First NYC Church Dedicated to Mary, Founded in 1826
Young St. Francis, in a desire to raise funds to repair the old church of San Damian, took expensive cloth from his father’s shop and sold it together with the horse he was riding. In a fit of fury his father locked him up and had him brought before the bishop to demand that Francis return the stolen property.
The Lord God says, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.” (Jeremiah 1.5) Each of us is created uniquely with a context, particular gifts and inclinations that when coordinated with the Creator’s plan stand out in human history.
St. Francis wrote his canticle of creatures in 1225, the oldest known text of Italian literature, from which we take the song, “All Creatures of Our God and King,” in which the Saint praises God for his work through brother son and sister moon and all of creation.
One day, St. Francis of Assisi together with brother Mateo went questing, that is walking and begging for food for the brothers. They walked in separate directions and met up on the edge of town at a large fountain of water with a broad stone in front of it.
There is a story in the 14th century compilation called the “Little Flowers of St. Francis” that describes the village of Gubbio where St. Francis wished to preach. The town had been terrorized by a wolf and had sought in vain to hunt or trap this wolf that was killing their animals and threatening their families.
Our psalmist writes today, “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” St. Francis of Assisi baptized Giovanni Bernardone, as a wealthy knight, was taken as prisoner of war, ransomed, and on returning home, suffered from what we might call post traumatic stress syndrome.
Jesus says, “deny yourself, pick up your cross and follow me.” We often fall for the many distractions in life that keep us from doing the very thing that will make us happy and set us free…the will of God.
In this age of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and talking heads it’s difficult to know whom you can trust. St. Paul writes of the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God who in following the precedent of a prime minister in the time of the kingdom of Israel, continues that role in the establishment of the papacy in the kingdom that Christ established through his Church.
While I was riding the M15 up First Avenue today, I was impressed by the varied people of all ages, sizes, and nationalities that make New York so vibrant. The prophet Isaiah speaks for the Lord when he welcomes those of other nations in the temple: “their burnt offerings and sacrifice will be acceptable on my altar, for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”
An hour a day, a day a week, and a week a year? Entering silence is difficult with traffic and construction outside, the media noise around us, but most especially with the noise within. Try sitting down quietly for 20 minutes with the Lord and notice what happens: all manner of urgencies that need to be attended come to mind.
Is it a sin to miss mass? If done intentionally, yes. We all lead busy lives and are inclined to save time by eliminating the Sunday obligation. Yet when we allow ourselves to be filled with the Word of God and participate at the altar and table of the Lord, the answers to questions deep inside of us, start to open, like a bud in the summer garden.
When I was a child, I used to keep a scrap book of pictures cut out of catalogues of things that were beautiful, dreams to achieve, treasures for which I longed. Some of them had to do with living and working together on a farm. As you see, I have almost arrived at that dream…and you? What is your dream?
Wouldn’t it be great to have come from a perfect family, going to a perfect school, living in a perfect church, and in a perfect world? I just attended my 50th anniversary high school class reunion and as we sat in a circle and spoke of the intervening years, our unity became clear despite different and often misunderstood family backgrounds.
Isaiah writes that the Word of God issues forth like the rain and does not return until it has accomplished its purpose. Growing within our personal soil profile, that Word produces fruit. What rocks and thorns prevent you from hearing? Getting them out is heavy and hard work.
“I give you praise Father of heaven and earth that you have revealed these things to the simple and childlike.” How different this is from the vision of this world: that wants to appear stronger and smarter…to be an influencer.
Joy is made complete in loving the Lord God with all your heart, mind, and strength. This joy is made concrete in picking up your cross to follow the Lord, accepting and not rejecting the people and the specifics of your life. Complaining and withholding putting the Lord first guarantees unhappiness, discord, and sickness.
Jesus says in today’s gospel: Fear no one! Fear is a paralyzing emotion, a weakness from original sin in which you and I were born. However, in Christ, we celebrate our healing and re-creation in the communion of faith in the Church.
St. Paul writes today that God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. Too often we tell ourselves that God is angry because we’ve messed up. We become paralyzed with fear.
Moses tells Israel to remember from whence they came. They were once slaves in Egypt and wandered forty years in the desert because of their unfaithfulness and stubbornness of heart. St. Paul asks us today to remember that our partaking of the body and blood of the Lord is a participation in his one body. We truly are one in the Eucharist with all who will ever live. This is not a spectator sport.
Congratulations and a big thank you to all who helped in planning and executing the bicentennial of the Church of St. Mary. So many helped to paint and build and clean and decorate and write and compose and sing and pray. We are forever grateful for this expression of love in action.
What is preventing you from using the gifts that the Lord has given you through the Holy Spirit? John writes that Jesus breathed on his disciples Easter night and gave them power to teach, heal, and forgive beyond their fears and regrets: Luke would describe it as a roaring wind or tongues of fire…and don’t we need that same impulse today? And notice that the young are responding. We wear red to celebrate the birthday of the church and the 200th anniversary of St. Mary on the Lower East Side teaching, healing, and forgiving.
This week the Capuchin brothers of the Province of St. Mary of New York and New England meet in chapter to elect new leadership and to continue in the footprints of Jesus Christ as did our beloved Father Francis of Assisi. We thank you for praying for us! This week we celebrate the 200-year anniversary of the Church of Saint Mary following those same footprints that brought so many faithful followers to the City of New York.
How do you envision the Holy Spirit – fire, wind, or a dove? Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit, the very inner life that He and the Father have for each other. This Advocate always leads to unity and not division despite the many distortions and divisions of the past 2000 years.
Who calmed your fears and showed you love as a child? It was my mother who first embodied that confidence to walk forward with courage in the way, the truth, and the life, even with the situation bleak and the odds against us.
The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want. That is quite a statement that admits to our being weak and defenseless sheep that depend on our ability to follow a trustworthy guide.
Christ has risen! Truly He has risen! Notwithstanding our inclinations and pet projects, our one mission on this earth is to proclaim that the Christ was sent among us, was crucified, but then raised again, and is present in the breaking of the bread, AKA the Eucharist
On this Octave of Easter, Divine Mercy Sunday celebrated since the year 2000 by Pope St. John Paul II, of happy memory, we hear the familiar story of Thomas who though not present initially, and judged to be a doubter, comes to the greatest profession of faith in the New Testament, “My Lord and My God.”
Alleluia, Jesus is risen! The Prince of Peace gives us hope amid our suffering that beyond Jellybeans, bunnies, and video games, the resurrection of Christ Jesus challenges the way we organize our lives and world.
Keep these next 8 days Holy with us. Today, I encourage you to learn how to make a palm cross and display it in your home.
When I was a child, I remember hearing the words of the Prophet Ezekiel, “oh my people, I will open your graves and have you rise from them,” echo through the church at the Stations of the cross. Those words would stop me in my tracks and cause me to wonder.
Too often we feel that we are inadequate to the task at hand in this life. Perhaps we “see” so many talented people doing amazing things with the gifts with which they are blessed.
A simple conversation at the well with an unlikely person, a pariah in her community, causes the Samaritan woman to begin to share her testimony of the Messiah, Christ Jesus who engages her and challenges her to live a moral life.
Our holy Father, Pope Leo has invited us this Lent on a journey like that of Abram in Genesis, to leave our personal comfort zones and to listen to the truth of reality through God’s word especially opened to us when we fast for then we hunger and thirst for justice.
Solanus Casey, OFM Cap writes, “Blessed be God in all his designs”: From the beginning, God the Father planned to rescue us from the triple concupiscence of sin: lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, that goes before the fall.
Sirach writes, “Before man are life and death, good and evil, whichever he chooses shall be given him.” The decision for or against a good deed occurs long before the act deep within the human heart. Jesus came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets through his incarnation and resurrection inviting us to become new creations, a beacon of hope in the world.
After the beatitudes last week, the gospel says: You are salt, light, and a city on a hill! Jesus is calling you and me to flavor our world, to help others see, and to serve as guideposts to others. The need is great today as we are pushed to treat others as objects, while our social skills wane, and artificial intelligence begins to replace authentic interpersonal relationships.
Do you want to be happy? The world is full of people trying to sell us something that promises to make us happy, but it never lasts. In contrast, St. Matthew has a 5-page recipe for happiness and joy that lasts forever called the Sermon on the Mount.
Zebulun and Naphtali, though meaningless names to us today, are two of the lost tribes whom God used to save his people from the powerful Midianites in the book of Judges chapter 7. There the Lord instructed that in the middle of the night, they surround the enemy, smash clay pots, light the torches and thus rout the overwhelming foe.
The Church doesn’t have a mission; the Church is a mission. Isaiah the prophet writes: It is too little, the LORD says, for you to be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and restore the survivors of Israel; I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.
Most of us received baptism before we can remember, and so take it for granted. St. Proclus from the 5th century writes, Come, consider this new and wonderful deluge, greater and more important than the flood of Noah’s day.
The Epiphany or manifestation of Christ to the world is celebrated on the 12th day of Christmas, when we exchange gifts following the example of the Magi in Matthew’s gospel. Traveling from the East, they followed a star and placed their gifts at the feet of the child king only to return to their lands with truth to enlighten their paths.
Our psalmist writes, “Blessed are those who fear the Lord”. The word fear might be better replaced by the word awe: Blessed are those who stand in awe of the Lord. It is a sense of awe that strikes us as we consider God becoming one of us in Christ and submitting himself to his human parents, Mary and Joseph.
200 Years of Christmas at St. Mary’s
As our Advent time of waiting for Christ draws to a close, the church gives us Matthew’s account this year of how the incarnation came about through the line of David. Though not a king, Joseph, unlike Ahaz in the first reading, hears the word of God and trusts in Him.
We find it difficult to wait, like a farmer awaits the precious yield of the soil. We like immediate results. John the Baptist who called us to conversion last week, now wonders aloud from a prison cell whether Jesus is the long-awaited Christ.
Repent and believe, cries the Baptist! Though we naturally shy away from change, even the cells in our physical bodies that die change completely every seven years. How much more ought we engage life-giving change in our eternal spiritual lives?
We have just celebrated Thanksgiving with family and friends as we kick off the holiday season. These four weeks of Advent are a time of waiting for the Lord who came 2000 years ago, who will come for each of us, and yet, challenges us by coming each moment of every day.
100 years ago today, Pope Pius XI proposed Jesus Christ King of the Universe as the last Sunday of the liturgical year. After the experience of the Great War, now known as World War I, he noted that Christian nations had thrust Jesus Christ out of their personal and political lives.
The Church of Saint Mary will celebrate its Bicentennial Anniversary on Pentecost Sunday, May 24, 2026
St Mary’s Church
440 Grand Street
New York, NY 10002
Parish Office
213 Stanton Street
New York, NY 10002
(212) 674-3266
saintmarygrand1826@gmail.com
