St. Pius Catholic Church

    Thanks to everyone who contributed last weekend to a wonderful celebration of the First Mass of Fr. Paul Carlson.  It was a great day.  Fr. Carlson will be assigned to St. Jude’s Parish in Dunlap.  He will also be the chaplain at Peoria Notre Dame High School.  Keep him in your prayers.
    As you can see we’re beginning to use a new bulletin format.  We hope you like it.  We’ll be able to cover things a bit more thoroughly, to incorporate more into the bulletin rather than always adding flyers and to include more informational and educational material.
    The funeral of Frannie Johnson was last Tuesday.  Fr. Mirabelli from Alleman preached.  Her four sons had gone to Alleman and Frannie herself had volunteered there to such a degree that she received the IHSA Volunteer Award and was inducted into the Alleman High School Hall of Fame.  Here she was very active in our Altar and Rosary Society and for years was responsible for serving funeral luncheons.  For her service the Bishop awarded her the Pere Marquette Award of the Diocese of Peoria.  Frannie was always so energetic that I can’t really see her resting in peace.  While I do expect her to be at peace with the Lord, I suspect that, rather than resting, she’s already busy organizing the Heavenly Banquet.   Heaven is about to get a bit more organized!
    In the Liturgical Year this week begins with this Sunday’s Feast of the Body and Blood of the Lord, or ‘Corpus Christi’ as we used to call it.  The week ends with Saturday’s Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  In the first feast the Lord gives us his Body and Blood as food for our journey through life.  In the second feast Mary gives us an example of what happens when a person is totally open to the Spirit of God.  May our celebration of the Eucharist and our reception of Holy Communion make us totally open to God’s Spirit so that we truly are Temples of the Holy Spirit.  And, may that Spirit transform our hearts to become more and more like Mary’s.
    After May, which was more than busy, June is a delight.  Part of that delight is to be found in the annual Flea Market on June 11, 12 and 13.  Another delight is in our Vacation Bible School, June 21 to 25.  Keep both these June events in your prayers, please, and also drop by this Sunday afternoon at Christ the King, if you are free, to greet Fr. Dan Mirabelli on his 50th Anniversary or Priestly Ordination.  Finally, our best wishes to Fr. Tony Ego, pastor of St. Ambrose Parish in Milan as he celebrates his 25th Ordination Anniversary this weekend!           
                                            Mike Schaab, Pastor