Beloved Sisters and Brothers in Christ:
Revelation Scripture 21:5 tells us that the One who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” This is what the apostles and disciples experience after the Resurrection of Jesus. They experience a transfigured heart through the resurrected Christ.
They express uncertainty about what God wants for His people and their role to fulfill that divine desire. They are persecuted and faithfully followed for their teaching about Jesus. Their emotions run the gamut from great joy to anxiety to fear.
They do not fail God. They continue to gather strength from the Holy Spirit and in their own humanity, try to understand what it all means. In that way, we are very much like them.
Our experiences of living our faith may be different, but our understanding is also evolving, and our heart is always in the process of transfiguration to become the face of Jesus to one another.
The commandment to love God and neighbor is not a new concept for the Hebrew people. It has endured since the time of Moses (Lev 19).
Jesus expounds the commandment. Yes, we are to love God and as God loves each one, so we are to love one another. He tells us that the people will know God by the way we love one another. We do not live for self-preservation, but to bind heaven to earth by our daily living. This will bring forth the hope that comes from knowing and sharing in the glory of the risen Jesus.
Certainly, as we celebrated the beautiful gift of our mothers and all the women who brought us to know our faith, we have been given this divine love. Their models were the women of the Old and New Testaments, Sarah, Esther, Miriam, Hannah, Mary of Magdala, Mary, Martha, our Blessed Mother, and the saints, and so many more — those of the heavens and the earth. Their love for us was God’s love brought to perfection through their daily living. Their struggles and joys, their hope that all would be well through, with and in God.
While our youngest may have received the Sacrament of First Communion, many of our young people also chose to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation this month. We rejoice that they continue to grow in God’s love and follow the new Commandment. Transitional Deacon William Burns said of his Confirmation, “For me Confirmation was profound. When I was confirmed, it just lit a fire in me, and I wanted to be more involved in the Church. And I very quickly became an altar server and a coordinator of altar servers, and a lector and then as soon as I was old enough – an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion.”
We also thank our graduates during May. We pray for them as they continue to higher studies – to elementary, middle, high school, or college. What is our prayer? Our prayer is that they are loved, and they love as God loves them. This prayer is our hope for all the people whom we encounter, no matter the age.
On May 24, two transitional deacons — William Burns and John Triolo — will receive the Sacrament of Holy Orders and as priests will serve the people of the Diocese of Orlando. The Sacrament of Holy Orders is the Sacrament of apostolic ministry through which the mission entrusted by Christ to His apostles continues to be exercised in the Church until the end of time. Only Christ is the true priest, the others being only His ministers (CCC 1545). The exercise of this authority must therefore be measured against the model of Christ, who by love made himself the least and the servant of all. “The Lord said clearly that concern for His flock was proof of love for Him” (CCC 1551). Let us ask God to bless Deacons William Burns and John Triolo. We pray they will adjoin the priesthood of Christ, that the people receive the treasure of God’s love all their days.