Yay, May is here!
The month of May carries with it many gifts. First, it is a month associated with the Blessed Virgin Mary, our Heavenly Mother, and the patroness of our parish. We may want to ask ourselves to renew our relationship with the Blessed Mother in some way, perhaps by the prayer of the rosary, or reading a spiritual book about her life, or simply asking for her ongoing intercession each day. Some Christians ask me why Catholics pay so much attention to Mary, the mother of Jesus. The simplest answer is this one: whoever is important to Jesus should be important to His followers. We follow Jesus by not only embracing and accepting Him, but also by accepting everyone and everything dear to Jesus (his mother, his apostles, his Church, his teaching, etc.) Mary is our Heavenly Mother, let’s not neglect her.
Throughout the month of May we will also celebrate First Communions and Confirmations with our younger parishioners. What a beautiful time in the lives of those who receive these Sacraments of Initiation. Jesus will come and bless them; the Holy Spirit with come and seal them. We pray for all our young people and their families, that God may truly bless them and that many of them may be opened to a greater love for God and commitment to Him.
The month of May will continue to be marked with the celebrations of the Holy Season of Easter, as we will draw to the Solemnity of Pentecost on the last Sunday of May. I encourage all of us to continue to listen closely to the Easter readings throughout this month’s Masses, with the hope of becoming more and more the people of Easter. As we draw closer to the celebrations of Pentecost, we will be invited to renew our relationship with the Holy Spirit, that God who is the sanctifier of our lives may renew us in faith, hope, and love. Perhaps we can find some prayers to the Holy Spirit and recite them in anticipation of the Solemnity of Pentecost.
Lastly, May is the month of ordinations to the priesthood. This means that most priests are celebrating their anniversaries of ordination this month. Let’s say a prayer of thanksgiving for those priests we like, and those we don’t like. Perhaps we can remember in our charity those priests who have baptized us and who have helped us during important moments of our faith life. Happy May, my beloved!
Fr. Wojtek Kuzma