Faith and Forgiveness
swimming against the stream
Announcements for October 1, 2022:
If you need anything at all, please be in touch with me.
At 1:00pm this Sunday, we will have a Blessing of Animals in front of the church in honor of Saint Francis’ feast day. All creatures great and small are welcome!
Our Women’s Group will meet on Tuesday, October 4th at the AMC Theater at 7:00pm to watch the new film, No Greater Love, a movie about the life of Mother Theresa of Calcutta. Please purchase your ticket in advance.
Our Young Adult Group will meet twice this week. On Friday evening, the group will meet at 7:00pm in the church for Eucharistic Adoration, with fellowship to follow in the school courtyard at 8:00pm. On Saturday (October 8th), young adults and their families are invited to join the group for apple picking. Please be in touch for more information.
Save the date! The 2022 Annual Gala Cocktail Reception will be held at the Birchwood Manor in Whippany on November 19th. Visit www.olmc.academy to buy tickets, become a sponsor, or purchase an ad.
Visit the OLMC Parishioner Portal for all of our recent announcements.
Dear Saints,
In our Gospel passage this weekend we see the Apostles begging Jesus to increase their faith. Why, we might ask, are they making this request? Because Jesus has just told them to do the hardest thing that love can do: Forgive!
If you don't think forgiving others is all that hard - or even if you do - then check out this story:
Brandt Jean forgives his brother's killer.
Shocking? Unbelievable? Unreal? Impossible? Yes. The triumph of forgiving love is all of these things.
The world in which we live, marred by the corrupting power of sin and death, is shaped by pride and retribution. But now, by Jesus' death and resurrection, God has made possible a new way to live - the way of love and reconciliation, the way of mercy, healing, and hope - and so begun the renewal of his entire world.
Remember my quote from CS Lewis last week? That, "Jesus didn’t come to make bad people good. He came to make dead people live." Put that together with this gem from GK Chesterton: "A dead thing can go with the stream, but only a living thing can go against it."
Made alive by God's mercy, we swim against the stream. Love has triumphed over sin and death, and there is nothing it cannot now do. Trusting and following Jesus, we can do what is otherwise impossible: Forgive!
For whom will we embody the merciful love of God this week?
I love you, my friends. Please know of my prayers for you and yours.
Christ's Peace,
Father Daniel
δοῦλος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ
Preparing for Mass?
Check out this weekend's readings:
Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
Christ Washing the Apostles Feet
Dirck van Baburen, ca.1616