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Deacon's Neil’s Page
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Having completed the great season of
Easter, culminating in the feast of
Pentecost, we now return again to
“ordinary time.” The “ordinary” of
course relates to the numbering of
Sundays during the year (ordinal
numbers) rather than the meaning of
“ordinary” as common or every-day.
Nevertheless, it does give us a reminder
that our God is with us not just in the
great moments of life (the Christmases
and Easters) but in the ordinary events
of our life. It is there that we are
more often to encounter the God who
showers upon us every day of our lives
his awesome love and mercy.
The Easter season encompassed that time
when significant events took place in
our parish, especially the celebration
of First Eucharist for many of our young
people. We welcome them to the Table of
the Lord and encourage them to receive
Jesus frequently in the great sacrament
of his love. It was also during this
time that we again were asked to
seriously and prayerfully consider our
responsibility to assist our bishop to
meet the various needs and ministries of
our diocese through our support of our
annual Bishop’s Appeal. We thank those
who have come forward with their
contributions and ask all of our parish
families to consider a donation to this
important work.
We are truly blessed with the gift of
many people who serve our parish in a
variety of ways as liturgical ministers,
catechists, peer leaders and servants of
the poor and less fortunate in our
midst. This past weekend (May 17/18) we
celebrated the feast of the Most Holy
Trinity. One of the great gifts of our
parish really shone through – I refer to
our Deacon Frank Thomas – who gave an
inspirational homily with a new twist
using the music that many of us remember
from the times we stood around the piano
and sang along to “Heart and Soul.” For
those of you who missed this gem, please
ask Deacon Frank to give you a summary –
it’s well worth it!
We congratulate Deacon Brian Levine –
ordained this past Saturday to the
diaconate. Brian, as you recall, serve
part of his formation here at Our Lady
of Grace during 2007. Please pray for
Brian as he assumes this new ministry in
our Church. We also look forward to
congratulating all the graduates from
our parish who will be leaving either
college or high school in the coming
weeks. Our annual Graduation Mass will
be held on June 22 at the 10:15 Mass.
The pastoral planning process of the
diocese – Called to BE Church – is
winding down. The final plan which will
contain recommendations for the future
of the Church in the Scotia, Glenville,
Burnt Hills and Ballston Lake area will
be sent to the bishop at the end of
June. When we receive a final summary of
those recommendations they will be
posted on our website.
We look forward to the lazy, hazy days
of summer when we all might get a change
to relax and enjoy the wonders of God’s
creation. Our air conditioning system
should be completed shortly and be ready
for the coming of hot and humid weather.
It is my prayer that all of our families
will enjoy the upcoming summer months
and please remember your church even
when you are away from us. Godspeed for
your vacation journeys!
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