Overcome with Paschal Joy
Fr. David Barnes • June 4, 2025
Dear Friends in Christ,
He is Risen!
Fifty days ago we began our celebration of Easter, and today the Easter Season comes to its culmination on the Solemnity of Pentecost. The Preface of every Mass since Easter has included the phrase, “overcome with Paschal Joy.” The Risen Lord bestows on His People, now something transitory, fleeting, or shallow. The joy he gives is abiding, sustaining, and touches us at the very depths of our soul. To be a Christian is to be overcome with Paschal Joy.
Until next Easter, today is the last day the priest prays the words, “overcome with Paschal Joy” during the Preface. I will miss saying it. “We are”, however, as St. John Paul II once said, (drawing upon St. Augustine), “an Easter People and Alleluia is our song.” Although we celebrate Easter most intensely during this season, we are always an Easter People. In the midst of sorrows, sufferings, and tribulations, the Christian People are sustained by Easter Joy. We know that Christ has conquered sin and death. We know that the victory is already won.
The Holy Spirit, poured out upon the Church at Pentecost, constantly reminds us of Christ’s victory. He teaches us to remain sure-footed and stable in the Truth. He breathes Divine Life into us and binds us together as one. The Holy Spirit sustains us in Easter Joy throughout our life and makes us witnesses to the world of the good news that Jesus Christ is indeed risen from the dead. Allow me to share with you some times during this past week when–here at St. Patrick Parish in Stoneham–I was overcome with Paschal Joy.
Last Sunday at the Ten o’clock Mass, two children were baptized and one of them was confirmed and received First Holy Communion. After that Mass, our young couples and families group hosted coffee and doughnuts in the hall. It was so wonderful seeing so many people, young and old(er!) enjoying each other’s company. Catholics spending time with one another rather than rushing out of Mass to get on to the next thing is a sign of Christ’s Presence for me.
After that, I had the Noon Mass. Not sure why, but last week, the Noon Mass was packed. It is always so much better when a Sunday Mass is filled. As I offered that Mass, I was convinced of Christ’s Presence among us.
After that Mass, I went to the rectory and discovered that a toilet on the second floor overflowed down through our dining room ceiling. Yes, we live in an imperfect and fallen world! But, in the midst of that, I watched charity action. Fr. Patrick and Thien–our newly arrived seminarian–jumped into action and saved the day. Even in the midst of such unpleasantness, Christ’s Presence was evident in their charity.
On Monday evening, we had a Mass and a dinner for many of our parishioners who serve in various capacities in the parish. One minute before Mass began, one of our staff said to me, “Make the Mass as long as you can because the caterer lost our order and there is no food!” Forty-five minutes later, as Mass was ending, our staff was racing into the kitchen with trays of food. They had gone to BJ’S, Anthony’s in Reading, Bacci’s, Gaetano’s, Farmland in Wakefield, and Angelo’s here in Stoneham to get whatever they could. They frantically worked to serve a full meal that they had assembled in forty-five minutes. It was unbelievable! Since I arrived here two years ago, I have been continuously struck by the charity, generosity, and organization of our parish staff. When that epic event was over, Fr. Patrick said to me, “Well, not many parishes could have pulled that off.” The staff here is a sign of Christ’s abiding Presence.
(As an aside, I want to thank Anthony’s in Reading, Gaetano’s, Farm Land Bakery, Bacci’s, and Angelo’s for coming to our aid in our hour of desperation! We are so grateful to them!)
On Tuesday we had a Eucharistic Procession. It was beautiful! All of the children from our school followed behind the Blessed Sacrament as we processed around outside the church, singing hymns praising the Blessed Sacrament. That is an image of what the Church is. We are a pilgrim people, following Christ through this world until we arrive in heaven. It was such a great day! The Eucharist is the abiding Presence of Christ.
As I write this, Fr. Sijo is preparing his healing retreat for June 7th. The Christ who healed in the Gospels continues to heal today. He continues to dwell among us.
While we will now leave the words “overcome with Paschal Joy” behind until next Easter, the Holy Spirit keeps that Paschal Joy still in our hearts. Thank you to all of you for helping me to be overcome with Paschal Joy.
Your Brother in Christ,
Fr. David Barnes
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Pastor's Notes
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He is Risen! Last week Pope Leo XIV stepped out onto the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica and greeted his flock and the whole world. It was touching to see him so moved by the experience. At the very beginning of his pontificate, Pope Leo has emphasized the centrality of the proclamation of Jesus Christ. He invites all of us to direct our attention and our whole lives to Christ. Quite happily, I have to admit, things are quieting down a bit in the parish as we have Lent, First Communions, Confirmations, Religious Education, and the school year mostly behind us. With the gradual slowing down (I hope) of a lot of events, summer months provide for a little space to think about our parish life and to mull over what might be fruitful for the year ahead. It always feels like we do not have enough calendar space, physical space, or mental space to attend to all the things that we would like to do in the parish. Although our building looks big, we are always struggling to find “good spaces” to have events. Our administrative staff have a tough job trying to keep some sense of planning and order. I have to admit, every time I walk out my front door, I agonize that the parish sold the land on Pomeworth Street! All that space!!! One of the projects that we hope to begin working on is the Youth Ministry Room on the basement level of the church building. As we look to begin a youth ministry program in the coming weeks, our hope is to provide some warm, welcoming, and less “institutional” looking spaces. This room isn’t exclusively for the youth, so the hope is that it will also provide a place for other groups to use. (Speaking of “warm,” we recently signed a contract to purchase for our whole building a new systems control. The system we currently have is over 20 years old and no longer works. That means that the heat and/or air conditioning are all over the place. Some rooms are freezing while others are stiflingly hot. In the next few months, we hope to have that resolved.) This all brings me back to what I began with. Pope Leo XIV began his pontificate directing our gaze to Christ, and he reminded us that God’s love is for everyone. During these weeks of relative quiet, I want to think about how we as a parish can focus more upon Christ and how we can help everyone to know that God’s love is for them. Because we are such a large parish, it sometimes can feel like we are going from one thing to the next, but not with a lot of intentionality. We are scrambling to see to it that everything gets done, but that sometimes doesn’t leave a lot of time to take a bird’s eye view and wonder, “Are all of these things contributing to the true mission of the parish? How well and effectively are each of these activities helping people to encounter Christ and to grow in the love of God? Who are we forgetting? Do we have opportunities for everyone–whatever stage they might be in their life of Faith–to be welcomed and to grow?” It can’t be just a matter of having more events in our limited times and spaces. It has to be a more intentional and focused use of our time, space, and energies. In any event, these are the things that I am thinking about. I am very grateful for the many people in this parish who keep the whole thing going, and also for all of those who have a heart for evangelization and are inviting and welcoming others and who are committed to providing opportunities to help others encounter Christ and to know the love of God. Our work as a parish belongs to each one of us. Lastly, over the summer, we will be welcoming two seminarians, Thien Ngo and John Manning. Thien will arrive in June and John will arrive in July. Elsewhere in the bulletin, there is a brief introduction to Thien. We are very happy to welcome them. I do not know if there are any other rectories in the Archdiocese that will have five people living in them with an average age of 36! (I used to be the guy who kept the average age in a rectory down. I don’t know how the tables flipped on that one.) Thanks again everyone for all that you do to make this parish great. Your Brother in Christ, Fr. David Barnes
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He is Risen! He is Risen, Indeed! On Tuesday of Holy Week, all of the priests of the Archdiocese of Boston gathered with Archbishop Henning for the Chrism Mass, and we renewed the promises made on the day of our ordination. Seated to my right was a priest ordained only three years ago. Directly in front of me was a priest in a wheelchair who was ordained over fifty years ago. All of us share in the gift of the one priesthood of Jesus Christ. Also, at that Mass the Archbishop consecrated the sacred oils that will be used throughout the Archdiocese until the next Chrism Mass. Thus, all of the baptisms, confirmations, priestly ordinations, and anointings of the sick in every parish throughout the Archdiocese will be linked to the ministry of our Archbishop. On Holy Thursday five brother priests joined Fr. Sijo and Fr. Patrick and me for an early dinner at our rectory. Holy Thursday is a day of great significance to all Catholics, but it holds special meaning to priests because it is the day on which Christ instituted the priesthood. It is the day that our vocation was born. It was wonderful to have a nice mid-day meal together and to build up our priestly fraternity. The Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday this year was one of those liturgical moments in life when I felt as though I had been taken up out of the 02180 zip code and transported to the Upper Room. It was, for me, one of those moments when you realize that you have been given a pure gift. When we enter into the Liturgy with faith, obedience, liturgical humility and docility, attentiveness, and with charity, we become better receptive to what the Lord wants to do. We do our small part and then God does something beyond our natural capacities. Being in the Upper Room with all of you on Holy Thursday was an amazing gift to me. On Good Friday, Fr. Patrick, Fr. Sijo, and I were scheduled to hear confessions for two hours. We went non-stop for three hours. Similarly, on Holy Saturday the confession times had to be extended because of how many of you were there. In the confessional, we stand beneath the Cross of Christ and His Mercy pours out upon the sinners He came to save. What an amazing thing it is to spend hours listening to people humbly acknowledging their sins, sometimes after carrying heavy, crushing burdens for decades upon decades. What a gift it is for a priest when he is able to help those persons experience Divine Mercy. The Devil wants to imprison people in shame, guilt, and in the past. Jesus comes to set captives free. Hearing long hours of heavy confessions is completely exhausting and completely life-giving and amazing. Thank you all for coming. Congratulations to all of those who were weighed down and are now free! Blessed Be God! We had, I think, a beautiful Lent and Sacred Triduum together. I am grateful to all of those who made that possible, particularly our ushers, musicians, and all who served at the altar. I thank our clergy–deacons and priests–and the whole parish staff for their outstanding work. In particular, I thank Deacon Frank who was on top of every last detail (of which there are many)! This year, throughout the Triduum and on Easter Sunday, I felt that people were hungering for and receptive to the Word of God. There was an openness and a desire to be drawn more deeply into the mysteries of Christ. As I finish this letter, we have now received word that the Holy Father, Pope Francis has died. Easter Day is celebrated as an Octave. It is kind of like there is so much joy over Easter, that it can’t be squeezed into a twenty-four hour period, so the Church celebrates Easter Day for eight days. Pope Francis died within that Octave. May he share now in the everlasting joy that Christ’s resurrection brings. I think a good telltale of whether Lent and the Sacred Triduum went well is by how exhausted you are at the end of it. I can’t speak for the rest of the clergy and staff, but I know I am exhausted! Happily exhausted, but exhausted! I am grateful for living these mysteries with you. Your Brother in Christ, Fr. David Barnes
