When presenting ourselves for Holy Communion, following social distancing, we receive Holy Communion in the hand—handedness (capable) or dominant hand underneath the incapable or secondary hand, thus using the dominant hand to bring the Sacred Body of Christ to our mouths—we then step to the side and remove our mask and then consume the Holy Eucharist immediately, not taking it back to our pew to consume. This is meant to provide the utmost reverence for the Sacred Body of Christ.

This weekend, April 24th, our Confirmands will receive the Holy Spirit in the laying on of hands and in the anointing with Sacred Chrism. Let us pray for these young men and women who are to receive the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit that they will welcome the Spirit into their lives, pray to the Spirit, and allow the Spirit to guide them to become, as Saint Catherine of Siena said, “become who God made them to be.”

Our second grade Faith Formation students will receive their First Holy Communion on Saturday, May 1st. And I would invite all of our parishioners to keep these holy youngsters in your prayers (and their families too) so that the Holy Eucharist may become the source and summit of their spiritual lives. When we as disciples truly come to know and understand what we are truly receiving—the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity—of Christ Himself, we then can become what we have received: The Mystical Body of Christ.

Just a gentle reminder as we return in larger numbers to Mass and the Holy Eucharist, that we remain socially distanced in the communion line, save for household family members, and reverently receive our Lord in the hand, moving at the time of reception from the priest or Eucharistic minister to the right or left, and consume the Holy and Sacred Body of Christ at that time.

Over the Sacred Triduum and Easter season so far our Mass attendance and services on Good Friday were well attended and I wanted to thank everyone who participated. As you can well imagine, Easter along with Christmastime and Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Ash Wednesday are the biggest gatherings the Church sees over the course of the liturgical year. This is important for many reasons not the least of which is that people remain connected to their faith to and their God as they express it by the public practice of their faith

The past year has been a very challenging time for all and crowds-for good reasons, have limited our opportunities to celebrate the Mass together in person and to receive the vital Sacrament of the Eucharist. As we begin to return to some normalcy in everyday life through the efforts to vaccinate our population and with better understanding of the transmission of the virus and the severity of its side effects, it is hoped that our desire as Catholics to receive Christ’s Sacred Body and Blood will also return,