Mother’s Day! A blessed Mother’s Day to you this weekend. Thank you for your love, faith and sacrifice to all of us. As Pope Francis said, “A world without mothers would be inhumane because mothers always know how to give witness — even in the worst of times — to tenderness, dedication and moral strength.” Of course, we also are grateful for our Blessed Mother and her loving presence with us too!
First Holy Communion: So happy for our second graders receiving their First Holy Communion. What I enjoyed seeing the most was how excited the parents were for their child to receive the Body and Blood of Jesus. Parents are the primary educators of their children in the faith; and bringing their children for Holy Communion is simply the best gift a parent can give their child- God Himself! We have two more First Communion Masses this weekend at the 5 p.m. Saturday and noon Sunday Masses.
Garage Sale: Couldn’t believe how many people were at the 55 and Over garage sale. What do they say: one person’s junk is another person’s treasure—although there were a lot of nice things for sale. Thanks to all of the 55 and Over group who served in this endeavor. It takes a lot of work and many members of that group looked exhausted last weekend.
Grandparents Day: Really looking forward to being with the grandparents of our school children on Monday, May 9. What a great blessing you are to the children! Pope Francis stated that “we often learn more about our faith from our grandparents than learned theologians.” So true. Speaking of the school, it would be wonderful to see you at the school auction on May 21!
Ordination: This Saturday, May 14, I will attend the priesthood ordinations in Detroit. One of the men getting ordained studied at the North American College in Rome and the seminary vice rector there asked if I would be the faculty representative to attend the ordination.
Family Promise: Met with parishioners Lindsay Moore and Amy Deloney to discuss our parish’s involvement with Family Promise. They really do some wonderful services for our community. Families in need stay in temporary residence with the goal of helping them become self-sustaining. I was happy to hear that all the families hosted at New Life Community Lutheran and supported by our parish this past year have moved into and are sustaining their own homes! That’s great news. Thank you to all the parishioners who generously serve with Family Promise. Our next days to help host families are May 31, June 2 and 4. A heads up: they also are having a 5k race on August 13 (see pg.13).
Homeless Children in Grand Blanc: In my discussions with Lindsay and Amy they mentioned that there are more than 100 children living in Grand Blanc who are considered homeless. These children fall into two categories: children who live in unsuitable living conditions and children who go from home to home (they call it couch surfing) for periods of time.
Ascension: This Sunday the Church celebrates the Ascension of our Lord into heaven. Two things that come to mind immediately: First, Someone made it to where we want to go! Secondly, he gives us the power of the Holy Spirit to be with us always; he did not abandon us.
Pentecost: Next Sunday is the Feast of the Pentecost. What happened after the disciples received the Holy Spirit? They see the Spirit as a Person and powerful Presence. Cowards turn into brave people. Peter, before denying the Lord, now will say, “we must obey God rather than men.” Other Christians are ready to die as martyrs. The Holy Spirit led them to repentance. As one witness said in Acts, these apostles turned the world upside down. We believe that what happened then can happen now!
Prayers in the Morning: Fr. Gary and I usually pray “morning prayer” around 6:30 p.m. in the Church each day of the week. You are welcome to join us if the Spirit leads you.
May you have a Blessed final week of the Easter season and may your hearts be filled with the Spirit!
Msgr. Jerry
Scripture quote for the week, from Acts 1: 24-26
Then they prayed, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this apostolic ministry from which Judas turned away to go to his own place.” Then they gave lots to them, and the lot fell upon Matthias, and he was counted with the Eleven Apostles.
The Feast of St. Mathias is Saturday, May 14