Bulletin Column for May 14

Dear friends in Christ,

We wish a blessed and happy Mother’s Day today to all of our mothers. Moms hold a special place in our hearts and we need only look at the example of Jesus to know that love and respect for mothers is an age-old tradition in our faith. From the wedding feast at Cana to the hill at Calvary, Mary was always present in the life of her son. In a special way we ask the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary on all mothers, both living and deceased. And let us not forget the wonderful gift of life that grandmothers, adopted mothers, step-mothers, foster mothers and godmothers offer their children.

There are about 110 mothers at CtR this weekend who are doubly-blessed with not only Mother’s Day but also their child’s First Holy Communion. We celebrated our spring First Communion Mass this Saturday to welcome the children to the table of the Lord for the first time (we’ve also previously celebrated two other Masses of First Communion last summer and this past fall for about the same number of children as well). It was great to see the girls in their beautiful white dresses and the boys in their sharp dark suits. They were all very excited to receive communion for the first time as well we all should be.

That joy that the First Communion kids had should serve as a reminder to us all that we too need to develop such a desire to meet Jesus in communion. Too often – way too often – I see people coming forward in the communion line with anything but joy on their faces. If you didn’t know better you would think they were receiving a death sentence instead of a “life” sentence! When we receive the Body and Blood of Jesus in Holy Communion we are receiving a foretaste of heaven. Let us resolve to come forward with joy to taste and see the goodness of the Lord. Congratulations to all who received First Communion on Saturday and thank you for being such an example to us all on how to have a great desire for the Lord.

My extra special thanks goes to our R.E. staff who worked to prepare these children. Our R.E. staff and our dedicated teachers and catechists do a great job of ministering to the families and children of the parish. We are blessed to have wonderful teachers, but as always the best teachers of the children of the way of the faith are the parents. We can only help guide the children; the families must be the first teachers of the children. Let that also be a reminder to you that registration for the 2017-18 Religious Education school year is also now underway. See the parish website to sign-up.

One of the chief ways parents teach is by example. You don’t have to be able to give a lecture to your child on the theological significance of the Body and Blood of Christ (though that might be appropriate at some point). But you do have to bring your child to Mass. There is no greater way to instill in the child a deep longing and respect for Holy Communion than to actually make it a point to be at Mass every Sunday. When we make Mass optional, or if something else (sports, shopping, going to the movies, sleeping in late) takes priority over coming to Mass, then it is no wonder that a child’s love for Eucharist will begin to wane. If there is no great longing or desire in the heart of mom and dad, how can a child be expected to have that longing? Whether you have a 2nd grader making First Communion this weekend, or a middle school or a high school student living under your roof, lead them by your own example and make Mass and Holy Communion your family’s chief Sunday “event.” I guarantee it will make a difference in the life of your child, and your own life as well.

My thanks to all who came out last Sunday afternoon for the Groundbreaking of our new Redeemer Activity Center (RAC). We had a great turnout under the tent as the ground was officially blessed and the first shovels of dirt were turned. My thanks to all the families who joined us, as well as our representatives of the Parish Pastoral Council, Finance Council and School Board. Two of our young people from the parish, Zachary Falla, a high school junior active in Youth Ministry, and Lili Toledo, a student at CtR Catholic School, gave superb testimonials about what the new building means to them, and Pat and Marie Kelly of our Capital Campaign committee summed up the vision of the RAC and what it will offer our parish community, both now and for years to come. Add to that our youth choirs from both the parish and school leading us in song, and our cheerleaders inspiring us to be “Crusaders!” and it all added up to make for a terrific day.

Special thanks to Megan Dillingham, our Director of Advancement, for coordinating the event. Megan is also our point of contact for the Capital Campaign. If you have not yet made your pledge, I ask you to please prayerfully discern how you might support our work. If you were laying low until construction began, now is the time to jump on board and make a pledge over three years to bring the RAC to completion. Every gift of every size is valued and needed. I thank all who have already made a pledge, and encourage every family to join in this important work for our community.  

Following the Groundbreaking last Sunday, the construction team was here bright and early on Monday and the work is now underway. We anticipate about a year for construction, so by next summer we will be ready to hold the dedication ceremony. Our construction company, Paradigm, has installed a time-lapse camera on-site. It takes a picture every 30 minutes every day. Go to our parish website to see the latest photos and hit the “Play” button to see them run together. Right now it’s only a bunch of dirt being moved around, but soon you’ll see the foundation being poured and the walls start to go up. It will make for a fun way to track the progress from the very beginning until the last brick is installed.

There is a special second collection this week for the completion of the Trinity Dome at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.. It is the largest Roman Catholic church in North America. The National Shrine is our nation’s preeminent Marian shrine, dedicated to the patroness of the United States, the Blessed Virgin Mary under her title of the Immaculate Conception. If you ever travel to D.C. I encourage you to visit the Shrine. It’s stunningly beautiful with more than 80 chapels and oratories that honor the Mother of God and represent the peoples, cultures and traditions that are the fabric of the Catholic faith of our nation.

This one-time collection, approved by the U.S. Bishops, is an opportunity for people across the country to contribute to the completion of the great mosaic of the Trinity Dome at the heart of the Basilica. Nearly a century in the making, this great Marian shrine has been a work in progress since the laying of its foundation stone in 1920. During his visit in 2015, Pope Francis blessed the preliminary segment of mosaic created for the Trinity Dome containing the words of the beginning and end of the Nicene Creed: “I believe in one God” and “Amen.” It will be a crowning jewel for this most important representation of our faith in our country. For more information, please visit the website www.trinitydome.org. 

Peace, Fr. Sean