I want to take this opportunity to wish all Mothers, Grandmothers, Great Grandmothers, God Mothers, and all those who act as mothers by the way they love and cherish us a blessed and wonderful Mother’s Day.
In today’s Gospel Jesus tells us that He gives peace not as the world gives peace. I believe that what he means by that is that He gives peace not by virtue of a contract or a treaty but unconditionally as God does. A contract or treaty is binding only by performance and lasts only as long as both parties abide by the terms of the treaty. God’s way of peace is covenant based like the love of God. A covenant is permanent and cannot be broken by the violation of one of the parties. God offers His love and peace to us no matter how we respond and He remains faithful to us even in spite of our sinfulness and our turning away from Him. Is there a better way to describe the love of a Mother than to compare it to the unconditional love of God? Motherly love is there for us no matter what we do or how we act in return. It is a gift that we sometimes don’t deserve and at times probably wish wasn’t as strong as it is but it is always there. “Can a mother forget her baby? “says Isaiah the prophet. Certainly all mothers do not exhibit this kind of love but I believe that when we do receive this unconditional acceptance and love from someone we are receiving a special gift from God and often that gift is provided by a mother. Certainly we all receive that special love from the Blessed Mother who was given to all of us by Her Son on the cross.
Moms, have a wonderful day today. You deserve it not just today, but every day.
May is the month of priesthood ordination anniversaries. Last weekend Fr. Tom celebrated 54 years of service to the church and Father Mannion celebrated 47 years of faithful priesthood. Today the Good Monsignor celebrates 37 years and tomorrow I will have been a priest for 38 years. This has been the year of the priest and speaking for all of us I want to thank all of you for supporting our ministries and making the lives we have chosen rewarding and special. It is people like the wonderful people of Our Lady of Hope that make being a priest such a good life. One of the ways that you make it so good is by exercising the priesthood of the laity to which you were called by your own Baptism. A priest at this parish never feels alone because you, the people, are right there sharing in the ministry. Keep all of us in your prayers and we will certainly remember you.
I have been recently informed that Mary Puente has just had an anniversary. She has been serving Our Lady Of Hope for ten years at the front desk. Mary is the first line for most people calling or visiting our parish and her demeanor is one of the big reasons that we are known as a welcoming parish. I am constantly being told how nice Mary is and you know what, it is true. She is also a faithful and talented administrative assistant to me and our whole staff. As a staff we want to thank Mary and hope that she is a part of us for many more years.
Did you order your tickets to the Flyers game yet? The game is June 29th but the ticket orders are due in May 16th. Why not support our youth group project and at the same time have a great time with your fellow parishioners. All for only $10.
Once again Happy Mother’s Day. Have a Great Week. Aren’t the new accessible doors great? Special thanks to those who made this improvement to our facility possible. Know that you are loved and live that love. Go Blackhawks because I don’t know where the Cubs and Sox are going.
Fr. Clem