Fifth Sunday of Easter

My Dear Parishioners,
  
Today we mark the Fifth Sunday of Easter in our celebration of the Lord’s Day. In reviewing both the epistle reading and the Gospel reading for this Sunday the word REMAIN is present within both. This word is used to convey a “ communion” or an adherence with something. In the epistle we read:” Those who keep his commandments remain in him, and he in them, and the way we know that he remains in us is from the spirit he gave us.” In the Gospel the Lord Jesus speaks about his oneness with his disciples, “ Remain in me as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me.”
 
Communion with God is indeed the identifying factor in the life of a disciple. Union with the Lord is that which we seek to maintain throughout life. Since the time of the Last Supper this union has been manifested through the Eucharist as the faithful receive the Body and Blood of the Lord Jesus, the pledge of eternal life. In chapter 6, verse 56 of the Gospel of John we hear Jesus speaking after the miraculous feeding, “ For my flesh is real food and my blood real drink, he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.”
 
It was at the Last Supper that Jesus commanded his apostles to celebrate the Eucharist until he returns in glory. Faithfully the Church has done so as evidenced in the Holy Scriptures and Holy Tradition. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is crucial for our remaining in union with God, without it “ you can do nothing!” The Eucharist nourishes us, strengthens us and keeps us in union with Christ and His Church.
 
This time of year is the time in which many of our Catholic young people receive their First Holy Communion. At Saint Cecilia’s we have three celebrations and at Sacred Heart of Jesus one. As we welcome our children to the Eucharist table for the first time we remember them in our prayers that they may always hunger for the Bread of Life and thereby make the Sunday celebration of the Holy Mass a priority in their lives. We also remember in prayer their parents who have brought them to this sacred moment. May their parents continue to guide them and encourage them to regular reception of Holy Communion through their good example.
 
As I informed you in last Sunday’s pastor’s article I again remind you that the resumption of the distribution of the Precious Blood will begin next Sunday at those Masses in which we have sufficient ministers of Holy Communion. The distribution of the Precious Blood was suppressed by our Bishop due to the flu epidemic which has now passed. I do remind you that those who may be ill, regardless the time of year, should not present themselves at the “ Cup of Salvation”.
 
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THOSE RECEVING THEIR FIRST HOLY COMMUNION! – CHRIST IS RISEN!!
 
Father Zig