Today is the Feast of Pentecost, when we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles. Jesus promised that He would send the Holy Spirit to remind the apostles of all that He taught them. The coming of the Holy Spirit inspired and encouraged the apostles to put aside their fear and go out and preach the Gospel to all nations. On that first day, when they received the Holy Spirit, over 3,000 were baptized. It was a glorious beginning for the Church and that growth continues to this day.
Today, we are the ones being sent out to be witnesses for Jesus and the Good News He came to proclaim. If we believe that Jesus is Lord, and that in Him we will have eternal life, then we should be living our lives according to His Word and sharing that Word with everyone we meet. It is a great challenge. Our fears keep us from doing it. Thus, we must pray to the Holy Spirit to guide us and give us the strength to continue what Jesus started so that all may come to know the glory and power of His love.
The Holy Spirit brought the early Church alive by giving individuals gifts that would sustain the Church. The Holy Spirit continues to pour out His gifts upon all of us, especially when we are gathered in prayer as were the apostles and the Blessed Mother. When we come and participate at Mass, we are made more aware of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. It is through the Word of God that we hear, and the Body and Blood of Christ that we are strengthened to share the gifts we have received with those around us.
We all have so many wonderful gifts to share. So, let’s not be afraid to recognize our gifts and to share them generously with others. Our parish community grows all the time in grace and service because so many of you are willing to share your gifts with others. There are many more who still have so much to share. I invite everyone to pray to know their gifts and then generously share them with others. This is how we can all work together to build up the kingdom of God on earth.
There are many ways to share your gifts through the opportunities given by our parish community and its many organizations. You can share your faith by helping out with the PSR program, Becoming Catholic for adults and children, or our Sacred Heart School. You can serve others by joining the St. Vincent de Paul Society, the Legion of Mary, the Knights of Columbus, Youth Ministry, or the Altar and Rosary Society. You can enhance our worship of God by being a lector, extra-ordinary minister of Holy Communion, altar server, musician, choir member, or usher. These are just a few of the things you can do to share your gifts and blessings to make our parish even more vibrant and faith filled.
So please give this some prayer and decide how to get involved in your parish community. The best way to thank God for His many blessings is to share them with others; to give of ourselves just like Jesus did by dying on the cross for you.
The Feast of Corpus Christi is on Sunday, June 22nd. We will again have an outdoor procession with the Blessed Sacrament after the 10:30AM Mass, weather permitting. This is a wonderful opportunity for us to gather and publicly express our devotion to and our belief in the real presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. Please plan to join us for this very special time of prayer.
PLEASE MARK YOUR CALENDARS. The Feast of the Sacred Heart this year is on Friday, June 27. Since the Feast of the Scared Heart occurs on a Friday, we are permitted to move the celebration to the weekend because it is our patronal feast. So, we will celebrate the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on the weekend of June 28 and 29 at all the Masses. Following the 5 PM Mass on Sunday, June 29, we will hold our parish picnic in the school parking lot. The Family Life Commission and the Parish Council will be working to plan the event, but more help and ideas would be most welcome. If you would like to help plan this parish gathering, please call the parish office as soon as possible. In the meantime, we can all pray for good weather, so our “picnic” is not in the gym.
