Fr Fr John Poncini: As my final days wind down as pastor of our wonderful parish of St. Nicholas & St. William, and St. Nicholas School, I want to take this opportunity to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the kind, uplifting, and heartfelt words that I have received from so many...

“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.” (Matthew 18:6). I remember reading this quote from Jesus long before I ever had children and feeling the weight of these words. Over the years I often wondered if I would be up to the challenge of being a good Catholic father...

Bro. Keiran Fenn of the Marist Brothers used to say that the people of God should be fed from the two tables–the table of the Word and the table of the Eucharist. And he is right. Jesus feeds the people from the table of the Word through his preaching. He also feeds their souls with words that come from his lips. "Man doesn’t live on bread alone but also on the words spoken by God."

Among the Body of Christ, there are those who, in this day and age, are persecuted for the good fruit they bear for Christ. We remember and stand with these believers who are persecuted yet remain rooted in their faith. Let us pray today for these believers who bear good fruit in some of the harshest environments. You can find out more at https://www.opendoors.org/. During Religious Freedom Week the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB.org) invites Catholics to pray, reflect, and act to promote religious freedom. Since 2018, under its patrons Sts. Thomas More and John Fisher, this week annually highlights how religious freedom allows the Church to live out our faith in public and to serve the common good.

Ascension is both an end and a beginning. Ascension can be understood as an end because it marks the final moments of Jesus’ public ministry and the end of his physical bond with his disciples. Ascension is also a beginning because the physical absence of Jesus marks the beginning of the disciples’ mission to bring Jesus and his gospel to the people. I also mentioned last Sunday that Jesus “works from home” in heaven while seated at the right hand of the Father. Before he ascended into heaven, he promised the Holy Spirit to his apostles to guide them, to inspire them, to animate them, as they preach the gospel of Jesus. And that promise finds its fulfilment today as we celebrate the feast of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles.