Pastor’s Blog

Monsignor Guy’s Sunday Reflection

Remembering Jesus: A Spiritual Reflection for Our Parish Community

Image of Monsignor Massie sipping tea in brownstone brooklyn

Dear Parish Community,

Sunday’s readings are held together by the phrase found in the second reading from the second letter of Timothy, from St. Paul: “Remember Jesus Christ risen from the dead…” In the Gospel, while ten lepers are healed, only one remembers Jesus. In the first reading from the Second Book of Kings, Naaman remembers and gives thanks.

The Call to Remember

“Remember Jesus Christ risen from the dead,” says Paul to Timothy. Paul urges Timothy to remember the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. In Catholic liturgical belief, remembering is taken seriously. When we gather to celebrate the Eucharist, we are in the act of remembering. To remember in the liturgy means to make present again. As we remember the Death and Resurrection of Jesus, we again enter into this great mystery.

Remembering Jesus is not simply an act of recalling the past as one remembers a historical event. Rather, we remember so as to render present again. Remembering Jesus in this manner makes remembering a prayer. This remembering of Jesus will sustain Timothy as he faces his share of suffering.

Remembering as Spiritual Direction

Remembering Jesus is Paul’s spiritual direction to us. While the leper is healed in today’s Gospel, Jesus, through his death and resurrection, heals and saves us for all eternity. Remembering Jesus risen in all the seasons of our lives, but especially in times of loneliness, confusion, ambiguity, fear, and emotional or physical suffering, tells us that there is life on the other side of the present crisis.

Remembering Jesus in times of loss, especially if we are mourning, helps to assure us that life is not ended, but changed. Remembering Jesus when our worlds are ending, fearful storms engulf us, or when we feel we are at the end of our rope may sustain us for the day.

Remembering Jesus reminds us that we encounter God through the humanity of Christ. In a like manner, we encounter God through the humanity of our neighbors (cf. Matt 25:31ff). When confronted with temptations to be self-righteous, judgmental, jealous, or vindictive, remembering Jesus may help us to remain faithful. When confronted with ambition, feelings of entitlement, or anger, remembering Jesus may help us to act appropriately.

The Gospel Lesson: The Samaritan Leper

In the Gospel, we meet a Samaritan leper. Being a leper is difficult and isolating. Being a leper who is part of a discriminated people makes his situation worse. The Samaritan leper was an outcast among the outcast. Knowing that he was at the mercy of Jesus, he begs along with the other nine. Along with them, he is healed.

While the nine forgot that Jesus was the one through whom they were all healed, the Samaritan leper remembers Jesus and returns. Because he was a Samaritan, the leper could not worship at the Temple in Jerusalem (Samaritans and Jews did not worship together, cf. John 3f). Remembering Jesus, the leper who could not encounter God in the Temple, encounters God through the humanity of Jesus.

Jesus thus is the new Temple for the leper and for us. Remember Jesus and enter more deeply into a relationship with him in and through the Eucharist, the sacred scripture, and the community of the church.

Msgr. Guy A. Massie
October 12, 2025

Faith and Courage in Difficult Times

“Lord, increase our faith.”

Sunday, October 5th, is the Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, which speaks to us about faith in difficult times. There are times in our lives when difficulties and disappointments can challenge our faith. At such times we feel somewhat guilty because we may feel our faith is not what it should be. In such times, we need to preserve the faith we do have. This Sunday, our readings address such issues.

Our first reading is from the Book of the Prophet Habakkuk who wrote towards the end of the seventh century before the common era to the beginning of the sixth century before the common era. He was addressing those who had returned from exile. His time was marked by chaos and lawlessness. The people suffered violence and injustice at the hands of the Babylonians. Habakkuk seeks answers from God through this difficult time. The prophet is promised a vision and told to wait for the vision. The reading ends with the words”…the just one because of his faith will live.”

In our second reading from St. Paul’s Second Letter to Timothy, Paul encourages Timothy to have courage through the difficult time he is facing. He reminds Timothy that “he has not received a Spirit of cowardice but one of power, love and self-control. “ The last words in the second reading are “Guard this rich trust (faith) with the help of the Holy Spirit that dwells within.” In short, our faith must be protected and must grow and must be strengthened. Faith is given to us by the grace of God.

In the Gospel, the disciples ask Jesus to increase their faith. The faith of which they are seeking is not only a faith to believe in Jesus, but the faith that leads to hope, to understanding, and to be on fire with the conviction of our faith. They are seeking faith that gets us through difficult situations.

Where are we in these readings? So many of us are going through difficult times. Some people have lost jobs and are facing financial difficulties, some are facing chronic health problems for themselves or for someone they love. Many are facing social problems. Some are new to the neighborhood and cannot find a place to fit in. Still others may be facing marital issues or are lonely, facing issues of depression and insecurity in the job market. Some in all categories are facing serious health issues. Where do we go with these chronic problems? How does one find hope and a way to believe that he or she will get through this difficult time? How do people of faith face these situations?

Do we believe that things will change? How do we get the energy to help ourselves? How does one pray in these moments? Listen to Paul. Listen to Habakkuk. Hold on, God has not abandoned you.

Things will get better with prayer. Prayer will help you to help yourself. Faith grows when we take the courage to step out and seek the help we need. Prayer and reflection on our lives in the presence of God can move us to connect with the right doctor the right counselor, the right job, the right help that we need. Prayer may help you to be courageous to face the difficulties, to seek a solution to the difficult situation, and to survive and grow through difficulties that you are facing. Take courage, you have the Holy Spirit deep within you. Things will get better in ways you may never have dreamed.

Msgr. Guy A. Massie
October 5, 2025

Who Do We Not See?

Dear Parish Family,

“ I confess to Almighty God…that I have greatly sinned in…what I have done and in what I have failed to do….” so begins one of the penitential rites as we begin the celebration of the Eucharist. How many of us confess sins of omission? How many of us reflect on the good I could have done and failed to do?

Today, the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time, we continue our theme of discipleship. Not all believers are disciples. While all disciples are believers, not all disciples are apostles. Yet all are called to continuous spiritual self-reflection and growth in the Lord.

In the Gospel today, we meet two people who are characters in a parable told by Jesus. We meet Lazarus, a beggar, and we meet an unnamed Rich Man. Time is an element in the reading. We are told that while God may always be merciful, the time for us to choose our behavior is limited. The plight of Lazarus is a painful and lonely one. His pitiful state could move us to compassion for him. Yet while we may be moved to compassion, the Rich Man was not moved at all. It is for this reason that the Rich Man finds himself in Gehenna after death. The Rich Man was not condemned because he committed a wrong, but rather because he failed to do the good he could have done. His sins of omission, not commission.

What may have prevented him from seeing the opportunity to do the good? From the text we are told that Lazarus was outside the Rich Man’s door. How could the Rich Man have missed Lazarus? A clue to answering this question may be found in the first reading from Amos. Amos is a prophet who we met in last week’s first reading. Prophets are people who seek to speak the truth to people in power. Prophets question the status quo and the taking for granted of human experience. Amos, in this text for today, is critical of his wealthy countrymen who are ignoring the suffering of their fellow countrymen. They seem wrapped in their own self-interest and luxury. The suffering of the people to the north was too far away for them to be concerned. They were lulled into self-satisfaction and self-centeredness.

In the Gospel, the Rich Man, even after death, fails to see why is is not in the bosom of Abraham as is Lazarus. He fails to recognize his sin of omission. He only sees Lazarus as one who was to serve his needs. Where does this leave us? The Rich Man is blind to the presence of Lazarus. How could the Rich Man not have seen Lazarus? He stepped over him every day. What had blinded the Rich Man? There are many answers to these questions. Among those answers are: The Rich Man is blinded by his self-centeredness. The Rich Man’s world is only about him and he sees others as serving his needs, not others as people. The Rich Man may be a religious man, we have no idea, yet if he is, he is blind to the command of the Torah which couples love for God with love of neighbor. He misses the message. The Rich Man had material wealth which could have been shared and used to relieve suffering Lazarus; however, he could not see further than his own needs.

We all suffer some form of blindness. Who do we not see? Who do we see yet choose to ignore? How often could we have said the right words, defended the integrity of another or advocated for another person and did not? How often do we remain purposely blind to our own behavioral flaws? In our day we have our eyes glued to our telephones, we are blind to people in front of us, to traffic and the world around us. Is technological blindness a symptom of our inner blindness as well?

Do our talents blind us to the not-so-talented around us who need help?

Do our possessions of a comfortable lifestyle blind us to the needs of those around us?

Msgr. Guy A. Massie
September 28, 2025