At the Solemn Mass on the great feast of the Ascension we extinguished the paschal candle. This has been part of the Tradition for centuries. This is the liturgical signal that the presence of Christ has now passed into the Sacraments. The time of his bodily presence on earth is over, but his Presence in the Sacraments will be with us until the end of time. The next week is the week of waiting, of expectation, as the Church prepares to celebrate the great feast of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended on Mary and the Apostles to fill them with the power of God himself to enable them to carry out the mission of the Church. It is not as if the Holy Spirit was absent in the world before this. But Pentecost marks the beginning of the presence of God within his Church to be the extension of the Incarnation and to be the Real Presence of salvation through Jesus Christ for the whole world. May each of us ponder these Mysteries as our preparation for Pentecost.
I call your attention to the special Mass that will be celebrated on May 31, the feast of the Queenship of Mary. You may remember that our Student Scholas were invited to sing for Mass at St. Paul’s Choir School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. We are so very happy that the St. Paul’s Choir will be singing at this special Mass on May 31. This is an opportunity to hear one of the finest Catholic choirs in this country singing the music of the Mass, which is the purpose of a church choir. Please come to this Mass and bring friends, especially those who love great Church music.
Many of you have noticed that the construction for the new HVAC has begun. There will be a slight inconvenience during the time of construction in the main church and in the chapel. But we all look forward to enjoying the benefits of the new system that will keep us warm and winter and cool in summer and all this without jarring noise. Again: thank you for your generosity for making this possible.
Please consider on-line giving as a way to make your faithful contributions to the parish. We always have problems especially during the summer when people are away. They do not send in their envelopes for those weeks and often forget to send the envelopes for the weeks they are away when they return. We are on a very tight budget and need regular offertory contributions to make the parish fulfill its mission. On –line giving is easy and automatic. Please consider this.
Father Richard Gennaro Cipolla
