Pope Saint John Paul II in Yankee Stadium in New York in 1979, during his first visit as Pope to the United States said that this parable of the rich man and the Lazarus “must always be present in our memory; it must form our conscience.” “We cannot stand idly by, enjoying our own riches and freedom, if the Lazarus of the twentieth century stands at our doors.” Almost fifty years ago, Pope Saint Paul VI [canonized October 14, 2018, by Pope Francis] spoke of the campaign against hunger in these words: “It is a question of building a world where every person can live a full human life… where the poor man Lazarus can sit down at the same table with the rich man” (Populorum Progressio 47).
Christ is the true rich man who has made himself utterly poor for our sakes as He left the wealth of Heaven to enter our spiritual poverty on Earth. He comes to us not only in Holy Communion, though that is, by far, the greatest of His gifts to us, but He comes to us also in the poor. He is the poor man who sits at our doorsteps and on our streets. He hides the wounds of the Cross under those suffering from addiction and poverty. He suffers in all who are poor, needy or abandoned, from the child in the womb to the old person dying alone, from the poorest of the poor in Africa to those unjustly imprisoned, from the war refugees to the homeless on our streets. What we do or fail to do for them, we do or fail to do for Jesus.
My dear parishioners, this weekend we have a privilege to host the relic of the Holy Face of Jesus in our church. At each Mass the relic will be displayed in the front of the altar and after each Mass we will have a chance to venerate it. During the celebration, we will hear more about the history and purpose of why we encourage people to venerate that relic. I pray that this act of our devotion would console Jesus’ wounded heart and his wounded Holy Face and bring healing to the wounds and scars in our hearts!
As you already know, I am a Michaelite, a member of the Congregation of St. Michael the Archangel, religious order. On the feast of St. Michael on Sept. 29th, next Thursday, together with my provincial from Canada and Fr. Andrew from St. Clare of Montefalco Parish Grosse Pointe Park, we will celebrate 10 years as a religious order in the U.S. I would like to invite those of you who are able to join us. Day: Thursday Sept., 29th Time: 7 pm Location: St. Clare of Montefalco Parish, Grosse Pointe Park. St. Michael the Archangel pray for us.
Next Saturday, Oct. 1st @ 11 am in our Activities Center we will welcome our Family of Parishes members. We are going to have the first Family of Parishes gathering “Coming Together as Disciples”. That will be first official moment to know our Family members and to learn more what this new journey of faith for St. Genevieve – St. Maurice, St. Valentine, Our Lady of Loretto, and St. John XXIII is all about. I highly encourage you to participate in that meeting.
On a personal note I would like to ask all of you to pray for my brother Matthias. He is waiting for the final diagnosis for a serious acute health condition and subsequent treatment option. I Thank You Jesus ahead of time for bringing healing to my brother. Jesus I trust in You.
Fr. Tom