Fifth Sunday of Easter

The opening words Jesus speaks in this weekend’s gospel are: “Do not let your hearts be troubled.”  This sentence is certainly true to the familiar adage, “easier said than done,” especially during a pandemic that has dramatically affected our lives in the last few months.  It is important to note that Jesus spoke these words as part of his farewell address shortly before his arrest, torture and crucifixion.  As is the case with any typical farewell addresses to family and friends, Jesus is using a moment that is so fraught with personal danger to teach, comfort, reassure and inspire his followers then and now.  Throughout this final discourse, Jesus recalls his earlier instructions and promises to his followers about discipleship, and he gives them guidance about how they can remain close to him and his Father long after his death.  Although Jesus’ disciples are understandably troubled by the unfolding plot to destroy their Master, Jesus advises them to move from worrying and fretting to believing in him.  In the face of his impending trials and the prospect of a future of being physical absent to his followers, Jesus reassures them by urging them to be faithful to him for he is “the way, the truth and the life.”

During these troubling, unsettling months in which we are all dealing with the consequences of a global health crisis, our hearts might very well be troubled.  But Jesus’ farewell message is just as relevant today as it was in the days before he suffered and died for our salvation.  So may the Lord grant us a more trusting, confident faith in him so that we can see the light at the end of our current tunnel of uncertainty, and follow it into a better future!

News and Notes: 

As has been widely reported in local and national news, the Archdiocese of Boston has recently trained 30 young priests who have volunteered to administer the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick to the most gravely ill coronavirus patients. Two of these priests, Father Timothy Hynes from St. Mary Parish in Foxborough and Father Brian O'Hanlon from St. Mary and Sacred Heart Parishes in Lynn, will be serving the hospitals and nursing homes in the North Shore and living at the OLA White House for the next few months.  Because of the service they are performing during their time with us, they need to be quarantined while living in the White House and cannot have visitors. Please join us in praying for Fathers Timothy and Brian in the weeks ahead! And special thanks to Colin McNabb, our seminarian, who has temporarily moved from the White House to a makeshift bedroom in the Collaborative Office Building to make it possible for the two priests to stay us.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms in our Collaborative!  Here is a prayer to our Spiritual Mother Mary during this pandemic:

Holy Virgin of Guadalupe, Queen of the Angels and Mother of the Americas, we fly to you today as your beloved children.  We ask you to intercede for us with your Son, as you did at the wedding in Cana.