HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!
Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers of the parish and the mothers of all our parishioners! We all know how important our mothers have been to us as we grew up and so we join with our nation in honoring them today. We celebrate the great gift that God has given us in calling families to share in his creative work, especially through the loving care of their children. As we have done in the past, we will be making baby bottles available for you to fill with your donation to support Mother’s Home, located in Darby, PA, that offers mothers and their children assistance before, during and after a crisis pregnancy. Please be generous with your offering; your support is very important for these women who have made the difficult decision to give birth to their children and now need our support.
Mothers play an irreplaceable role in our lives. Let us take time today to honor our mothers, thanking them for their many sacrifices as they have brought us into the world and cared and nurtured us throughout our lives! As we celebrate Mother’s Day this year, let us thank God for giving them the sacred vocation of motherhood, through which all of us have come to life.
THE ASCENSION OF THE LORD
As they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight. While they were looking intently at the sky as he was going, suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.” (Acts 1:10-11)
This Thursday, we will celebrate the Solemnity of the Ascension of our Lord, another significant feast during the Easter Season. This is a very important feast for us as we reflect on the end goal of our lives – eternal life with God in heaven!
Three days after Jesus was crucified, he rose from the dead and appeared to several of his followers. He then ascended into heaven where, as we proclaim every Sunday in the Nicene Creed, he “is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come to judge the living and the dead and his kingdom will have no end.”
Whereas the Resurrection assured our Lord’s followers that he was alive, the Ascension gave them – and us – definitive assurance that God’s kingdom has no end. As we approach the end of the Easter Season and continue to reflect on the meaning and significance of the mysteries of this great Season, let us be encouraged to follow the example of the first disciples and witness to everyone the new life our Lord offers in his Resurrection and the promise of entry into his eternal kingdom when he returns in glory!
CATHOLIC HOME MISSIONS
As we continue the celebration of the joyous Easter season, we are reminded once again about the essential missionary nature of the Church: to proclaim the Good News that Jesus has entrusted to us. We are all aware of the need for continuing this work even today, which includes constant missionary outreach. But ordinarily, when we think of the Mission Church, we think of Africa or Asia or the Middle East. Most Catholics don’t realize that the Church in the United States has many missionary areas as well. An area is designated to be missionary as long as it cannot sustain itself either financially or with its own clergy. In fact, all of North America was considered to be mission territory until 1910 – that’s just a little over one hundred years ago! And, there are 70 dioceses in the United States – that’s 40% of the dioceses in our country – that are categorized as mission dioceses today. These dioceses cannot provide basic pastoral services without outside help. Basic pastoral services include the celebration of the Eucharist and other sacraments, religious education and ministry training for priests, deacons, religious brothers and sisters and lay people. Without outside support, they would not be able to fulfill Christ’s mandate to “go to the ends of the earth and proclaim the gospel to all people”.
Please remember the very diverse needs of all in the mission Church, including the home mission dioceses, when you participate in the Catholic Home Missions collection next week and be as generous as possible. In this way, you will again respond to our risen Lord who calls us to continue his mission of sharing God’s love here and around the world!