Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Several years ago, I was blessed to be a part of a Eucharistic Procession with nearly 10,000 people in Lourdes! I have always thought about having a Eucharistic Procession through our neighborhood streets with the parishioners of St. Joan of Arc. I wasn’t too sure about doing this at first because I preferred a quiet holy hour safely in the air-conditioned chapel as opposed to walking through streets with a monstrance with Jesus’ Eucharistic Presence under an elaborate canopy. I convinced myself that people wouldn’t understand so why do it?

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Yesterday was a busy day at St. Joan of Arc as our parish religious education children, dressed in their Sunday best, solemnly walked down the aisle of our church in order to receive the sacraments of Confirmation and First Communion. I want to congratulate them and thank all of those who prepared them over the past few years. I also thank the many people who made the liturgies so beautiful.

It is always a blessed experience for me to participate in our Confirmation/First Holy Communion Masses. Participating in these holy Masses helps me to grow and renews my relationship with Our Lord through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

May 13, 2017 is the 100th anniversary of the first apparition of Our Lady to three shepherd children in Fatima, Portugal.

There are so many events surrounding Our Lady of Fatima but it all began in the spring of 1916 with Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta. They had their first encounter with a heavenly messenger. Writing in her memoirs, composed under obedience to the Bishop, Lucia tells of that first meeting:

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

This month of May is typically dedicated to Our Blessed Mother. Throughout the centuries, there has been some confusion about Mary and the role she has in our life. To be clear, Catholics believe that worship is due to God alone. So Catholics do not worship Mary. Catholics venerate Mary and in May we honor her with the May Crowing. To show our love for our Blessed Mother is appropriate because she is the Mother of God, the Mother of Our Savior.

There are many reasons to honor Our Lady in beautiful ways. She is the model of perfect love and obedience to Our Lord. We know that God preserved Mary from sin. Sacred Scripture reminds us that Mary conceived Our Lord by the power of the Holy Spirit. As Catholics, it makes absolute sense to honor the Blessed Virgin Mary, who is full of grace, the Mother of God and our Mother, for her "fiat" or "yes" to God made the Incarnation possible. And without the birth of Christ, we would not have salvation.