Bulletin for May 13

Dear friends in Christ,

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord. We remember Jesus’ ascension to the right hand of the Father where He sits in glory until He comes again, a belief we profess every Sunday in our Creed. This feast is celebrated 40 days after the Easter resurrection which by tradition would have put it on the calendar for last Thursday. Some of you may remember “Ascension Thursday” holy days from your youth. It is still celebrated on that Thursday in a handful of the dioceses in the U.S., but several years ago nearly every other diocese, including the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, transferred the celebration to Sunday to highlight its prominence and give more people an opportunity to celebrate. So to be clear – you did not miss a Holy Day of Obligation! It just moved a few days down the calendar so that we might celebrate it in all its glory today.

Next week we close out the great 50 days of Easter with the celebration of Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit as Jesus has promised. You are invited to wear red to Mass next Sunday as we did on Palm Sunday as a visual reminder of the gift of the fire of the Holy Spirit. 

Also on Pentecost we will once again be one of the host parishes for the Archdiocesan-wide celebration of Adult Confirmation with a special Mass at 7 p.m. Each year hundreds of adults complete their Sacraments of Initiation into the Church by being confirmed and our Archdiocese elects to do this on Pentecost Sunday. We’re always one of the host sites given the size of our church. We’ll have plenty of visitors with us for this special Mass (the adult candidates for confirmation come from several different parishes as opposed to youth confirmation which is just our own parish), and we’ll need extra help to accommodate them. If you can assist with being a greeter or usher at this confirmation Mass next week, please contact the Liturgy Office this week.

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. May God bless them all!

There are 125 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 a Mass on Saturday to welcome the children to the table of the Lord for the first time. 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. Congratulations to each and every one of them.

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 in the Eucharist.

My extra special thanks goes to Kathy Kelley, Annette O’Driscoll, and all of our R.E. staff who worked to prepare these children. With so many children receiving First Communion 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; families must be the first teachers of the children.

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.

The absence of so many children (and parents) from Mass has been a frequent topic among my brother priests lately. We all notice it in our respective parishes, particularly in the spring and summer. It’s especially distressing when I later see posts on social media of those same children and parents at the beach, the ball fields, the competition camps, etc. You all take wonderful photos and I’m happy to see everyone having a good time. But the failure to give God an hour of our time on Sunday (or Saturday) is just sad – and sinful. I find it particularly amusing when someone complains about “having to be at baseball fields all day on Sunday.” Oh, really? What a shame. I’m sorry it was so hot outside and you had to wait three hours between games. You could have come to Mass for an hour (and enjoyed comfortable air conditioning and working toilets) while giving God glory and praise! 

If Sunday becomes just another day to squeeze in one more activity then we’ve lost sight of what the Lord’s Day means. If there is no great longing or desire in the heart of mom and dad to attend Mass how can a child be expected to have that longing? Whether you have a 2nd grader who made First Communion this weekend, or a high school student who made confirmation this past week – or anyone of any age 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.

Peace,
Fr. Sean