Good Shepherd, First Communions, & Confirmations - All a great joy!

This week has been a little busy since Sunday so it took me a while to get to post a blog update.    On Sunday there was first communion for 70 kids in the afternoon, my son-in-law’s birthday and trip to look for a new puppy for our family; Rosary for a funeral vigil this past Monday evening, confirmations for Ss. Francis and Clare & St. Jude parishes Tuesday, and confirmation for St. Barnabus and Little Flower parishes on Wednesday (my God-daughter Gloria Herron was confirmed).  The first communion and confirmations were joyous occasions to be part of.  I’ll comment on both of those events later.

This past Sunday, with reading from the Fourth Sunday of Easter, was Good Shepherd Sunday.  Father Vince focused on the Acts of the Apostles and the reaction of St. Paul and St. Barnabus to the persecution on their preaching about Christ.   It says, “The disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.” These are good words to hear in the face of adversity.   We’ve had some very troubling news the past few weeks with the Boston Marathon bombing and the explosion at West, Texas, that can get us down.   But the resurrection of Christ and the hope of eternal life is something to sustain us and keep us going in the midst of trouble.   It inspired St. Paul and St. Barnabus as they just “shook the dust from their feet in protest against them, and went to Iconium”.  The Gospel can inspire us to do the same.   We have Christ to proclaim which should bring us joy no matter what happens to us. 

Picture from http://media.photobucket.com

Father Anto shared his experience with us on living among the shepherds, the sheep knowing their shepherd and also the shepherd knowing their sheep.  He used a good analogy of the close tie many of us have with our family pets and how close we can be with them.  He said that the shepherd’s relationship with the sheep was many times closer.  He told us that shepherd knew what was wrong with the sheep just by the sounds it would make, and would give it the care it needed to help sustain it to good health.   Our Lord Jesus helps us and listens to our needs as well.  We just need to share our needs with him.  Sometimes he answers them in the midst of our everyday dealings with trial of life.  

Father Anto shared a personal story on trouble he had with a flight from France to return home to India.    His flight had a connection through London and when he checked in they told him he could not return due to an invalid travel visa. They law had changed since he booked the ticket and he could not take the flight.  Another flight would have cost him four times more than the money he had.  In his trouble he turned to the Lord in prayer to help.   Checking back at the gate a little later resulted in a ticket being provided at no additional cost.

What I really got out of this story was that sometimes the ordinary trials we have in life and the way some things just work out are God’s way of taking care of his sheep.  Sometimes when these things happen we don't recognize or think of God in the way things work out.  The key to Father Anto's message was turning to our Lord in prayer.   Maybe it was a coincidence that the ticket came about, but the real grace was the consolation in being able to turn to our Lord when we have challenges we are faced with.   The next time I’m faced with a difficult situation I am definitely going to remember to turn to God in prayer.  I hope you will too.

Seeing all the children at first communion this week was an exceptional joy.    They were very excited and smiling as they received their first communion, as were their parents, grandparents, and family members.  We even had the grandchildren of four deacons receiving first communion and the grand kids were able to receive first communion from their Grandparents.    Deacon Jerry Gagne, Deacon Mark Kellums, and Deacon Mike Gardner assisted at Mass and Deacon Tim Harte was a Eucharistic minister. 

One of the joys I also saw were many new faces of visitors who were not Catholic, as they came up for a blessing at communion.   This is one of the special “Catholic moments” that people of other faiths and even no faith get to experience.   The joy of this day will help to draw others into a desire to experience the same joy.  Please remember to invite non-Catholic friends and family to these special occasions.

Gloria with Archbishop & Linda

Gloria with Linda and myself

I was also able to serve at two confirmation Masses this week.   This was my first opportunity to do so and it was a very joyful event.  Archbishop Tobin gave a great homily to inspire these young adults as they were sealed with the Holy Spirit in the Sacrament of Confirmation.    One key point he made was in relating the Holy Spirit to the wind.  He asked the youth if they have ever seen the wind.  His answer to them was they may not have seen the wind, but they have seen what the wind can do.    He shared that the gift of the Holy Spirit in Confirmation could be seen by what these young adults do with their lives.     He encouraged them to do the things God dreamed for them and to not settle for less.   God has great dreams for each one of them and the Holy Spirit will help and inspire them to follow these dreams.    This gift of the Holy Spirit at confirmation can help them to follow great dreams and not be distracted by the lesser dreams that the world has to offer.   I thought this was a great message of what Confirmation does in our lives.  

Please pray for all of our children who received first communion and our young adults who were confirmed this week that they spread the joy received from the grace of these sacraments to bring others to Christ. May God bless you!