Happy Pentecost!

Dear Friends in Christ,

Our celebration of Pentecost today commemorates the sending of the Holy Spirit upon Mary and the Apostles and the birthday of the Church!

After the Ascension of Jesus, they gathered in the Upper Room and prayed earnestly for nine days for the gift of the Paraclete, Advocate, Sanctifier, the Holy Spirit who descended upon them giving them powerful gifts of speaking, praising, preaching, and witnessing. With this gift of the Holy Spirit, the Church is born, so today we can sing: Happy birthday Mother Church! Have some birthday cake today!

What happened on that first Pentecost is wonderful and amazing, but so is the ongoing event of Pentecost in the life of the Church—in your life and mine, in our life together in our Pastorate, and throughout the world. Pentecost continues every day for every one of us.

The unfailing prayer “Come, Holy Spirit” brings the reality of Pentecost into our own hearts, our Pastorate, our domestic churches, and wherever we find ourselves day to day. The Holy Spirit prompts us in many ways—sometimes quite clearly, sometimes more subtly—to welcome anew as well as to share the light and joy of Jesus and His Good News.

Do not be afraid to share and to witness to what you have received and to what you have seen. Trust and be confident! God the Holy Spirit is with us and in us. So, pray often this prayer “Come, Holy Spirit” so that the Spirit, Whom we call in the Creed “the Lord and the Giver of life” may reign.

In this month of June, we celebrate with special devotion the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Pope Leo recently reminded us of Pope Francis’ final encyclical Dilexit Nos where the late pope meditated on the Sacred Heart: “[The Sacred Heart is] that stream which is never exhausted, never passes away… offers itself time and time again to all those who wish to love as he did. For his love alone can bring about a new humanity” (no. 219).

We urge our families to register for Vacation Bible School. You don’t want to miss it!!

Support our youth group by making dinner plans this Wednesday at Brian Boru in Severna Park. $10 of every fixed price $30 meal will support our youth group as they spread the Gospel in Appalachia this summer.

Let us continue to pray daily and fervently, “Come Holy Spirit! Renew your wonders in our hearts and in our Pastorate!” And to the Sacred Heart, “Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make our hearts like yours!”

God bless!
Father John

Our Lady of the Chesapeake Celebrates 45th Anniversary!

Dear Friends of our Pastorate,

This weekend, we celebrate the Ascension of the Lord. Some of us remember when this feast was celebrated on a Thursday (40 days after Easter), but most of the US Dioceses now have transferred the celebration to Sunday, so that more people are able to attend Mass and commemorate this important feast day of the Lord.

This weekend, we welcome Archbishop Lori to our Pastorate as Our Lady of the Chesapeake celebrates her 45th Anniversary. The Archbishop will be celebrating the 4:00pm Mass at OLC on May 31st followed by a celebratory toast and cake in the Gathering Place. We will also be drawing the winning numbers for OLC’s 45th Anniversary Raffle. All are welcomed to attend the Mass and reception.

I wanted to inform everyone that our Director of Pastorate Operations, Mike Downes, has submitted his resignation, which was effective as of May 30th. Mike has been a tremendous help to me as we navigated through two major capital projects (SJF School Roof and OLC Church Roof) as well as helped us coordinate our two parishes’ pastorate offices and support staff. Mike and his family have decided to relocate to Delaware. We thank him and wish him well with his new endeavors.

We will be welcoming two seminarians to our Pastorate for their summer assignments. Nicholas Hays and Jordan Damewood will be with us for about 6 weeks this summer as they prepare to enter Major seminary this Fall. They both will be studying in Rome and have been assigned to the Pontifical North American College, the same seminary where Fr. John completed his studies. Nick and Jordan will be residing at the St. Jane Frances rectory while they are here with us. Welcome Jordan and Nick!

Please join us for our Pentecost celebrations occurring this week as we prepare to celebrate Pentecost Sunday next weekend. Information can be found in the bulletin. Also please remember to RSVP to Tracey Laber (410-255-4646) for our Pastorate’s Volunteer Appreciation Dinner which is being held this Friday, June 6th in the St. Jane Parish Hall starting at 5:30pm. All pastorate volunteers and their spouses are invited to attend, but please RSVP.

Thank you for keeping St. Jane Frances and Our Lady of the Chesapeake—our Pastorate of the Visitation—in your daily prayers!

God Bless,
Father Steve

Indwelling Of The Holy Spirit

Dear Friends, 

Christ is risen, alleluia! Truly risen, alleluia!

In today’s Gospel from John 14, we are given a beautiful promise and gift from the Lord’s heart to ours. Jesus says, “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him,” (John 14.23). This sublime reality, while difficult to comprehend, is a spiritual doctrine of paramount importance. Let’s take a look.

In Christian spirituality, we call this promise the indwelling of the Blessed Trinity or divine indwelling. Hear it explained elsewhere in Sacred Scripture: “God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him” (1 Jn 4:16), and again: “it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me,” (Gal 2:20), and again: “you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you” (1 Cor 3:16).

St. Elizabeth of the Trinity calls the indwelling the “little heaven” that God makes in our souls. “You want to be His, although living in the world; it is so simple. He is always with you; be with Him always yourself. Through all your actions, in all your sufferings, when your body is exhausted, remain in His sight. See Him living in your soul.”

Let us live moment to moment, grateful for and adoring God’s mysterious, intimate presence within us—personally in our heart of hearts and communally, as His family, His Church. “Thank you Lord for making Your home in my heart! Thank You Lord for being the Soul of Your Church.”

Want to know or pray on this mystery of indwelling some more?

Pentecost, June 7 & 8: This indwelling presence in our hearts and in our Church is the amazing gift we will celebrate soon on Pentecost, the birthday of the Church! God wants to renew this grace in each of us and in our Pastorate by a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit! We will ready our hearts for Pentecost by gathering from 7:15–8:30pm on June 2 at OLC, June 3 at St. Jane, June 4 at OLC, and June 5 at St. Jane. Nights will include Eucharistic adoration, praise and worship, a brief catechesis, and prayers to the Holy Spirit. On June 7, after the 5pm Vigil Mass at St. Jane, we will have a fellowship night for our Pastorate. All are welcome to celebrate the birthday of the Church!

Next Saturday May 31, we celebrate 45 fantastic years of faith on the peninsula at Our Lady of the Chesapeake! We look forward to welcoming Archbishop Lori and gathering together for the 4pm Mass and celebration afterwards!

All are welcome June 21 at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen for the priestly ordinations at 10am. If you have never been to an ordination, I encourage you to come. It is a luminous and powerful sacrament to witness.

On the eve of Memorial Day, we ask the Lord to grant eternal rest and reward to those men and women who have given their life for our country while serving in the armed forces and consolation to those who mourn them. May God bless the United States of America, the land that we love.

May Mary Our Lady of the Visitation (feast day Saturday May 31) teach us to run with haste to proclaim the Good News (Lk 1:39) and to sing her song of praise (Lk 1:46-55).

In Christ,
Father John

What Defines Us?

Brothers and Sisters,

What defines us? If we take a real hard look at ourselves, what is it that identifies who we are? Is it our work? Is it our social life or what we own? Or is it how we love? An essential part of being a follower of Jesus Christ is a willingness to love. How many times have we heard with our ears and our hearts the words in this week’s Gospel passage, “I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:31-33a, 34-35) Can we say without hesitation that we love as Jesus loves us? A total giving of ourselves until the very end.

I’m reminded of a question that I try to ask myself from time to time: if I were arrested and tried for being a disciple of Jesus, would there be enough evidence to convict me?

Jesus is talking here about a sacrificial love. The kind of love that wills the good of another person, even if it involves our own suffering. So for Jesus, sacrificial love is the supreme expression of love. It’s the highest form of love to lay down your life for the other person. It’s certainly the highest form of love of neighbor. In other words, Jesus wants us to love one another sacrificially. To be willing to lay down our lives for one another. This is how people will know that we are His disciples. This is what it means to be a Christian. This is our true identity that we are God’s loved ones. This is our strength which allows us to love as He loves us. May this be at the core of our own faith and how we live our lives.

God Bless,
Deacon Howard

Happy Easter And Happy Mother’s Day!

Dear Friends in Christ,

Happy Easter and Happy Mother’s Day!

Today’s Gospel presents Jesus to us as the Good Shepherd. Ergo, we call it Good Shepherd Sunday! As we pray for our deceased shepherd Francis’s repose and for our new shepherd, and in this month of Mary and on this Mother’s Day, we should pray for a renewal in the Petrine and Marian graces in the life of the Church. What does that mean?

The Church has a Petrine, apostolic principle. We thank the Lord Jesus for entrusting and commissioning Peter and the apostles—the first bishops—and their successors to the present day with special graces to teach, to govern, and to sanctify us. The apostolic, Petrine dimension of the Church makes the living person and voice of Jesus the Good Shepherd knowable and lovable to us in word, sacrament, and mission. May the ministry of Peter continue to bear abundant fruit in our hearts and in the heart of the Church!

Additionally, antecedent, but profoundly united to the Church’s Petrine principle is her Marian principle. In her Marian dimension, the Church “contemplating Mary’s mysterious sanctity, imitating her charity, and faithfully fulfilling the Father’s will, becomes herself a mother by accepting God’s word in faith. For by her preaching and by baptism [the Church] brings forth to a new and immortal life, children who are conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of God. The Church herself is a virgin, who keeps whole and pure the fidelity she has pledged to her Spouse. Imitating the Mother of her Lord, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, she preserves with virginal purity and integral faith, a firm hope and sincere charity,” (Lumen Gentium 64).

“May attention to Mary and to her example bring us to a greater love, tenderness and docility to the voice of the Spirit, so that each one is more enriched interiorly with that dedication to the ministry of Peter,” (St. John Paul II).

Summertime Adult Confirmation Preparation: Are you a baptized Catholic who is receiving the Eucharist but has not been fully initiated into the Catholic faith through the Sacrament of Confirmation? We want to confirm you this summer! What do you need to do? Open your heart to God the Holy Spirit and join us for three sessions of preparation: June 16, June 30, July 14 at 7pm at St. Jane. Confirmation will be celebrated late in July or early August. Out of town? Do not be afraid. We will find a time that works! Please email Father John to register, john.bilenki@archbalt.org.

Pentecost: During the week leading up to Pentecost (June 8), we will have several opportunities to gather in prayer like Mary and the apostles did in anticipation of the birthday of the Church. Stay tuned for a schedule to be published soon!

Corpus Christi: At St. Jane on June 22 at the end of the 11:30am Mass, we will celebrate Corpus Christi with a Eucharistic procession. If you have never participated in a Eucharistic procession, I encourage as many people as possible to join us. Stay tuned for further communications!

May our Mother Mary intercede for our Pastorate that we may run with haste and love to proclaim Christ as she did at the Visitation—which we will celebrate on May 31 along with Our Lady of the Chesapeake’s 45th anniversary!

God bless you!
Father John

Much To Celebrate!

Dear Friends of our Pastorate,

This weekend, we celebrate the Third Sunday of Easter. Our Gospel this weekend is from the Gospel of John, and it is part of John’s post Resurrection narratives (John 21:1-19). This week, it appears that the disciples have returned to their former ways of life—they are back on the lake fishing. Jesus appears to them on the shore, but they do not recognize him. He tells them to cast their nets over the right side of the boat, and when they do, they haul in a large catch of fish. Immediately, Peter realizes it is Jesus, and he jumps into the water to swim to shore while the rest bring the boat ashore along with the catch.

This Gospel also contains an exchange between Peter and Jesus that scripture scholar sees as Jesus’ way for Peter to redeem himself after his threefold denial of Jesus during the passion. Jesus asks Peter if he loves him three times. And after each time, Peter responds that he loves him. This declaration of love then comes with a mission from Jesus to Peter to feed my lambs, tend my sheep, and feed my sheep. As Catholics, we also see that this encounter is a commissioning of Peter to lead the Church Jesus has established. There has been a successor to Peter since that day, mostly recently Pope Francis, but soon there will be another successor to Peter once the Cardinals elect a new Roman Pontiff. Please keep the College of Cardinals in your daily prayers as they prepare to enter into conclave to choose our next Pope.

Congratulations to all of the young members of our pastorate who have received or will be receiving their First Holy Communion. St Jane’s celebrated 1st Communions last weekend, and OLC will be celebrating this weekend.

Please join us this Sunday, May 4th, at the 11:30am Mass as we celebrate Fr. Bill Spacek’s 30th anniversary of Priesthood Ordination. There will be a reception for Fr. Bill in the parish hall following Mass. I met Fr. Bill when I was a seminarian at my first summer assignment at St. Paul’s in Ellicott City in 1998. Fr. Bill and I also share a birthday—same month, same day, same year! Congratulations Fr. Bill (and happy early birthday)!

Mother’s Day Spiritual Bouquets are available at both parishes as we prepare to celebrate Mother’s Day. Please return your offering as soon as possible. May is also the month of Mary. Our May Crowning at St. Jane’s will take place this Sunday (May 4th) after the 10:00am Mass. OLC will celebrate the May Crowning on Mother’s Day (May 11), after the 10:45am Mass. There is also a Mother’s Day breakfast being held at OLC on Mother’s day from 8:30am–1:00pm sponsored by the Knights of Columbus 10881. The breakfast is FREE, so come and join us after Mass.

Don’t forget to purchase your raffle tickets for OLC’s 45th anniversary raffle. Tickets are available online or by stopping by the parish offices at either Church. OLC’s anniversary Mass with Archbishop Lori (and Fr. Jim) will be on Saturday, May 31st at 4:00pm followed by a light reception in the Gathering Place. We will also be drawing the 20 winning numbers for the raffle. Please join us!

Thank you for keeping St. Jane Frances and Our Lady of the Chesapeake—our Pastorate of the Visitation—in your daily prayers!

God Bless,
Father Steve

Fear and Faith

Brothers and Sisters,

What is it that tempts you to fear in life? What is it that tempts you to lose your hope? Perhaps you struggle with the loss of a loved one, or your fear comes from something small and is only minor right now, but our human nature causes us to dwell on the fear and we perceive it to be larger than it really is. The truth is that all of us will experience temptations to fear and lose hope at one time or another. For this reason, we must all constantly listen to Jesus’ words and welcome His risen presence to dispel every fear in life, as we invite Jesus to bestow upon us the gift of His peace that comes from unwavering faith in His plan for our lives. 

In the Gospel reading this week, Jesus comes to his disciples right in the midst of their fear, pain, doubt, and confusion. He comes speaking peace, bringing faith into their anxious lives and driving out fear and doubt by His presence.

Reflect, today, upon any struggles you have with despair, fear or anxiety in life. As you do, know that all things are possible when you turn to Jesus with faith. Faith does not necessarily remove the hardships of life; it does something even better. It transforms hardships so that you can endure them with grace, joy and supernatural hope. When this happens, everything in life has the potential to be used by God for our good. All we need to do is continually reject fear and “just have faith.” Fear destroys faith, but faith drives out fear.

Instead of worrying and dwelling on your fear, ask Jesus to help you by speaking His peace into your situation. Believing that you have an opportunity to strengthen your faith and trust in the Lord even more deeply. Doing so will bring you great peace!

May the Lord’s Divine Mercy and Peace reign in our hearts.

God Bless,
Deacon Howard