Resurrection Parish

From the Pastor:                           

This coming Saturday the eighth graders from our three parishes will be making a mini pilgrimage to the Cathedral in Toledo. They have been preparing for this trip all year and are excited that it has finally arrived! At the Cathedral (Our Lady, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary) they will join up with other Catholics their age from different parishes throughout our Diocese. Together with their families, they will join Bishop Thomas for a mid-morning Mass, during which they will receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the Sacrament of Confirmation. It will be a very special day for them in many ways! Please keep them in your prayers during this final week of preparation.

Many thanks go to both their parents and catechists for helping them to know and love the Faith Jesus has given us. The students have studied the gifts of the Holy Spirit and learned how they help them become mature Christians. They learned they received these gifts at Baptism and how each is strengthened through Confirmation. The purpose is for them to truly live the Catholic Faith as the Saints did!

One of the points that I stress with the students is that receiving this sacrament does not make them “an adult of the Church” nor is it them “making the Faith their own”. The reason for this is that they have been “making the Faith their own” from the time they learned to make the Sign of the Cross and pray the Our Father. That has been and will continue to be the goal of everyone involved in teaching them the Catholic Faith. Our hope and prayer is that they will begin doing this for themselves more and more, just as every Catholic should.

Receiving the sacrament of Confirmation gives them the graces necessary to live more and more according to all that God has taught us. Those who do so are growing in Christian maturity, which is a requirement for entering into heaven, as we read in both the Old Testament and the New Testament of the Bible. The graces received at Confirmation are with us our entire earthly life, giving us God’s help to grow in Christian maturity. This maturity is not measured by age but instead by the qualities and characteristics of a person.

In my conversations with the students, we talk about a mature Christian being someone who prays daily and keeps holy the Lord’s Day each Sunday, regardless of their situation. A mature Christian does not use God’s name in vain and does not use vulgar language. A mature Christian works each day to put God first, before everything and everyone.

We also discuss how a mature Christian does not lie, cheat, or steal. The mature Christian is charitable to other people and tries to lead them closer to God. Such a person forgives others and even prays for those who are uncharitable to him/her. The mature Christian does not follow the trends of society but instead the will of God. That person treats human sexuality as sacred, does not give in to sinful sexual desires, and respects life at every stage.

Continued Easter blessings to you!