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Do you remember your Baptism day? How about your first Holy Communion day? Perhaps you do. But if it was many years ago, you probably do not remember the day, but you certainly must know that you received that Sacrament! I don’t remember all the meals I’ve eaten in my life, but I know that I’m alive today because I’ve always had food to eat. So it is with the Bread of Life which is the Body and Blood of Jesus, given to us in Holy Communion: I’m alive today because of this spiritual food. Our parish joins with the whole Communion of Saints (we really do) in rejoicing that many children of our parish will receive Jesus for the first time in this Sacrament on May 11th and May 18th. They have been preparing for their First Holy Communion for some time, both in our School of Religion and in St. Robert’s School, and they have come to know who it is that they will meet in the Eucharist: Jesus Christ. Recently, almost seventy teenagers of St. Robert’s received the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the Sacrament of Confirmation, having been anointed with Sacred Chrism by Archbishop Levada. Do you remember your Confirmation? Even if you don’t, there’s no doubt about it, if you were Confirmed, you have received the gifts of the Holy Spirit! We should all pray that we may come to a deeper awareness of what we have been given in these Sacraments so that we may better place ourselves at God’s service, because each one of us is needed! May is Mary’s month. She who was filled with the Holy Spirit became not only the mother of Jesus, but our mother as well. As a sign of devotion, the children will crown the statue of Our Lady at the 9am Mass on May 5th. Mary prayed with the Apostles, and when the Holy Spirit came so powerfully at Pentecost, she was united with them at that "birthday of the Church". We’ll celebrate Pentecost on May 19. Let us unite in prayer, in the power of the Spirit, asking God to send out His Spirit to renew the face of the earth. Let there be peace on earth! —Fr. Mark Taheny |
