Dear Fellow Parishioners, Our Easter celebrations continue as we celebrate the outpouring of the graces of our Sacramental life as The Catholic Community of Sacred Heart. We have welcomed 15 young people who made their First Eucharist, to the table of the Bread and on Friday the 13th (Yikes) 19 of our young people will be Confirmed by Bishop McManus at Sacred Heart Parish in Milford. The waters of Baptism continue to flow as we welcome children into our parish community in their first sacrament of initiation. I will continue to offer the Sacrament of the Sick on the second Sunday of each month after the 9:30 Mass. Anointing of the Sick is a Sacrament of Healing and offers those who come forward a prayer for healing in body, mind, and spirit. Sometimes when I offer this sacrament in the hospital, I get wide open eyes from a patient and the question, “I’m not dying am I?” How difficult it is to break an understanding of this sacrament of healing from the old teaching of “Extreme Unction” also know as Last Rites. The anointing of the sick conveys several graces and imparts gifts of strengthening in the Holy Spirit against anxiety, discouragement, and temptation, and conveys peace and fortitude. It is not only about physical ailments. Seeking the prayer support of the community for healing in body, mind, and spirit offers us the peace that comes from others in the community who assist us with their prayers and support us in the challenges that come our way. Those who wished to be anointed are asked to assemble in the pews to the right of the church near the ambo. We will pray together before each person is anointed. Each person is anointed with the Oli of the Sick on the forehead, and palms of their hands in the sign of the cross. The person is then encouraged to rub the oil into their hands and pray for the grace of healing and being made whole in what ever way God’s grace is necessary on the faith journey. We conclude our service by asking our Mother Mary to wrap us in the mantel of her protection! We are a Sacramental people, all are invited to receive the graces that come to us from receiving that first sacrament of Initiation, baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Happy Easter and Happy Mother’s Day Week! Fr. Bill