Our Parish Festival is just around the corner — starts on Friday, continues Saturday and wraps up Sunday. It concludes this year on September 11, on the tenth anniversary of the Trade Tower bombings. Our Festival, therefore, has a particularly patriotic significance this year. I hope you can celebrate our blessings as Americans, and our freedom to practice the faith we hold, by enjoying the fun and games of our annual family get together. Our parish is truly a “family of families.” If you are single and without a blood family at the moment, you have a family in our parish. You only have to get out and spend some time with your brothers and sisters, your mothers and fathers, your aunts and your uncles. Don’t stay alone next weekend. Spend some time in communion, at our Annual Parish Festival.
Speaking of our “church family,” I want to share with you a family moment from World Youth Day a few weeks ago. Our group of 66 from both parishes, ours and Sacred Heart, had joined 2 million young people camped out at a military airbase outside of Madrid. The heat was stifling, and we prayed for relief. When the Pope arrived at 7pm, we saw rainclouds forming in the west; 20 minutes into his prayer vigil, the storm broke, with lashing rain, thunder, lighting and heavy winds. At first the crowds began to panic: 2 million people with no shelter! We huddled up under anything that might be waterproof: plastic bags, air mattresses, scraps of cardboard. But as the storm intensified, one of our youth, Daniel Menezes, suddenly threw off the plastic and began to lead us in singing and dancing. The harder it rained, the more joyfully he sang, and all of us with him. What was a curse became a blessing; what had paralyzed us with fear became a source of freedom and joy. The multitude began blessing God for the cooling rain, and not worrying about the wet. In half an hour the rains stopped and the Pope came back on the jumbotrons to expose the Blessed Sacrament. Within 90 seconds, the entire singing, dancing, shouting crowd became silent and fell to their knees. 2 million young people maintained the silence of adoration for 15 minutes, until the Pope did Benediction. We learned to cast off our fear and love the Good God who gives what we need, when we need it.
Speaking of our “church family,” I want to share with you a family moment from World Youth Day a few weeks ago. Our group of 66 from both parishes, ours and Sacred Heart, had joined 2 million young people camped out at a military airbase outside of Madrid. The heat was stifling, and we prayed for relief. When the Pope arrived at 7pm, we saw rainclouds forming in the west; 20 minutes into his prayer vigil, the storm broke, with lashing rain, thunder, lighting and heavy winds. At first the crowds began to panic: 2 million people with no shelter! We huddled up under anything that might be waterproof: plastic bags, air mattresses, scraps of cardboard. But as the storm intensified, one of our youth, Daniel Menezes, suddenly threw off the plastic and began to lead us in singing and dancing. The harder it rained, the more joyfully he sang, and all of us with him. What was a curse became a blessing; what had paralyzed us with fear became a source of freedom and joy. The multitude began blessing God for the cooling rain, and not worrying about the wet. In half an hour the rains stopped and the Pope came back on the jumbotrons to expose the Blessed Sacrament. Within 90 seconds, the entire singing, dancing, shouting crowd became silent and fell to their knees. 2 million young people maintained the silence of adoration for 15 minutes, until the Pope did Benediction. We learned to cast off our fear and love the Good God who gives what we need, when we need it.
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