After this weekend, our large paschal candle will return to its usual place near our baptismal font, marking the end of the Easter Season. Until next year, it will only burn to mark the beginning and the ending of the Christian journey: baptisms and funerals. Even unlit, however, the paschal candle represents the good news that Jesus was raised from the dead and continues to be present in our life. The gift of the Holy Spirit, which we celebrate today, establishes the Church in human history, and this Church exists to proclaim Jesus to the world.
To those who are graduating from high school or college: reserve the date of Sunday, June 14th at the 10:00am mass. The parish wants to celebrate your accomplishment. Another accomplishment deserving of special mention belongs to Alex Mays who will be awarded the rank of Eagle Scout on May 30th. You may recall that his Eagle Scout project was the new Way of the Cross which winds through the wooded section of our property.
I wish everyone a restful Memorial Day on Monday. There is certainly room on this national holiday for a reflection, once again taken from the Joy of the Gospel: "The memory of the faithful, like that of Mary, should overflow with the wondrous things done by God. Their hearts, growing in hope from the joyful and practical exercise of the love which they have received, will sense that each word of Scripture is a gift before it is a demand." [par. 142]