May 5, 2024



Dear Friends in Christ, 

FIRST COMMUNION

The Easter Season is the time of year when we celebrate the First Holy Communion of our parish children.  First Eucharist is a tremendously important moment in our life of faith.  It marks the first time when we receive the Lord Jesus, as food, as nourishment for our body and our souls. The Lord Jesus knew that we would need something to sustain us spiritually and keep us close to him. He knew that as human beings we have a tendency to forget God and all he has done for us. Jesus knew that too often we forget who we are and need to be reminded of our deepest identity in God. And Jesus knew that most of all we would need Him, Jesus, abiding and remaining in us, to transform us, to become more like Him. And so at the Last Supper, he gave us his Body and Blood for food and instituted the Holy Eucharist so that our deepest hunger might be satisfied.

Pope Francis has preached on the deep hunger we have for God:

“The Lord came to give life to the world. He always does so in a way that defies the narrowness of our calculations, the mediocrity of our expectations and the superficiality of our rationalizations. A way that questions our viewpoints and our certainties, while inviting us to move to a new horizon enabling us to view reality in a different way. He is the living Bread come down from heaven, who tells us: “Whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst”… Let us not be afraid to say it clearly: Lord, we are hungry. We are hungry, Lord, for the bread of your word, which can open up our insularity and our solitude. We are hungry, Lord, for an experience of fraternity in which indifference, dishonor, and ignominy will not fill our tables or take pride of place in our homes. We are hungry, Lord, for encounters where your word can raise hope, awaken tenderness and sensitize the heart by opening paths of transformation and conversion.” POPE FRANCIS

May we always go to the Lord to be nourished by his Body and Blood so that we too may feed others with his presence and his love.

Congratulations to all of our First Communicants! Many thanks to their parents, Godparents, and catechists and all who helped prepare them so well for this great sacrament. May their First Holy Communion be the beginning of a great love of Jesus in the Eucharist and desire to receive him every Sunday.

MAY IS MARY’S MONTH – PRAY THE ROSARY!

In the month of May, we remember Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God and our mother.

By her yes to the mission entrusted to her by the

Angel Gabriel, she bore the Savior, Jesus Christ, into the world and became the first disciple of the Lord. On the cross, when Jesus entrusted her to the St. John saying “Behold your mother, behold your son,” she became our mother too. In May we crown her with flowers to remind us that she reigns in heaven with her Son.  We can call upon her intercession and aid and we especially need to do so in these challenging times. 

I especially invite you to renew the good Catholic custom of praying the rosary as a family during this month of Mary. Whether as a group or as an individual, let us pray the rosary every day especially for renewal of faith and peace in our world.

Pray for us O Holy Mother of God!

R. That we may be worthy of the promises of Christ

Blessings on your week!

Fr. Johnson