The Pastors Desk – March 31st

On Easter as Pastor, I have two principal tasks – to extend my assurance of personal prayers and best wishes to you and your loved ones on today’s most joyful of days. And too, to thank all who made a sacrificial Easter offering to their church. For the rest of my Easter message, the words of Bishop Barres and Pope Francis are most fitting:

In The Joy of the Gospel Pope Francis states: “Christ’s resurrection is not an event of the past; it contains a vital power which has permeated the world. Where all seems to be dead, signs of the resurrection suddenly spring up. It is an irresistible force… Each day in our world, beauty is born anew, it rises transformed through the storms of history. Such is the power of the resurrection, and all who evangelize are instruments of that power.”

We continue to live through “the storms of history” as we rely on the Risen Lord and his glorified wounds to touch the wounds in Ukraine, the Middle East, Venezuela, Armenia, Sudan, and in so many other troubled areas of the world. We ask the Risen Lord and his glorified wounds also to touch the wounds experienced in our own country.

In The Everlasting Man, G.K. Chesterton captured the power of our Lord’s resurrection experience in the cycles of history. He wrote: “Christendom has had a series of revolutions and in each one of them, Christianity has died. Christianity has died may times and risen again; for it had a God who knew the way out of the grave.”

This Easter and every Easter we celebrate this Everlasting Man who knew his way out of the grave and who invites us and the Catholic Church on Long Island to a great Resurrection. 

A Happy and Blessed Easter to you all!

The Pastors Desk – March 24th

Did you ever notice how St. Patrick eclipses all the other Irish Saints? When we think of Ireland, we think of him and not the other great Irish Holy Monks and Hermits. It is fitting to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with special fanfare and so it was with our St. Patrick’s dinner event. We had a wonderful time – wish you were all there! It generated some much-needed revenue for the parish; $3,400.00 from the 50-50 raffle, and $1,434.00 from the dinner event. Our rectory secretary Sharon Collins, Deacon Allan Longo, and Religious Ed’s Anita Modelewski all should be singled out for special Thanks. Also to be commended with special thanks for stepping forward as volunteers are Eileen Byrne, Clare Intemann, Patricia Foley, Mark McDermott, Paul Russo, and everyone else who joined in helping to make this a grand and special evening. Phyllis Pottinger and Deanna Young as well for helping get the word out by stuffing envelopes. Spending time together is an integral and vital part of parish life. It is important to make time for Community events. If we cannot help in preparing the event, we can at least make an effort to attend. Many others are also due thanks! 

We had a very successful Irish Soda Bread Contest, with 7 delicious entries that fed everyone that evening. Winners were John Collins and Lorraine Longo. Door Prizes were won by Ellen Hopkins, Brian O’Keefe, and Adrienne Attardo.

Our awesome community sponsors donated gift cards – Ruvo’s, Healy’s, Greenlawn Family Restaurant, Greenlawn Wine & Liquors, Sardo’s Pizza & Restaurant, Oakwood Car Care, Living Waters Catholic Therapeutic Counseling, and the Greenlawn Fire Department. Fine entertainment was provided by Buoy 34 – Joe Cook and Crew. Please express your appreciation by visiting their establishments and thanking them for supporting our church events. And thanks go as well to Andy and John Terc for going and collecting the gift cards!

– Fr. Peter

The Pastors Desk – March 17th Medjugorje

We have begun the process of preparing our pilgrimage to Medjugorje. Please take seriously any promptings you may have about going, the calls to go may persist in spite of the fact that you never seriously considered Medjugorje before now! The official church is now encouraging pilgrims to go to Medjugorje based on the overwhelmingly good, spiritual fruit coming from this place – there have been many healings, conversions, and vocations to Priesthood and religious life coming from this small town in Bosnia. We look forward to sharing our inspiring reports with you. This year, we offer an optional 4-night post trip to Rome and Assisi. This is a pilgrimage that has the true potential to uplift your spiritual life in amazing ways. The trip is all-inclusive New York to Medjugorje 7-day $3,399 with an optional 4-day extension to Rome and Assisi for $2,056. The deadline for a deposit is coming soon, so call me at the rectory as soon as possible.

The Pastors Desk – March 10th

Parish missions are nearly always grace-bearing – moments of consolation, and hope. Michael Grogan‘s visit was a splendid example of this. Few get across to us how much our Father loves us. We humans feel we are doing our part for our children when we shield them from harm, and so we are! 

God our loving father wanted to surpass our highest expectations. He would pay the highest ransom to redeem us – to buy us back from Sin and Evil. He sent his Son into harm’s way to miss no chance of us developing a narrow image of God, one that is cold, demanding, and harsh! 

Michael was able to make that point with joy and vigor. Michael sends his gratitude to all who contributed monetarily to his work. He raised about $5,000. I join him as well in thanking you!

– Fr. Peter 

The Pastors Desk – March 3rd
Catholic Ministries Appeal 

The good news is once again we met our goal for 2023 in donations to this vital collection. Soon the new campaign will begin for 2024, as will be mentioned at Masses this weekend. Knowing of your love of our fine parish and your loyalty to our Diocese, bishops, and priests, I know you will meet the challenge! This year our efforts will be a bit stronger, as our goal has been raised in this economy.