Have a blessed 4th of July weekend! Tomorrow we celebrate the birth of our country and the patrimony that has been handed on to us. As we give thanks for the gifts of our nation that have been handed on to us, let us also give thanks for the spiritual gifts that have been handed on to us. For two thousand years the Faith has been passed from generation to generation within the Church. We know about Jesus and His teaching and the new covenant He ratified in His blood because of those who have worked, and sometimes died, to hand it on to us today. We should cultivate a spirit of gratitude for all those who went before us and have gifted us with so much. And we should make sure that we hand on what we’ve received to those who come after us.

I’m back at St. Joseph’s! We finally finished our Provincial Chapter at Providence College and now I’ve returned home. I’m glad to be back and eager to see everyone.

Corpus Christi, shorthand for The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, celebrates Jesus’s ongoing gift of himself in his presence of the Eucharist. While we primarily mark the occasion with a Mass—the celebration of the Eucharist—today is connected with the worship of the Body of Christ outside of Mass. The continuing presence of Christ in the Eucharist will become even more significant for our parish when we begin hosting a perpetual adoration chapel.

Last week, Pentecost brought the Easter Season to fiery end, but we are not ready to go back to normal just yet. Today is Trinity Sunday. Historically, Trinity Sunday was the octave (or eighth) day of Pentecost. The feast remains even though Pentecost has been cut back to single day on the new calendar. 

I hope that everyone has a blessed Pentecost! As the Holy Spirit came down upon the Apostles gathered together in prayer, so He still does today. As those Apostles became new men—brave and faithful—so grace still transforms us today. Let us allow the Holy Spirit to transform us into saints; let us be filled with God’s own life and find the joy and peace God wants for us. The Holy Spirit will lead us on journeys we could never imagine, as with the Apostles, but He always leads us towards salvation and fulfillment, even amidst the crosses of life. Follow the Holy Spirit and all will be well.

I hope that everyone has a blessed Memorial Day weekend! We are also celebrating the time between Ascension Thursday (last Thursday) and Pentecost, when the apostles waited for the Holy Spirit to come down upon them. In many ways that wait is like our time now: we know Christ is in heaven and we await His return.

This Thursday is Ascension Thursday, when Christ ascends to His heavenly throne. After Christ's resurrection, he spends the time from Easter until Ascension Thursday with His apostles and disciples, and on Ascension Thursday He ascends to heaven. 9 days later the Holy Spirit descends upon the apostles at Pentecost and the apostles then start to spread the Gospel and build the Church. For details, read the Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament. 

We have a lot going on this week as our Religious Education program comes to its conclusion this year. This Tuesday evening Bishop Whalen, an auxiliary bishop for New York, will be here for our parish Confirmation Mass. He’ll be celebrating the sacrament of Confirmation for our parishioners who have been preparing for it in our Religious Education program. Next Sunday, at the 9am Mass, we’ll hold First Communion for our young parishioners who also have been preparing all year. Please keep them all in your prayers as they continue to grow in their faith and spiritual journey.

First, Fr. John Baptist Hoang OP, the chaplain at the NYU Catholic Center, has been reassigned and will be leaving in order to start as the chaplain at the University of Louisville. He’ll join the Dominican community at St. Louis Bertrand, where Fr. Pier Giorgio OP is vicar. His last Sunday at St. Joseph’s will be May 29th and we’ll hold a going away party for him after the 11:30 Mass that Sunday. 

This weekend is our annual Friars’ Appeal. This appeal raises money to support our Dominican student brothers. Student brothers are Dominicans in formation, which prepares them to minister within the Church. They are the brothers you meet every summer while they are on summer break from the Dominican House of Studies in DC, where they are educated.

Recently Arlene Palmer, an art historian, came to examine our fresco in the church. She is writing a book about the men who painted the fresco and she determined that the fresco is authentic and is the oldest extent true fresco in the United States. She wrote a letter to us providing information about the fresco, which I’ve included below. I’m excited to know that we have such a rare and important artwork in our church!

Happy Easter! Let us rejoice in Christ’s resurrection, His triumph over sin and death. His victory is our victory; His journey to life beyond death is ours too if we follow Him. Today we celebrate that no matter how hard our lives may be, how much we may suffer, how much the world and its evil may press upon us, our lives will have a joyful and blessed ending if we stay with Jesus. The cross is not a final dead end, but a path to eternal life. It is so because of what Jesus did today: He rose from the dead, the firstborn of the many who follow.

Holy Week is upon us! Today starts the holiest week of the year, when Our Lord won our salvation. Let us enter into this grace-filled time and encounter Christ anew. Let us meditate upon our salvation in Christ and join our hearts to His. The events we relive this week are the center of human history: the most important actions even taken in the universe, for Christ’s victory on the cross is our victory over sin and death.

Our parish mission starts this Monday. Fr. Thomas Blau OP will be preaching Monday through Thursday at 7pm and the theme is “Discovering God’s Mercy.” He’ll hear confessions after he preaches each night. I encourage everyone to attend: Fr. Thomas is a great preacher!

Easter is quickly coming! By now our Lenten penances tend to become either frustrating or forgotten! If Lent has not been as spiritually fruitful as you hoped, there is still time to take advantage of the graces of this season. Consider the many upcoming events at St. Joseph’s to help boost your spiritual life.