Dear Parishioners,
On Saturday, May 11, 1968, Archbishop John Joseph Carberry, the recently installed new Archbishop of Saint Louis, following the death of Joseph Cardinal Ritter, ordained the Priesthood Class of 1968 for the Archdiocese. Among those men were our own beloved, long-time Associate Pastor, and now regular “weekend helper,” Father George P. Brennan. Father didn’t want to have any kind of celebration here, which we were most willing to have for him, but he can’t stop me from congratulating him, assuring him of our prayers, and hoping that God will continue to give him a long, happy, and healthy life. So, Father George, we all hope that you had a very happy and blessed GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY on Friday, and will have many more blessed years to come. Ad Multos Annos!
Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord. On the Feast of the Ascension, we remember that Christ’s ascension marks the definitive entrance of Jesus’ humanity into God’s heavenly domain (Catechism of the Catholic Church, #665). This feast reminds us that like the first disciples, we are not to dally “looking up at the sky,” but are to get busy proclaiming the glory of God’s kingdom by the witness of our lives.
Next weekend will be Pentecost, the Birthday of the Church. This powerful feast tells us about the early church, but it is also a clarion call for us as a community and as individuals. The images of fire, wind, breath, a cacophony of voices are meant to evoke a collective “fire in the belly” that motivates us to do what we are called to do. Today we are assured that the Spirit is with us, as it was with them on that first enlivening Pentecost.
Please remember that next week at the 11:30 A.M. Mass we are asking for parishioners to help with the First Reading in their own native tongues. So far we just have Spanish and Tagalog. Also there will be several food trucks following the Mass on our parking lot facing Olive. Hopefully we can celebrate this “festival of nations” in a small way. (That celebration is separate from the celebration honoring the life-long work of Miss Suzanne Bowles. The information about the reception in her honor is elsewhere in the bulletin.)
Also next week the Archbishop has asked that we commission ALL the members of the parish to be evangelizers. In lieu of the Creed next week we will renew our Baptismal Promises and then there will be a blessing for all present to recommit themselves to live out their Baptismal and Confirmation commitments. We all need the power of the Holy Spirit to help us, so may we be faithful in doing that!
Today is, of course, Mother’s Day! I did some searching and I found the following article about a homily that Pope Francis gave on January 1, 2017. It is a little long, but I think it fits in so well for today.
Mary, the Holy Mother of God Pope Francis focused on Mary’s contemplation of the mystery of her Son as he began his homily for the feast of Mary, the Holy Mother of God (January 1, 2017). As she “pondered [all these things] in her heart” (Lk 2:19). Mary shows us the proper attitude of a disciple. “Far from trying to understand or master the situation, Mary is the woman who can treasure, that is to say, protect and guard in her heart, the passage of God in the life of his people.”
Without speaking many words, Pope Francis said, Mary guarded the life and mission of her Son by being attentive to him. She also became the mother of all, as she “watch[ed] over the beginnings of the first Christian community.”
Dear Parishioners,
On Saturday, May 11, 1968, Archbishop John Joseph Carberry, the recently installed new Archbishop of Saint Louis, following the death of Joseph Cardinal Ritter, ordained the Priesthood Class of 1968 for the Archdiocese. Among those men were our own beloved, long-time Associate Pastor, and now regular “weekend helper,” Father George P. Brennan. Father didn’t want to have any kind of celebration here, which we were most willing to have for him, but he can’t stop me from congratulating him, assuring him of our prayers, and hoping that God will continue to give him a long, happy, and healthy life. So, Father George, we all hope that you had a very happy and blessed GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY on Friday, and will have many more blessed years to come. Ad Multos Annos!
Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord. On the Feast of the Ascension, we remember that Christ’s ascension marks the definitive entrance of Jesus’ humanity into God’s heavenly domain (Catechism of the Catholic Church, #665). This feast reminds us that like the first disciples, we are not to dally “looking up at the sky,” but are to get busy proclaiming the glory of God’s kingdom by the witness of our lives.
Next weekend will be Pentecost, the Birthday of the Church. This powerful feast tells us about the early church, but it is also a clarion call for us as a community and as individuals. The images of fire, wind, breath, a cacophony of voices are meant to evoke a collective “fire in the belly” that motivates us to do what we are called to do. Today we are assured that the Spirit is with us, as it was with them on that first enlivening Pentecost.
Please remember that next week at the 11:30 A.M. Mass we are asking for parishioners to help with the First Reading in their own native tongues. So far we just have Spanish and Tagalog. Also there will be several food trucks following the Mass on our parking lot facing Olive. Hopefully we can celebrate this “festival of nations” in a small way. (That celebration is separate from the celebration honoring the life-long work of Miss Suzanne Bowles. The information about the reception in her honor is elsewhere in the bulletin.)
Also next week the Archbishop has asked that we commission ALL the members of the parish to be evangelizers. In lieu of the Creed next week we will renew our Baptismal Promises and then there will be a blessing for all present to recommit themselves to live out their Baptismal and Confirmation commitments. We all need the power of the Holy Spirit to help us, so may we be faithful in doing that!
Today is, of course, Mother’s Day! I did some searching and I found the following article about a homily that Pope Francis gave on January 1, 2017. It is a little long, but I think it fits in so well for today.
Mary, the Holy Mother of God Pope Francis focused on Mary’s contemplation of the mystery of her Son as he began his homily for the feast of Mary, the Holy Mother of God (January 1, 2017). As she “pondered [all these things] in her heart” (Lk 2:19). Mary shows us the proper attitude of a disciple. “Far from trying to understand or master the situation, Mary is the woman who can treasure, that is to say, protect and guard in her heart, the passage of God in the life of his people.”
Without speaking many words, Pope Francis said, Mary guarded the life and mission of her Son by being attentive to him. She also became the mother of all, as she “watch[ed] over the beginnings of the first Christian community.” Mary’s motherhood shows us “that humility and tenderness are not virtues of the weak but of the strong,” the Holy Father said. And her motherhood reassures us: “we are a people with a Mother; we are not orphans.”
Pope Francis next turned to the virtues of motherhood and the gifts that good mothers bring to society. Women who embrace motherhood give a real “home” to everyone, as they “are capable of testifying to tenderness, unconditional self-sacrifices and the strength of hope.” The Holy Father recalled mothers who maintained hope and strength even as their children went through terrible trials.
Pope Francis said that turning to Mary, the Mother of God, we remain free from being “spiritual orphans” and able to remember that we all belong to one another, as family members. In a culture that is so divided and individualistic, the universal motherhood of Mary calls us back to one another and to our shared environment. “Celebrating the Holy Mother of God leads us to create and care for common places that can give us a sense of belonging, of being rooted, of feeling at home in our cities, in communities that unite and support us (cf. Laudato si’, 151).”
In conclusion, the Holy Father asked us to learn “to care for life in the same way and with the same tenderness that she did: by sowing hope, by sowing a sense of belonging and of fraternity.”
So happy Mothers’ Day! A blessing will be given ALL ladies today celebrating the important role you have in our lives!
Daily Mass during the summer. We will continue to have an 8:15 A.M. Mass Monday – Friday throughout the summer. I asked the people who attend that Mass and they were all in agreement. So we won’t “switch” back to an 8:00 A.M. Mass when school is out. Year round (holidays and holy days of obligation excepted) we will have a 6:30 A.M. Mass and an 8:15 A.M. Mass, Monday through Friday and an 8:00 A.M. Mass on Saturday mornings. (BY THE WAY, on Memorial Day, May 28th, we will only have a 9:00 A.M. Mass, as we do on that day, Independence Day, Labor Day, and Thanksgiving.)
Building Plans: At the Pastoral Council meeting last Tuesday evening there was a long discussion about how we were going to get things accomplished for the future renovation of the church building. As you all should know by now we have had a study regarding maintenance issues and things that “have to be done.” Accordingly we will address the elevator issue and entrance from the new elevator into Msgr. Schneider Church Hall first. The building committee will be meeting next week and we will authorize the architects engaged by the Archdiocese to begin firm plans on the new elevator and the first stage of renovations to the Msgr. Schneider Church Hall first. We have already done some renovation with the new security system, with WiFi in the School and Church, and plans for a new pulpit and presider’s and deacon’s chairs. More will be accomplished as money becomes available. Thank you for your patience!
Please have a blessed week and simply pray, “COME, HOLY SPIRIT.”
Faithfully yours,
Fr Joe Weber