Weekend Masses

A few weeks ago Mary Abbott sent me down memory lane by giving me an article entitled ‘The Trimmin’s on the Rosary’. The phrase will be easily recognized by anyone who grew up in Ireland and sometimes by Irish Americans. In most Irish catholic households when I was a child the rosary was part of the nightly routine. Most evenings in the days before TV the family gathered to say the rosary and the guests were gathered in too. If there were many kids in a household the decades were shared out . You had your day or turn or the decades were split . This sometimes led to rivalry or whose turn it was or he or she said too many hail Mary’s. The trimmings were the add ons after the rosary and litany for the various events going on in the family or the neighborhood and they had a tendency to grow and sometimes were very much longer than the rosary. It was usually led by the woman of the household. In many households after a few nights of extra-long trimmins the man of the household would intervene after the litany to say three hail Mary’s for mother’s intentions and that would mean for the next few nights the trimmings would be short, but soon the old pattern would return and repeat itself. Sadly today no prayers are said in many households and the rosary is not prayed as often as it should be. As we move into the season of religious ed and family centered faith formation, it is a great time to revive or start the custom of family centered prayer and a time to relearn the rosary. As we pray the rosary we retell the story of salvation as we recite the mysteries of Christ’s life and meditate on its significance for our lives. Lord help us continue that Journey as we journey together in faith. Christ be with me Christ within me Christ journeying with me. Over the next few weeks I hope to reflect on the mysteries of the rosary. Pray for me as I pray for you, Fr Karl

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, I want to say thank you to all the people who by their hard work and presence made it such a special occasion. I want to thank Bishop Conlon who earlier in the week had laid his mother to rest and still came to be with us on this special day. The parish staff were magnificent along with all the councils that are part of the parish community. I want to say particular thanks to the people I got to know with my work for the St Patrick Fathers, who hired the bus and came by car out from Chicago. Many of them are long standing friends of many years. Their comments as I walked with them to bus or car was “what a lovely place and the people are so nice they made us very welcome’ Thank you St Francis Xavier you did yourself proud. Over the next year as a parish community I hope we can begin to organize a number of social events where we can put ourselves on display and give others a taste of our hospitality and welcome. Hopefully they will also raise a few dollars for a parish development fund as we try to put together plans for the future. In my short time here you have made me very welcome and I have seen how you pull together to get things done. We may not have huge financial resources but we do have a spirit that enables us to do what seems to be impossible. Thank you for that resourceful spirit. Thank you for allowing me to be here. Keep me in your prayers as we journey together, laugh and cry together and tell stories that bring us closer to the God who is our way our truth and our life. Pray for me as I pray for you, Fr Karl