Dear Parishioners and Friends,
If you’ve ever tried to eat a meal at the seashore you know that it’s not always an idyllic experience for one significant reason: seagulls. I can recall several times when I’ve gone to a seaside restaurant or café and decided to take a table outdoors only to be constantly harassed by a flock of gulls doing everything they could to snatch any bit of food that might come their way. I certainly hope that wasn’t the case when Jesus invited his disciples to join him for a seaside breakfast!
That breakfast probably felt like a reunion of sorts, and Duccio’s painting of the scene shown on the cover of this bulletin has the correct number of disciples according to the Gospel – Peter, Thomas, Nathanael, Zebedee’s sons James and John, and two other unnamed disciples – together again with their crucified and resurrected Master. It must have felt like old times: Jesus suggesting that they try one more time to make a catch after a fruitless night of empty fishing nets; Peter jumping into the water as he was wont to do; and once the heavy lifting was done, sitting down to a well-deserved meal.
In some ways, that scene reminds me of what we see happening as we are able to finally put the worst of the pandemic behind us and gather together once again as a community of disciples around our Master. As vital as the Eucharist is to us as Catholics, we find that merely our gathering together has become just as fundamental. We feel more energized and complete as we see familiar faces after a long absence. Last Sunday evening following the 5:00 PM Mass, about thirty parishioners gathered in the Franciscan Center for Community Sunday PM Edition. I found it very relaxing and comfortable to sit and chat with folks over a glass of wine and some cheese and crackers – not so different from what was depicted in John’s Gospel. I hope we can have more such gatherings in the future!
About forty children from our parish will be receiving the Eucharist for the first time next weekend. This is a moment I’m sure they have been eagerly awaiting, and I hope they will treasure its memories. I can still recall my own First Communion and the joy it brought me (along with a shiny new two-wheel bike). Over six decades later, May 13, 1961 remains a watershed moment in my life, as I hope May 7-8, 2022 will for our young boys and girls. So please join me in congratulating them and with a prayer that the Lord will always remain the True Vine who nourishes and strengthens their faith. I also want to thank their parents and teachers, especially Deb Pelletier and Sarah Christopher, who have brought them to this moment, and for their example and witness of what it means to live the Christian life with the Eucharist at its center.
Along with the Beloved Disciple, let us come together and say with firm conviction: “It is the Lord!” Blessings on your week ahead.
Fr. Tim Shreenan, O.F.M.
Pastor