The Responsorial Psalm this Sunday is the not so familiar Psalm 33. It is a psalm of praise to God, and is attributed to King David. God is portrayed as true, trustworthy, just, and kind. His creation comes from ultimate love, and we eagerly await the fulfillment of that love. The community has always been encouraged to joyfully sing these words in praise of our Creator! Pick up your Bible and study these inspirational words! Click here for Psalm 33 from the U.S. Bishops' web site.

Our family realized we've been neglecting the Psalms. We hear the Responsorial Psalm at every Mass, but still do not know much about these ancient prayers. We'll be studying more about the psalms over the next few weeks. We'll let you know what we learn!

Just in time for Confirmation!

We're reviewing the gifts of the Holy Spirit during the Easter season.
The fourth gift is Counsel

Counsel is also known as right judgment. It involves considering Church teaching and Scripture when making choices. (Read more)

You can use your white candle all week long to celebrate the season of Easter,
or use your white candle on Sunday, Tuesday, and Saturday, and
red candle on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday for our honored martyrs of the faith.

• Monday, April 21 is the memorial of St. Anselm, bishop and 11th century Doctor of the Church. He was a prolific writer and defender of the faith. He did make some very powerful enemies, however, including the King of England. What did he do that was so bad? He stood up for the poorest of the poor and publicly opposed slavery. He was exiled from England; when the king died he was finally allowed to return to England.
   
• Wednesday, April 23 use a red candle for the memorial of both St. George and St. Adalbert.  St. George is known more by his legends of fighting dragons than his martyrdom during the 4th century persecutions under Diocletian. However, my children still love reading about the legend in St George and the Dragon (Book and Cassette). We progressed from the legend to his real story of his bravery in difficult times and how that made him the perfect choice to be the patron saint of the Crusades and of England. St. Adalbert was a bishop and martyr. He tried to convert parts of Eastern Europe to Christianity in the 10th century, and was killed for his efforts.
   
• Thursday, April 24 use a red candle for the memorial of St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen. First of all, Sigmaringen was part of Germany. St. Fidelis became a priest shortly after the Protestant Reformation, and spent much of his life converting Calvinists to Catholicism. He was attacked and murdered by an angry mob at the age of 45.
   
• Friday, April 21 use your red candle for the feast of St. Mark, evangelist. His is probably the earliest of the four Gospels. He, himself, was not an apostle, but was probably a friend of St. Peter, who plays a prominent role in his writings.

A solemnity is a day of greatest importance. The celebration starts the evening before the actual solemnity. Easter is our most important solemnity. A feast is the next most important day. It commemorates Mary, the apostles, martyrs and other saints, and the events associated with them. Mass readings often reflect the special feast day. A memorial is a special day, but often an optional celebration. The scripture readings for Mass may or may not be specially selected for the memorial.
 

Only three more weeks until Pentecost, the birthday of our church. There is a centuries old
Novena to the Holy Spirit which begins on Friday, May 2, 2008 to help prepare for Pentecost.

This week we'll continue preparing for the Novena by learning about the very first Novena to the Holy Spirit, the nine days the followers of Jesus spent in prayer between His Ascension and Pentecost.
(Click here to learn more)
 

Lectionary readings for the 5th Week of Easter: