My brothers and sisters,Living in such a turbulent time of ups and downs and unknowns, we can ever draw upon the source of our security and assurance in the steadfast love of God provided to us in His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Peering into the unknown, at times, can fill us with fear and consume us with darkness, but remember the confirmation we have in our faith that Jesus Christ is “Light from Light, True God from True God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father” (Nicene Creed). Consequently, our communion with Christ, whether it be spiritual in nature or our physical reception of it in Holy Eucharist, our oneness with Him gives us the ability to peer into the unknown with the light that scatters the darkness.“But the one who peers into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres and is not a hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, such a one shall be blessed in what he does.” (James 1:25) Therefore we are presented with the opportunity to peer into the unknown future with freedom and perseverance to be doers of the Word, not just hearers, and to put into practice what we have been taught for generations as Catholics.Our Catholic faith has persevered and endured through the best of times and through the worst of times, through plagues, pandemics and epidemics, through the underground church, political oppression, persecution and martyrdom. Nonetheless, the proclamation of the Good News has been an ever-present message of the victory of Jesus Christ over the tomb. Thus, we will not be privy to fear, we will not fall prey to isolation or despondency, for we are a communal people, bound in the mystical Body of Christ by His Blood. Let us be lifted up in spirit and in truth for, “the Lord is [our] shepherd; there is nothing [we] shall want.” As we hear in the second reading from the letter to the Ephesians chapter 5 verse 8, “you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light”!!!- Father Pagano
