FM's Message | Sunday, May 19, 2024

This week we gather to celebrate the Feast of the Pentecost, celebrating the descent of the Holy Spirit as Jesus promised and to mark the beginning (officially) of the Church. It is a moment to remember that God has a big plan and that we have been included in it as participants and recipients.

We participate through our living out of our faith, starting with our relationship with Jesus. As we grow in this relationship and can give witness, we see the fruits of the Spirit working in our lives. The witness we give most clearly is a type of joy that we possess as we live our lives in the light of the Holy Spirit. This includes giving evidence of the other fruits of the Spirit. The fruits of the Spirit are charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, and chastity. By asking the Lord to allow these fruits to be evidenced in our lives, we give witness to the work of the Spirit in our lives. There are some people who believe that any of these hold back our freedom, but the truth is when used correctly, the gifts increase our freedom to live generously and lovingly. That is an imitation of Jesus, and what draws others, we hope, to the same way of life. St. Irenaeus wrote, “The glory of God is a person fully alive, and a person fully alive is alive in Jesus Christ.” The fullness is evidenced by the fruits of the Spirit. But the fruits do not come from nowhere. They must be strengthened by the gifts that God also lavishes on us for the purpose of building up the kingdom.

To complement the fruits, there are seven gifts of the Spirit. They are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. At the last confirmation we celebrated on the 5th of May, we heard these gifts asked for them through the prayer of the Holy Spirit that is given to the candidates before they are confirmed. These gifts are to be used to produce the fruits of the Spirit. The most controversial or challenging, is the last one, the fear of the Lord. It is not to be understood in the sense that, “God is watching to catch us in a sin” but rather to be taken aback by God’s majesty and wanting to do his will in a way that is pleasing to us and to Him. The other sometimes confusing gift is piety. There are people who live simply, pray simply, and accomplish great things without ever calling attention to themselves. It is this simplicity of prayer and the effort to live a prayerful life that draws our admiration and understanding that someone is living a pious life. It includes prayer and sacrifice, but it does not draw attention in any obvious way.

So, as we conclude our Easter season, like the Apostles in the first reading, we are sent out to use all that we have been given to accomplish the great work of witnessing to the kingdom.

Peace,
Father Murray

Welcome to Genevieve Edison, who was baptized last week. She and her parents are part of the parish and we welcome them also.

Congratulations to our newly confirmed parishioners. We welcome you all to full communion and hope that you will continue to find a place in the church to worship and use the gifts and talents God has given you to help our mission of healing and evangelization.

Catholic Appeal. We are at 84% of our $50,200.00 goal with $41, 962 pledged and collected. Thank you for your generosity.

Building News. The first step of the work to replace the Koi pond has started. We have emptied the pond and now will fill it with some good dirt from the Black Earth company. They take organic garbage and reduce it naturally to soil and compost. They will drop off a load this week and then we can transfer it to the hole and a few low spots on the grass and get a flower bed going that honors Mary and provides a quiet spot for reflection and prayer.
We also have received a quote from a metal company to construct a form to support the Ten Commandments and Beatitude tablets. Two generous parishioners are paying for this project and I am grateful for their kindness. The conifer tree that was planted by the garage will be transferred by the arborist. It will be placed either where the cherry tree was cut down or where the tree near the parking lot was taken down last fall.