another, because love is of God – everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God.” In the Gospel reading – Jesus says this, “This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this – to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Lay down one’s life – that is to live for another – we as followers of Jesus are called to dedicate our lives for others – each day we should find opportunities to dedicate our lives in love for others.

Jesus adds to this – “You are my friends if you do what I command you.” Jesus wants to be our friends – Jesus is ready to establish a relationship with us, a relationship of friendship. We just can’t allow ourselves to push God up on some throne – or to make Jesus a statue – or a stained glass window – Jesus wants to be our friend – Jesus wants to be real in our lives – when we pray we should be talking to our friend, Jesus – and Jesus promises us that he will always treat us as a friend.

One more thing – Jesus adds in this familiar and wonderful Gospel reading – “I was not you who chose me, but I who chose you.” Jesus chooses us in Baptism – and each day that we are open to the Lord – Jesus chooses us to be his disciples, his followers, his friends – that we may live in the same way and same Spirit as Jesus. As we approach Pentecost – we are again reminded that Jesus longs to send his Spirit, the Holy Spirit into our lives. The Holy Spirit will give us the support and strength and enthusiasm to live – live as Jesus lives – lives as our friend, Jesus, lived.

LET US PRAY

Almighty God, my father – I turn to you this day – I believe that you love me – that you have always loved me – that you love me first – help me to live in that Spirit – help me to realize just what it means to be a loved person. Watch over me this week, Lord, as I join together with my brother, Priests – that this may be a time of renewal for my priesthood – and for my diocese. And, Lord, please send us a new Bishop – soon. This is my prayer. Amen.

Please join me as we say together the Lord’s Prayer.

Have you seen our parish website at http://www.smsh.org/

Father Bill says...for the Fifth Sunday of Easter

For the Fifth Sunday of Easter

The picture above was from the celebration last Sunday – it was a truly a great day – several of my brother priests surround me at the altar – and Bishop Cunningham is in the foreground – my brother sent me an email this morning – and said, “I am still smiling about last weekend.” – I guess that is the best way to put it – I am also still smiling – it was a truly a celebration – I was ecstatic with the response of so many people – including many of you who are reading this –

I am so grateful to Bishop Cunningham for taking the time to come and be part of the Mass – as well as so many priests – the music group was truly sensational and added so much to the Mass – three of our parish choirs joined together to form one wonderful union – so many members of my family were here – I am so grateful for that – as well as so many friends from several places – I am truly grateful to them – and I thank so many for their good wishes, their cards, their gifts – as well as many of you who sent emails to me – I was asked yesterday if I had gotten over the celebration – the reality is, I haven’t – I still remember so many little things – conversations, presentations, talks given by my brother, my nephew, Paul, as well as several others – people from the parish and the local town supervisor – they were all very special – the picture above is of me with my great-nieces and nephews –

Enough for now – I suspect I have memories for many more years. The month of May is dedicated to the Blessed Mother Mary – and in her spirit, this weekend we have Mother’s Day. Each year I like to do something special for Mother’s Day – I tell the story often – of my deeper understanding of Mother’s Day when I was invited by Susan and Paul to be with them when their son, William, was born – it was a special moment for me – and continues to be a happy memory – it was also the time when I learned truly what a mother is – I remember only too well – that Susan, the mother, was completely in charge – of everything – including the doctor and nurses – I remember being allowed to be part of that time of closeness – as this mother and father – joined themselves ever closer in love – through the pain and the joy of childbirth – I remember being allowed to hold this new born child – who is now twelve years old (are you twelve, Will?) – I couldn’t lift him now if I wanted to – I remember being allowed to understand motherhood –

Finally – just a brief note concerning this Sunday’s Gospel – from John 15 – the parable of the Vine and the branches – Jesus uses this wonderful image – which continues to be a most excellent description of our relationship with Our Lord and Savior – Jesus speaks of himself as the vine – the main vine – the vine from which the branches grow out – the vine that gives life and sustenance to each of the branches – so in the same way – we are strong – we have life – we grow and live our faith because like a branch we are united to the vine that is Jesus – it is truly an excellent image – and an important reminder – we need Jesus – and when we are united with Jesus we will discover the wisdom, the faith, the love to live our faith – and to help bring Jesus to others – that they also may become branches – united to the vine that is Jesus –

LET US PRAY

Almighty God, my Father – this has been quite a week – each day, each moment, I remember the wonderful and joyful celebration of my anniversary – I am truly humbled, Lord – and I know it was your support and confidence that has made my priesthood so rewarding and successful – I just couldn’t believe all of those people coming to celebrate with me – the parishioners, my family, my friends – it was quite a day, Lord – please realize that I know only too well that without you this would not have happened – for me, I have no doubt of your existence, my God – each day I recognize your working through me – your constant support – thank you, Lord – stay with me and support me each of the days you give me. This is my prayer. Amen.

Please join me as we say together the Lord’s Prayer.

Father Bill says...for the Fourth Sunday of Easter

For the Fourth Sunday of Easter

This is the weekend that the folks here in the parish have decided to celebrate my anniversary – 50 years a priest – I am certainly grateful to them for their kindness and generosity – and I do want to thank so many of you for your emails and letters of congratulation – sounds corny – but true – I can’t believe it – fifty years. First off – here is a before and after picture:

The first question that usually comes my way – how did you do it – God is good, God is great – God kept me healthy and alive. So I thank the Lord.

I am looking forward to the anniversary Mass tomorrow afternoon – the family will be here as well as many friends from the past. Bishop Cunningham has planned to come – and my classmates from the seminary – who are also celebrating their 50th this year will be here – Father Phil Allen, Larry Deno, Joe Sestito – as well as my cousin – a priest of the Syracuse diocese, who is also celebrating his 50th – Father Tom McGrath.

I am looking forward to it all – and I will tell you how it all turns out – just so you can all get a peek at that – I hope that it gets through.

I was watching the President’s press conference this week – and one of the questions that was posed to him was this: What has surprised you most about being President? What has troubled you most? What has enchanted you most? What has humbled you most? I don’t really remembered what the President said – because I was thinking about how I would answer these questions about my years as a priest – and then I decided that this would be the outline of my talk at the anniversary Mass – I am still trying to figure my answers out – but let me share a few of my ideas with you – What has surprised me most - Most of my priesthood has been surprises – as I look back I am truly surprised with the wonderful opportunities I have had as a priest – God has been truly good to me – I have had just wonderful assignments – it was more than just accepting what was presented to me – that I accepted in obedience – it was truly surprises – I have been a priest, a pastor, a school teacher, a Newman chaplain, a missionary – and now I ride out my days in this lovely parish – surprises – I have meet such great and wonderful people and families – it is more than just being lucky – it is God’s great surprises.

What has troubled me? – the mistakes – the times I have failed to do all that I could for those who needed me – however, I must add that God has been always been there to bail me out – to help me out – to protect and support me. Thank you, God!

What has enchanted me? – well, I must change that word for a priest and my ministry – a little more theological – let me change it to What has been spiritually awesome to me? – for me, it has been the Eucharist – I have been allowed and challenged by the Church and my God – to celebrate the Mass – to bring the Blessed Eucharist to so many people – to be able to teach and preach to so many – with God’s help, this has been the happiest part of my ministry.

What has humbled me? – the people – I am constantly overwhelmed with the holiness of so many people – the wonderful individuals, the parents, the teachers, the children, the high school kids, the college kids – who truly have discovered how to live and love and make a difference – I have been taught by so many – so much of what I say at Mass – or teach in class – has been the result of the example of so many wonderful people – including so many of you – and you all have taught me how to bring God more completely into my life.

Finally – the Gospel for this Sunday’s Mass – the Good Shepherd Gospel – is so appropriate for an anniversary Mass – Jesus is the good shepherd – because he cares about his sheep, willing to die to defend them – and he knows his sheep and they know him – his love is unconditional – committing himself totally to the others’ well-being – but truly you cannot unconditionally love someone.

I have learned a great deal about this – recently, when I attended the funeral of my friend, Father Tim Soucy – as I entered the Church before the Mass – standing there was Father Tim’s best friend, and my friend, Father Mike Gaffney – he gave me a great big bear hug – and said to me “Bill, he loved you so much” – wow!! – I guess I had not thought of it that way – it was an enlightening moment for me! – a moment to recognize that this was a friend – a good priest – who had died – but over and above this – someone who cared about me – and the message was brought to me – he loved you – and I suddenly realized there are so many people that are part of my life – and close to me – and even though I have never met them – have become part of my world through this weekly letter – and so folks – “I love you – each and everyone of you – I love my family – I love the people of my parish – I love the people of this community and each community that I have had the privilege to be part of – I love my friends – I love my casual acquaintances – I love you all.”

LET US PRAY

So, thank you God – you have been good to me – you have given me a happy life – a happy priesthood – and the opportunity and challenge to touch others as a your priest – watch over all of them, Lord – those who have been such an important part of my life – my family and friends – those who have part of my parishes and communities – those who discover me through the interesting medium of the internet – so I trust you, Lord – and I am ready for all of the surprises that are yet to come. This is my prayer. Amen.