Dear St. Louis Parishioners,
Well, at last, we have returned to Ordinary Time, after forty days of Lent and seven weeks of Easter. These first weeks after Easter are littered with a series of ‘movable feasts’ which are scheduled in relation to Pentecost, rather than on a fixed date. Most recently, Pope Francis just initiated a brand new feast, which we celebrated this past week, the Feast of Mary, Mother of the Church, which is on the Monday after Pentecost. Now, this Sunday, we celebrate Trinity Sunday, followed by Corpus Christi, next Sunday, and the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus the following Friday, and Immaculate Heart of Mary that Saturday. These celebrations all come together to remind us the true meaning of the word ordinary. Ordinary Time is not about returning to the basic, mundane and boring grind of “business as usual.” It is about learning to live in the regularity and consistency of a life ordered by the beauty of God’s order. It’s about living His will and His plan for our lives every day. It’s about learning to live the new life of the Resurrection every day of our lives. Returning to this season comes with a unique kind of joy, as the past seven weeks are to have been a time of renewal, by plunging into the depths of our Lord’s Paschal Mystery. Thanks to this time of revival, our ordinary lives have been made new. This return to Ordinary Time is a time to rediscover what it means to be human and to live as a child of God. We must recall, then, that we are made in the im-
age and likeness of God. So, who is God? God is Love. The Holy Trinity (front cover, window in the vestibule, over the information table) is a Communion of Persons (Three Persons, in One God), perfectly united in an Eternal Communion of Love. Being made in His image and likeness means being made for communion (not to live for ourselves) and being endowed with an intellect and free will so that we can seek to know the Highest of truths and freely choose to live in accord with His will, so that we can experience the fulfillment of this communion for which we were made. Let us renew our commitment to use these gifts as we were made to, so that we can live “a new ordinary.”
Corpus Christi: Next weekend is Corpus Christi already! This is a wonderful time to celebrate the gift of the Eucharist. As you may know, a common and beloved tradition is to do a Eucharistic Procession on this great feast, either at the end of Mass or later in the day. Our parish celebration this year is going to consist of a Eucharistic Procession at the end of the 10:30 Mass, ending at the pavilion, where Adoration will continue throughout the afternoon. We encourage all parishioners to come back at some point during the day to spend some extra time in quiet prayer in the (hopefully) nice spring weather (pray for good weather, but in the event of rain, adoration will continue in the Church). While we encourage everyone to come whenever you are available, we are also designating specific times when different parish groups are encouraged to come in and pray together. That schedule will be as follows: 11:30 - CCW, 12:00 - Word of God Prayer Group, 12:30 - Divine Mercy Cenacle, 1:00 - Knights of Columbus, 1:30 - Men’s Study, 2:00 - Family Prayer Time (Catechesis of the Good Shepherd/Family Faith Formation)*, 2:30 - Respect Life Committee/Holy Hour For Life, 3:00 - Foundations of Faith, 3:30 - Young Adult Ministry, 4:00 - Youth Ministry. At 4:30, we will conclude with Benediction and the Procession of the Blessed Sacrament back into the Church, followed by lite refreshments and an ice cream social. *During the Family Prayer Time, a catechist will lead some kind of reflection designed for the children, to help them focus their energy on prayer.
In Christ through Mary,
Fr. Gifford
St. Louis, pray for us!
Blessed Mary, Queen Mother of the King of Kings, pray for us!