A Message from Fr. Jay
Dear Friends,
A critically ill young man was admitted to the hospital. When the doctor gave him little hope of recovery, he pleaded, “Doctor, please—I don’t want to die. I have so much left to do. Do everything you can, and I’ll donate $100,000 to the hospital’s building fund.” Fortunately, his condition improved, and he eventually returned home. Months later, the doctor saw him at a social event and reminded him of his promise: “You said that if you recovered, you would donate $100,000. We could really use it now.” The young man replied, “Wow! If I said that, I must have been really sick!”
Integrity means honoring our promises through concrete actions. Jesus calls us to be people of integrity—an integrity rooted in humility and expressed by doing everything for Him. As St. Paul reminds us in the second reading, we are called to share the attitude of Christ Jesus, “who, though He was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, He emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found in human appearance, He humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
As Christians called to live for others and God, let us build up our integrity! Yes means yes and no means no!
Because the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi falls on Sunday next weekend, we will hold our annual Blessing of the Animals on Saturday, October 3, at 10:00am. This year also marks the 800th anniversary of St. Francis’s death, commemorated during the jubilee year from January 10, 2026, to January 10, 2027. To celebrate, I hope to organize a pilgrimage to St. Francis of Assisi Church in Grove City, Englewood, FL. More details will be shared in the coming months.
God Bless,
Fr. Jay Raju
- Reading 1: Ezekiel 18:25-28
- Reading 2: Philippians 2:1-11
- Gospel: Matthew 21:28-32
