St. Rose Philippine Duchesne - New Church Ground Breaking Ceremony

09-15-2024Weekly ReflectionFr. Bing Colasito

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.

The bigger groundbreaking is the inward conversion of the heart, and the readings point to this theme: 1.) Moses encourages the people to abide in God and with one another and to stay in God as they prepare to enter the promised land, 2.) Groundbreaking reminder from the Psalms: The JUST will live in the presence of the Lord, 3.) The groundbreaking challenge of St. James: To be doers of the WORD and not hearers only, 4.) Jesus in the Gospel nails the meaning of the inward conversion of the heart: Nothing that enters a person from outside can make the person un- clean, but the one that comes from within, from the HEART that defiles the person.

Today, we can also experience a groundbreaking moment in our lives if we are willing to turn and move the dirt and live just lives, not in the future but now, in the present, TO LIVE IN THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD.