Fr. Bill's 'SPACE ON THE WEB'

PENTECOST BLAST-OFF
Though I've never been to the places where space shuttles take off, I grew up in the era of space launches from NASA. Every Apollo space trek was an event, and everything seemed to stop at the take-off and landings. All these years later, there's a NASA cable station with live video from space, and the astronaut image seems to have somewhat melted into the list of many things a child wants to do when they grow up. It's no longer the novelty it once was. Pentecost can be seen as the same kind of thing. As a blast-off for the Church in that Upper Room when the first of the Spirit came, it was the event that caused all activity to pause and take notice. And then, the ignition of the Holy Spirit's fire took the Church forward. All these 2,000 years later, Pentecost Sunday can be a kind of annual blast-off, where we sincerely seek the fire of the Spirit to propel us into the Lord's holy will. It's important to ask for the gifts of the Holy Spirit and believe that our fire can be re-kindled. Remember, the gifts of the Holy Spirit are not for private consumption, behind locked doors, but to be shared in praise and service of God. Be careful what you ask for....because the Lord will ask you to use it all for His Glory! My prayer this Pentecost for our parish is that the Holy Spirit's wisdom will continue to call us all deeper into the mystery of oneness in Christ the Lord. I am asking for the Spirit's fire in me to be renewed, but that all who have never had the courage to seek that sweet wind of the Spirit will be opened. Like the instruments in an orchestra commonly called the "woodwinds" or "wind" instruments, the Spirit makes beautiful music when we're open and ready.

CROWNS AND FLOWERS FOR MOTHER
This Pentecost also happens to be Mother's Day and our annual May Crowning ceremony (held this Sunday morning at the 9:00 Mass) re-kindles a devotion that can grow like May flowers. Our Blessed Mother's open arms in the statue we have to the left of the altar, called "Our Lady of Grace," is hard to crown with flowers because of her high place of honor and our short ladders! So we bring the image of Our Lady of Fatima from the sacristy. Our First Eucharist children are invited to participate in this ceremony as well as the parish Feast Day procession in two weeks, May 25th, for Corpus Christi (Body and Blood of Christ) Sunday.

A MOTHER NAMED MONICA
Please mark your calendars for Wed. May 14th, when our second Holy Hour honoring St. Monica and asking her intercession for our fallen-away members of the church and our families. The morning after our first Holy Hour, the daughter of a parishioner who has been away for years, and had not had her child Baptized suddenly said to her mother "Do you think I should have (the childs' name) Baptized?" St. Monica is serious about this ministry of reconciling children to the Lord. Please help us pass the word. The healing that takes place during these Holy Hours of Adoration can be a great blessing to your family, and ours. The May 14 Holy Hour follows our Wed. evening Mass, so it'll be from 7:30 to 8:30 PM. When (notice, I didn't say "if") your family experiences a renewal of faith that we can attribute to St. Monica, please let me know. I have a feeling that other parishes will want to introduce this as part of their evangelization efforts!