Dear Parishioners,

Another year of First Holy Communions is over. Our second grade students did a fine job learning their lessons and we are so proud of them. They also made colorful banners and attended a retreat where they were eager to decorate their own beautiful Chalices. They got all dressed up and excitedly arrived at Mass with their families. They patiently listened to Fr. Mike speak to them about peace, respect and being one of God’s children. Then they received the Eucharist for the first time. What a moment! What a celebration! And now they get it…that when they come to Mass each week, they are coming to share a meal and be a part of something that will feed them spiritually for the rest of their lives. They are coming to receive Jesus Christ.

As in today’s Gospel, thousands of people came to hear Jesus, to be healed by Jesus and they received so much more. They shared a meal with Him. But wasn’t it more than just having enough food for everyone. Wasn’t it about being together and sharing together. It’s about having enough spiritually not only physically.

“We already have inside us what it takes to lift the human spirit, however when God is with us, there is no limit to filling the human heart.”

I frequently refer to the human heart as the receptacle of all truth, but it is so much more. It holds the essence of our character and our personality and the two are not the same. Character is the measure of our assimilation and acting on divine truth. The qualities of godliness that we each contain have formed the basis of several of my sermons in the recent past.

Joy, peace and love are among the most important and they are mentioned repeatedly in the Easter Gospels. Qualities such as these and others are the true measure of our character. Personality on the other hand is the more intangible way that people come to know us. We may be gruff, content, smiling or frowning, but whatever our personality happens to be it does not stop us from acting on the true intentions of our heart to bring God’s gifts into the world.

How often have we judged other people because of some quirk of personality only to find out later that we were mistaken? Such mistakes often require an apology and the recognition that God’s gifts of joy, love and peace and many others can come to us from every personality type on earth. It is a reminder to be more patient, tolerant and understanding of others because true discipleship may come from someone you least expect.