Archbishop

Father Barouyr Shernezian, pastor of St. Gregory the Illuminator Armenian Orthodox Church in San Francisco joined Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone for vespers at Star of the Sea Church in San Francisco June 21. The service began the celebration of Religious Freedom Week June 22-29.

It is my consistent experience and observation that, even aware of the faults and foibles of their priest, people find themselves loving and admiring their priest when they know he is there for them, when they know that his life is characterized by a self-giving love expressed in pastoral presence and attentiveness that is intense.

" ... this is God’s gift to us, a help for us to ready ourselves to receive His greatest gift of all: the Resurrection of His Son from the dead. If we live this gift of God well, the gift of our Christian and personal vocation in the historical circumstances of our life, then we will be prepared for the moment when we will look at the true, unveiled face of His glorified risen Son, and be found fit for sharing his glory in heaven. This is the gift of true Easter joy ... ."

"Lent is now coming to its culmination; it is a reminder to us of our need of constant purification, so that we can more perfectly obey the commandment of following the example of the one who lowered himself for us; a time to repent, return, believe and renew ourselves in living according to our Christian dignity," Archbishop Cordileone said in his homily at Holy Thursday Mass April 18.

"How did this burning building move so many?" Archbishop Cordileone asks in a reflection on the Notre Dame Cathedral fire. "Sacred beauty has a power. It moves us because Beauty is not just a frill or a decoration, it is, along with Truth and Goodness, one of the three faces of God. Standing before the Rose Window, looking up at the awesome Gothic ceilings, praying with people around the world, we are reminded that, as human beings created in God’s image, we do not live by bread alone.  Notre Dame Cathedral calls out to us to remember that we have souls.  It reminds us that God has given us the capacity to create sacred beauty that has lasting value, which points us beyond this world alone."