Jesus tells us in the Gospel last Sunday how to welcome the weakest members of the community. Whoever welcomes one child such as this in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me - welcomes not me but the One who sent me. The Gospel this Sunday picks up on this: John sees someone expelling an unclean spirit using the name of Jesus. The man is an outsider, and the disciples try to stop him, but Jesus says: Anyone who is not against us is with us.

A week after the scene of the famous confession of Peter and the first passion prediction, Jesus reiterated His coming suffering, death, and resurrect. As they return to Capernaum, Jesus asks them what they are arguing along the way. They argued among themselves who was the greatest? Since Peter seems to be the unofficial leader, they expect him to give them an answer. Instead, Jesus gives them an unexpected answer: If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last and the servant of all. The greatest does not think of himself; to be the first in the eyes of God is not the goal. He is a leader who serves the least and the last.

1st of September 2024, twenty (20) years after the creation of St. Rose as a parish, we commemorate this occasion with the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of a New Church.

Today is a grace-filled moment for all parishioners of St. Rose. Our hearts are full of gratitude for all who were part of Our Faith, Our Future, and Our Parish journey. We appreciate all Pastors who served here, the present team of Priests, and all parishioners, both the past and the present. This groundbreaking is more than just moving dirt, as Bp. Dolan said in his homily.

Isaiah describes the people of Israel rejoicing because the Lord came to their aid and saved them. The Lord vindicated them from the eyes of their enemies. Israel experiences transformation as they acknowledge the saving power of God. He removes their ills a spiritual freedom people experience when the Messiah comes. Signs that characterized the Messianic time: the deaf can hear, and the mute can speak. The coming of Jesus fulfilled all these Messianic prophesies, Lk. 7:22, Go and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind see, cripple walked, lepers cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead resurrected to life, and the good news proclaimed to the poor.

The first reading tells us to observe the letter of the law, while the Gospel emphasizes the spirit of the law. Jesus cites the hypocrisy of the Pharisees for insisting on human tradition while neglecting the more important demands of the spirit of the law. The letter of St. James appeals to the spirit of the law as God’s perfect gift: be doers of the word, not hearers only, to be doers of God’s Will, to walk our talk.