The month of May seems to be one of our busier months in the year and it is certainly busy for our Catholic Church. In a certain sense, May can be thought of as a month for the sacraments.
In addition to the many beautiful feasts we celebrate, especially May 1, the feast of Saint Joseph the Worker and May 31, the feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, May is the month when many of our children make their First Holy Communion. This is such a wonderful and important day for them and their families. As a pastor, I have celebrated many First Holy Communions and to see the look of great love and eagerness for Jesus on our children’s faces is truly inspiring.
Certainly, the month of May in our Diocese of Bismarck is when many of our parishes celebrate the sacrament of confirmation for our young people. Again, as the Bishop, I am always edified by the reverence and anticipation with which our young people receive this great sacrament. This is a testimony to their good preparation and to the good example they have received from their parents and parish priests.
From year to year, it seems that the month of May is a time when infant baptisms increase, even though our parishes have baptisms throughout the entire year. These occasions offer families a wonderful opportunity to gather at the font of baptism to renew their own baptismal faith and to support the parents and godparents as they take on the great blessing and responsibility of handing on the faith to their newborn child.
The month of May sees a good number of engaged couples coming to the Church to celebrate the sacrament of matrimony. The Church calls this and holy orders the sacraments of service and if you have been present at a Catholic wedding, the rite of matrimony reflects the constant teaching of the Church that the unitive and procreative dimensions of marriage are inseparable. This is true because the couple’s love for God and each other is exclusive and increases and supports their faith and, in God’s plan, this exclusive love cooperates with Him in creating new human life. This serves the family, the Church and our society.
At least in our Diocese of Bismarck, we celebrate the sacrament of holy orders in the month of May. Sometimes, like this year, we ordain men to the transitional diaconate in anticipation of their ordination to the priesthood; some years we ordain men to both the transitional diaconate and to the priesthood, depending on schedules. In any case, it is a great blessing from God to our diocese to have men who have said “yes” to His call to be priests. We all know this, and we should all be grateful to God that He continues to send us His priests.
So, the month of May is never slow or boring for our Church in the Diocese of Bismarck. Whether you are participating directly in the celebrations of these sacraments or not, please do pray for all who receive them and pray for yourselves as well. Be faithful to Mass, to the sacrament of penance and to your many good works of charity. Let us enjoy this month of May!