Dear friends in Christ,

 

The Catholic Church has been around for over 2,000 years, which makes it not just the oldest religious institution, but also older than every government or human institution in the world. The Catholic Church is also the most diverse denomination on the planet spread to every corner of the Earth, speaking every language and incarnate in every culture. This is because it is not just a human institution, but also divine, founded by Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ when He gave the keys to the Kingdom to Saint Peter, our first Pope (Mt. 16:19), and sent the Holy Spirit on the Apostles on that first Pentecost. The Catholic Church today remains the largest charitable organization on the planet. No one could measure the amount of good done through the forgiveness of sin and spiritual encouragement given through countless devotions, Masses, and prayers. Yet, the Church cannot be just an ancient monolith or museum. It must be constantly reinvigorated and renewed by the creative and lifegiving Spirit to be ever ancient and ever new.

 

What a joy it is to celebrate the 110^th anniversary of Blessed Sacrament Church on Old York Road this weekend! It is a supreme honor to be the pastor of this beautiful and loving Church. In the year of our Church’s founding, William Taft was president followed by Woodrow Wilson, and Ford Motor Company was just starting to mass produce the Model-T cars. The Battle of Gettysburg was 50 years ago, the federal income tax was started, and a young Louis Armstrong was still crafting his art and learning music. It is really an amazing accomplishment to celebrate the 110^th anniversary of a Parish that has been through and seen a lot of changes. That same Spirit of love dwells with us. A Spirit of faithfulness through difficult times. Who can doubt we are in difficult times now? The recent Mass shootings, the cultural wars, politics that divide instead of uniting us, an economy that is inflating, and threating recession, racism and discrimination still rear its ugly head, the war in the Ukraine, and our dear Charm City of Baltimore is suffering. But a celebration of 110 years proves to us that we have been through difficulties before and that there is always hope! The Spirit of God drives out despair and gives us peace.

 

The Blessed Sacrament is Jesus’ promise to us that He will always be with us in different and new ways. The Eucharist is the creative way in which Christ is truly present to us in the bread and wine to intimately share every aspect of our lives. He will never leave us and will always inspire new ways for us to be Church to each other and the world we love around us. So, my dear friends, let us celebrate this momentous occasion with great gusto and joy. We have done a lot for the Kingdom of God and have lots more to do in the exciting and new ways in which the Holy Spirit will lead us. We can always trust as Parishioners of Blessed Sacrament that He will always be with us!

 

God love you!

 

Fr. Matt
 

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