WE ARE the Disciples!

Here we are at another Holy Week and I find myself reflecting on who WE are as DISCIPLES of Jesus.

We know that the original 12 disciples, and all those unnamed followers in those earliest days, well, some were strong and faithful to the end, and others, eh, not so much. There's some comfort in knowing that we're not alone in the struggle to be faithful to our Lord and Savior.

How are you living your life as a disciple of Christ? What are you reflecting on as this Holy Week begins? How did you do with your Lenten practices? Did these 40 days help you draw closer to Jesus?

What do disciples DO anyway?
They must do more than fish, right?

Disciples listen, to the Lord first, to hear what God's will is...
Disciples act in accordance with the will of God...

What do you think God is asking of you these days?

How can you best use your gifts, as a disciple, to help others know the love of God?
Can we help you discover this in the parish?
Are you called to make others feel at home here? Are you called to proclaim the word of God, or assist in bringing Jesus in the Eucharist to others?
Are you called to share your faith as a teacher or companion to someone just beginning their journey of faith?
Are you called to be the warm smile that helps a stranger feel at home with us when they walk through the doors?
We each have gifts to share with one another. May this Holy Week help you discover or discern more deeply, what gifts you have that you would like to share with others.

Disciples look to see the needs of the world around them and act to meet that need.

A great example of this would be the way our parish family and our Facebook friends acted in concert these last few weeks to collect supplies and create our Easter gift bags for our homeless neighbors. Your generosity was overwhelming. Your goodness will bring a bit of happiness to those folks we will meet on the street in the next week. Please know how grateful we are for your kindness. This has been an incredible life lesson for our children in learning what they can actually do to help those who are less fortunate then themselves. We will place these gift bags at the doors of the church during the holy days ... if you would like to take a bag to share with one you may meet on the way home from church, please feel free.

Yesterday, Palm Sunday, we processed from the park to the church waving palm branches and singing Hosanna. The sound of your voices preceded you into church and gave me goosebumps. What I saw were hundreds of you, proud of your faith, your community and your God, and your joyful willingness to witness to that at the very crossroads of our neighborhoods: the Upper East Side and East Harlem. I was and continue to be so proud of who we are as a parish family. Thank you for helping me pray this week. I hope I can do the same for you.

May we learn more deeply this week, what it truly means to be a disciple of Jesus in our world today, and may we be joyful witnesses to the love of Christ in this time and place.

Happy Easter.