Preparing for First Communion

This is the season for first communions, such a wonderful time of celebration of Jesus' love for us! Here is a resource from Saint Mary's Press that has a brief family daily prayer for the week leading up to First Communion. 
It looks like a nice way to make the day even more meaningful for your entire family!

Book discussion in Holly Springs

How about an evening out?

Next Tuesday, June 5, author and WRAL-TV reporter Amanda Lamb will be at Holly Springs Library to discuss her book "I Love You to God and Back".

This is a book that  celebrates and explores the spiritual bond between a parent and child following a yearlong journey through faith and parenting between a mother and her six-year-old as they share their love through prayer.

 If you'd like to attend this 7-8pm event, you need to register, and you may do that (and get more information by clicking on this Holly Springs Library Event link.

A prayer for a sick person

It's definitely winter, and colds and flu may have already hit your house. If so, I hope you all feel better soon. But you can also pray for the sick person, whether they are in your house or far away, with annoying sniffles or enduring something far more serious.

Here's an example, a "Prayer for Those Who Are Sick" from Sadlier's "We Believe and Pray":

Lord Jesus,
who went about doing good and healing all,
     we ask you to bless your friends who are sick.

Dear Jesus,
when you were on earth,
     you touched and healed so many people.
You bring comfort to the sick.
Please bring your healing love to (name) who is sick.
Amen.

A Prayer

A Jesuit priest just posted this on his Facebook page today, a thoughtful prayer addressing the deep sadness of so many teens committing suicide lately, related to incidents of bullying or harassment.



A Prayer When I Feel Hated

Loving God, you made me who I am.
I praise you and I love you,
for I am wonderfully made, in your own image.

But when people make fun of me,
I feel hurt and embarrassed and even ashamed.
So please God, help me remember my own goodness,
which lies in you.
Help me remember my dignity,
which you gave me when I was conceived.
Help me remember that I can live a life of love,
because you created my heart.

Be with me, loving God, when people hate me,
and help me to respond how you would want me to:
with a love that respects others, but also respects me.
Help me find friends who love me for who I am.
Help me, most of all, to be a loving person.

And God, help me remember that Jesus loves me.
For he was seen as an outcast, too.
He was misunderstood, too.
He was beaten and spat upon.
Jesus understands me,
and loves me with a special love,
because of the way you made me.

And when I am feeling lonely,
help me to remember that Jesus welcomed everyone as a friend.
Jesus reminded everyone that God loved them.
Jesus encouraged everyone to embrace their dignity,
even when others were blind to seeing that dignity.
Jesus loved everyone with the boundless love that you gave him.
And he loves me, too.

One more thing, God:
Help me remember
that nothing is impossible with you,
that you have a way of making things better,
and that you can find a way of love for me,
even if I can’t see it right now.

Help me remember all these things
in the heart you created, loving God.
Amen.

James Martin, SJ

Something new at St. Andrew's!

When your family comes to Mass this weekend, look for a new statue of Mary near our Church building! If you come from the main parking lot, look right, just as you are passing the back exterior wall of the Cry Room. If you parked up in the smaller lot, go past the entry doors and look left.

Surrounded by flowers and with a small bench for quiet prayer, is a new statue of Mary, the mother of Jesus. What do your children notice about the statue? That she looks happy/peaceful? That she's holding out her hands to us? That she's stepping on a snake?!

About that snake... go to Genesis 3:15 (Genesis is the very first book in the Bible), and as God is communicating the consequences for sin in the Adam and Eve story, God describes the snake who tempted them to sin as their enemy. Toward the other end of the Bible, in Romans chapter 5, Paul compares Jesus to Adam... as sin entered the world through one human (Adam), through the "new Adam", Jesus, sin is overcome. And through succumbing to temptation by one woman (Eve) we explain our tendency to selfishness, through the generous faithfulness of the "new Eve" (Mary), we can know that we are able to overcome temptation and say 'yes' to God.

We don't worship Mary, that's not the point of a statue. Rather, it's a visual reminder of someone who can be a role model, a hero for us in faith. A statue can remind us that we can ask Mary to pray for us, that we be good and faithful and loving like she was. We can think about what qualities she had that made her the first disciple of Jesus, and work on being like that in our own lives.

Maybe showing them the statue would be a good opportunity to pray the Hail Mary together, or to teach them the words, if they aren't familiar with the prayer:

Hail Mary, full of grace, 
the Lord is with you.
Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

It is good to have places set apart to remind us to pray. Places where we can focus without distraction. Where in your home do you like to pray? Where is your child used to praying? If there's not a place right now, maybe you can figure out one together!