A Word from Your Pastor May 5

Dear Parishioners:

“We must obey God rather than human beings.”  This is the attitude Christians are meant to take in the face of the world’s rejection of Jesus Christ and His Church.  We are called to be witnesses to the Truth of the Resurrection of Jesus.  The Life of Jesus is continued through us by the power of His Holy Spirit.  This is the Life of the Church.  As human beings, we fail and we do not live up to our call.  But the call remains.  The holiness of the Church is Christ’s.  When we start with that premise, we always have Hope.

What is the “solution” to the challenges we face in the world?  Ultimately, it is our connection with God through Prayer.  The Church helps us in our weakness through the Sacraments.  We also have a “cloud of witnesses,” the Saints who have walked the journey before us, to encourage us on our way.

In the month of May, we honor Mary, the Mother of Jesus, through special prayers and rituals.  Both the School and PSR celebrate a “May Crowning.”  Families are encouraged to set up a “May Altar” at home and to take time to pray with our Blessed Mother.  The Hail Mary, the Rosary, the Memorare, the Regina Caeli, and the Salve Regina are all special prayers that many of us learned from parents or grandparents when we were young.  It is high time to resurrect this practice.  What prayers do you remember from your childhood?  Do your children know these prayers?

Our Second Graders will make their First Holy Communion on Saturday.  Reception of Jesus into our hearts and lives through the Eucharist is the center of our Catholic practice.  Mass every Sunday and Holy Day is a minimum, not a “goal” to be achieved.  Our children learn more from our practice that from what we say.  Attendance at the School Mass and the Masses attended by our P.S.R. community, as well as the weekends when our Children’s Choir sing is always large.  This ought to happen every weekend.  Mass is meant to be the start of our week.

During Lent, we experienced prayer, fasting and almsgiving as practices intended to improve our spiritual lives.  The Season of Easter can be a time where we continue to deepen our relationship with God and His Church, feasting on the riches of the Sacraments.

May we continue to grow as a community of prayer who witness to our children and to all who know us the Life of Jesus.  May Mary and all the Saints be our constant friends and companions on the way as we continue our journey to the Kingdom.