Dear Parishioners:
Summerlike greetings from the rectory! We went from 38 degrees to 87 degrees in under a week! It seems we do not have too much of a spring anymore; it seems to go from winter to summer very quickly.
I would like to thank everyone who made my retirement ceremony from the Air Force so special. Thank you for coming and supporting me during the ceremony. I thought you would enjoy experiencing a formal military retirement ceremony.
I also want to thank a number of people who made the ceremony and reception so special. I want to thank the Choir for making the Mass so moving. I would like to thank the Knights of Columbus under the leadership of Grand Knight Ed Carlson for setting up and then cleaning up! I would like to thank Mrs. Darmanin, our school principal, her husband Rick, and Marie Mortimer for all the decorations, both in the gym and Canning Hall. I would like to thank the Hospitality Committee under the leadership of Helen Murray for the wonderful reception as well as Cindy Marsh for a lot of “behind the scenes” work. I would especially like to thank Becky Reilly for the outstanding job she did in creating the photo displays and video highlights. I also want to thank Dawn Baraclough, our photographer. Thank you again, one and all!
We are entering “First Holy Communion” season. More than 100 young boys and girls will be receiving Jesus for the first time over the next three weeks. Please keep our First Holy Communion candidates in your prayers during this time. Pray that these children will open their hearts to the grace of Eucharist and that their parents will be faithful in bringing their children to church for Mass on Sunday to receive the Lord Jesus in Holy Communion.
As we pray for our children, the theme of Holy Communion is one that we should reflect upon ourselves. We call Sunday the “day of the Lord” because it was on Sunday that Jesus rose from the dead. In addition, Sunday is also called the “day of the Church” because in the Sunday Eucharistic celebration, the Christian community finds her reason for its existence; at the Sunday Eucharist, the Christian community grows and matures and helps us to become the saints that God created us to be.
Our faithfully going to Mass on Sunday is our way of saying “thank you” to God who sent his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, to become one of us. Jesus loved us so much that He willingly died on the cross for us. When we come to Mass on Sunday, it is our way of saying “thank you” to God for all the wonderful things He has done for us. Let us never forget to thank the Lord for dying on the Cross for us.
The early Christian martyrs proclaimed before their deaths under the Emperor Diocletian: “Without Sunday, we cannot live.” I hope and pray that we all will have that same fervor regarding the reception of the Eucharist, Holy Communion.
Remember: Together, we can do something beautiful for God.
In Christ,
Fr. Brian