An Outpouring of Grace

Today we celebrate the great feast of Pentecost. Fifty days after the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead, the Holy Spirit is poured out upon the Apostles and Mary in the upper room. The transforming power of God’s love is unleashed upon the world through the gift of the Spirit. He has been poured out upon us to make us saints. His spirit is alive in our hearts so that we may be transformed into His likeness.

Take time to celebrate this feast. It is the third most important feast of the Liturgical year, after Easter and Christmas. In the old days, Pentecost was celebrated with an octave; the Church would celebrate this feast for eight days. We can still celebrate it in that way! Maybe you can read the readings from today’s Mass a couple times. Also you could look up the readings from the Pentecost vigil, which has additional Old Testament readings to prepare us for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Also you could pray with the Acts of the Apostles which highlights the activity of the Holy Spirit in the early Church.

I’ll be celebrating the octave of Pentecost on vacation. On Sunday, June 5, I’m heading to Connecticut to visit my brother, his wife, and their baby daughter. My parents will be coming as well, along with my sister-in-law from Georgia (she is famous from our Facebook Live event), and her two kids. Unfortunately, my older brother from Georgia can’t come. He was recently promoted as a detective and will be on-call the entire week. One of the exciting events that will take place is the baptism of my niece. It is a blessing to get to baptize her into the graces of Christ and His Church.

Also next week, there is a workshop at the seminary for recently ordained priests that Fr. Jedidiah will be attending. To cover daily Mass, two of the newly-ordained priests will be coming up. Fr. Ethan Hoying and Fr. Jacob Lindle will be present for daily Masses (please check the bulletin for times). Fr. Jedidiah will be back next weekend, but I’ll be in Connecticut. A visiting priest will be present and speak on behalf of Food for the Poor.

As he is speaking for Food for the Poor, please be as generous as possible. Your generosity is always incredible. Thank you for your prayerful support and generous offerings to our parish. I am always humbled by your support to Christ, His Church, and the ministry of the Church. In a special way I’d like to thank the Kleinhenz-Moeller foundation which has continued to support our parishes in very generous ways over the past year.

Throughout the month of May we had quarterly committee meetings for all four parishes. Thank you to those parishioners who serve on our four finance committees and four buildings and grounds committees. Your discernment, advice, and consideration is a blessing to our parishes. If anyone is interested in serving in these committees, please contact Beth Klopfenstein (bklopfenstein@petersburgparishes.org).

As a reminder, there are multiple ways that you can support your parish financially. If you would like offertory envelopes, please call the office and we can arrange that. There are two different ways to give electronically. You can schedule a bank transfer from your bank; this process is free for our parishes. Also, you can arrange a direct withdraw through Vanco. The parish is charged fees for this system. There is information about the Vanco bank withdraw on the website. Also you can purchase Scrip gift cards a couple times a year. Through the Scrip service, you purchase a gift card at regular price and part of the proceeds goes to the parish. Keep an eye out for this in the bulletin. Additionally, you can support our parishes through Amazon Smile; a portion of your purchase on Amazon.com goes to our parishes. Finally please remember your parish in your will. We often benefit from the generosity of deceased parishioners who leave a wonderful legacy to their parish.

Thank you so much for your generosity and kindness. Your gifts and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit allows us to help others become saints. After all, this is why our parishes exist. We exist to become saints and help others on the path to sanctity as well.

Sincerely in Christ,
Fr. Sean Wilson

PS – Don’t have too much fun without me…