Please download the worship aid to participate in tonight’s evening prayer, which will begin at 5 PM.
Instructions on how to join are available here.
5th Sunday of Easter – Homily (Fr. Smith)
Jesus walked before he talked. By this I mean that he saw his world up close and slow before he began his preaching and teaching. His use of biblical imagery is particularly effective because he knew the physical realities of growth and rot, care and neglect, competence and incompetence from personal experience. This is particularly important for understanding today’s gospel.
Jesus lived in Nazareth but as a general contractor – a better choice for the Greek word we usually translate as carpenter – he would have worked mostly in the Greek speaking town of Sepphoris It was about a 4 mile walk and there were many fields with sheep and many vineyards with grapes and olives. When he calls himself the good shepherd, he has seen the dedication of good shepherds but understands why the scriptures use bad, self-serving, shepherds as the most potent image of corrupt leadership. He brings his experience to give this image greater effect. So too today with the vineyard.
Jesus saw vineyards grow or decline on his walk to and from work. After an evening storm he would have seen branches that were separated from the trunk of the tree looking good and healthy on the morning walk to Sepphoris but they would have been obviously decaying on the way back to Nazareth and dead the next day. They were fit only to burn.
Raffael (Ray) Guidone – Funeral
Dear St. Charles Parish Family and Friends,
I regret to inform you of the death of Ray Guidone, a faithful parishioner and a member of our parish’s Finance Council. He was a professor of computer systems technology at New York City Tech for many years.
There will be a wake at the Church (19 Sidney Place) in the narthex, beginning at 10 AM on Thursday, May 6, followed by the Mass of Christian Burial at 11 AM.
We extend our condolences to his family and friends.
May he rest in peace.
In Christ,
Fr. Bill
Community Mass – 5th Sunday of Easter
Please join us to celebrate the 5th Sunday of Easter on Sunday, May 2nd.
Our current Mass times are:
- 9 AM EST – Morning Mass – in person, not streamed
- 11:15 AM EST – Community Mass – in person and streamed online
Instructions to view the Mass are available here. You can also watch the video via YouTube Live in the window above.
Today’s readings and hymns are available to download below.
- Please follow the instructions of the ushers, and observe all of the posted health precautions so that we can continue to worship together safely.
- Hymnals, bulletins, and other handouts will not be available at the church. Please download on your phone or tablet, or bring your own missal.
- Support our Parish – Please contribute to our General Collection online here.
- Help us support Catholic Charities Food Pantries in Brooklyn and Queens online
5th Sunday of Easter – Actively Loving Each Other
Photo by Max Harlynking on Unsplash
Fr. Smith’s Commentary on the Second Reading
Fifth Sunday of Easter
1 John 3:18-24
May 2, 2021
Have you ever been asked if you were “saved” and felt that you didn’t quite know the answer John the Presbyter (elder) who wrote the first letter of John will help us answer this from today’s reading.
If the person who asked the question is a traditional Protestant, he is assuming that to be saved means to have had a strong and unmistakable experience that God has chosen you for his own. If she has a good grounding in Calvinism, she knows that this reflects the belief that humankind is hopelessly corrupt and broken, and even God cannot make us holy and whole. Therefore, God accepts – saves – some people by ignoring their sins. They are not changed by God’s grace, it is a free and gratuitous gift of God. Therefore, after one has had this experience, a person cannot be unsaved. It is permanent. No wonder that it is called being “born again.”
There is a great truth here. No one can save himself; God’s action must come first and is absolutely necessary. Yet Catholicism believes that we are not totally corrupt. God’s grace – that is a relationship with Jesus – can change us so that we become more like Him. Therefore, although the church has an ancient and well-developed mystical tradition, no one experience of God is definitive. Although our actions cannot save us, they will show if we are in a right relationship with God. The Catholic question is “Is your conscience clear?” After examining our consciences, do we find ourselves free of Mortal – deadly – sin which would sever our relationship with God?
Continue reading “5th Sunday of Easter – Actively Loving Each Other”Evening Prayer at 5 PM
Please download the worship aid to participate in tonight’s evening prayer, which is offered in memory of Stephan Marchisella, a HeartShare St. Vincent’s scholar who is lovingly remembered by our parishioners. We extend our condolences to his family. Evening prayer will begin at 5 PM.
Instructions on how to join are available here.
Fourth Sunday of Easter – Homily (Msgr. LoPinto)
The first reading today comes from the Acts of the Apostles. That’s that story, that lengthy story that Luke records of the experience of the early church.
And one of the things that is very much noted in that presentation is transformation.
You have, as we see in the first reading today, the transformation of Peter.
The one who was so fearful that he denied the Lord three times, rather than acknowledge that he had awareness or knowledge or relationship with him.
Continue reading “Fourth Sunday of Easter – Homily (Msgr. LoPinto)”