Sunday Within the Octave of the Sacred Heart
Corpus Christi Procession to our Lourdes Grotto
Veneration of the Blessed Sacrament Preceding Benediction
The Procession Returns to Church
Our 2012 First Communicants
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
Happy Fathers Day! I commend all of our dads, living and deceased, to the Sacred Heart of Jesus this day, especially at Mass. Let us remember our fathers, and strive to imitate them. Let us remember our children, and strive to father them with genuine sacrificial love and great joy. Give them the guidance and encouragement they need, especially by example. So you see that Fathers Day should be more than the cookout and the gifts. The “gift that keeps on giving” is the father’s self-forgetful love, and the mother’s silent respect and even reverence in which she leads her children. Ask the adorable Trinity, and the Holy Family of three united Hearts, to unite yours in the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Today I should be with Fr. Siordia in Cocoyoc, offering Mass and conferring Confirmation in his church of Our Lord of the Expiration, with a return from sunny Mexico on Monday evening. Thank you for your continued prayers for a good and safe trip.
Speaking of Mexico, I want to recommend a film which may still be playing locally, “For Greater Glory;” although the good ones never last long. It is a beautiful film, very well made, and truly edifying as it tells the tale of the Cristeros, the popular Catholic rebellion against the Communist/Masonic persecution of the Catholic Church in the 1920s. It is perforce a rather violent film (which accounts for its R rating) but one which is suitable for older children, especially boys (with its story of a boy martyr), as well as for all Catholics. Nothing that passes through Hollywood is entirely accurate, but generally speaking it is excellent. Catch it if you can.
Fr. Cekada leaves this afternoon for a short seminary visit which will complete his school year. This academic year has seen the ordination of two priests, thanks be to God. Mr. Bede Okechukwu is scheduled to be ordained next year. May they keep on coming, and, well trained, keep on going forth into all the world.
Speaking of schools, how about our own? Our school year came to an end on Corpus Christi with the touching closing hymn, “God Be with You ’til We Meet Again.” All of the music the children’s choir performs at the daily school Mass is really quite good and very moving, but the academics at our school are solid as well. One of the parishioners here was speaking to me on Corpus Christi about how impressive it is that our school graduates students well prepared not only for college, but also for law school! Indeed. Excellent academics are combined with character formation in the Church’s own school of spirituality, the Sacred Liturgy. Our children, who give so much for God’s glory, get as much as they give, for God is never outdone in generosity. ’Nuff said!
I did want to say a word of admiration and thanks for the excellent Corpus Christi attendance (what a nice surprise!) as well as for the devoted souls who continued the Octave with us after last Sunday’s stirring and splendid Solemnity and First Holy Communion. I thank all of you who helped, and particularly the teachers of our school and the Sunday School, for such a beautiful season of grace since September.
The Bishop’s Corner would not be complete without a look at the weather. I am writing this in advance (as I prepare for my trip) on Friday, June 8th, the feast of St. Medard, a French weather saint. By popular belief, today’s good weather is supposed to last for forty days. In any case, we are surely grateful for the glorious, classic days of June we have been blessed with this month. You can’t beat a cool, sunny June morning, and you use it best by rising early for prayer.
With a prayer and a blessing for each of you in the Sacred Heart of Jesus,
–Bishop Dolan