From the Pastor:

A small Catholic Parish in the western North Carolina mountains, is called by Jesus himself to be disciples and witnesses to his living presence in our hearts, our families, our communities, our world, in Christian lives of faith, hope and charity.

We come together on Sunday as a family in faith to praise and thank God. In the Mass, we celebrate our hope in eternal life, we celebrate the victorious rising from the dead of Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus the Christ. St. John in his Gospel reveals a wonder to us on how belief in God is not rooted in understanding first, but rooted in the love of God. In his writing, we discover a truth in the relationship between our faith and our love. The beloved disciple is the key to our discovery on how faith and love are connected.

St. John provides us a subtle detail in his Gospel, one of an unsolved mystery, of an unanswered riddle, but there is one thin red thread which leads us to our risen Lord, Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, whom God raised from the dead almost two thousand years ago, alive, glorified and present with us now.

St. Mary Magdalene, who knew the earthly Jesus very well, gets up early to care for Jesus’ dead body. When she discovers the stone rolled away, she does not go into the tomb, she assumes that his body has been taken away, but she knows not where. She had been given new life in Jesus before the crucifixion, but the thought of resurrection is nowhere near, in her mind or in her heart. She runs back to the other disciples to tell them.

St. Peter, the disciple of ‘action’, who had bitterly cried in the Courtyard after denying his Lord three times, runs to the tomb, while almost all the others remain behind. They are not even curious enough to see for themselves. Peter runs to the tomb, but the disciple that Jesus loves is younger and runs faster than Peter, so he reaches the tomb first, yet he does not go in.

St. Peter, the disciple of ‘action’, goes into the empty tomb immediately when arriving after the beloved disciple. He observes the burial garments neatly folded, there was no ransacking here, no plundering or stealing of a dead body. John tells us that Peter did not yet understand the scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead. Peter returns home, not understanding what he saw. The thought of resurrection is nowhere near, in his mind or in his heart.

But here is the thin red thread, the beloved disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, believed because he saw the empty tomb. He did not believe later, not after pondering the sight for many hours, not after eating and drinking with the Risen Lord, but immediately because he saw the empty tomb. St. John is teaching us that Love of God, not comprehension, is directly related to faith in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, alive and glorified and present here among us.

What is on the other end of the thin red thread? We, my brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus, are that disciple that Jesus loves, God loves us so much that he gave us his most precious gift, his son Jesus. Jesus wants us to be with him for eternity. That for his friends, he gave up his life. It is He, alive and glorified who feeds us his precious body and blood in the Holy Eucharist at every Mass in every Catholic Church over the four corners of the earth. In our love of God, and our love for one and other, serving one and other, forgiving one and other, we discover the living presence of Jesus. Not a phantom, not a philosophical concept to banter about, but Him I AM, fully alive and glorified.

The glorified and living Jesus, whom we have faith in, is praying for us and with us. That our faith may not fail, and like St. Peter that we, living in the light, asking God for forgiveness and the gift of new life, may strengthen others who fear the darkness of sin and death.

Every Sunday marks our resurrection joy. Together we celebrate our new life in the living Jesus. In our small mountain Church, the Holy Mass reveals the peace in Christ Jesus that God offers each and everyone of us. Alleluia!

St. Margaret Mary is a small Catholic Parish in the western North Carolina mountains. We are called by Jesus himself to be disciples and witnesses to his living presence in our hearts, our families, our communities, our world, in Christian lives of faith, hope and charity. Would you please unite your prayers with us? And when you visit, our doors are always open.

In the peace of Christ Jesus,
Fr. Frank Seabo
Pastor

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