Letter from the Pastor
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May 11, 2025
Once again this year, for the month of May, our parish is blessed to have the Travelling Statue of Our Lady of Fatima.
Happy Mother’s Day! For those whose mothers and grandmothers are still alive – love, cherish and thank them today. For those whose mothers have gone home to God, we pray for them at Mass.
A special day to honor mothers is a part of every major civilization, culture and nation. The holiday, as we know it in the United States, is attributed to a woman named Anna Jarvis.
We know instinctively of the wonder, the miracle and the gift of mothers. Mothers are the first to know us, before anyone else. We begin our life within them; we are nurtured and taken care of by them from the second of our existence. They offer us to our family, the whole world, and the Church. They taught and nurtured us on the way, by offering wisdom, example and practical experience. They picked us up when we fell, cared for our scrapes and hurts and unconditionally loved us back when we strayed.
There is no one like a mother, no substitute for her place, no equal to her love and placement in our own personal formation. Mothering is an ongoing relationship of love and care. As the song says, “A mother’s love’s a blessing.”
Throughout our country today, florists have the busiest day of their year, restaurants are booked, even the kids are on their best behavior, at least part of the day. Our hearts and minds all turn to the woman who gave us life and showed us the beauty of committed love throughout our entire lives.
Our Lord called His mother “Immah”, which is Aramaic for mother. The word “amen”, which means “confirmation, support”, is derived from the same word for “mother”. Our Lord entrusted His own mother to us as one of His last gifts of love, as He was dying upon the Cross.
The Mother of the Lord continues to give us life and points us to her Son and offers Him to us as the greatest gift of a mother’s love. As much as we love our mothers, we know they are or weren’t perfect, but in spite of their human frailties, we thank God for them. And if our mother’s failed to be their best, or are no longer with us here on earth, we shall always have our heavenly mother. So, enjoy the day with your loved ones, whether they are still here on earth, or they have gone to their eternal rest.
Presently, there are 37,302 priests (25,706 diocesan and 11,596 religious) in the United States. Forty years ago, there were 58,632 priests. Back then, there were 48,992 seminarians; now it’s 4,856. Proportionally as well as absolutely, the decline in the number of religious women has been even steeper: 179,954 then; 45,100 now.
Why aren’t people responding to God’s call? I think that not enough people ask themselves what God wants them to do with their lives. They go from one thing to the next, without questioning themselves, or God’s will. God calls young men and women to religious vocations, but in giving us freedom, we can reject His call. Another great factor is family life, or lack thereof. Many families don’t encourage vocations; parents want grandkids.
God has a special purpose for all people He created. God cares for each one of us individually; He watches and provides for us. No one’s life is insignificant to God.
On Saturday, May 24th at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, one of our own will be ordained a priest.
Michael Coleman, who attended our School and our PREP program, will become a priest and his first Solemn Mass will take place at 1:30 PM on Sunday, May 25th. You are invited to attend the Mass and receive his first priestly blessing.