Anniversaries are special occasions. And what a weekend this is! For we celebrate not just one, but three anniversaries of priestly ordination: for Fr. Adelchi Bertoli, on July 8, 1951, at the Duomo SS. Ermacora e Fortunato di Udine; for Fr. Gerald Westphal, right here at St. Monica’s, on September 17, 1976; and finally for myself, Fr. Raymond Lafontaine, at Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral, on August 30, 1991. Combined, that makes a total of 130 years of service in the priesthood of Jesus Christ – 63 spent right here at St. Monica’s!
This year, the theme for our adult faith program is “Transformed by the Holy Spirit.” What a beautiful account of transformation we find in today’s Gospel! In the timeless story of the Parable of the Prodigal Son, we meet a Father who waits, unconditionally loving, arms outstretched, for the return of two sons who have drifted away from him: one physically, the other spiritually.
St. Teresa of Calcutta: Carrier of God’s Tender and Merciful Love
September 3, 2016
The canonization of Mother Teresa invites us to look to her as a Christian hero, an outstanding model of the Christian life. Pope Francis has chosen to have Mother Teresa’s canonization during this Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, particularly during the Jubilee celebration for workers and volunteers of mercy. The whole pontificate of Pope Francis is marked by attention and love for the last, the least and the lost, for the marginalized, for those at the peripheries of human existence – the poorest of the poor.
As we resume “ordinary” time and our sequential reading of the Gospel of Luke, we are presented with a scene of great power and tenderness. A “sinful woman” enters a stranger’s house, anoints Jesus’ feet with perfume, washes them with her tears, dries them with her hair, and experiences Jesus’ forgiveness and compassion. We do not know this woman’s name, or what her “sin” was; nor does it matter ultimately. She is healed, set free, restored to her dignity. Yet it is the Pharisee, the host in whose home this scene is happening, who is in need of conversion.
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