I want to welcome the priest who will be celebrating Mass with you this weekend. We appreciate his willingness to be here during my absence. I hope he will offer you a new perspective on God’s Word as he speaks about the importance of the missionary work of the Church.                                  

     This week our 8th grade students will be having their annual Dinner Dance on Monday and then will be graduating on Tuesday. I mentioned before that we celebrated a Baccalaureate Mass for them before I left and I was happy to congratulate them and to assure them of my prayers. I believe that many of these students were in the first grade when I arrived here as Pastor in early 2014, so I have seen many of them grow into the young men & women they are today. May the Lord bless them as they begin the next phase of their lives.     

     Someone suggested that I post pictures of our travels on our Twitter and Instagram accounts. In case you do not yet “follow” us on these social media platforms, our Twitter and Instagram account name is leothegreatorg. So please add us so that you can follow us.                                                    

     Next Monday, May 30th, is Memorial Day so we will have our Mass at 9am outside at the Shrine (weather-permitting) so bring a chair if you can but know we have several benches there for those who are unable to haul a chair with them. 
I hope that many of you who picked up the free book on helping your child (or others) return to the Church & practice of the faith helpful. We may have some copies still left if you’re interested in picking one up. It’s called “Return” and is written by Brandon Vogt who works as the Content Director for Word on Fire, an organization founded by Bishop Robert Barron, a very popular Catholic Evangelist and Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles. I am currently reading another book written by him (which is also out as a series of videos) called “The Pivotal Players” which speaks of the lives of several people who in the history of the Church have been pivotal in the advancement of the Church’s mission. Some are canonized saints, some are not. I just read about Michaelangelo whose gift as one of the greatest artists of history had as the focus of his work, the message of Christ. How much our world today is in need of such mentors! In a culture which focuses so much on the human sins & weaknesses of leaders we formerly admired, we need to remember that we are all a mix of saint and sinner, again, the reason we are called “practicing” Catholics as we have not perfected the living out of our faith yet, something that can only be accomplished with our cooperation with God’s grace. I enjoy doing a little bit of reading each day & wish I could devote even more time to spiritual reading as I find it so enlightening, interesting & helpful to my understanding & appreciation of our Catholic faith. I’d like to mention what book I am currently reading to you in case you find the topic interesting. You can find a great list of suggested books on the website wordonfire.org. Most of these can also be ordered through Amazon.