The Four “New Years” of Parish Life

There are certain kinds of conversations that I had more patience for when I was younger. I describe them as the “drunk philosopher” kind of conversation. The image I have in mind is standing at a bar with someone who has had way too much to drink. They begin to say nonsensical things as though they were the most profound utterances ever made by a human being. A good example might be when they say something like, “Well, who is to say that we are really here now talking with one another? Maybe this isn’t actually happening.” Usually, words like this are spoken with a self-satisfying nod and an attitude of intellectual superiority. At a certain age you realize that debating an inebriated person who questions whether we are even having a conversation is not really a fruitful use of time. In fact, the person has given you the best out possible. If this conversation isn’t actually happening, then it’s not rude for me to walk away from it! The “drunk philosopher” syndrome is not isolated to late-night barrooms. It happens even among the sober. It happens in an educational style that is deconstructive. It happens, for example, when a young person goes off to high school or college and some teacher basically says, “Well, you’ve been taught all of these things by your parents, but all of those things are wrong.” The problem with this is that rarely do those persons ever help the young person to make sense of life in any comprehensible way. Instead, they basically say, “Well, you really can’t know anything. You can’t know what is good and evil. You can’t even know if you are a boy or a girl. There is no cohesiveness to life. It is all just random, arbitrary, and ambiguous. Have a nice life. And please spend the next decade paying off the debt you incurred so that I could tell you that you can’t know anything.” This kind of glibness can also be present in a certain elitist form of theology. Some who consider themselves “on the cutting edge” fancy themselves as too clever to accept or believe what previous generations of Christians held and believed. They like to disrupt the placid faith of others and inject doubt. It is almost always presented with condescension. “I am one of the enlightened ones who really knows.” The pure faith of a believer is treated as quaint, but foolish and uneducated. When I was younger, such things really irritated me. I think it mostly irritated me because it always seemed to come from people who ought to know better. I think it also irritated me because the person usually looking down upon the pure Catholic faith of others often would sound like the drunk philosopher who thought himself to be a shining light of intellectual genius. As I get older, it does still annoy me to see someone attempt to undermine the placid faith of another (especially the young), but the fact is only the truth has grace. When we see someone who lives out of a pure faith, it is far more convincing than all of the pseudo-intellectualism of the deconstructionist. Just a couple of examples. Last week at one of our Masses, there were all of these infants! The presence of these young families is a far more powerful testimony to the truth of what the Catholic Church teaches and believes than any damage that can be inflicted by those who seek to sow doubt. When you see those families, your heart knows you are seeing something true. Similarly, at that same Mass, I watched one of our parishioners in her nineties make her way up the stairs to the church. I’m sure it wouldn’t even occur to her that her example confirms others in the faith, but it does. You look at her fidelity (and the fidelity of so many others) and you think, “That’s what I want to be because I know that is true!” The first reason we attend Mass on Sunday is to fulfill our obligation to offer God the worship to which He is due. This worship of God, however, adds nothing to His greatness. It does, however, benefit us in all sorts of ways. One thing it does for us is to strengthen our own Faith. Chances are, we spend most of our lives surrounded by “drunk philosophers.” Whether it is in our jobs, on our computers and phones, in the media, or in the culture around us, we are bombarded by unserious ideologies that relentlessly oppose the Truth. The Sunday Mass becomes a place where our confidence in the Truth and in the Faith are restored and strengthened. In the witness of those who surround us, in the beauty of their lives and in the purity of their example, our confidence in the Faith is restored. In the faces of those who surround us, our inner peace and faith are strengthened so that we can say with ever firmer hearts, “I believe.” Your Brother in Christ, Fr. David Barnes

This week, just some scattered thoughts: On Tuesday I attended the end-of-the-year celebrations for the preschool children at St. Patrick School. There was a lot of singing, dancing, and pure joy. As I write this, I am still smiling. I mentioned at one of the Masses last week that there are a lot of necessary repairs on our horizon. Last week a coil on one of our air conditioner units broke. The replacement cost of the coil is $11,000. At this point, we are trying to determine whether to fix the coil or replace the whole unit because the unit (like all of our units) is over twenty years old. We signed a contract last month to replace the system controls for the building. That is over $100,000. We are looking into repairing the front steps of the church. They look (and actually are) in terrible condition. It kills me to have to spend money on stairs that never get used, but there really isn’t an alternative. There are lots of other projects needed too. I just want to keep you in the loop. There is a group of women who every week get together here and knit prayer shawls and lap blankets. Besides being a wonderful group of women, their prayer and kindness is deeply appreciated by so many people who receive those shawls and blankets. For people who are experiencing illness, loneliness, or some other suffering, it is a great consolation to them to realize that their parish was thinking about them and praying for them. I know that this small gesture of kindness can be like a ray of light entering into what was dark, burdensome, and lonely. I just want to say “Thank You,” to these agents of mercy. St. Patrick Parish has had a long history of very generous donors. The generosity of the parishioners who came before us enables us to have the parish that we have. Many parishioners in the past have remembered St. Patrick Parish in their wills. Please consider remembering St. Patrick Parish in your will. But, you don’t have to wait until then to be generous!! We appreciate all of you who are so good to this parish. Thank You. Above I mentioned some nuts and bolts kind of things that we need to do to the physical plant. I also want to mention some pastoral plans. Recently I have begun discussions with an organization that trains and provides missionaries to work in parishes. The work of these lay missionaries is to form intentional disciples of the Lord and to send them out to win over new disciples. My instinct tells me that St. Patrick Parish is a ripe place for such an endeavor. For now, it is still in the “thought stage,” but please keep this intention in your prayers. We would only be able to move forward with it if we can afford it, but I think it has the possibility of adding something really unique and transformational to our parish and taking us to the next level. The other evening, I stopped into a small group bible study of a few high school men and Fr. Patrick. I cannot begin to tell you how amazing and refreshing it was to witness these young men growing in faith together, praying, and speaking from the heart. Please keep in your prayers this endeavor. Other small group bible studies for high school students will be beginning soon. Fr. Sijo’s retreat last Saturday was well-attended and, I know, helpful to many people. Blessed be God. This year we added a confession slot to our schedule on Mondays thru Fridays from 11:15-11:50am. At first, we would get one or two. I am happy to report that while rarely there are days with just two or three penitents, most days we hear a full thirty minutes of confessions. Some are parishioners and some are people who simply come here because we offer it. Many young people. It is so great! Recently someone left me a voicemail inviting me to lunch. I wrote the name and number down, but lost it! If it was you, call me back! Speaking of inviting me . . . One of the greatest joys of priesthood for me has been sitting at the dinner table of married couples and families. Just saying. I am grateful for all the Lord is doing among us. Your Brother in Christ, Fr. David Barnes

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

He is Risen! Liturgically, we find ourselves today at an “in between” time. On Thursday we celebrated the mystery of Our Lord’s Ascension. Now, the Church gathers in a period of intense prayer, begging for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (next Sunday). So much of life is spent in “in between” times. We mark time by the commemoration of big events. Memorial Day, for instance, tells us summer is here and Labor Day marks its end. The days in between, however, (except for July 4th) we do not tend to think much about. We all treasure memories from Thanksgivings and Christmases, but not so much the days in between. But, most of life is spent in between. Being in between can sometimes fill us with anxiety. Being in between jobs, in between two family members or friends in a dispute, in between a medical test and awaiting its result, in between choosing one thing over another, or being in between a rock and hard place all can cause fear and anxiety. Often when I pray, I think about what the “in between” times with Jesus and the apostles must have been like. The gospels preserve for us many of the things that Jesus said and did as he formed the apostles, but I like to think about what all the other hours and days with the Lord must have been like. They spoke along the way from one village to another with him, enjoyed meals together, asked questions, found things to laugh about, and shared life together. Liturgically, we not only celebrate particular mysteries of the Faith, but we also prepare for them. Even though the culture begins to celebrate Christmas the day after Halloween, the Church recognizes that we need time to prepare. Lent prepares us for Easter. The days after the Ascension prepare us for Pentecost. The days in between our baptism and our death are given to us to prepare us for eternal life. We tend to rush from one thing to the next, but it is good for us to savor the in between times. During vacations, I have visited many beautiful places in my life, but the places are not what I really hold dear. It is the time spent with the ones I traveled with that is most memorable for me. It was the meals, the car rides, and the conversations in between destinations that were the real treasures. The in between times are not superfluous to our lives. In fact, they constitute the majority of life. In the spiritual life, the Incarnation, Passion, and Resurrection of the Lord shape us. They are not merely one-off celebrations each year. They are meant to shape and transform every other moment in our life. Their memory and their graces are intended gradually to permeate our entire life. In these days between the Ascension and Pentecost, the apostles gathered with Mary in the Upper Room in anticipation of what was coming. They stayed with one another and prayed. In doing so, they teach us how we should live the “in between” moments of our own lives. In the company of fellow disciples, with the Blessed Virgin Mary, in the memory of all the great things the Lord has done for us, and with confidence in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, we fully anticipate that the favors of the Lord are not exhausted. We await a new heaven and a new earth. He who has done great things for us will renew the face of the earth. Your Brother in Christ, Fr. David Barnes

He is Risen! When I was an altar boy, an elderly gentleman who was the church sacristan gave me a little paperback book of devotions. That book became for me a real source of spiritual growth. Among the many devotions contained in that little book were various prayers to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. As we approach June, the Month of the Sacred Heart, I wanted to take a moment to encourage you to cultivate, if you do not already, devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. There was a time when every Catholic home had an image of the Sacred Heart displayed. The image comes from an apparition of our Lord to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, a French nun in the 1600’s. The image represents the human heart of Jesus, broken, but filled with love for us. His heart is aflame with burning charity for us. Although the image comes from the apparition in the 1600’s, devotion to the Heart of Jesus is an ancient devotion. The Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is always celebrated on the Friday following the Solemnity of Corpus Christi. This year, that will be Friday, June 27th. There are many prayers, litanies, and devotions that are associated with the Sacred Heart of Jesus. One popular devotion is the First Friday Devotion. Jesus revealed to St. Margaret Mary that he wishes souls to be consecrated and devoted to His Sacred Heart. One way of doing that is on the First Friday of nine consecutive months to 1. Go to Confession; 2. Attend Holy Mass; 3. Receive Holy Communion. For those who keep the First Friday devotion, the Lord made several promises: I will give them all of the graces necessary for their state of life. I will establish peace in their homes. I will comfort them in all their afflictions. I will be their strength during life and above all during death. I will bestow a large blessing upon all their undertakings. Sinners shall find in My Heart the source and the infinite ocean of mercy. Tepid souls shall grow fervent. Fervent souls shall quickly mount to high perfection. I will bless every place where a picture of my heart shall be set up and honored. I will give to priests the gift of touching the most hardened hearts. Those who shall promote this devotion shall have their names written in My Heart, never to be blotted out. I promise you in the excessive mercy of My Heart that My all-powerful love will grant all to those who receive Communion on the First Friday in nine consecutive months the grace of final penitence; they shall not die in My disgrace nor without receiving their sacraments; My Divine Heart shall be their safe refuge in this last moment. I remember reading those promises as a young boy and thinking, “Wow! I want that for me!” As we begin the Month of June, I encourage you to consider cultivating a devotion to the Sacred Heart. I encourage you to go to Mass on June 27th (put it in your calendar!). I encourage you also to put into your calendar a reminder to fulfill the First Friday devotions. Read those promises above again! Don’t you want that for yourself?! O Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in thee! Your Brother in Christ, Fr. David Barnes