Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, 

In September 2015, Jesuit artist Fr. Marko Rupnik completed the mosaics in the chapel at the John Paul II Shrine in Washington DC. They are a stunning overview of salvation history.

One wall depicts the fall into sin and the early revelations of God in the Old Testament. The other wall portrays the events of the New Testament, such as the Annunciation and the Birth of Jesus. The focal point is the sanctuary. Behind the altar, there is a striking mosaic of Christ with outstretched arms in the form of a cross. He has a visible wound in His side.  The wound has a very particular shape. It looks like a flame and you’re left wondering what it means.

Then you look up. Above the altar, there’s an identical mark on the ceiling. It matches the wound in Christ’s side.  It represents the power of the Holy Spirit poured out on the altar, to transform the bread and the wine into the Body and Blood of Christ. It also represents the mercy of God, which the Holy Spirit pours out upon each of our lives.

The message is clear and powerful. Mercy flows from the wounds of Jesus. 

In His Mercy,
Fr. Eric Clark, Pastor

PS – Please join us Divine Mercy Sunday at 2:30pm for a Eucharistic adoration hour with keynote homilist Father Bedient. 

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, 

Winston Churchill, England's Prime Minister during the crisis of World War II, who many say singlehandedly saved his country from succumbing to Nazi Totalitarianism, died after spending nine days in a coma. Before falling into the coma, his last words were, "I'm bored with it all."

Dying words can be very instructive. How is it people, who have seemingly achieved so much, value it so little from hindsight? Because we were made for more than this world has to offer.

Jesus came to save us from a life of meaninglessness and frustration. It is in knowing, loving, and following Him that our lives take on the true, lasting excitement that we long for.  I encourage you to meditate upon His dying words and their Old Testament fulfillment this Good Friday. 

7 Last Words of Jesus 

1. “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mt. 27:46; Mark 15:34)
   • Psalm 22
     
     
2. “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)
   • Exodus 32:32
     
     
3. “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:43)
   • Genesis 2:15; Ezekiel 36:35
     
     
4. “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” (Luke 23:46)
   • Psalm 31:6
     
     
5. “Women, behold, your son…..Behold, your mother.” (Jn. 19:30)
   • 2 Kings 4:8-44
     
     
6. “I thirst.” (John 19:28)
   • Psalm 42:3; Psalm 69:22
     
     
7. “It is finished.” (John 19:30)
   • Zechariah 4:4

In His Mercy,
Fr. Eric Clark, Pastor

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, 

The composer Ludwig van Beethoven did his first recital at seven years old. At twenty-six, he started having hearing problems.  It is believed when he performed his Ninth Symphony he was completely deaf.  Ludwig van Beethoven played pianos with such drive that he broke them and he is often depicted with a stern face to reflect the intensity with which he performed.

He once said, “To play without passion is inexcusable.” 

With Palm Sunday, we begin Holy Week by remembering the Lord’s Passion. The word “Passion,” like the word “love,” is a used and abused term in our day. When we speak of Passion, in the case of what Our Lord underwent, there’s room for multiple understandings of passion. He shows us passion in all the facets that we should live it.

Passion means suffering. Our Lord put up no struggle and went as a lamb to the slaughter. (Isaiah 53:7) Our Lord suffered greatly for us.

Secondly, St. Paul reminds (Philippians 2:6-11) us that a passion for others is what drove Our Lord to empty himself by assuming human nature and undergoing the Passion. It was not a passion for honors; He already had them.  It was not a passion for gain, as God, He already had everything and needed nothing. It was not a passion to excel; He was the Son of God in eternity before he was born of Mary. It was a passion for His Father and us.

Most importantly, Passion means love. People are encouraged today to be passionate about what they do and to change what they’re doing if they’re not. We’re expected to love what we do and we consider people blessed who love what they do.   However, the mystery of Christ’s Passion shows us that it is not so much loving what we’re doing as loving those for whom we’re doing it.  You may not love the cross, but you take up your cross daily for those you love. 

Jesus loves us through the Cross and undergoes the Passion to teach us what passion truly is.  In imitation of Christ in these days, contemplate not what you love or don’t love, but whom you love through what you do.  As we follow Our Lord, step by step, blow by blow, to Calvary, ask him to show you for whom He is suffering: you.

To be a Christian without passion is inexcusable. 

In His Mercy,
Fr. Eric Clark, Pastor

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, 

If you ever make it to Tewin, England, you should check out the graveyard around St. Peter Church. There is a unique gravestone with a massive tree growing out of it.  The 200-year-old gravestone belongs to Lady Anne Grimston. 

She was a wealthy atheist who mocked Christianity, specifically the resurrection.  She once told her friends, “I shall not continue to live. It is as unlikely that I shall continue to live as that a tree will grow out of my body.” She went so far as to challenge Heaven, saying, “If indeed, there is life hereafter, trees will render asunder my tomb.”

Heaven accepted the challenge.  For today, growing right from the heart of Lady Anne Grimston’s grave in St. Peter’s churchyard in Hertfordshire County is one of the largest trees in England, with four trees growing from one root. The marble masonry of the tomb has shattered to pieces, and today Lady Anne Grimston’s grave is a heap of broken stone.

Today is April Fool’s Day.  Also known as National Atheist Day because the joke is on them since “The fool says there is no God.” (Psalm 14:1)  Sadly, Lady Anne Grimston was a fool.  The fool denies the fact that Jesus Christ is the resurrection and the life. 

Brothers and sisters, if we believe in Him, even though we die, we will live! (John 11:25)  It is our hope that one day Jesus will open our graves and have us rise with Him.  But today, we live out the Christian resurrection as we leave behind us the death of our own sins. By doing this, we let the seed of faith germinate in our souls and allow the tree of life, Jesus Christ, to break the gravestones that cover our hearts.
 
In His Mercy, 
Fr. Eric Clark, Pastor

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, 

I was recently reading a heroic story of a poor young teenage girl.  Her family had great aspirations for her and she was well loved and respected in her little farming community.  Her beauty was beyond compare and she won the heart of a chivalrous man who proposed to marry her.  

Her world was changed one day when she found out she was pregnant and the child was not from her fiancé.  What would he say? Would he leave her?

This child was unplanned and unexpected.  She did not have the means to take care of the baby growing in her womb.  She would need support from her family, but how would they react? How was she going to face the gossip and rumors that would run wild amongst her neighbors? 

She had to make a choice, yes or no to this child.  She said YES!  Her ‘yes’ would change the course of humanity, her ‘yes’ changed eternity. 

Today is the feast day of the Annunciation.  This is the day on which we celebrate the ‘yes’ of Mary to the Archangel Gabriel to be the mother of God. 

Today, I pray for all women who have unexpected and unplanned pregnancies.  You are not alone.  Mary of Nazareth knows your pain, your concerns, your anxieties, and your fears.  Her ‘yes’ to life in her womb brought you Eternal Life.  Your ‘yes’ to life is a participation in her yes.  Find your strength and hope in her. 

The total acceptance of Mary is accompanied by a total donation: she accepts by offering herself and she offers herself by giving of herself.  Every vocation is a gift of total donation by offering and giving of self to another. 

The Annunciation is a perfect occasion to think about one's life and whether or not we always say 'yes' or often hide, with our heads down, like Adam and Eve, not exactly saying "no," but pretending not to know what God is asking. 

Mary said ‘yes’ for the human race.  Each one of us must echo that ‘yes’ for our own lives. 

In His Mercy,
Fr. Eric Clark, Pastor

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, 

A few weeks ago, a beautiful young family greeted me after Mass.  The little four-year-old boy piped up with enthusiasm. “I am a boy! She is a girl.” as he pointed to his little sister.  “Mommy is a girl and daddy is a boy, like me.” 

How easy it is to see the world through the innocent eyes of a young child!  Sadly, our current society has corrupted child-like faith and reason.  But now is a time for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit to put away the deceitful errors of our corrupt ways and be transformed by the renewal of our minds. (Galatians 5)

In today’s culture, we have acquiesced to the confusion of what it means to be male and female as God has created us and objective science can prove.  Recently, I was told by our junior high students that they have classmates who identify as ‘furries’.  If you do not know what furries are, neither does my Microsoft Word spellcheck. They are kids who identify as a cat, dog, or any other furry animal they want to identify as.  Maybe this dysphoria is a result of a culture that has abandoned gender, babies in the womb, and the humanization of pets. 

In the history of western civilization since the Resurrection of our Lord, there has always been a wrestling with truth.  When heresies were taught and truth became subjective, the Church would call its leaders together for an ecumenical council.  In the first millennium of the church, the main debate was ‘Who is God?’ For the next 1,000 years, the main question was, ‘What is the Church?’  Today, we have fallen into the error of questioning, ‘What is humanity?’  Maybe it is time for Vatican III to address this heresy. 

A few years ago, a renowned psychologist James Marcia published the results of a long and detailed study on the phenomenon of identity crisis. He discovered the real cause of identity confusion and anxiety has to do less with knowledge than with commitment. Most people know their basic roles in life, but they are afraid to commit to living them out. The saints knew they were children of God and committed themselves to living as Children of God.

In His Mercy, 
Fr. Eric Clark, Pastor

PS – Please join us for Stations of the Cross on Fridays at 2:30PM and 5:30PM.