Month of Mary

My Dear Parishioners,

I want to offer warm congratulations to our young people who received Jesus in Holy Communion for the very first time over the weekend.  We have invited our recent First Communicants to come to Sunday Mass this weekend dressed in their First Communion outfits. If you see one of them, please help to recognize, congratulate, and encourage them to stay close to Jesus.

May is also the month of Mary and a time when we reflect on Our Blessed Mother’s willingness to make a home for Jesus within her. We too are called to make a home for Jesus in our hearts and Mary will help us do that. You are encouraged to honor Mary by reciting the rosary either privately or join the public recitation of the rosary after the 8:00 a.m. weekday Mass or before the 5:00 Saturday Vigil Mass. We honor Mary as the Queen of Heaven and Earth in a special way tomorrow with our May Procession on Monday, May 8th. The procession begins at 7:20 pm in the grassy area between the two back parking lots (weather permitting). We invite all members of the 2023 Confirmation class and First Communion class to take a place of honor in the procession. Please wear your First Communion attire or your Confirmation robes. We also ask parishioners to bring flowers from your gardens. The flowers are carried in procession along with a statue of Mary and then placed in front of the statue as a tribute to the Blessed Virgin. After the procession we will pray the Rosary. The night closes with Benediction. It is a beautiful devotion and I hope to see you there.

Next Sunday we celebrate and honor our mothers. If you have not had a chance to write the names of the mothers and other women in your life that you wanted honored or memorialized on the Mother’s Day envelopes, please drop them off at the rectory or in the sacristy so that we may include them in our Mother’s Day Masses. The intentions will be placed in a basket in front of the Blessed Mother statue and remain there for the rest of the month of May. I found the following prayer for mothers on a Jesuit website:

A Prayer in Gratitude for Our Mothers

Good and Gentle God,

We pray in gratitude for our mothers and for all the women of theory who have joined with you in the wonder of bringing forth new life. You who became human through a woman, grant to all mothers the courage they need to face the uncertain future that life with children always brings.

Give them the strength to live and to be loved in return, not perfectly, but humanly.

Give them the faithful support of husband, family and friends as they care for the physical and spiritual growth of their children.

Give them joy and delight in their children to sustain them through the trials of motherhood. Most of all, give them the wisdom to turn to you for help when they need it most.

– Author Unknown

God Bless You!
Fr. Bordonaro