Dear Parishioners and Friends of Saint Mary’s,

Parishioners and neighbors who have been able to come to our Weekend Masses comment on how our Masses are very safe and most reverent. Please know that we will be here whenever you are able to return. I wish to thank all those involved in helping our Masses to be available to those who come through the doors of our church.

Back in “the olden days” when I was young, we did not have to know what our vocation and profession would be. We were encouraged, instead, to pursue knowledge and education so that we would become whole and good people who understood the meaning and purpose of life. Our work, whatever it would be, would come along as time shed light on our steps. If we asked the larger questions of our life and tried to pursue the meaning of our existence as given by God, we would be where we were supposed to be. Helicopter or drone parents were not necessary for us; instead, parents who led lives that were examples of being a Catholic and an adult were the only requirements. I suspect if we were given the one question that Solomon had in our first reading of “what did he want,” I suspect we would have asked for the same gift, that of wisdom.

Dear Parishioners and Friends of Saint Mary Parish,

The days of summer are moving along. Almost every day I take great delight in the hot sunny weather. Although I am no longer a “beach person”, I really enjoy the ease of living when we do not have to wear gloves, scarfs, hats and winter coats, nevertheless having to scrape ice or snow off my car each morning. Because I am a gardener at my family’s Cape House, I appreciate these long days of light and warmth. This year, however in this summer comfort all of us are constantly under the direct and indirect effects of the COVID Pandemic.

In our first reading this weekend we learn that God is truly supreme in all ways. This passage from the Book of Wisdom tells us that God is all-knowing, just, and powerful. Indeed we may not realize it, but even our hearts, thoughts, and actions are clear to God, in fact even before we know them. In contrast to his awesome and incomprehensible power, we learn that God is patient. The words of Wisdom illustrate for us how God tempers justice with mercy and also how God’s actions teach us to be patient, fair, and hopeful.

We find in our second reading that Saint Paul encouraged the Romans to have patience in dealing with the trials of this life. The “worrying” is not worth the effort when we think about the glory God has in store for us. Paul tells us that we are saved in the hope of what is unseen and also that we need to be patient to receive God’s promise of heaven. Bear in mind that even when we lack patience, the Spirit helps us and gives us the heart to hope, wait, and pray.

Dear Parishioners and Friends of Saint Mary Parish,

This past weekend our Parish had its first wedding since the beginning of the COVID Pandemic. This weekend we have two more weddings which will take place in our sanctuary and again under the special COVID restrictions. I understand why some couples move forward with their wedding date and also why some postpone. Like all decisions about events, even ones that are not church related, it is very hard to prudently decide what to do. The ripples of effects can be overt or subtle. I think it is really making the best informed and prudent decision you can and then move forward with grace, some courage and kindness.

Our first reading from the Book of Isaiah is a very beautiful reading as our summer now unfolds and all the wonderful plants and flowers around us grow in the sun-light and are watered by the occasional rain that falls. Our first reading tells us that it is God who makes the rain to fall on the earth so all things may grow. The symbolism is that God “waters” us with his sacred love and thus we grow in living a life of meaning and purpose. Ultimately there is a harvest time when all plants mature. The fruit of all this growing is that there is a spark of the divine in each one of us and it is clearly God’s everlasting love.

Yes, the summer is upon us and it is time to shorten my weekly letter. The “Good News” is that our weekend Masses are continuing to be very safe and reverent. We are blessed with volunteer Ambassadors who assist us all at each Mass. The simplified Music at the 4 PM and 10:30 AM Masses has its own innate beauty to inspire our souls. Christ is made present on the altar and people are able to receive the Body of Christ. What greater blessing is there? Our Funeral Masses, though slightly modified, are powerful instruments of prayer which also provide spiritual comfort for the mourners. Our Baptisms continue each Sunday, as needed, and welcome the Light of Christ into the hearts of our young ones.

This weekend includes our civic holiday July 4th, which is a celebration of our Independence Day. Although the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor came much later, this magnificent statue has inscribed on it these words “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free … Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me …” We must wonder: Did these words find inspiration in the Gospel of this weekend? It appears that this quote echoes the words of Jesus. The similar words welcome the humble.

Dear Parishioners and Friends of Saint Mary’s,

The recent rain caused our main server to stop working and the letter which I had been diligently writing over the previous few days is on it and I have no access to it. This is a small inconvenience in life for me, and actually a great gain for you! This substitute letter will be very short!

I would like to wish you, your loved ones and your friends a Happy Fourth of July. To be sure this is a very, very different holiday weekend for all of us, but we can still enjoy the time and days.

Way back “in the olden days” when I was young and in elementary school, we always went from the city to my grandmother’s cottage in sunny seaside Scituate for a good part of the summer. Our first cousins and also my brothers and sisters in various configurations of age groups would be there for most of the summer. All the time we were there, lots of relatives and friends would also come to visit for the day and sometimes for the weekends. Even though at times it was very crowded and quite noisy, it was never too crowded or too noisy because loved ones were all there.

The re-opening of our Parish Weekend Masses continues to take place “successfully”. I think most of us are aware that the rules in another Parish in the Archdiocese were not followed and the Parish had to close down completely for two weeks. A parishioner with symptoms of COVID came to church and engaged with the priests with the resulting closing of the church for two weeks. The priests and staff had to go into quarantine. So far we are “successful” here at Saint Mary’s because everyone is following the rules and we are most cautiously and carefully moving forward. The key values are safety and reverence. There are some people who are pushing and pressing to open more; they are at times loud and noisy, but they are actually quite few in number. They want to take risks about your health and life, but in the end, they would not be willing to be responsible. Bossy or bully-like people never take responsibility for their actions. They blame others or you.

In our first reading, we learn that the prophet Jeremiah was not easily intimidated. We also learn that his prophetic vocation was as difficult to accept as it was unambiguous in meaning: A quote found early in the first chapter describes it quite accurately: “To root up and to tear down, to destroy and to demolish, to build and to plant”. Jeremiah was a prophet to the Jewish people just before the Great Babylonian Exile. This prophet loudly told them that its apostasy and infi-delity would bring it all the way down, as indeed it did. His dire and forbidding warnings, though they came to be true, were no way to win acceptance and affirmation by everyone, from the highest and grand level of the king to the lowest and poorest citizen of Judah.

Dear Parishioners and Friends of Saint Mary Parish,

During this past week the wonderful warmer days of summer have arrived. There have been hints for a while, but this week brought us the better weather of summer. As New Englanders by birth or by choice, we are used to the unstable weather and the unpredictable patterns of the Northeast. I guess in so many ways the New England Yankee stoic approach to acceptance of our weather is much what we need as we move on through the various Phases of Return from the Pandemic Directives. More importantly, our faith can help us with fortitude, strength, patience, and grace to get to the very far side of all this.

Most of us are fascinated by the beauty of the classic Latin hymn “Panis Angelicus”. Although there are many Latin hymns in our tradition, only a few are really “great”. This hymn “the Bread of Angels” is certainly one. Folks of all ages are drawn to it because of its interior melodic beauty. What is most interesting is that this “bread of angels” is really the holy bread for humans. It is Jesus who gives us his Body under the appearance of bread, not the angels.

Dear Parishioners and Friends of Saint Mary’s, Cardinal Sean announced that we will begin (again) the special “Year of the Eucharist” this Sunday, the Feast of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. With the limitations and requirements of the Pandemic these past months influencing our church life so profoundly,there is a more powerful meaning to this Year of the Eucharist for us. One of the distinguishing hallmarks of Catholicism is that whenever and wherever possible, we are expected to participate in the Sunday Mass. Unlike so many other parts of this country, we have so many Masses each weekend that we may have in many ways come to devaluate the Mass grace and meaning in our lives. This time of enforced abstinence has allowed many of us to come to feel how much we need the Holy Mass and Communion. Indeed it is a privilege to be a participate at Mass, Mass is not a burden or an “obligation”.

Dear Parishioners and Friends of Saint Mary’s,

I am delighted to tell you that our “Re-opening” this past weekend was most successful and went extraordinarily well. The hours and hours of planning and preparation to insure that all the Masses were very reverent and very safe along with the addition of our special volunteer “Ambassadors” and also with the cooperation and support of the congregation allowed us to launch these Sunday Liturgies. The attendance at the Masses was: 50 at Saturday 4 PM, 70 at Sunday 7:30 AM and 90 at the 10:30 AM. (Maximum allowed capacity is approximately 180) I was pleased that many folks thoughtfully decided to attend or decided not attend Mass.

It has often been said that no one can know someone else 100% and that there is always a little mystery in every person, no matter. This usually makes for a more interesting relationship and life. When we realize that we always have more to discover in ourselves or other people, it makes sense that there is always more mystery to be discovered in God. Certainly, the sacred mystery of the Holy Trinity, which is one God in three Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, always has some more to be discovered and understood. The depth and beauty of our God is a reality that is an unfolding mystery, which we will never cease contemplating and celebrating.