Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church

Dear Folks,

First Communions started this weekend, which begins three weekends with sacraments of initiation in abundance! We will celebrate six Masses with First Communions, and three Masses with Confirmations!

Never a dull moment at St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception. It so often seems like Easter comes, then sacraments, graduation, wedding season, back to school and it is Christmas again!! Ok, that’s a little exaggerated, but it doesn’t slow down around here!

Maybe we could slow down and say 3 prayers of thanksgiving:

1. For your Godparents and Confirmation Sponsors — who helped you along your faith journey.

2. For someone who has helped you to grow in faith — who has said a kind word, given you a book, answered your questions, or just helped you to really know the love of God.

3. For your parents — most likely the faith was given to you through your parents! And next week is Mother’s Day, so you better be ready!

Speaking of Mother’s Day, we will also have our May Crownings at all Masses next weekend. (See the note in the bulletin with all the details).

At its heart, it is a simple act of love for our heavenly mother. Next week we will honor our mothers with flowers or breakfast in bed or even doing the dishes without complaining! Does any mother refuse such acts of tenderness? Once, I gave my mother eight very small flowers that I brought back from a pilgrimage to a Marian Shrine. One flower for each of her eight children. She always kept those eight flowers framed with a holy picture.

But imagine if you gave mom flowers by just tossing them at her feet and then went about your business as if it were just another day. An external act, if it is not also internalized, is meaningless. So much of our Catholic way of liturgy finds itself at this nexus. The external is not itself the meaning, but it gives expression to and forms the internal. Show me how you pray, and I will show you how you believe.

When we lay flowers at the feet of Our Lady next weekend, may it be an external manifestation of the many more acts of love we place in her hands for her to give to Jesus.

pax,

Father John Mosimann

Dear Folks,

Dear Folks,

There is an icon in the sacristy of St. John Vianney with this quote: “The eyes of the world see no further than this life… the eyes of the Christian see deep into eternity.”

This week, at daily Mass, we have been reading through the sixth chapter of John’s Gospel. It is so important for understanding the sacraments: the eyes of the flesh can only see so far, but the eyes of the Spirit see into eternity. This is one reason why Catholic worship has a certain complexity. A bit of physical strain on our earthly eyes and understanding serves to stretch our spiritual vision. If there is no effort, no yearning, no stretching in what we see and understand, then there will be little growth in the soul.

I once defined a pilgrimage as a physical journey that accomplishes a spiritual journey. This is one reason why coming to Mass on Sunday matters—rather than simply praying at home, on the golf course, or watching online. The physical acts of preparing your best clothing, driving through traffic, finding parking, and even arriving early are all ways of placing your soul in the most receptive disposition you can muster.

These physical acts of preparation accomplish the spiritual preparation of your soul. And all of this so that, when you gaze upon the Host

raised high, you may recognize before you the King of the Universe.

Sometimes, when people struggle, we might say, “Act like you believe, and you will see your belief grow.” This is because even the desire to believe is already a grace from God. It is an invitation to reject the devil’s lie that “none of this matters” or “nothing we do makes a difference.”

No small act of belief, devotion, or hope is ever wasted. Be encouraged that the Lord meets you where you are—and invites you to seek deeper understanding.

pax,

Father John Mosimann

Dear Folks,

What’s on my mind? Not much. (No, please don’t say it is that way every day! Haha!)

Easter, really. So many folks worked so hard to make it all come together and we are continually evaluating and trying to improve the experience.

Yes, we are aware of the limitations and challenges of the sound. Making the spoken word of preaching and prayer intelligible in that space requires constant attention and tinkering. Why? Because every body in the room acts to absorb sound waves and changes the acoustic properties of the space. Having to spread speakers throughout the Expo Center means that their sound overlaps and creates interference patterns. Then there are the hard surfaces that compound the echoes and muddle the sound. We have already discussed some additional solutions with the sound engineers from whom we rent equipment and who monitor it throughout the weekend.

Be assured that we are always trying to learn and improve our celebrations of the great mysteries of  Our Lord’s suffering, death, and Resurrection. By celebrating the Triduum at the Expo Center, we areprioritizing making sure everyone has a seat and a parking spot, while remaining aware of the limitations of the sound and architecture.

But we keep trying to improve all of this—like adding the Stations of the Cross to the perimeter curtains two years ago!

Also, wow! The 12:30 bilingual Mass was probably 90% parishioners of Hispanic heritage. In years past, that has been a bit more mixed, but it was inspiring to see such a great crowd of our Spanish-speaking brothers and sisters. And this was even with St. Jude offering an Easter Mass in Spanish for the first time, where I heard there were 400 people in attendance!

We had a grace filled Triduum with several thousandcfolks coming to participate in the passion, death and resurrection of our Lord and we welcomed 93 new Catholics into our St. Mary family! So very much to be grateful for – thanks Be to God – our parish family is alive and growing!

pax,

Father John Mosimann