The Month of Mary

05-05-2019From Fr. Antony's DeskFr. John Barbella

May is, of course, the Month of Mary. With that in mind, try to do some little things to honor Mary this month. If you don’t already pray the Rosary daily, this would be a good time to start. If you can’t pray a whole Rosary, why not pray at least a decade of it a day? It is a powerful prayer – one of my favorites – and is recommended by countless saints.

As a parish, we will honor Mary by setting up a special statue of her near the side Altar. This statue will be crowned by our First Communion children at the 11 AM Mass next Sunday. It will be left in place throughout the month of May. My hope is that it will inspire us to think of Mary’s good example and strive to follow it in our lives.

Next Sunday is Mother’s Day! It is so appropriate that we honor our own mothers in this month dedicated to the Holy Mother of God. We will include a special prayer for mothers at Mass next weekend.

Additionally, Mother’s Day envelopes have been placed in your packets and in the Church. You can list the names of your mother and grandmothers on them if you like. They will be placed near the Altar for the remainder of May – and the names on them will be included in all the Masses offered. These prayers will be a special spiritual gift to all our mothers and grandmothers – living and deceased!

Our parish is blessed to have several organizations dedicated to our Blessed Mother. One is the Legion of Mary, which is a small but very dedicated group that meets weekly for prayer, spiritual reading, and good works. Those interested in joining can contact the parish office. We will be happy to put you in touch with them.

The Blue Army Prayer Group is another wonderful group of people who love our Blessed Mother and are dedicated to the message she brought to the world at Fatima. This group has met and prayed in our parish chapel for 40 years. They will celebrate their anniversary at the 11 AM Mass on Sunday, May 19. It will be yet another way that we honor our Blessed Mother during her special month.

I had a very nice time with many of our parish Cub Scouts and Weblos at their Blue and Gold Brunch last Sunday morning. Having been a scout, it brought back many fond memories. It was great to see the scout’s accomplishments and to spend time with them and their families.

As always, I would ask you to pray for me today and every day. I know many of you take very seriously my request to pray a Hail Mary for me each day – and I thank you. You are all in my daily prayers – especially my Rosary. Let’s also pray for our mothers and for peace.

Have a great week!

Fr. John

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