Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church Newsletter — May 2022

MAY 2022

Our Lady of Lourdes CATHOLIC CHURCH

Meet the Pennisi Family: Answering God’s Call as Faithful Stewards The Pennisi family has been part of our parish for nine years.

Chris and Nori say that their involvement has brought them closer together as a family, along with their daughters, Molly, Macie and Maddie.

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hile at Mass one Sunday at our parish, Chris Pennisi heard our former pastor Fr. Garneau speak a simple but important message.

“Fr. Garneau said his goal in life was to see the face of God when he dies,” Chris says. “I realized that was also my goal, but I could never put it together so simplistically. So, I figured everything I do in life should in some way get me closer to that goal. Serving others is a good place to start and the

best way to start was by following the example of Jesus and the saints. Jesus was big on serving others, so I should be too.”

Chris and Nori Pennisi, along with their children, have been parishioners at Our Lady of Lourdes for nine years. Their whole family has been very involved in different activities and ministries over the years.

“I started first by committing an hour each week to Eucharistic Adoration and attending daily Mass a few times per week,” Nori says. “Being present at Our Lady of Lourdes through Mass and adoration led to new friendships and relationships with others continued on page 5

FORMATION

Transformed Through Christ

“Jesus not only calls people to him but also forms them and sends them out in his service.”

From Stewardship: A Disciple’s Response

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his month, we are emphasizing the third pillar of parish stewardship — formation. Formation is the process of studying Christ’s teachings and incorporating them deeply into our lives. It is a lifelong effort by which we “put on Christ” (Rom 13:14) and are “transformed by the renewal of our minds” (Rom 12:2).

Above all, our formation should include studying Scripture and Church teaching. It should also include discussion with other Catholics and honest self-assessment. Its goal is to “discern the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect” (Rom 12:2).

Because formation helps us understand God’s will, it therefore leads naturally to good stewardship. When our minds are transformed through Christ, we become like Him — as Christ gave His life for us, so we give our lives to others.

Formation is not just an individual task. Instead, it is a communal responsibility that, when applied, will further help Our Lady of Lourdes to grow as a stewardship parish. Each one of us has an inherent need to give — to move from “selfishness to selflessness,” as the Diocese of Wichita’s document The Pillars of Parish Stewardship aptly states. Formation is a

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process of spiritual growth, and it leads to a deeper understanding of loving others as God loves us.

Naturally, then, our Catholic formation should not end upon celebrating the Sacrament of Confirmation, or turning 18 years old. Formation is a formidable task that we as Catholics should participate in for the duration of our lives. It involves “education of the mind and conversion of the heart” (The Pillars of Parish Stewardship), and helps us to lead the stewardship way of life rather than just understand it.

This spring, why not make formation a part of your renewal to Christ? Start off by reading 10 minutes of Sacred Scripture a day, or by studying a chapter of the Catechism of the Catholic Church on a daily basis. Read a biography of your favorite saint for an example of an individual who lived as a disciple of Christ, and use this person as a role model when tending to your daily tasks. Keep an eye on our weekly parish bulletin for faith formation opportunities at the parish. Before long, your commitment to formation will lead you to naturally live the Catholic faith and understand stewardship in ways that you never imagined before.

A LETTER FROM OUR PASTOR

The Month of Mary: A Time for Celebration and Joy Dear Parishioners,

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n the Catholic Church, we designate a particular devotion for each month — and May is when we honor our Blessed Mother Mary. Thus, this is a good time for us to think about and concentrate on our devotion to the Mother of God. Perhaps we can add a few more Marian prayers to our daily routine.

Praying the Rosary might be even more important.

Of course, that assumes that daily prayer is part of our daily routine — which it should be.

Our Blessed Mother is important to our faith and our Church. Her willingness to serve in a way that allowed the Lord to take human form made our salvation a possibility. Because of her complete trust in God, she lived her life free from sin, and after her life, she was assumed into heaven by the power of God and crowned Queen of Heaven and Earth.

She is, of course, not divine. We worship only our Lord Jesus Christ, but we honor Mary as a saint, and also in many other ways. We honor God when we remember the role of Mary in our salvation. Devotion to Mary always leads to Jesus Christ Himself.

Mary was joyous when she said “yes” to God. That is the kind of joy we need to seek — and we, too, must say “yes” to the Lord.

Let us be grateful to Mary for bringing us her Son. This is why we crown her on our Catholic version of Mother’s Day. Through Mary, we are given an invitation into the Catholic fold. Her feminine presence and the safety of her motherhood may help us grow.

For most of us, this time of year is a month of growth in relation to nature. It is difficult not to have May as one of our favorite months for so many reasons. May is a beautiful time.

We are called to make it even more beautiful, and we can do that as we serve and love one another.

I am deeply blessed to be your pastor. I may say that often, but it is true. My priesthood has been a blessing and serving you all has made that blessing even more significant.

I pray for you daily. Please pray for me.

God bless you and keep you always.

In Christ,

Fr. Patrick Keane Pastor

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THE LOURDES BOUNTY A Work of Mercy COMMUNITY GARDEN: and A Garden of Love

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s St. Basil once said, “A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love.” The members of the Lourdes Bounty Community Garden have a passion and drive for doing good deeds by literally planting seeds and gathering in love the food that is produced to be given to the needy. This ministry was first formed in 2015. An idea grew into a garden that not only beautifies the parish grounds but fulfills one of the corporal works of mercy — feeding the hungry.

“It is so important to be engaged in something that interests and fulfills you,” says parishioner Dorothea Bitler, one of the founding members of this group. “We have a real measurable product that helps people. It is a way to reach out and touch others that we may never see.”

The garden is a way for those who have a passion for gardening to use their God-given talents and skills to help others.

“As of February, we have donated over 4,000 pounds of produce,” Dorothea says.

The produce is donated to the group Plant a Row for the Hungry. The harvest is brought to Logan’s Nursery and distributed to the local poor through their networks.

The garden is supplied by the annual dues of $10 for each family that is involved. They have also received donations from other parishioners and applied for seed grants.

“We have been financially independent from the parish since about the second year after we started the group,” Dorothea says. “We had an adequate fence in place and then we were blessed by one of our parishioners and their family donating a beautiful new fence in honor of her sister who had passed away.”

The garden is full of an assortment of vegetables and the moderate climate allows produce to be grown year-round. Each season, members harvest vegetables such as peas, beans, spinach and lettuces, okra, cucumbers, sweet potatoes, peppers,

We have learned what plants work and what doesn’t. We are blessed with great people with knowledge of gardening, as well as people who have other talents that help us to plan the garden to make it very productive.

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Dorothea Bitler

Meet the Pennisi Family: Answering God’s Call as Faithful Stewards continued from front cover

and artichokes, just to name a few. Winter crops include cabbages, turnips, kale, carrots, and radishes.

“We have had a lot of trial and error,” Dorothea says. “We have learned what plants work and what doesn’t. We are blessed with great people with knowledge of gardening, as well as people who have other talents that help us to plan the garden to make it very productive.”

Each year, the third-grade class starts bean seedlings and then they plant them in the garden.

“We have about 15 families that help in the garden,” Dorothea says. “We always welcome any volunteers who would like to be involved. Whether you can help seasonally or each week, we always welcome new members!”

If you would like to find out more, or to join this ministry, please contact Dorothea Bitler at 919-621-6841 or bitler82@gmail.com.

of similar faith and interests, which led to further involvement in the parish.”

Nori has helped out as an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion for those who are homebound. This in particular was a highlight of some of the serving she has done with the parish.

“I would bring my daughters with me and we would sit and visit with people who sometimes wouldn’t see anyone else in the day,” she says. “I enjoyed hearing their stories about their lives and their advice they gave to me and my daughters.”

Nori has also volunteered with Meals on Wheels, volunteered at Our Lady of Lourdes School, and facilitated a women’s study several times. Her commitment to serving stems from the inspiration that God calls us to serve, providing for the needs of the Church through our time, talent and treasure. Serving in the parish has helped her feel part of our parish community.

“You are often with people who have the same faith and similar values, which helps me feel a part of a greater and united community,” she says. “Participating in the celebration of the Mass, for me in particular, also helps me feel united with the parish community.”

Chris first became involved through That Man Is You!, our men’s group here at Our Lady of Lourdes.

“After several years of participating in that men’s group, my desire to get involved grew,” he says. “This men’s group is full of men growing in their faith who are also very much involved in other areas of the church. I knew that to make this parish my community I needed to get involved and do my part.”

In addition, Chris has participated in the Stewardship Committee, Knights of Columbus and adoration. Both Chris and Nori say that Our Lady of Lourdes and their involvement as a family, in particular, have helped the Pennisi family to come together and grow closer to one another.

“This parish has been like a second home for our family to go worship, serve and grow in our faith together,” Chris says. “Being centered on Christ has certainly helped enhance our marriage and our family life.”

“My family has often spent time together in the Adoration Chapel,” Nori says. “The act of being together in front of the Blessed Sacrament only strengthens my marriage and family.

Also, this parish has ministries in which we can participate as a family.”

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THE LECTORS MINISTRY:

Bringing Alive the Word and Treasures of the Bible A s Catholics, we are called to celebrate the Mass each Sunday and on Holy Days of Obligation. The Holy Mass has many important parts, and one of those is the readings — for as stated in the second chapter of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, “In the readings, the table of God’s Word is spread before the faithful, and the treasures of the Bible are opened to them” (57).

Since the readings are an important part of the Mass, the person proclaiming them has an essential task. Tricia Patrick has been a lector for seven years.

Tricia studied broadcasting in college and had a knack for public speaking. Before she became a lector, Tricia heard a priest speak about the decline in vocations to religious life. She realized that serving as a lector was one way she could help. Having also noticed that the most active parishioners were doing the majority of the work, she decided to use her talents to get involved. She’s so glad she did.

“I guess I just felt something stirring me like God was calling me,” she says. “I decided maybe I need to do something.”

When serving during Mass, Tricia tries to present the readings so that the congregation stays engaged and wants to learn more about the passages. Part

of that is practicing several times before Mass and reading the rest of the passage to understand the context. She has enjoyed having the opportunity to serve as a lector at special Masses like Palm Sunday and Easter Vigil.

“This is one ministry that gives you the opportunity to tell God’s story,” Tricia says. “It definitely brings you closer to God. It’s brought on a whole new Mass experience for me.”

Tricia believes that at each Mass, there are people who need to hear a reading at that exact time in their life. Her prayer is that she delivers it well in order to stir that emotion from people. She wants to keep people engaged in the Mass as best she can.

“I want to make sure I am accurately portraying the words as the writer intended,” Tricia says.

Feeling blessed to be part of the Our Lady of Lourdes community, Tricia is inspired by parishioners who are involved in the many ministries. She hopes she sets an example for her four sons to get involved.

She also serves as an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion and as a member of the Altar Guild. She encourages other people to get involved, so that they may be blessed like she has been.

If you would like to get involved as a lector, please contact Director of Liturgy and Music Brenda Accurso at baccursoourladyoflourdescc.org.

This is one ministry that gives you the opportunity to tell God’s story. It definitely brings you closer to God. It’s brought on a whole new Mass experience for me.

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Tricia Patrick

The Rosary:

Our Lady’s Lasso

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here was a priest who once said, “It is no coincidence that rosaries look like lassos, as Our Lady wraps them around lost souls and pulls them out of the depths of hell.”

This thought is comforting but provokes inquiry — what exactly is the Rosary, how does one pray it, and why should one pray it?

Since May is the month of Mary, this is a great time to consider the theology behind this intense spiritual weapon.

There are two putative origins of the Rosary. For many centuries, it was believed that the Blessed Virgin appeared to St. Dominic and exhorted him to encourage the use of the Angelic Salutation — or Hail Mary — for the conversion of souls and comfort of the afflicted. Modern scholarship traces the Rosary back to Irish monasticism of the ninth century. Monks would pray all 150 psalms or “psalters” every day, a form of prayer too complicated for uneducated laypeople without access to copies of Scripture. So, many began reciting the Lord’s Prayer or the Angelic Salutation in response to each psalm, keeping count with pebbles or a knotted rope.

Through many centuries, the Rosary evolved into three sets of five mysteries, each mystery consisting of 10 Angelic Salutations and one Lord’s Prayer recited while meditating upon the life, death or glory of Jesus Christ.

In The Secret of the Rosary, St. Louis de Montfort expounds the dynamics of the Rosary. The prayer consists of both vocal or exterior prayer, and meditative or interior prayer. The first vocal component of the Rosary, the Creed, is important because faith is “the foundation of all Christian virtues, of all eternal virtues, and also of all prayers that are pleasing to Almighty God.” The Lord’s Prayer is the “perfect prayer” to the God of heaven because it was authored by Christ, is free of all human limitations, and “contains all the duties we owe to God, the acts of all the virtues and the petitions for all our spiritual and corporal needs.” The Hail Mary blesses the name of Mary and her Divine Son and implores her powerful intercession as mediatrix of graces.

But the Rosary is not simply a physical incantation. Vocal prayer is accompanied by contemplation of the mysteries of Christ’s life and the virtues of the Virgin Mary. It is by lifting the incorporeal soul in prayer that one quiets the passions, tastes the peace of Christ, marvels at His loving plans and promises, and grows in the desire to emulate Him and His sinless mother. Because the soul animates the body, a strengthened soul means nobility of action and a will that is commensurate with the will of continued on back cover

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The Rosary: Our Lady’s Lasso

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God. As St. Louis de Montfort says, “The Rosary is a blessed blending of mental and vocal prayer by which we honor and learn to imitate the mysteries and the virtues of the life, death, passion and glory of Jesus and Mary.” The Rosary’s emphasis on both vocal and meditative prayer caters to man’s nature as an embodied soul — one’s entire being, both physical and spiritual, cries out to God in praise, repentance, thanksgiving and supplication.

Thus, it is no surprise that the magisterium and countless saints have encouraged devotion to the Rosary. Pope St. John Paul II said of the prayer, “The Rosary is my favorite prayer, marvelous in its simplicity and its depth.” The late pontiff also added five more “luminous” mysteries to the Rosary to help the faithful meditate upon significant moments in Christ’s earthly ministry.

Mass Times

SATURDAY VIGIL, 5:00 PM | SUNDAY, 9:00 AM, 11:30 AM, 1:30 PM Spanish, 5:00 PM MONDAY, 8:00 AM | TUE — FRI, 8:30 AM | THURSDAY, 6:30 PM Spanish Confession Times: WEDNESDAY, 12:00 PM | SATURDAY, 3:00 PM