Letter from the Pastor
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June 2, 2024Welcome to the Little Sisters of the Poor who will speak at all the Masses and ask us to help them in their wonderful and most important ministry to the elderly poor. It is always a joy to have the Little Sisters with us. And thank you for your generous help.
The Month of June
The month of June belongs to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It has been claimed for Him since 1673, when a French nun began to receive visions about the Sacred Heart. Our Lord appeared to Sister Margaret Mary Alacoque and revealed ways to venerate His Sacred Heart and explained the immense love He has for all of us. Our Lord appeared with His heart visible outside His chest, on fire, and surrounded by a crown of thorns. June is the month dedicated to the Sacred Heart because the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart is celebrated during the month. This year, the Solemnity falls on June 7. The specific date changes as it is observed on the Friday after the octave of Corpus Christi or the Friday after the second Sunday after Pentecost.
Recently however, our culture has usurped the meaning of June. Our society associates the month of June to promote and praise Pride Month. You can’t avoid it, as every minute of every day in June you’ll find “pride” advertising on TV, displays in the stores, sports leagues devoting games to it, and city and town governments sponsoring official “pride parades.”
“Pride month” celebrations and the institutions, businesses, and people who endorse them are giving their seal of approval to a lifestyle that goes against what God instituted as the norm and purpose.
The Church has always taught us to treat one another with the respect and dignity that all human beings deserve. However, there are lifestyles that we as followers of Christ cannot condone, approve and certainly never promote. St. Augustine gave us the moral distinction: “Love the sinner, but hate the sin”.
The LBGTQ community use as a motto, “love is love.” Like most half-truths, it sounds good to our ears. But we know upon reflection, that the statement is incomplete with a very loose definition of love. We all know that all love is not equal. And it is always important to define the terms. So what is love? Only human beings are capable of love, giving and receiving. We were made by Love and for Love. St. John tells us that God is Love. Love needs to be expressed in word and action. The highest form of love is self-sacrifice, laying down one’s life. Love is not pleasure, it is not fleeting, it is not an emotion. Love is a choice, “I choose to love you.” Regrettably, the world’s concept of love is only seen as emotional satisfaction or sexual gratification.
Such a minimalistic view of “love” deprives the human heart of its excellence. It cheapens love. It lessens our capacity to truly love, to care for others, and enjoy relationships of mutual selflessness and service.
Love tells the truth. We seek the truth; we abhor lies and never want anyone to lie to us. Truth also helps us to know reality and right from wrong. Truth is objective, what was true 10,000 years ago, is still true today and will be 10,000 years from now. Truth cannot change.
Love seeks the good, even to the point of denying oneself for the sake of the beloved. I want the good for you even if it is not good for me at this time. Truth directs love; it sets proper boundaries and cautions love against selfishness. Rather than pride, love always chooses the way of humility. We hear this reading at most weddings: St. Paul in his First Letter to the Corinthians:
“Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
As we live through the month of June, we need to give witness to the Sacred Heart by sharing true love with others.
Jesus, meek and humble of Heart, make our heart like unto Thine.
