Pastor's Message

This Sunday, we will hear Jesus say, "I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit because without me you can do nothing." (John 15:5).

The Gospel reading fits marvelously well with our parish celebration of First Holy Communion happening this weekend. Nearly fifty children will receive Christ in the Eucharist for the first time.

Our Risen Lord didn't leave us abandoned when He ascended back to God the Father. He gave us a most precious gift of Himself in the Eucharist, not merely as a sign but as a reality. The True Presence of Jesus Christ, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity are offered to us in the Eucharist. He desires that He remains in us and us in Him. Let us seek to approach the altar of grace in a state of grace through the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

The Sacraments are an invitation to be shaped by God's grace. This grace allows us, as branches of the vine, to conform to Christ. God the Son humbled Himself in the Incarnation to share in our humanity so that we can share in His divinity. Our fruit is to seek a life of holiness in both word and deed and to bring others to know Jesus as Lord. This is our mission as the Church.

So let us rejoice and be glad, share in the joy and excitement of these children and their families. Let's show great hospitality to the many guests who join us, primarily at the Saturday Vigil and the Sunday Noon Masses. Let our love for Christ deepen through the gift of the Eucharist.

Congratulations to Cameron Palmer and Marina Eklund, who will be married tomorrow at the parish church.

Congratulations to the Janda family, who are presenting a child for baptism on Sunday.

Thank you to all who organized and participated in last week's New Comer Brunch and the Night of Mercy.

As part of our parish Eucharistic devotions, there will be continual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament for First Friday and Saturday. It starts in the St. Scholastica Chapel on Friday, May 3 at 9:00 AM. The chapel is open to adorers until 1:00 PM, on Saturday, May 4.

The preliminary work on the north and east side parking lots began this week. Weather permitting, the project will continue next week.

Fr. James Porter, former associate pastor of our parish, will be returning on Saturday, May 4. He will be at the 5:00 PM Vigil Mass. Afterward, there will be a dinner in McGuire Hall where he will speak about the campus ministry at St. Philip Neri University Parish at the University of Tulsa, where he pastors. All parishioners are invited, especially those with high school children looking to attend college. There is a sign-up for the dinner in the church commons.

My pastoral sabbatical will begin in just over a month. I will be gone from May 28 to September 14. The sabbatical begins with a 30-day retreat in Florida. After will be a visit to the shrine at Fatima, Portugal, a pilgrimage walk on the Camino de Santiago in Spain, serving as a priest chaplain at the shrine in Lourdes, France, and a pilgrimage to a shrine dedicated to St. John Vianney, which is also in France. I will return to the United States in early September.

Please keep me in your prayers, especially during this time. You will be in mine.

God bless and keep you safe.

Fr. Bryan