St. Pius Catholic Church

     This is the second weekend of the Annual Diocesan Appeal which supports the ministries of the Diocese of Peoria and Bishop Jenky.  Our parish goal this year is $94,313, which is $16,644 LESS than last year.  If you didn’t complete your pledge card last week, please do so this weekend.  Remember, all checks should be written to the Diocese of Peoria.  Extra pledge cards are at the entrances of the church.
     Last weekend we celebrated Confirmation.  This weekend it’s First Communion at the 11 AM Sunday Mass.  The names of the children are on the cover of this Bulletin.  Please take time to say a special prayer for each of these children as they take a big step on their journey of following Christ.
     On Monday at 7 PM the 6, 7 and 8th grade students of Jordan Catholic School will present their Spring Concert at Alleman High School.  All are welcome to attend this very entertaining evening.  On Thursday evening you’re invited to participate in an interfaith dialog.  Rabbi Michael Samuel, Imam Saad Baig, Rev. Ron Quay and myself will discuss Abraham: From Hostility to Hospitality.  The 4 of us have been dialoging for almost a year.  This is an opportunity to get involved in our conversations.
     Thursday is also the National Day of Prayer.  There will be lots of gatherings and opportunity to pray together publicly.  As is so often the case, sometimes it’s difficult to separate the piety from the politics at these gatherings.  Whatever you think about this National Day and whether or not you join in one of the gatherings, it’s important that we remember to pray for our country and its leaders.   Take some time to thank God for the blessings that have been showered upon America, and also ask God for the wisdom we need to use those blessings wisely. 
     This May we’ll celebrate the feast of the Ascension, Pentecost and Holy Trinity.  All of these are great celebrations of God as the glorified Christ, as the Holy Spirit and as Three In One.  But May is also the Month of Mary, the Mother of God.  May 9th is Mothers Day and we’ll all be thinking of our mothers here on earth.  I’d suggest we also take some time this month to reflect on Mary, the Mother of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 
     One way of reflecting on Mary is to go back to the old Litany of Mary in which we address her by many different titles and attributes and then ask her to “pray for us”, e.g. “Ark of the Covenant, pray for us, Queen of Peace, pray for us.”  While the traditional Litany is still fine, I also find it helpful in reflecting on Mary to come up with new titles and attributes for Mary, e.g. “Mary, a teenager full of faith, pray for our teens.  Mary, who carried Christ in her womb, pray for all mothers who are thinking of abortions.  Mary, often the lone woman with your Son’s apostles, pray for all women working in the Church.”  Such a new Litany as this may come to us only slowly.  That’s all right, because we have the whole month of May to work on it. 
                                    Mike Schaab, Pastor