Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church

This weekend and last four Holy Communion Masses we’re celebrated. Next weekend three confirmation Masses lined up! Soooooo many launching pad sacraments to deeper union with the Lord!

How can we shape our disposition to receive these sacraments fruitfully?

1. Preparation. Do we know what we are doing and are we therefore turning our minds with faith to the love of Christ being given to us? We do our best to teach our children that Holy Communion is truly Jesus. We do our best to try to lead our young men and women to ‘live and walk by the spirit.”

But I promise you that everyone of us can improve here. Spiritual reading, bible-in-a-year podcasts, and personal devotional prayers are all ways we feed our mind and souls which increase our hunger for the sacraments.

2. Desire. This is so key. Jesus never forces His love on us. He only offers. The spiritual life and God’s love is freely given by Him and a work of His grace; yet it requires our effort. He has given us freedom that means we must cooperate with His work. The Holy Spirit is freely given to those who will receive Him.

I recall the excitement of my First Holy Communion, and the cautious hope for Confirmation. As long as I can remember, I would see my siblings and parents go forward for Holy Communion and I would desperately want to accompany them. The wisdom of the church waits for this desire to be enkindled in the souls of her children. Can you remember and rekindle that desire now?

3. Repentance. Are we continually turning from sin? If we refuse to repent of sin, then we are saying to the Lord that we love created goods or persons more then Him and we are lessening the space in our hearts that He can fill. The solution to our lukewarmness is simply to repent with sincerity.

One of my favorite comments from a young lady after her First Confession was, “I thought it would be hard and sad, instead it was easy and happy!” What a beautiful summary of repentance and returning to the loving embrace of the Lord.

May the joy of our First Holy Communicants re-enkindle the same in our souls. May the Confirmation of our young adults strengthen our resolution to live the Gospel in word and deed.

Pax,

Father John Mosimann

Dear Folks,

Soooo much going on, and so much of it is a testament to the goodness and generosity of St. Mary IC parishioners!

We made our Bishop’s Lenten Appeal (BLA) goal with $495k pledged! Yowza! 1,163 families pledged that much, which is 18% of the official number of 6344 parish families. Yes, we would always like to see the percentage of families pledging be closer to 28% (that is the diocesan participation goal), but we also know that some families are still sending in gifts and commitments to the BLA! Thank you, and there is a nice note from the bishop in the bulletin this week.

Also, there is a nice note from the parish in Togo where we recently sent a donation to help them rebuild their church! The parish is known to us because it is the home parish of Late Drackey who works here at St. Mary’s. Your generosity arrived to them in a time of great need for their church reconstruction.

The fundraiser for youth mission trip to the Dominican Republic? That brought in over $20k. The “Love Your Neighbor“ collection for Micah, that brought in almost $8k. Then 240 Easter baskets which was twice the number we had hoped for.

All this, and our capital campaign still humming along! In the midst of a recession when prices for food, household items —-everything is THROUGH THE ROOF – the generosity of so many and trustful surrender to God is beautiful to witness and inspiring!

May the good work that the Lord is accomplishing in us be brought to fulfillment in His glorious Kingdom!

pax et bonum,

Father John Mosimann

This week we has had some perfect weather days. It is one of the benefits of living in an all-season region that we truly value these perfect temperature / humidity days because they are so rare! If we lived in San Diego, it would be just another day.

What is it about our human nature that can experience delights and become so accustomed to them so quickly that we have to have more and more? I hope that it is because we are ultimately desiring the Lord God Almighty! The finite and ephemeral nature of earthly pleasures leaves us always hungry for more. The good news is that in heaven, those problems will be solved.

Please be sure to check out the pictures from our first Eucharistic Procession for the students and staff at Holy Cross Academy! One staff member appended this to the end of an email, “… a beautiful Eucharistic procession through the school today. Fr. Mosimann, along with several altar boys and singers, processed through the school with the monstrance and visited each classroom and office. #whyweloveHolyCrossAcademy”

The hashtag put a big smile on my face: #whyweloveHolyCrossAcademy

Also, an expansion of the bonus confession times that Fr. Antony will be offering! See the note in the bulletin here, with confessions every weekday, and multiple times while he is here with us until the end of May!

pax,

Father John Mosimann,