|
 Dear
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Today, the Fourth Sunday of our Lenten season is
traditionally known as
Laetare
Sunday, so-called from the first word of the antiphon at the old
Introit, the introductory antiphon of the Mass that used to be
used when the priest entered the sanctuary for Mass. We do not
use the introit much today because it has been replaced by the
opening hymn of the Mass. Laetare, which is Latin for
“rejoice”
is taken from the Latin translation of Isaiah 66:10-11, and it
sets a tone of joyful anticipation of the Easter mystery. Lent
is now more than half over. This year, conveniently, Laetare
Sunday falls smack between the two big feasts of St. Patrick,
March 17th,
yesterday, and the Feast of St. Joseph, March 19th,
tomorrow. And so we celebrate a little bit today about all of
the good that God is doing in us during this Lenten season. How
are YOU doing at getting closer to God this Lent? Or are you
just not eating meat on Fridays?
I had a wonderful weekend last week with our RCIA
Catechumens and Candidates, who are now called the “elect”, at
the RCIA Retreat. This year, we have our biggest group ever,
and it was amazing to get to go on retreat with them and their
sponsors at St. Meinrad last weekend. Once again, our Parish
community is so extremely blessed with an awesome class of new
Catholics. You guys are really going to love each and every one
of these special people who are joining the Church this year. I
can’t wait to see what God will do with each of them! They have
so many talents, gifts, and ideas that I know they are going to
make our Parish family so much stronger. I hope that you are
praying for all of those who are going to be Baptized and
Confirmed and make their First Holy Communion this Easter. They
are in their final weeks of preparation and they need our
prayers and support now more than ever. Today, at the 10:00 AM
Mass, we will celebrate together the Second Scrutiny with them.
We celebrated the First Scrutiny last weekend when we were on
retreat at St. Meinrad. I’d like to thank everyone who made the
RCIA retreat such a wonderful experience including Jeanne
Derksen, John Mahon, Tony Avellana, and all of the awesome
sponsors and spouses that went with us. In addition, I’d like
to mention my appreciation to the Sisters of St. Benedict at
Ferdinand and the monks of St. Meinrad for their assistance with
the retreat also.
Hey, two weeks ago during the Parish Lenten Mission, for
one of the first times, I spent some time in the back of church
by the beautiful large wooden doors. This is usually where our
Ministers of Welcome hangout during Mass, staying available for
any need while we are praying. And that’s exactly why I wanted
to be there during Fr. Larry’s Mission. It was an eye opening
experience – er, should I say “ear” opening experience! There
were many children who were in the gathering area of our church,
the church narthex, unaccompanied by an adult. There was lots
of running around and yelling going on. I was somewhat amazed
and I wondered how many times this happens when I am praying
Mass and I have no idea that it is happening. I asked the
Ministers of Welcome and they said that they see it a lot.
Parents should not leave young children, or older children for
that matter, unattended in the church narthex. For one thing,
this is a very potentially dangerous situation, and for another,
can create unrestricted chaos. Parents, if your young child has
to go to the restroom during Mass PLEASE ACCOMPANY THEM, keeping
them safe and helping them get back to Mass as soon as
possible. I am still somewhat dumbfounded that so many of our
children have to go to the bathroom so many times during Mass.
During the Mission, I saw one little guy who went to the
bathroom by himself four times in the two hours of the Mission
that night! We can do better! Leaving Mass at all should be
the exception rather than the rule! Parents, how about making
sure that everybody has gone to the restroom before Mass
starts? Please don’t be naïve. There’s a lot of messing around
that’s going on in the church narthex during Mass. This is not
good. We need to take care of this.
I wanted to offer my congratulations to our girl’s
volleyball teams who have recently won the CYO city
championships. Ladies, we are all so very proud of you! You
represented us very well not only by your winning, but even more
in your good sportsmanship and Christian charity in winning.
Congratulations!
The Catholic schools are going on Spring Break this
Friday to avoid vacationing during Holy Week, when most of our
public schools will be on Spring Break. If you are going to be
traveling this week, have a safe journey. And we pray for a
peaceful and relaxing week for everybody!
In Christ,
Fr. Kevin
Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty.
Anyone who keeps learning stays young!
|
