Second Sunday of Easter or Divine Mercy Sunday

"The Incredulity of St Thomas" by Caravaggio

My Companions: Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.  Let us rejoice in the glory of God this Easter season! Forgive us Lord when, like Thomas, we stubbornly seek signs and proof of Your most wonderful love. Thank you especially for the wonderful gift of Your Son and for all our blessings: our health, our work and our opportunities to play.  Please continue to comfort those who suffer sickness, anxiety and other challenging times.

Birthdays: Steve Jacobs (4/27)

Keeping In-touch: We had a wonderful celebration of Holy Week and Easter Sunday.  Although we fought a virus through the week we seemed to beat it and celebrated Easter at Lori Beth and Tony's: Nathan entertains all of us...

St Joseph the Carpenter Georges_de_La_Tour

The Readings: Second Sunday of Easter  or Divine Mercy Sunday

May 1st is also the feast of St Joseph the Worker

Fr. Foley's Reflections: A Broken Heart


My thoughts... and an invitation to you.  I had chosen St. Joseph as my confirmation patron and I pray especially this week that he "bends the Lord's ear" to bless our work of The Emmaus Institute. We will share our story and vision with people in Illinois and Michigan.  We have so many advocates in the communion of saints both among us (mortal) and "those who have entered through death into the fullness of God" (immortal). So let us join with Thomas, Joseph and All Saints in our worship and in our work for the Kingdom of God. Let not our fears or our doubts lessen the powerful, all encompassing love of God.

May the peace of Christ be with each of you,

John

Do you have a comment or insight to share?

Easter Sunday: Solemnity of the Resurrection of The Lord

Supper at Emmaus, Caravaggio

My Companions: Glory, Glory, Glory Lord for you are all life in the heavens and on the earth!  Forgive us our failures to serve and to find You in all things.  Thank You for all Your blessings.  And please give us all we need: especially the courage to pass through sufferings and expect Your power to restore us to full life.

Birthdays: Donna Van Dusen (4/21), Kevin Norton (4/22); Anniversaries: Fr. Michael Carvill (4/22), Ed & Betty Lay would have celebrated 64 yrs (4/23).

Keeping In-touch: I completed my taxes with an hour and a half to spare, then crashed with an illness that took me for a day or so.  We received some very needed rain and prepared the soil for Marge's garden between storms.  The blossoms delight our sense of sight and smell and the waking flowers decorate our yard.  Marge is under the weather but we will experience great joy at our celebration of Easter, visiting with family and friends.  Please have a most wonderful Easter and live the Resurrection we will celebrate.

The Readings: Easter Sunday: Solemnity of the Resurrection of The Lord 

Fr. Foley's reflections: Dawn

  my reflection: I don't want to suffer or die but I have come to know that passing through little sufferings brings me to little "resurrections" and I expect to experience life now and the fullness of life in days to come.  I'm overwhelmed by Mystery and have experienced the Resurrected Jesus through my companions and the concrete events of Sacrament.  I can't "prove" this Great Love, but I experience it... even in moments of anxiety and suffering.  What an awesome responsibility we have: to allow The Lover, The Love, and The Beloved to become incarnate in us!!  We are a Resurrection People.

May the Peace of Christ be with all of you,

John


Contribute to our prayer, leave a comment with your insights.

Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion

My Companions: Let us pray, Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord!  Can we ever begin to imagine Your Glory!  Our failure to do so causes us alienation from our own selves, from our brothers and sisters, from creation, and from You; forgive us. Thank you for all your blessings: for the health and growth of Joseph Foresman, who is now seven months old, for our medical providers and the tools they have to help us live fully, and for the opportunity to celebrate our love for you (worship) with our brothers and sisters.  And, Lord, bless us with all we need.  Especially care for those who live in the war-torn parts of our world and those who continue to suffer from natural and human disasters.  Also we have a special request for the men of the Davis family who will attend a retreat together for the first time this weekend.

Birthdays: Pat Serveiss (4/16), Ron DiSanto (4/16).

Keeping in-touch: We had a wonderful encounter this week with Haley and Eddie Foresman's son, Joseph.  You may remember how we prayed for him seven months ago when he came into this world early weighing only a couple pounds.  He is a beautiful little baby growing and doing what little babies do.  Marge & I visited the doctors and are on the right track to grow older together!  We've returned to our rec-center routine.  It's Spring-time in the Rockies so Marge has plenty to do in her garden, I'm very busy with the end of the term, and our weather brings surprises of snow one day and sun-bathing temperatures the next.

Readings: Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion  

Fr. Foley's Reflection: The Man Who Would Be King: "So, at last, Jesus was doing it, the thing he had preached about. Give yourself for others. Now he was showing real kingship."

My comments and an invitation for your post: Our assembly this weekend leads us to Holy Week.  I hope we all take the time to participate in these celebrations of the our sacred celebrations of our faith.  We really experience the lows and highs of life as we follow Jesus through the crucifixion and His Resurrection.

May the peace of Christ be with all of you.

John

Contribute to our prayer, leave a comment with your insights.

Fifth Sunday of Lent

Vincent Van Gogh- La Résurrection de Lazare 

My Companions: Let us praise God and seek His Glory in all things; let's reflect on the little things we may have done to shine light in our world and resolve to miss fewer opportunities; may our hearts be filled with gratitude: especially for friends and companions, and let us ask for our needs: healing for Katie Frodl, Fr. Ed Poehlmann; comfort for John Fitzgibbons and Fr. Bill Miller; peace in war-torn countries; and continued help for the disaster areas of our country.

Birthdays: Adam Olson (4/3), Mark Schnitzer (4/3), Dani Schnitzer (4/6)

Keeping In-touch: We celebrate weather diversity in Colorado!  Fishing at a local pond on Saturday in eighty degree temps and a first team tennis practice with die-hard members in the corn-snow on Sunday reveal weather-schizophrenia in the Denver area.  It was a hard week, with the loss of Marge's friend, but also a week of joy with the support of friends. The baseball season has begun!

Readings: Fifth Sunday of Lent

Fr. Foley's Reflection: Love and Death "Death does not erase love, it brings you more deeply back to it, to the place you came from—love’s rich loam."
a few comments: Witnessing Marge grieve the loss of her friend, Nancy, last week startled me to feel the hurt of a great loss.  Jesus brings Lazarus back to life after four days of death but Lazarus, with Mary and Martha, will again experience loss and pain.  In waiting to attend to Lazarus before he passed, Jesus challenged us to seek the Love at the base of life... and at the base of even death.  Maybe when we think God has not answered our prayer, we need to look deeper with faith and hope and find Love.


May Christ's peace be with you all,


John


... do you have an insight?  or a grace you might share?

Nancy Fitzgibbons

On Wednesday, March 30th, Marge's good friend, Nancy Fitzgibbons left our world after her battle with cancer.

See Nancy's web site at
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/nancyfitzgibbons

An Old Irish Blessing

May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind always be at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face, and rains fall soft upon your fields. And until we meet again, May God hold you in the palm of His hand.