All Saints Parish Homilies and News

Orthodox Easter Day in the Greek Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Russian Orthodox Religions. S Paskhoy        Happy Easter. Easter Alter at Saint Charles Borromeo on Russian Easter Sunday April 28, 2019. https://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/russia/easter-day

Notre Dame Cathedral - by Emily E. Graham Assistant Prof essor of Medieval History, Oklahoma State University   speciality is religious history of the Later Middle Ages. Essay published in The Conversation Notre Dame in Paris at night PARIS - The burning wreckage of the 12th-century Notre-Dame de Paris led to an immediate outpouring of grief over the damage to its irreplaceable architecture and works of art. But as a scholar of medieval religious history, I know that the cathedral has an influence that goes way beyond its physical structure. Its impact on the city and its people is not just visual, but social, religious and political. The cathedral and the city Medieval Paris was a thriving and cosmopolitan city of merchants, beggars, bankers, servants and scholars. Its households were graced with fine tapestries and furnishings, and shops featured luxurious fabrics and furs, maintained by servants requiring the management of a capably trained housekeeper . Fro...

St. Charles Borromeo Church, Brunswick ME, Monsignor Joseph Ford on April 21, 2019 homily published with his permission. Thank you Father Ford. I believe this homily is excellent and should be widely read beyond the Easter Season.   Homily of Father Ford:  The joy of this Easter Day is marred by the great sadness caused by the fire at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.  In my view, the tragedy has manifested the wonder of faith seemingly rejected in an irreligious culture.  The agnostic president of France has promised to rebuild the Cathedral. Young people in the hundreds knelt in the Parisian street.  The reaction of the city and the world demonstrates the deep yearning for God in the soul of every person. It reminds us that God years to be one with every one of us. Faith lives despite the efforts to ignore the wonder of God.  We know that faith is a tremendous gift. We who have come together this Easter mor...

We are all one with Paris in the aftermath of this tragedy.  A photograph sent to me on social media, came from an American student in Paris who was in the streets watching the fire and then she created a graphic over the smoke. I thought this photograph taken by a friend’s daughter who is attending the Sorbonne and living in Paris near Notre Dame, was moving. As she watched with thousands of others, she snapped this photo of the smoke rising from the burning cathedral. She then sketched the face of a woman she visualized in the smoke symbolizing to her the Blessed Mother with her flowing hair being blown behind her. She wrote that the crowd was singing and praying together in solidarity.  We are all one with Paris in the aftermath of this tragedy.  Gail- in South Carolina

A link to my Bangor Daily News blog: Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris

My photography taken in 1998 with an old fashioned film camera. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/notre-dame-cathedral-fire-heroes-human-chain-crown-of-thorns-blessed-sacrament/ A brave chaplain and a human chain saved holy relics from Notre Dame Cathedral fire Paris' Deputy Mayor for Tourism and Sports, Jean-Francois Martins told "CBS This Morning" on Tuesday, April 16, 2019, that people on the scene jumped into action to salvage the trove of art and artifacts housed in Notre Dame Cathedral as a devastating fire engulfed the ancient building the previous evening. "We made a human chain, with our friends from the church... to get, as quick as possible, to get all the relics," he said, noting that the Crown of Thorns believed to have been worn by Jesus Christ on the cross was among the items rescued. "Thanks to the great bravery of all our firefighters, and as well all the public servants there, we had a very quick intervention. Very quickly a team was fu...

http://catholicmom.com/2019/04/14/daily-gospel-reflection-for-april-14-2019-palm-sunday/ Gospel: Luke 22:14—23:56 – Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion St. John the Baptist Church alter in Brunswick, Maine on April 14, 2019 Palm Sunday Prayer:  Lord, I do not say it often enough, but thank You for the gift of the Eucharist. Make me worthy to sit at Your table always. Amen