6th Sunday of Easter: I recently read a great article by Catholic author George Weigel. He mentioned that prior to Vatican II it was stated that the liturgical time we are in was called the “Sundays after Easter.” Now those Sundays are now styled “Sundays of Easter.” He further explains: “The shift from Sundays after Easter to Sundays of Easter is so evocative because that small change in preposition tells us that “Easter” is not something that happens for twenty-four hours and ends when the leftover ham and chocolate bunnies are put away after dinner. Rather, “Easter” is one continuous fifty-day feast, one “great Sunday,” and it should be lived that way and with great revelry.” He even titled his article the “Fifty-Day Party!”
Deacons’ Preachin!: This weekend newly ordained Deacon Larry Blondin, along with Deacon Dennis Pennell, will be preaching. We are so grateful and blessed for these deacons, as well as our beloved retired Deacon Jack Daunt, and the gift they are to Holy Family. We are having a light reception after the 10 am Mass in the parish hall to congratulate Deacon Larry.
Whoops!: At last Sunday’s Mass at 10 am I forgot to bless the mothers on Mother’s Day. About fifteen people reminded me afterward! Sorry to all of you moms that were at the Mass. May God bless you abundantly; and please forgive my mistake.
Beautiful: The musical performance put on by our choir to honor Our Lady of Fatima on May 13 was absolutely beautiful! Thank you to Drs. Simon and Sia Lee and our wonderful and talented choir.
The Greatest Gift: We’ve seen a lot of happy 2nd graders who received their First Holy Communion these past two weeks. Thank you to Jan Gravel, our director of religious education, as well as the teachers and catechists. Most of all, thank you parents for giving your children the best gift possible in the world—the precious gift of the Eucharist.
Square Dancing: This week our third graders will be participating in the annual square dance. We are grateful for Mary Weadock and her continued leadership and guidance for this event. I had a lot of fun watching (and a little participating) last year.
Witness to Hope Campaign and Renovation: Thank you, first of all, for your generosity to our parish. We have some immediate plans for this summer. Sr. Sharon lives in the brick house next to the church. She is moving to the yellow house on Orchard Street at the end of June. We will be tearing the brick house down—unless you know of someone who wants to move it! We are also trying to relocate the Outreach Center so we can tear that building down as well for parking space. We are meeting to discuss the whole campus (what do we want the campus to look like ten years from now?), as well as the church renovation. A refurbished pew was brought in and placed behind the choir chairs. Even with the pews comes questions. Besides the color of the pews, do we want padding on our pews? One thing everyone seems to agree with is that the pews need to be spaced out more.
Retreat: I was on retreat the week of May 8 – 12 with 24 other priests from our diocese at the St. Francis Retreat Center in DeWitt. It was a different type of retreat for me, as this one was a lecture-based retreat. The retreat director was Fr. James Kubacki, SJ. He is the Director of the Apostleship of Prayer. They coordinate and distribute the prayer intentions of our Holy Father to the world. Fr. Kubacki had two conferences each day on the heart of Jesus. There were many highlights but I’ll mention a few: 1) the two greatest obstacles to holiness (as Jesus told St. Faustina) are discouragement (to lose heart) and an exaggerated anxiety (anxious over future, etc.) 2) God never loses heart—even through people’s ingratitude to God. 3) It’s important to have gratitude and remembrance. The Israelites always wanted to go back to the Egypt, even after what God had done for them. 4) Hurt people…hurt people. Interesting! While I was on retreat I spent some time reading Fr. Andrew Apostoli’s book, Fatima for Today. Fascinating read!
Be assured of my love and prayers.
Msgr. Jerry