From the Pastor
April/16/2009
This Sunday, known as Divine Mercy Sunday, is a rather recent feast that was instituted to proclaim the love and mercy Our Lord willingly pours out on those who need it and love Him. It was promoted primarily by St. Faustina Kowalska, a Polish religious woman, who received revelations from Our Lord about His offering of mercy to the whole world. Though I wrote at length about this last week, I wanted to draw your attention to it once again, and ask you to consult the devotions we offer this weekend, listed elsewhere in our bulletin. Our Holy Father has granted a Plenary Indulgence (a full remission of the temporal punishment due to sin) to all the faithful who participate in the celebration of Divine Mercy Sunday, go to Confession, receive the Eucharist, and pray for the intentions of the Holy Father that weekend. In addition, a devout prayer offered to the merciful Jesus is to be recited (e.g., “Merciful Jesus, I trust in You!”).
Keith Skinner, a very active member of our parish (familiarly known to so many of us here as “Rusty“), will be called, this Sunday, April 19th, to Candidacy at St. Vincent de Paul Seminary. This is another step in his journey to become, hopefully, a Permanent Deacon. With his equally active wife (Wanda) and his daughters (Wendy, Amy and Cindy), and with all of us to support him, may God grant the fulfillment of that desire he has been pursuing. He and his family were quite involved in making the church sanctuary so attractive for Easter. In this, they were joined by Deacon Lee Levenson and his wife (Alice) and their grandchildren (Cole, Mark and Alice Robinson). The Levensons and their teaching team also prepared the newest members of our parish family for full reception into the Catholic Church on Holy Saturday. What a great team we have for doing so much good and showcasing the positive aspects of our parish.
Our Holy Week and Easter celebrations were so beautifully enhanced by the fine quality of music which our choir, our Director of Liturgical Music, our accompanists and our soloists prepared for so well. So many of our guests and parishioners commented very favorably on the wonderful quality of the music, both, in the church and in the parish Family Life Center, that was presented on that occasion. All of our many talented musicians, including surprise soloist Dennis Alsgaard on the violin and the golden voice of Christine Delgado, are to be congratulated on using their God-given talents to praise God in gratitude for His gifts to them. Especially, I thank the Life Teen band group that played so well for the two overflow Masses in the parish center.
Our little children of the parish will make their First Holy Communion this coming Saturday morning at the 10:30 a.m. Mass. This is a most important day in their life and I hope it will make a lasting positive impression upon their minds and hearts about how much Jesus loves us that He gives Himself to us in order to help us draw closer to His Father. I offer special thanks to Deacon Nick Nowak and Sister Maria and their teaching team for their superb work in preparing our “little ones” for their great day in their special encounter with the Lord. May the little children, so loved by Jesus, stay close to Him. “NUNSENSE,” that hilarious Broadway musical that made us all roar with laughter when it first came out, will return to the stage at St. Vincent Ferrer on Saturday, May 16th. It’s a humorous spoof on the “Little Sisters of Hoboken``” and the dilemma in which they find themselves. Tickets are on sale in the parish office now, and the proceeds will benefit our parish school scholarship program.
Thank you for your generous contribution to the parish at Easter; this is a special help to the parish in which we count on the help of so many people to meet our annual budget. The amounts are published (as always) elsewhere in this week’s bulletin. May God reward you according to your return to Him of His gifts first given to us. Steve Dudenhoefer, our lay missioner in Guatemala, has asked me to thank you – and, so I do – from the bottom of our hearts, to all of you who contributed so generously to his recent appeal on behalf of our mission at the Father Tom Moran Educational Center in Guatemala. Your generous response to this appeal has so far produced a total of $27,758 in cash and child sponsorships for the mission. May God bless you for your kindness and generosity. Also, during the second half of July, thirteen fathers and sons (Knights of Columbus) will accompany me to Guatemala, to help make these gifts become a reality.
After consultation with the Parish Pastoral Council and its unanimous approval, we will be changing our Sunday morning Mass schedule, beginning on the first Sunday of July. It was decided that to allow for a sufficient chance for cars to clear the parking lot, an hour and a half between the start of each Mass would be sufficient on most Sundays (Palm Sunday and Easter may still present problems). For all of those who are headed north and will be returning next season, the new Sunday morning schedule will be 7:00 a.m., 8:30, a.m., 10:00 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. The rest of the weekend Masses on Saturday, and the Life Teen Mass on Sunday afternoon will remain the same. Though this may inevitably create a scheduling problem for some (and there will always be some who may not like the change), we hope that it will alleviate it for others, and space the crowds accordingly.
The days of three associates in a parish in the diocese are long gone, and unless there is an increase of priestly vocations, two associates in a parish will soon be considered a luxury. “Pray the Lord to send more laborers into His harvest.” The annual diocesan Marian Rosary Festival will be celebrated on Sunday, May 3rd, beginning at 2 p.m. at Emmanuel Church, on Military Trail above Linton Blvd. We welcome you to join Bishop Barbarito and so many people of various ethnic backgrounds for this combined religious and social gathering in honor of our heavenly mother, Mary, during the month dedicated to her.
Very Rev. Canon Tom