So often we focus on the mercy, love and compassion of God. And these are indeed important attributes of God. But Jesus in today’s gospel reminds us of another attribute we need to be mindful of as it balances out the others—God’s justice and how he hates sin. The admonitions to cut off one’s hand or foot or to pluck out one’s eye are obviously not literal. Jesus is not advocating self-mutilation when it comes to sin. But he is graphically trying to convey how deeply we need to resist all temptations, urges, and sinful inclinations that come from within. Failure to do so, could result into being cast into Gehenna with its unquenchable fire. (Gehenna is often used as an image for hell. In Jesus’ time, Gehenna was basically a garbage dump that was on fire continuously to burn the refuse that was there. An apt image for hell.)
This passage, besides showing us the consequences for sin, also reminds us of our duty to not only avoid sin, but to avoid the near occasions of sin. To avoid those places or situations which may not in an of themselves be sinful but could lead us to sin. There is nothing wrong with going to a bar to grab a drink. But if it leads me to get drunk, then I need to avoid going there. There is nothing immoral about browsing the internet for information or working on my computer. But if it causes me to look at inappropriate images and videos, then I need to be vigilant. Let us take Jesus’ warnings and admonitions to heart and strive to live truly holy lives being aware of God’s justice but relying on his mercy and love for when we fall short.
In the coming weeks, you will see some changes to the bulletin. Starting next weekend, our bulletin will increase from its current 8 pages to 12 pages. We will have 12-page bulletins from September-May, and then back to 8 pages for the summer months of June-August. This will allow for more frequent updates from parish organizations. It will also allow for a larger font to be used for our more “visually challenged” parishioners. We will be experimenting with different layouts to see what is most effective and visually appealing. We hope you will like the changes. Because we can include more information more frequently, the need for announcements at mass will be drastically reduced. Please make sure you take and read the parish bulletin to remain informed about parish events. It is also available online at the parish website and available on “MyParish” the St Anthony parish app. I want to thank Diocesan Publications for allowing us to increase our bulletin size and for being so accommodating to our needs.
For those of you who take Harlem Avenue to get to St Anthony and go over the railroad tracks in the process, please be aware that they will be working on the train crossing starting Monday, September 30th for the next 3 days. Hate to see any of you run late to mass because of the construction.
Next weekend, I will present the financial annual report for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2024. It will be an insert in the bulletin. The annual report will have a different look to it so I hope you will spend time reading it and looking over the information. There really is a lot of good news about our parish that I am looking forward to sharing with you.
The roofing project was approved by the Diocese. Adler Roofing is hoping to begin replacing the church (and parish hall) roofs starting Tuesday, October 1. If all goes well, the roof will be installed before winter and hopefully the leak in the skylight will be repaired. We can only hope and pray about the skylight.