Sunday, February 3, 2013
A weekly column by the pastor of St. Mary-St. Catherine of Siena Parish in Charlestown.
Try as I might, I find it hard to plan for events and programs long in advance. Every time someone tells me, “We have to meet to talk about ...” and the event is several months in the future, it seems silly to me that we are planning today for something so far ahead! One would think I would learn after all these years that several months away is really around the corner, and little happens well if it is not planned well. So to my surprise, we find ourselves on the eve of the Lenten season! On Wednesday, Feb. 13, these holy days begin with the distribution of ashes. We are called to remember our mortality, and this sobering recollection can well place us ready to look to the holy season ahead in a beneficial way. Life is fragile, …
42.373777
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Saint Mary-Saint Catherine of Siena Parish
55 Warren St, Charlestown, MA
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Sunday, January 20, 2013
A weekly column by the pastor of St. Mary-St. Catherine of Siena Parish in Charlestown.
We walked along the sidewalk and there were flower gardens, lawn, shrubs and trees all along the way. He was holding my hand—it was a stretch for both of us for he was only two years old. The weather was warm and lovely, typical for springtime in Virginia, and there were ants and various bugs crawling everywhere, celebrating the rites of spring. My nephew caught sight of these critters and nothing would do but he had to let go of my hand and crawl along, following a busy colony of something. He was lost in amazement, completely outside of himself in wonder as he crawled through puddles and over rock in pursuit of the mystery of this life. I have always held that memory as a classic understanding of what it means "to wonder." Wonder is …
42.373777
-71.061765
Saint Mary-Saint Catherine of Siena Parish
55 Warren St, Charlestown, MA
/articles/father-ronan-to-wonder
1824630
/locations/8628363
Sunday, December 23, 2012
A weekly column by the pastor of St. Mary-St. Catherine of Siena Parish in Charlestown.
It was painful to move any part of my body. The pain medication lasted only a couple of hours and barely diminished the intensity. Nights were very long and I recall once looking out the window of my bedroom toward the east where the ink-black night was ever so slowly fading to the hope of a new day. Gradually the slightest tinges of color became visible and I found within myself a quickening expectation that at the dawn of the day, the pain would be easier and I could find a way forward. That chapter of my life is more than 10 years past, and after a few months the peculiar autoimmune disease that was ravaging the muscles in my body was brought to remission and I recuperated. Yet from time to time I remember clearly how anticipation of …
42.373777
-71.061765
Saint Mary-Saint Catherine of Siena Parish
55 Warren St, Charlestown, MA
/articles/father-ronan-awaiting-the-dawn
1824630
/locations/8429551
Sunday, December 16, 2012
A weekly column by the pastor of St. Mary-St. Catherine of Siena Parish in Charlestown.
Did you ever have the experience of hearing some piece of music that you liked and, for days after, the melody keeps running through your head? Sometimes that can be a distraction. But at other times, it can be enjoyable, perhaps inspirational, or even evoke a profound and meaningful awareness as has been the case for me this past week. The psalm we sang at last weekend’s Masses proclaimed: The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with gladness and joy! As I moved through the week, and even now recall those words, I keep calling to mind the great things God has done for me and for us. At the heart of what God has done for us, of course, is the Incarnation—the birth of Jesus, Son of Mary in Bethlehem so long ago and still very …
42.373777
-71.061765
Saint Mary-Saint Catherine of Siena Parish
55 Warren St, Charlestown, MA
/articles/father-ronan-god-s-promise-fulfilled
1824630
/locations/8379894
Sunday, September 16, 2012
In the end, every story comes around to each person becoming amazed, humbled, delighted and awed by discovering in oneself and in the other, the love they have for one another.
There are many young men and women in our Parish and others from outside of the Parish who wish to celebrate their marriage vows in beautiful Saint Mary’s Church. They notify us of this interest through our website so that we know the specifics of their plans. Then I meet with them and begin their time of preparation. Marriage preparation with these couples is one of the many joys of my life as a parish priest. As we come to know each other, I ask them to explain to me how they met and, even more, to account the journey that has brought them to this moment of planning their marriage. Most often as they begin their story, always unique and beautiful, I tease details out of them and invite them to wonder how it all came to be. Wonder is the…
Sunday, September 9, 2012
One of Charlestown's Catholic priests considers what "peace" really means.
I cannot recall in what subject the class was when the professor asked the simple question, “Is the opposite of war, peace?” At first I thought it must be a trick question, because I was certain the simple and correct answer was, “Yes, of course!” My fellow students held back, giving me pause to think again. Soon enough I was drawn into the complex questions that sought to define peace and even more challenging, map a pathway for peace to exist. At that time students listened very attentively because the Vietnam War was raging and the country was being torn apart by dissent. The year was 1968 and soon enough all of the men graduating would be facing mandatory military service in a war most of us found wrong. So many years later the …
Sunday, September 2, 2012
With all development and growth, there are also tragic losses.
Like many of the children who grew up in Charlestown in the 1950’s, growing up in Dorchester my family belonged to a very large Catholic Parish. Multiple Masses on Sunday with standing room only was the norm. Routinely, the faithful participated in the Sacrament of confession, and weekly, they attended Sunday Mass and Holy Communion. One learned the Catholic Faith in school or CCD classes as well as in various parish programs and activities. Preparation for the sacraments was quite formal and thorough. Catholic “literacy” was high, and we actually took for granted that we all knew so much about our faith and regularly practiced it. The highly effective role of religious sisters was paramount in Boston as in many other major cities. The …
Sunday, August 26, 2012
The date for the annual Blessing of the Animals is October 7 at Thompson Square. There will be a gathering all of the Churches in Charlestown for the International Day of Peace on Friday, September 21.
It was always about this time in August when my mother would gather a few of us and tell us to get cleaned up because we were going shopping—for “back-to-school” clothes and shoes. Just thinking about that directive from my loving mother, I still bristle and resist! My response inevitably was something like, “But, we don’t have to go back to school for weeks!” The protests didn’t matter—off we went. Because there were both boys in girls in the family that meant I had to tolerate going shopping for my sisters too—it was the most horrible way to spend a beautiful summer’s day! This familiar scene is being repeated all over the city and suburbs as shopping malls are filled with families searching for good values and proper sizes of clothes …
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Any day could be your last. So, make them all worthwhile.
Matthew was a freshman in college. Bright, articulate, handsome, and oh so eager to learn about everything! This was his first experience in the United States, as he had arrived from France only a few weeks before the start of classes. It was easy to like Matthew and he was already popular on the campus. A few months into the year, Matthew went to the college health service with a suspicious lump on his body. After consultations and tests at the hospital, the diagnosis was rendered quickly: malignant melanoma, advanced stage. The response of the medical team was excellent. Within days, Matthew was scheduled for surgery and follow-up treatments began. I visited Matthew daily and we became good friends. On one occasion, during an evening …
Sunday, August 12, 2012
The deepest hungers of the human heart are not for food.
When most of us feel hungry we open the refrigerator door, go to a cabinet and find something to eat, dial for takeout, or look for a place to find and buy some food. Without much effort, we find a way to satiate our hunger. Yet we all know that there are other kinds of hungers which are not so easily satisfied—a longing for companionship and love; a yearning for meaning and purpose. Yes, the deepest hungers of the human heart are not for food, but rather for relationships with others that are significant and life-giving and for a sense of purpose. The God Who created each of us has placed this longing in every person’s heart, and most every day, in one way or another, it is a hunger we seek to satisfy. When we experience it, we not only …
Joseph
8:53 am on Friday, September 28, 2012
Thank you Laurendecruz for the bump. After reading all the trash and fluff on The Patch this morning, I needed this article. G'day. more ›