During the weekend of August 1 & 2 our second collection will be for the Little Sisters of the Poor, who have provided a home and compassionate care for Virginia’s elderly poor since 1874. Although the Sisters cannot be present due to the current restrictions, the Parish wishes to support them as it has each year for over 25 years. Because their residents are of limited financial means, the Little Sisters depend upon the charity of friends and benefactors to operate their Home. Your generosity will enable the Sisters to continue welcoming the needy elderly and providing them with the love and dignity they deserve. All donations should be made payable to St. Mary Catholic Church and put in a separate envelope clearly marked “Little Sisters of the Poor”, and the envelope should be placed in the collection baskets at the side exits of the Church.For more information, visit their website atwww.littlesistersofthepoorvirginia.org. Thank you for your generosity and support.
As I write this it is Hot, Hot, Hot…. I think the last place I would want to be today is the beach. I guess that is one side benefit of Corona Quarantine…. no sweltering on the beach! And I send this with a prayer of thanksgiving for whoever invented air-conditioning.
Over the last two weeks I gave the (mostly) same talk to First Communicants and parents 15 times. Whew! How can I help our children get ready for First Communion: in body, mind, and heart? We give our best to the Lord externally with our bodies, so that our souls may be quieted and lifted up to God! At one point in the talk, I said two prayers: one at attention, kneeling, with eyes closed; the other slumped over and floppy. The children recognized that in one prayer I was more fully lifting my heart to the Lord; and in the other I was more worried about my own discomfort. We can’t tell everything about the quality of a prayer from external appearances, but we sure can know our own motives and weakness by examining our own postures in prayer. Give Jesus your best: body, mind, and heart.
Finally, I’d like to relay a comment from the Sister in the video that we shared at the First Communion meeting. Her convent makes hosts that become Jesus.
She said she was told to, “ask Jesus for anything at your First Communion, and He will give it to you.” She asked to become a sister, and has a beautiful and joyful life!
If the King of the universe is giving you Himself, how many more blessings does He want to give, if you will just ask? Ask rightly, of course, (not for a new XBox)! Ask of the Lord the blessings that will endure into eternity. And if you come to one of the First Communions this summer, renew the memory of your own First Holy Communion! We cannot outdo God in generosity, but we should try.
The Lent / Pandemic beard is gone. Why? Because not only are we back in church, we actually now have more masses then before the pandemic! Because there is less space due to social distancing, we have now for this phase another 8:30 am Mass over at Holy Cross Academy on Sunday morning.
Another sign of returning? Confirmations and First Holy Communions! This past Thursday we celebrated Confirmation and now moving forward we will be celebrating these sacraments this summer in a socially distanced manner. Could you please be intentional in praying for our Confirmandi and Communicants?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 (me too) can improve here.
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 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 than 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 girl 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.
Word has been sent out that we are scheduling 1st Communion Masses and Confirmation Masses! I am so grateful for the ability to be back in the church the last few weekends, and have worked with staff to offer dates for the reception of the sacraments spread out over the next few months! We can do this! Social distancing will not keep us from Jesus!!!!!
First Communion children will have a refresher meeting over the next two weeks, so that we can be sure they are ready for receiving our Lord with reverence and understanding. Be patient with office staff as we try to accommodate your schedules for sacraments, as we have almost 500 to celebrate!
Welcome Fr. Sina! We are glad to welcome another priest to the parish. Even with social distancing, the care of souls never stops and St. Mary keeps moving forward!
