Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope and pray that you are enjoying your Memorial Day weekend. I have always loved Memorial Day because it always seems to signal the “unofficial” start of summer. Memorial Day is, of course, a civil holiday. In the Church, what our nation tries to do today, we really do on All Soul’s Day in November. That is when we remember and pray for all of the dead. And yet, an important part of the civil holiday, is not just to remember the dead in general, but to remember especially the dead who gave their lives fighting for our country and for the freedoms that we enjoy. Perhaps this holiday is made more important this year because of the conflicts in Iraq and in Afghanistan, where soldiers representing us, continue to lose their lives almost every day. We have a special obligation to pray for our service men and women, and that one day we would be able to live in a world where people don’t have to go half-way around the world to fight and die to protect others. The brave individuals that we remember and pray for today as a nation, have to inspire all of us to be more courageous, not only in defending our country, but more importantly in standing up for what is right. This is a somber holiday. Even in the middle of cookouts, five-hundred-mile car races, and pick-up baseball games, there is a seriousness. Let us not forget what this holiday is really all about. And let us pray for all of those who have sacrificed for us.

This weekend we also want to take the opportunity to congratulate all of the graduates of our Parish family. Our kindergarteners graduated to First Grade this past Thursday evening. Our eighth graders will graduate at a special Mass on Wednesday evening. Most of the college and university graduations are now over. And most of the high schools will hold their graduation services in the next week. We have several among us who have worked very hard to achieve their goals, on all of these different levels. We are very proud of all of you. I pray that you will use your talents and wisdom in positive ways to make a difference in our world, and in a special way, in our Church. This is a great time of year. Congratulations also to your parents and all of those who have loved and supported you over the years.

Next Saturday, June 4 th, is Ordination weekend for our Diocese. Deacons C. Jack Weldon, who served at St. Maria Goretti last summer, and Jeff Martin will become the Diocese of Lafayette’s two newest priests. It has been a couple of years now since we have had any Ordinations, and so next Saturday will be a day of great rejoicing for the entire Local Church! The Ordination Mass, which will also include the transitional Diaconate Ordination of Josh Janko and Eric Underwood, will take place in our Diocesan Cathedral in Lafayette at 11:00 AM. A caravan will be leaving from St. Maria Goretti to attend the Ordinations at 8:45 AM next Saturday morning, from in front of the main entrance to our Parish grade school. If you have never attended an Ordination, it is a beautiful experience and is a great opportunity not only to support those who are being Ordained, but also to support the Diocesan Church community. If you’d like to go along, we’ll see you next Saturday morning at 8:45 AM sharp. Please pray this week in a special way for Deacon Weldon, Deacon Jeff, and future deacons Josh and Eric, as they are in their final day of preparation for service to the Church.

In conjunction with Ordinations next weekend, the Diocese of Lafayette is asking for a special financial appeal to be made at all of its parishes, to help pay for the ever-increasing costs of educating priests. Today it costs five times what it did just a few years ago to educate a priest. In addition, thank God, the number of men studying for the priesthood in the Diocese is also up. This is a great thing. However, it is also an expensive thing. A second collection will take place at all Masses next weekend for this new appeal. Please think and pray about this during this coming week, and give what you can next weekend to help us educate and train our priests.

The Parish “End of the School Year/ Beginning of the Summer” Bash is this coming Friday evening, June 3rd. This fun event has something for everyone in the family, so bring the whole crew and help us to kick-off the Summer of 2005 in grand fashion! Pray for nice weather.

This coming Tuesday morning is our last school Mass of the year, and after this Tuesday, our 8:00 AM Mass will move during the summer to 5:30 PM in the evening. Friday’s 8:00 AM Mass will stay in place throughout the summer months.

Have a great week! There’s a lot going on. And there’s even more to pray about!

In Christ,
Fr. Kevin

Laughing helps. It is like jogging on the inside.