Father Bill's Pastor's Corner - Week of January 13, 2019
Thanking God for the gift of a child and promising to do your best to raise them with a healthy experience of our faith are part of Baptism. Naturally, the joy of seeing a baby receive the Catholic faith is enough to make anyone smile. But there is a secondary charm too. The parents, godparents, and family are stepping up to the plate. They are saying…Jesus Christ is important to us and we want our child to know firsthand the closeness to GOD. For all adults, it gives us a chance to recommit ourselves. Even as we dip our fingers in the holy water fonts at the church entrance and bless ourselves, it reminds us of the day we were baptized. Our faith in Jesus Christ is an ongoing and constant process of conversion. This is no one time event in our lives that saves us nor is it an insurance policy that guarantees we shall go to heaven. Our relationship with the Holy Trinity is a dynamic faith that requires we feed and cooperate with the grace of God that is offered to us every day. So let’s encourage new parents and each other in living out our faith to it’s fullest.
MEDITATION
O Holy Spirit,
We ask you to come anew…
Send a comforting breeze on unfortunate souls who torment themselves.
Help the bumble lift up their eyes: heaven is their inheritance.
Let them rejoice knowing whose image they are!
Let those who receive much, give the Joy: modesty uniting those who give and those who receive.
Be present in the incomparable laughter of children.
Temper somewhat the ardor of haughty youth; help virile plans to achieve fruition; Adorn white hair with joyous holy desires.
Be the hope of the dying, an d shine forth in the depths of their eyes. (Manzoni d 1873)