May moments call our attention to God’s abundant blessings

As we approach the month of May, we know that during this month many wonderful celebrations will occur. There will be ones which are distinctly Catholic such as baptisms, First Holy Communions, confirmations, weddings and wedding anniversaries, to name just a few. There are some other celebrations which are not distinctly Catholic, but we Catholics do celebrate with joy and thanksgiving, such as Mother’s Day, graduations and Memorial Day.

I mention all these important moments because, as Catholics, we believe and know that in each the hand of God is directly touching all of us. These are the graced moments for us to strengthen our lives of faith and hope and to practice better that real charity as an imitation of Christ.

Moreover, during the month of May, we celebrate many beautiful feasts of the saints and this year we will continue to celebrate the Easter season with the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord, and it will end with the Solemnity of Pentecost on May 19. As a matter of fact, May begins with the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker and ends with the Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The month of May is bracketed by the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. How fitting that in May we celebrate so many beautiful spiritual and sacramental moments, as well as other moments which also call our attention to the merciful love and providence of Almighty God.

Finally, this May 13, we will celebrate at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass the priesthood ordination anniversaries of several of our priests. If you can come to this Mass at 11 a.m. at our Cathedral Church and pray for our good priests and beg the Lord to send us more like them, that will be a great work of charity. Without our priests we do not have the sacraments readily available to us as we do in all our parishes across the Bismarck Diocese.

Enjoy this month of May and thank the Good Lord for all His abundant blessings.