Pentecost
Our New Soldiers of Christ
Save these dates for the St. Gertrude the Great Girls’ Camp!
Girls ages 5 – 16+ are welcome to join us on July 11th, 12th and 13th for three days of fun and spiritual activities. We will be joined by three Sisters of St. Thomas Aquinas for days filled with camp favorites such as archery, scrapbooking and of course, the popular Ice Cream Social. We’ll also have our second “annual” canoe trip (age appropriate), overnight camping and bonfire again. New activities for this summer include origami, cake decorating, making a personalized Rosary and some surprises! Come join the fun! The cost of this camp is funded by the generous donations of our sponsors.
Also, Save the Date for Boys’ Camp!
July 24-26
Bishop’s Corner
Last week’s heavy humid air distilled honey from our charming clover fields happily reborn from pedestrian lawns by a few days’ grace and nature’s abundance. I prayed out on the back deck the other morning with Caravaggio, who was sitting shotgun, since there was a bunny sighting. Puccini, an inconstant soul, flitted in and out, as did the blue jay who is nesting nearby. On Sunday at seven, a young deer ran by, his curfew suddenly called. There was a cardinal too, maybe looking for “full communion.”
Fr. McKenna sings the Solemn High Mass this morning, not only to mark the great high point of the Church year, Pentecost, but also his own completion of priestly studies. When his last barbecue is done, Father will turn in his utensils, and later this week, return to Boston and the Dominican Brothers. There he will be the first resident pastor at Sacred Heart Church. We hope he will return to visit us sometimes for a quick game of Red Rover with the school children, or to fire up the propane.
What a privilege it is for us here at St. Gertrude to play a role in preparing men for the holy priesthood! Your generous support thus spreads slowly throughout the Church, and you share in the good done by these priests wherever they go, because you helped them at the beginning. Your generous regular offerings accomplish so much good.
In the meantime, what a blessing, however temporary, to have so many Holy Masses offered in our midst! Three Masses were sometimes offered at once this Spring, with the Bishop as bell ringer, happily exercising the first minor order of Porter, which Archbishop Lefebvre gave him so many years ago. He in turn has bestowed it on many other candidates. But it is always sad to consider the altars, which should be thronged even on weekdays, practically abandoned. The bell calls, but who will answer? The Blood flows, but who will catch it in the chalice of impetration?
Impetration
There is lots of room in my chalice,
Tell me your need;
It is not my hands that uplift it,
But Hands that bleed,
And the prayer that goes shining up from it
God can not but heed,–
How could He bruise further, this Father,
His own Broken Reed?
(-Charles L. O’Donnell, C.S.C.)
Whenever someone e-mails Fr. Cekada asking for prayers, he promises a remembrance in his Mass that day or the next. It is not an empty promise, but one overflowing, like a full chalice, with every grace from the altar.
Still, as Fr. O’Donnell says, “there is lots of room in my chalice…” Don’t hesitate to ask a priest to pray for you at Mass. But why stop there? Why not participate yourself in offering the chalice? There is lots of room at the altar, as well. Heed the bell, its silver tones ringing out sweetly over the silent church. There’s room for you.
One of the saddest things about the post-Lenten letdown is the First Friday of May. Mary’s month, feasts abound, her altar glows, and no one comes! The only thing sadder is the First Friday of June. It is the Sacred Heart’s own month; many children or adults have never made their Nine First Fridays, but never mind. Scrape together a handful, if you can. We’ve moved on to other things.
But there is room in the chalice yet. Your needs are many. Communicants are few. May the Holy Ghost inspire you! The Sacred Heart gives Him to us, and our children, but how much do we give back? May the Holy Ghost inspire you with gratitude, even as He will answer every fervent prayer. Start today by placing your prayer needs in the chalice of Mary’s Immaculate Heart.
May Our Lady of the Holy Ghost get you an abundance of His Gifts and graces. Blessed Pentecost!
–Bishop Dolan