Dear Friends, 
Recently, the world followed efforts to find and rescue those aboard a submersible vessel that had been launched to view the remains of the Titanic. Sadly, we learned that it imploded, killing all five people aboard. Shortly after that I came across a poignant article contrasting the attention and money spent for that operation with the lack of attention and money spent in response to another crisis that week: a sinking boat crowded with migrants trying to get from Libya to Italy, which resulted in hundreds of deaths. Many lives could have been saved by exerting a little more effort.  
 
It got me thinking about a term we learned in the seminary: “ontic evil.” It is the notion that for every good action, there is a corresponding “evil” - the idea that there is always something better we could have done. We do something good… but could we have done something else better? I suppose that’s always the case. But while it is healthy to evaluate where we’re spending our money and turning our attention, knowing that we cannot do it all means that we have to do something- right? Maybe searching for explorers in the deep sea seemed more adventurous and glamorous than pulling drowning refugees and asylum seekers out of the water. Anyway, last week in my homily I talked about people’s need to “matter.” And I suppose that when choices are made about spending money and exerting effort to help those in need, there’s no avoiding the fact that some people seem to “matter” more than others… 
 
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As we prepare to celebrate our nation’s “birthday” on July 4, we thank God for the many ways He has blessed us in our history and for continuing to manifest those blessings in our own time. Since the 4th falls on a Tuesday this year, morning Mass will be at St. Gabriel. We will bump the time back to 9am that day so that people can sleep in a little.  
 
 May your week reflect the encounter with Christ 
we experienced at Mass today! 
 ​

Dear Friends,

After Jesus rose from the dead he appeared to his disciples on and off over the course of forty days. This weekend we mark His return to the right hand of God the Father, the feast of the Ascension. With His Ascension, Christ’s presence has passed into the Sacraments of the Church- this is where we know we can find Him, where we can encounter Him. Of course, His presence is not limited to the Sacraments. We often encounter Him in our relationships, and in the Scriptures, and in the poor. As Members of Christ’s Body, we ourselves can transmit the presence of Jesus through our words and deeds, as we live out our own discipleship. Jesus’ final words in Matthew’s Gospel are powerful and important:
“All power in heaven and earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold: I am with you always, until the end of the age.”

On this Feast of the Ascension I have a wonderful announcement to make regarding our own need for ascending… ascending our church stairs: I signed a contract with the architect who will work with us to install a vertical platform lift at our Nativity of Our Lord church. Our hope is to have this up and running by Christmas. We will have a sidewalk level entrance on the front of the church leading to a small vestibule, where the lift will be accessed. People will exit from the space that is currently being used as the reconciliation room (I’ll have to find another spot for hearing confessions). A vertical platform lift is much less expensive than all of the elevator options we investigated, and I believe it will serve our purposes just fine. The only downside is that it will not accommodate coffins- we’ll still need to carry those up the stairs. I’ll have more information about design and pricing in the coming weeks, but couldn’t pass up letting you know about this on this particular feast day!

May your week reflect the encounter with Christ
we experienced at Mass today! 

Dear Friends,

Happy Mothers’ Day to all the moms of our parish!

I am grateful to the Madonna Knights of Columbus council, which organized the annual Canaryville Parade, and the Stockyard Kilty Band, which leads the parade each year and fills the air with the beautiful sound of bagpipes and drums. Thanks to all the dads and kids who march in the parade as a way of honoring and showing appreciation for all of the moms of our neighborhood.

One way of honoring Mary, the mother of Jesus and mother of the Church, is through the annual May Crowning. Recall that the final decade of the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary is the “Crowning of Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth.” Last weekend many watched as Charles was crowned King of England. Mary’s reign is of a different sort. When Jesus was dying on the cross, the Apostle John and his Mother were there with him. He said to her, “Behold your son;” he said to him, “behold your Mother.” Mary is spiritual mother to all of us.

​This year we had May Crowning during the week at school Masses. In addition, I invited all those who made their First Communion last Saturday, and all those who received the Sacrament of Confirmation in March to participate at either the 9:30 or 11 May Crowning ceremonies this weekend.

This past week we had orientation meetings for those who will now begin their one-year preparation period for First Communion and their two-year preparation period for Confirmation. I reinforced with the families that the primary preparation for these sacraments is weekend Mass, which is why you see kids handing in “attendance cards” afterwards. In addition to helping us track their preparation, it also gives the deacons and me an opportunity to greet them individually and work on learning their names.

Finally, please see the information in the bulletin about plans for a Bible Study group and the initiation of a parish Men’s Ministry. Thanks to Deacon Rob Morris for taking the lead on both of these!

May your week reflect the encounter with Christ
we experienced at Mass today!

Dear Friends,
​
Congratulations to all of the young people of our parish who made their First Communion this weekend! May is a special month for many reasons, not the least of which is the joy of so many receiving Christ sacramentally in the Eucharist for the first time. We will highlight both our First Communicants and our recent Confirmandi in a series of May Crownings at Mass over the coming week and weekend. This coming week we will have initial orientation meetings for the next batch of young people who will now begin their formal preparation for Eucharist and 
Confirmation.
​
I am happy to announce to you that Kelly Bourrell will be coming on board as Director of Parish Schools and Principal of Bridgeport Catholic Academy on July 1! She comes highly recommended, and our search committee met with her twice, once on each campus- and was extremely impressed. In addition to being at the committee interviews, I also met with her one-on-one, and feel very confident that she will do a wonderful job as the Principal of BCA and the “point person” for our parish’s educational ministry. She has a solid background, a dedication to the Catholic mission of our schools, and she talked with passion and conviction about educational strategies and curriculum development. She currently serves as Principal at Cardinal Joseph Bernardin School in Orland Hills. 

I have been praying to the Holy Spirit, asking that the right person be directed to our parish; and I believe that the Holy Spirit has come through for us. We will continue to develop our model of collaboration that allows the unique elements of each school to shine, while also exploring ways for working together that enhance both school communities and strengthen their parish connection. 

Finally, during the month of Mary and the month of Mother’s Day, we are taking part in the Baby Bottle Project, which raises money to help the Women’s Center give aid to women facing crisis pregnancies. You can take a bottle home with you and over the course of the month put in some money. We’ll return them at the end of May and the Women’s Center will pick them up.

May your week reflect the encounter with Christ
we experienced at Mass today!

Dear Friends,

We just finished the Spring ALPHA, and I am grateful both to those who facilitated this session (Deacon Rob Morris, Lori Serpico, Joe Parra, Jean Johnson, Anthony Dugo, Sharon O’Connell, Silvia and Angelo Herrera, Rita McArdle, Angelica Hernandez) and the 24 or so people who took part. Once again, those who attended were very positive about the experience. We will run the next ALPHA in the Fall, dates to be determined.

This past week our Religious Education program also wrapped up for the year. I am grateful to our catechists (Lisa Chavez, Lorueen Allen, Patti Graf, Art Gray, Marian Strok and Jeff Hurlbert) and the families of the 60+ children who participated in this.

Our parish will celebrate lots of First Communions in the coming weeks, the majority being for those in Second Grade at special Masses next Saturday. Please pray for those who will be receiving Christ sacramentally for the first time in the Eucharist. I find that the excitement and awe expressed by those receiving Communion for the first time is contagious. It helps remind me just how special this gift is. Please pray not only for the children, but for their parents: this gift will have lasting meaning if our parents continue bringing their little ones to Mass each weekend going forward. I always tell the kids that I hope they will receive Communion every weekend for the rest of their lives. The kids’ job is to make this easy for mom and dad by cooperating.

During the week after the First Communion Masses, we will celebrate May Crownings at school Masses. We will do it then again at both churches, at the 9:30 and 11am Masses, on Mother’s Day. The Madonna Knights of Columbus Council always organizes a Mother’s Day parade through the streets of Canaryville, led by the Stockyard Kilty Band, which finishes off at our Saint Gabriel church. The bagpipes will march down the aisle around 9:30 and we will transition from that into the May Crowning procession to the altar. All in all, this will be a very festive day!

May your week reflect the encounter with Christ
we experienced at Mass today!