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From Our Pastors:
Dear Friends,
For a time when I was growing up, my family lived on a red brick street that was situated between railroad tracks running through town and a major road that was the way to downtown Cleveland. Yes, Cleveland where the river was so full of chemicals it caught fire when I was in the sixth grade! Maybe four times a day, a train came rumbling through down those tracks. Some days it was slow, and you could hear the high pitch grinding of the metal wheels on the rails. It was like slow torture. Other days the train whizzed through, and in the dark of night as I lay in bed, I could feel the vibration of the train cars as they clacked over and over at the rail connections, a rhythmic rocking that was both brief and powerful. Days seem a bit like that experience now. Some whiz by, others seem like a slow train to nowhere. For some, these days may feel like a train wreck of worry, frustration and doubt. I have had those days. What we anticipated, indeed counted on from our pre-covid-19 world, is elusive at best and usually impossible to have or experience right now. Not knowing when things will really begin to change amplifies our angst.
As Jesus lived and engaged with his disciples in the post-Resurrection period, he knew that changes and difficulties would tempt them to fall away - from him, from each other, from hope in the face of struggle. So, Jesus promised them another Advocate, the Spirit of truth to help make the way - to console, to guide, to bring joy. The Spirit manifests as the binding, transformative force that overcomes fear, doubt and confusion.
Separate, yet together, the Persons of the Trinity carry us onward, even when we don’t see it. As Oratorians, we are preparing for the feast pf St. Philip on May 26 and Pentecost on May 31. I invite you to join me in these days to ready ourselves for a new encounter with this Spirit. Perhaps like me you need an Advocate, especially in these days. So now, as with the early disciples, the Spirit does not change the reality of the world so much as the disposition of minds and hearts. Might we make our prayer an invitation to the Spirit to transform us - families, parishes, church and world? It’s a risk but I think it’s the one worth taking in these pilgrim days, even as we are, like the Trinity, separate, yet together.
Fr. Mark Lane, C.O. & Fr. Michael Callaghan. C.O.
Daily novena to St. Philip Neri on Youtube through May 25
May 26th is an important date for Oratorians as on it we mark the feast of St. Philip Neri, our Founder and Patron Saint of Joy. Please Tune into YouTube, 8:00am to pray together and see and hear the novena and the beautiful presentation prepared for our community. Thanks to Joe Vanderpool and Ben Niemcyzk, Frs. Mark and Michael for their efforts on this.
Prayer to St. Philip Neri
O holy St. Philip Neri, patron saint of joy, you who trusted Scripture’s promise that the Lord is always at hand and that
we need not have anxiety about anything, in your compassion
heal our worries and sorrows
and lift the burdens from our hearts.
We come to you as one whose heart swells with abundant love for God and all creation, hear us we pray especially in this need....
Keep us safe through your loving intercession, and may the joy of the Holy Spirit
which filled your heart St. Philip,
transform our lives and bring us peace.
Amen
Parishioner Dr. Alice Beal on NOVA
Alice is featured on the documentary Decoding Covid-19, an informative and moving essay on the pandemic and yet another reminder of the extraordinary dedication of our medical teams.
https://www.pbs.org/video/decoding-covid-19-hrfhb2/
Please keep the sick of the community in your prayers:
Phyllis Condon, Rita Stumbo, Brendan McKeown, Deacon Rich Gilligan, Mary Peterson, Stephen Potter, Ed Acerra, Eleanor O’Neill, Fr. Mike Gibbins, Laura Greeney, Bob Mollman, Marie Smith, Raymond Muhs, Rachel Potter, Linda Anderson-Honsa.
Rest In Peace:
Joan Hallgren, Fay Milea, Nancy Schiup James Mahoney, Joseph and Rosemary Rontino, John Walter, Sis Bresnahan.
Prayer by George Herbert
Submitted by Joseph Picciano
“Love bade me welcome,
Yet my soul drew back weary of dust and sinne,
But quick-ey’d Love observing me grow slack
From my first entrance in,
Drew nearing to me, sweetly questioning
If I lack’d anything.
A guest, I answered, worthy to me here:
Love said, you shall be he.
I, the unkind, the ungrateful ? Ah, my dear
I cannot look on thee.
Love took my hand, and smiling did reply:
Who made the eyes but I?
Truth, Lord, but I have marr’d them:
Let my shame
Go where it doth deserve.
And know you not , says Love : Who bore the blame?
My dear, then I will serve.
You must sit down, says Love, and taste my meat.
So I did sit and eat.”
From a musical setting see R. Vaugh Williams Third Mystical Song.
Holy Day, Thursday, May 21
Feast of the Ascension of the Lord Mass
YouTube 9:00am
Oratory Virtual Coffee Hour To Celebrate St. Philip Neri
Sunday, May 24
OWC Drop-In Conversations: Connecting & Coping With The Pandemic & Lockdown
Zoom Instruction Upon Request
Need Zoom instruction? Feeling disconnected from a “virtual” world? Patient & loving instructors available. Contact [email protected]
Stewardship Please remember, if you are able, to keep supporting our parishes as we try to maintain staff, clergy and operations during this time. You can make your donation online through PushPay by clicking on one of the links.
For Assumption https://pushpay.com/g/oratorychurch?src=hpp
For St. Boniface https://pushpay.com/g/oratorychurchbrooklyn?src=hpp
Or mail checks to:
64 Middagh St Brooklyn NY 11201
Attn: ABVM or St Boniface
Upcoming Collections
• Holy Day - Thursday, May 21 – The Ascension of the Lord
• Diocesan Collection Sunday, May 24 – This local collection benefits Communications in the Brooklyn Diocese.
• Monthly Utilities – Assumption
• Father’s Day Remembrance
• The Holy Fathers’ – Peter’s Pence, June 28
Donations for special collections can now be made via Pushpay
If you would like add someone to the prayer list email the parish office at [email protected] or go to the website https://oratorychurch.org/contact-us and complete the information there.
New Mailing Address for the Parish Offices
The Brooklyn Oratory Parishes of ABVM & St. Boniface
64 Middagh St.
Brooklyn NY 11201