A Letter from Fr. Eddy

Dear Parishioners,

Your pastor here at St. Mary’s, Fr. Bob Romeo, has asked me to accompany you on his page for the next few weeks. As he did not insist I write on specific topics or follow any pre-arranged order of thought, I have elected to broach a broad range of existential matters that we all have to confront from time to time as we go through life. These matters include, but are not limited to, the Christian faith and our understanding of love, work, leisure, family, sickness, loss, tragedy and even death. As you all know, these realities are never too far away from us, and often challenge the resilience of our faith to its very core.

Only last Sunday we were informed of the sudden departure of Fr. Rafal Borowiejski to his home country of Poland, to be by his mother’s side as she struggles for her life in hospital. We also heard the sad news of the death of Fr. Raphael Hessah’s mother in Ghana. Fr. Bob has also had to spend most of his vacation taking care of his ninety-one year old father, who had surgery only recently. These priests have each been interrupted, albeit in varied ways, by these existential matters unfolding in their families. At one time or the other, each of us has to deal with one or the other of these matters. This is why I invite you to walk with me, in the next few weeks, to look at some these issues from a Christian perspective.

To help our reflection, I have identified a delectable little book by Kate Bowler called, Everything Happens for a Reason (Random House, New York: 2018). The author is a normal contemporary person, a Canadian citizen living in the USA today; someone you could think of as a neighbor or fellow parishioner. Her story is quite moving, and her resilience is relentless. I think we can learn something of both the ordinariness of her life and the challenge that terminal sickness brought to interrupt that otherwise happy life.

The impression I get from reading this book is that Kate is someone we could refer to, by any standards, as a very successful person, who has everything going for her. Both of her parents were academic researchers, and she, herself, has a good career as a university professor, a handsome, loving husband, and a son. From being a young, excited, and energetic professor jumping in and out of lecture halls, Kate got a call from her physician one day and everything in her life took a turn for the worse. She was diagnosed with stage-4 cancer! This means that the cancer had spread uncontrollably from its original location to other parts of the body, a situation described in medical science as metastasis. What a fancy term for an ugly condition! Anyway, from then on, Kate’s life became an anti-climax of sorts, and she describes her situation upon getting the diagnosis as follows: “One moment I was a regular person with regular problems. And the next, I was someone with cancer…. [This is] a new and unwanted reality. There was a before, and now there was an after” (pp. xiv-xv).

Naturally, anyone in this or similar condition is tempted to query God: Why? Why me? What good will my suffering bring to you, O God? These and similar queries and evocations are not uncommon with people in the throes of sickness, death, or other tragedies. Remember the story of Job in the Bible? He queried God as well, and we should not be afraid of facing up to God, and demanding to be heard. There is nothing wrong in doing this, as long as we, too, are willing and ready to listen to God, in prayer. As Kate battles with the reality of her diagnosis, she is forced to see the One, Immortal and Invincible God also as “a God of Maybe, who may or may not let me collect more years. It is a God I love, and a God that breaks my heart” (p. xv).

Suffering and pain are more difficult to accept in a world that promises you everything, instantly! I have not forgotten that last Saturday, at the 5.00 pm Mass, Fr. Bob told the story of a certain Russian who was visiting the USA for the first time. He was completely blown away by the instamatic nature of life in America – instant coffee, instant milk, instant hot meals, instant laundry, etc! Everything is so instant, so immediate!

Now, the word ‘immediate’ comes from the Latin, immediatus, which means ‘direct’, ‘without anything between’, ‘with nothing interposed’, or ‘without mediation’. I bring this up because when we lose that inbetween medium, which comes and intervenes between us and other things, to mediate our lives with one another and with other created things, we are tempted to assume the place of God, and to act like we are God! This is as dangerous as it is foolhardy, because we are not God! Thanks to developments in medical science and technology, we can deal with many diseases, and can live much longer than our ancestors did. But there is also plenty of hubris that surrounds the invention and application technologies. For instance, even when we can no longer breathe by ourselves, a machine can prop us up and do the job on our behalf forever, if we so chose beforehand!

Living in an instamatic world of certainties makes it all the more difficult to accept our limits and limitations, especially when something like stage-4 cancer hits us unexpectedly. In a culture where everyone can be whatever they aspire to be, as long as they do all the right things, divine mediation becomes far-fetched, almost! In this culture, there is very little tolerance for a person’s humanity, their faults, failings and mistakes, because everything is already calculated with accurate percentages and statistical exactness! There is no room, therefore, for embracing our imperfect good-enough selves. No, because it falls short of the standards preset and prevalent!

Add to this the phenomenon of Prosperity Gospel which Pentecostal America has successfully marketed to the whole world! As a scholar and researcher on the impact of Prosperity Gospel in American Christianity, Kate finds herself grappling with her tragic diagnosis. She deploys her ambition and her faith as she tries to come to terms with the limitations of her finitude, in a culture that promises anything (read Everything) is possible. Apparently, she can see that everything is not possible, at least not without divine intervention, divine mediation, divine interposition! Faith alone, even when accompanied by long and vociferous prayer, and/or extreme fasting and self-abasement, is not enough to turn anything around unless, of course, God intervenes.

Beware, therefore, of any brand of Christianity that promises a cure for tragedy, and claims that “God will give you your heart’s desires: money in the bank, a healthy body, a thriving family, and boundless happiness” (p. xi). Of course, God’s power cannot be limited, that is why He is Omnipotent God, and can indeed bless people exceedingly, irrespective of their status, as and when He so pleases. By the same omnipotence, God will not allow Himself to be wrapped around our finger, or be at our beck and call when we need to fill a gap, or tick a box. This is a wrong approach to the mystery of Divinity.

Like our sister, Kate, whom we accompany on this journey, let us bear in mind that there will always be questions that take our lives apart, yet defy answers. Kate, for instance, asks: “Why do some people get healed and some people don’t? Why do some people leap and land on their feet while others tumble all the way down? Why do some babies die in their crib and some bitter souls live to see their great-grandchildren?” (p. xiii). Bob Dylan had a song with this chorus, “The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind; The answer is blowin’ in the wind.” May the Lord answer our prayers. Amen!

Father Edward Obi, MSP (fredward@saintmarysmanhasset.org)

J Stewards of God’s Gifts

In today’s Gospel, Jesus calls Peter to walk with Him on the water. After initially doing so, Peter begins to doubt and starts to sink. Our Lord saved him but questioned why he doubted.

Living Stewardship ~ Pillar of Formation: Trust in God, no matter how hard it may be at times, trust in God and His goodness and power.

We Care for Our Parish Community

Baptism

We celebrate Baptism at 1:30 PM on the second Sunday of the month and at 12:30 PM on the fourth Saturday of the month as scheduled. Please call the Parish Office at least one month in advance to see if a date is available and to arrange to fill out pre-baptismal paperwork. New parents are required to attend a Baptism preparation session held once every month. Those chosen as sponsors for Baptism should lead lives in harmony with the Catholic faith and the role of Godparent.”

Marriage

At least six months before you plan to be married and before you make arrangements for the reception, please make an appointment with one of the priests to begin the necessary preparations.

Children’s Education

Saint Mary’s Elementary School offers excellent education in the spirit of the Gospel from grades N, Pre-K to Eighth grade. For information call 627-0184.

Empowering Character, Innovation and Leadership in our students, Saint Mary’s High School is a dynamic, contemporary, Catholic value-centered school, combining a commitment to academic excellence and educational innovation, with a passion for learning, and an emphasis on moral character development through the pursuit of truth and discovered in faith and reason. For information call 627-2711.

The Religious Education Program provides excellent formation in the Catholic Faith for children in public or private schools. Preparation for First Holy Communion and Confirmation requires two years. Classes are held at St. Mary’s for Grades 1 through 5 on Tuesdays and Thursdays

Have you enrolled yet? Visit www.faithdirect.net. Our parish code is NY281.

4:30-5:30 PM. Classes also meet on Sundays from 9:3010:20 AM for Grades 1 through 8 and on Mondays from 7:00-8:00 PM for Grades 6, 7 and 8. We also offer the option of an online home program for Grades 1 through 7. For information about Grades 1-8 call 627-4028 or email Mrs. Marie Granieri at releddirector@stmary.ws.

Parish Social Ministry

We care for our sisters and brothers through our Parish Social Ministry and Food Pantry. For information call 365-2705.

Youth Ministry

We reach out to our teens though our Youth Ministry Program. For information email youth@stmary.ws or visit stmarysyouth.weebly.com.

New Parishioners

We welcome new members to the Catholic Church and to Saint Mary’s Parish. If you are new in the area or interested in learning more about the Catholic faith, please call the Parish Office.

Opportunities For Prayer

The collection for Sunday, August 6, 2023 amounted to $23,683.00. The collection for Sunday, August 7, 2022 amounted to $22,950.00. Church of Saint Mary |

The Church is open Monday to Friday until 8:45 PM, on Saturday until the end of the 5:00 PM Mass, and on Sunday until 6:00 PM so that we may have the opportunity for quiet prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. The Miraculous Medal Novena is said each Monday following the 9:00 AM Mass. Monday to Saturday the Rosary is said following the 9:00 AM Mass. Eucharistic Adoration is held every Monday from 3:00 to 5:00 PM in the Chapel. On First Saturdays, the Scriptural Rosary is recited following the 9:00 AM Mass.