From the Pastor
May/08/2010
During this month of May, set aside in the Catholic Church to honor Mary, Mother of God and of the
Church, we take time on this second Sunday of the month to honor our earthly mothers, too, as we celebrate their love on Mother's Day.
Many flowers, spiritual bouquets, beautiful gifts, special meals and additional signs of affection will be shown to our Moms, whether living or not, to tell them how much we love them and how much we appreciate all that they mean to us and have done for us to nurture our life and faith. How wonderful, too, if we were to take some time to extend that gratitude to our spiritual Mother, Mary, and pray her rosary during this month as a sign of our love and affection for her.
Even if we set aside one decade of the Rosary each day and meditate upon the mysteries contained therein, we express our deepest sentiments in appreciation for all that she has done for us, including saying “Yes” to the Father for bringing forth the life of His Son, our Savior, on earth. Our school children will honor the Blessed Virgin this coming week (May 11th) with a traditional, annual crowning of the statue of the Blessed Virgin in church at the 8:30 A.M. Mass. I welcome you to join us on this occasion.
We're delighted that our little children of the second grade of our school and our Parish Religious Education Program (PREP) have just received their First Holy Communion this past Saturday. My hope and prayer is that it will not just be a single passing occasion in their lives, but that it will be repeated at least weekly at Sunday Mass, when their joy will be renewed at receiving Jesus regularly into their hearts, and that the love He has for them may be returned as often as humanly possible to Him by their worthy reception of Holy Communion.
May they always stay close to Jesus, and may they grow in wisdom and grace that comes from the worthy reception of this Sacrament. Sadly, we know that there are many people who approach this Sacrament casually, and, unfortunately, some of them in a most unworthy state, without the proper disposition necessary to receive His grace. May our little ones never be given the bad example of unworthy reception of the Holy Eucharist. If they have somehow neglected the Lord in their obligatory weekly worship in a Catholic church, or have offended God in a serious other way, may they learn to be first reconciled with Him through a good Confession in the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation, and then benefit from His graces through a worthy reception of Holy Communion. In that way may their reception of the Eucharist benefit their lives and keep them close to the Lord.
Next Saturday, May 15th, we will have our annual Parish Golf Tourney, and this one is set to be one of the
largest and best ever because of the hard work done by the preparatory team of Mimi Meister and her friends (mentioned previously in the bulletin). Sponsorships, underwriting and the signing up of many foursome teams have given us an indication that we're in for a very special day. Let's pray that the weather will be great and that we'll have a glorious and fun-filled time on the course. More information appears elsewhere in this bulletin.
Graduations of our parishioners from different levels of schooling is already taking place, and we congratulate all of them on their accomplishments, from pre-K through graduate school in several universities! May God's blessings be poured on them in abundance, and may all those who have led them to this graduation be rewarded with a sense of their own accomplishment.
As we draw closer to the end of this Year For Priests, and witness the ceaseless and continuous groundless
attacks on our Church and the Priesthood, we recall the words of Pope Benedict XVI, in his letter that proclaimed this year in our honor: “ I think of all those priests who quietly present Christ's words and actions each day to the faithful and to the whole world, striving to be one with the Lord in their thoughts and their will, their sentiments and their style of life. How can I not pay tribute to their apostolic labors, their tireless and hidden service, their universal charity?” Pray for your priests, and pray for more priests to be sent to labor in the field of harvest.
Very Rev. Canon Tom
Church, we take time on this second Sunday of the month to honor our earthly mothers, too, as we celebrate their love on Mother's Day.
Many flowers, spiritual bouquets, beautiful gifts, special meals and additional signs of affection will be shown to our Moms, whether living or not, to tell them how much we love them and how much we appreciate all that they mean to us and have done for us to nurture our life and faith. How wonderful, too, if we were to take some time to extend that gratitude to our spiritual Mother, Mary, and pray her rosary during this month as a sign of our love and affection for her.
Even if we set aside one decade of the Rosary each day and meditate upon the mysteries contained therein, we express our deepest sentiments in appreciation for all that she has done for us, including saying “Yes” to the Father for bringing forth the life of His Son, our Savior, on earth. Our school children will honor the Blessed Virgin this coming week (May 11th) with a traditional, annual crowning of the statue of the Blessed Virgin in church at the 8:30 A.M. Mass. I welcome you to join us on this occasion.
We're delighted that our little children of the second grade of our school and our Parish Religious Education Program (PREP) have just received their First Holy Communion this past Saturday. My hope and prayer is that it will not just be a single passing occasion in their lives, but that it will be repeated at least weekly at Sunday Mass, when their joy will be renewed at receiving Jesus regularly into their hearts, and that the love He has for them may be returned as often as humanly possible to Him by their worthy reception of Holy Communion.
May they always stay close to Jesus, and may they grow in wisdom and grace that comes from the worthy reception of this Sacrament. Sadly, we know that there are many people who approach this Sacrament casually, and, unfortunately, some of them in a most unworthy state, without the proper disposition necessary to receive His grace. May our little ones never be given the bad example of unworthy reception of the Holy Eucharist. If they have somehow neglected the Lord in their obligatory weekly worship in a Catholic church, or have offended God in a serious other way, may they learn to be first reconciled with Him through a good Confession in the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation, and then benefit from His graces through a worthy reception of Holy Communion. In that way may their reception of the Eucharist benefit their lives and keep them close to the Lord.
Next Saturday, May 15th, we will have our annual Parish Golf Tourney, and this one is set to be one of the
largest and best ever because of the hard work done by the preparatory team of Mimi Meister and her friends (mentioned previously in the bulletin). Sponsorships, underwriting and the signing up of many foursome teams have given us an indication that we're in for a very special day. Let's pray that the weather will be great and that we'll have a glorious and fun-filled time on the course. More information appears elsewhere in this bulletin.
Graduations of our parishioners from different levels of schooling is already taking place, and we congratulate all of them on their accomplishments, from pre-K through graduate school in several universities! May God's blessings be poured on them in abundance, and may all those who have led them to this graduation be rewarded with a sense of their own accomplishment.
As we draw closer to the end of this Year For Priests, and witness the ceaseless and continuous groundless
attacks on our Church and the Priesthood, we recall the words of Pope Benedict XVI, in his letter that proclaimed this year in our honor: “ I think of all those priests who quietly present Christ's words and actions each day to the faithful and to the whole world, striving to be one with the Lord in their thoughts and their will, their sentiments and their style of life. How can I not pay tribute to their apostolic labors, their tireless and hidden service, their universal charity?” Pray for your priests, and pray for more priests to be sent to labor in the field of harvest.
Very Rev. Canon Tom