Dear Parishioners,

Last year I announced a change in our sacramental preparation for our young people, based on the direction that our Diocese is taking. We removed preparation for the Sacraments of First Eucharist, First Penance & Confirmation from our parish school religion classes and from our PSR program in order to create a new Faith Formation process by which we prepare students for these sacraments of initiation on Sunday morning. There were several reasons for doing this. Many students in our parish school are not of the Catholic Faith. And sadly, many who have been baptized Catholic are not practicing their Catholic faith because their parents do not bring them to church. Our participation in the Eucharist or at Mass is the most basic expression of our desire to have a relationship with God and the Church. Without this, our faith means little. Sometimes those parents who are not Catholic or who have children that were never baptized were seeking the baptism of their children, but only so that their children could participate in First Holy Communion or Confirmation with their classmates, but then would not be seen again after these liturgical events.

Moving our sacramental preparation to a Sunday morning for both parish school and public school students meant that we could encourage the parents to learn more about and grow in their Catholic faith and it also meant we could encourage and require their presence at either the 8am or 11am Sunday Mass as the Faith Formation sessions were sandwiched between these. It also meant that all of our parish students could prepare for the sacraments together instead of being segregated by parish and public school students. We expected that this new approach would dramatically reduce the number of children receiving these two sacraments. But it made sense to go this route than to have several students present at Mass for their First Communion or Confirmation but not see them again Sunday after Sunday afterward.

We have 4 students making their First Holy Communion this Sunday during the 11am Mass. And I want to say that I am very proud of and grateful to their parents for the commitment they made and were faithful to bringing their children to the Sunday morning Faith Formation sessions and to Mass every week. They are living out the promises they made at the baptism of their children to raise them in the practice of the faith. They are to be commended for this sacrifice they have made. It is a testament to their own faith and to their commitment to God and to the Church. So I look forward to celebrating this special Sacrament with these children this week and ask for your prayers for them and for their parents, that they may continue to be faithful to the commandments of the Lord who calls us to keep holy the Sabbath by our weekly Sunday worship, to be active members of the Church community, and to receive the Body and Blood of the Lord, without which we do not have eternal life.

During this month of May we give special honor to Mary, Mother of Jesus and Mother of the Church. Parishioners will pray the rosary and crown the statue of Mary in our church as a sign of our love and devotion to her. We ask Mary to intercede for us and we thank God for the wonderful example she has left for us.

My youngest sister from Florida was in town last weekend so that we could all go through the “collection” that my dad had worked on for several years of his life. We spent several hours each day of last weekend together doing this. It is definitely a topic for a future homily. But I’m happy that we could be together & remember him & his long life.