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May is a special Month dedicated to Mary. Mary is the Mother of God. Mary is the queen of heaven, the Gate of paradise, the health of the sick. Mary is the one who showed us how to obey God and how to love each other. Mary is our mother. We can see the statue of Mary, and we pray to Mary as we celebrate this special day – MOTHERS’ DAY.

We can see that Mary who is the Mother of God, who is also our Mother, lived her life according to the commands that Jesus gave us. Mary showed us how to obey the command which Jesus gave to all of us; to love one another as He loves us. She loved her family, her friends. As our mother she loves all of us. In turn we have to Love Mary as our mother. We have to obey and love our own mothers.

In the world there is no other person as dear as a Mother. No one loved so much and by whom we are loved, no person so willing to grant us benefits and have pity on us. Mother’s love is so patient that it shows us how much our heavenly Mother is patient with us. How God is patient with us.

My brothers and sisters in Christ, we start to appreciate our mothers when we are far away. When we cannot jump into a car and see her whenever we would like to. We appreciate our mothers when they are not with us anymore. When we have our mothers next to us we really do not appreciate what they are doing for us. We do not appreciate the dinner, laundry, grocery, cleaning and the list can go on and on. We take all of that for granted.

Today I would like to invite everybody to think what Mary; our heavenly mother does for us… and gives her thanks. I would like you to think what your Mother has done for you… and give thanks to Her.

Flowers and cards are very nice ways to express appreciation, however, as a Church community we can give them even more. We can give them prayer. We know that our heavenly Mother will listen to our prayers. So let us pray through intercession of Mary for our Mothers.

I wish a Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms in our congregation. At the same time I want to assure you that as I offer this Mass I am remembering not only my own mom who lives in Poland but all our mothers, whether living or deceased. We remember our moms because we love them, we’re grateful for the life we received through them

I ask you to kneel down and pray with me for all our Mothers.

Let us pray. God our Father, Bless all mothers. Reward them for their sacrifice and their faithfulness to your image. Give them the strength to endure the pain that often accompanies the task of mothering. We thank you for our mothers and for that part of you we have received through them. Finally, we pray that you will never let us forget the stories which remind us how much our mothers and wives have given us. We ask this, by your Holy Spirit, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Our Father
Hail Mary
Glory be to the Father

And for all the mom’s who have died:

Eternal rest grant into them O Lord…

I am the good shepherd, says the Lord;
I know my sheep, and mine know me.

Today’s gospel gives us a very special picture of ministry. The gospel talks of shepherds. The Latin word for shepherd is “pastor,” who is what we call an ordained minister who is responsible for ministering to a Christian community or parish.

To understand the work and life entailed by the priestly vocation we need to go back to Jesus’ teaching on the good shepherd.

The life of the good shepherd in biblical times was one of personal self-giving and sacrifices. His work was that of watchful care and closeness to the flock.

There were two kinds of shepherds.

There was the hired hand for whom keeping the sheep was just the available job. He moved from flock to flock depending on the conditions of service and he would not risk his life for them. Seeing wolves or thieves coming he would flee for dear life and leave the flock at the mercy of the invaders.

Jesus said that he is not that kind of shepherd.

Then there is the shepherd-owner of the flock who grows up with the flock and stays with the same flock all his life. He knows each and every sheep in the flock individually. He calls each one by name and could tell you the personal story of each one of the sheep, when and where it was born, the problems it has had in life, and its personal characteristics. He attends to the individual needs of each and every one of them. He knows which ones were likely to stray from the flock and he would keep an eye on them when they came to dangerous places. He knows which ones are pregnant and need special food. When attacked by wolves or thieves he would risk his life and fight to defend his sheep.

He is the good shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep.

Jesus is the good shepherd. He laid down his life for the flock, i.e., the church.

In a general way he invites everyone in the church to share in the work of caring for the flock in our own little ways.

But he also calls some people from among us to a life-long commitment to the work of shepherding the flock of God.

If today some young men hear God’s voice calling them to this way of life, they should not harden their hearts.

We are called to do everything to encourage those who are called to follow the footsteps of Jesus the good shepherd. Amen.

As Jesus joins the larger group of the disciples, He again shares a meal. But before He shares the meal, Jesus calls his disciples’ attention to the detail of his physical presence. He is not a ghost! Jesus knows that the disciples must understand that the Risen Jesus is the Jesus who was once with them throughout his ministry. That He is the same Jesus who suffered, died, and now is truly risen!

And we can see that Jesus is doing everything that Humans can comprehend, that he is alive. He walks with them, He eats with them. Through the Apostles, we know that Jesus is risen. Through all the actions of Jesus, through all the testimony of his disciples, we know that Jesus is present amongst us.

Jesus is present in this Tabernacle. Jesus is present during and after the words of consecrations on this Altar. IT IS NOT A Symbol as some suggest. It is true God. Do you believe it? Do you believe that Jesus is present behind the Tabernacle door? Do you believe that you receive True God, our Creator during Communion?

Once upon a time a priest invited a minister from another denomination that did not believe in a true presence of Jesus. The priest just did some renovation in the church and wanted to show that to that minister. So the priest gives a tour inside the church. When they came to the Tabernacle, the priest said: “here is our Lord Jesus Christ in his true presence”. The minister looked at the priest and asked? Father, do you really believe that God is behind this door? The priest answered “of course I do believe that God is there”. Then the minister said: “If you truly believe that there is God, not a symbol, but true God, than you should be on your knees, you should not even talk to me at this time, but with God. “

How true, if we truly believe that Jesus is risen, and is behind that door, that Jesus is present on this altar, than we should give more respect.

And how do we show our respect?

By preparing ourselves for receiving Jesus, by partaking during the Holy mass that Jesus instituted during last Supper. By coming to various devotions like May devotions. To adore Him, to be with Him on our knees. He is here, He invites you and me to be with him, to talk to Him, to listen to Him, to dine with Him.

How do we respond to His invitation? Let’s answer that to Jesus with our participation during every mass and during every devotions that we have in our parish, especially during Friday May devotions.

Jesus said to Thomas, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed”.

After reading today’s Gospel, we can ask this question: Why do some people have a strong faith and others a weak faith? In a way this is almost like asking, why do some people have strong physical health and others do not?
Consider just two possible reasons.

Some people have poor health because their parents did. They inherited a delicate body. On the other hand, some people have poor health because they don’t take care of themselves.

What is true of physical health is also true of spiritual health.

Some people have a weak faith because their parents had a weak faith. They inherit it, so to speak. If parents are lukewarm in their faith, this usually affects their children. On the other hand, our faith may be weak because we neglect it.

This brings us to a second question. Regardless of the reason for our weak faith, what can we do to strengthen it?

First of all, we need to keep in mind that faith is a gift. Having said this, however, it is up to us to dispose ourselves to receive the gift and increase in faith. Disposing ourselves for the gift of faith or an increase in faith is not unlike keeping physically fit. If we don’t eat well or exercise regularly, our body tends to grow weak or sickly. On the other hand, if we eat intelligently and exercise regularly, our body tends to grow stronger and healthier.

Our faith is somewhat like that too. It responds to nourishment and exercise. For example, when we receive the Eucharist prayerfully and live our lives according to the Gospel, our faith tends to grow stronger. Just as we embark on a program of physical exercise to build up our physical health, so we can embark upon a spiritual program to build up our spiritual health.

Our spiritual program begins with living the Gospel – putting into practice the teachings of Jesus.

Let us close with these words of Albert Schweitzer, the great missionary:

Do you want to believe in Jesus?
Do you really want to believe in him?
Then you must do something for him. In this age of doubt there is no other way.
If for his sake you give someone something to eat, or drink, or wear which Jesus promised to bless as though it were done to him, then you will see that you really did it for him.
Then he will reveal himself to you, as one who is alive.

Many times we as humans have doubts and questions like Nicodemus. We even doubt God’s goodness. Especially if something happened to us or to our family. During those times we ask: God, why are you so cruel, don’t you care about your creation? Don’t you love us? If you would love us, you would never allow this to happen to me.

In today’s Gospel we can see that “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him may not die, but may have eternal life.” So we have evidence that God really loves us. The question is: Do we truly love God? Do we recognize the light which came to the world? Or do we prefer darkness rather than light?

When I taught students in High School I heard many questions: Why do I have to do everything in this or that way? Why do I have to follow the Church teaching? Why does the Church not lighten up and ease some of her regulations?

Because of our free will we need guidance in choosing the light, in choosing the right, in choosing to obey the Commandments of God, the Church’s teachings, Jesus’ way. We need in accepting the right kind of light to triumph over the darkness.

Jesus came into the world to be the light of the world. Light tells the truth, about our age, what we are doing, who we are with, who is missing, what the story is. Light shows all the seams in our lives, where achievement meets failure, and promise meets pain. We may not want to see so clearly; but the presence of Jesus in our midst demands we do.

Because of God’s Love, we received from Jesus a wonderful gift; the gift of reconciliation. If I truly love Jesus, if I truly love the Light, than I would do everything possible to be with Jesus, to be in his light. And we achieve that light during our reconciliation with God.

God already knows what we did; good or bad things. But He wants us to come to him and tell Him all of that. And when He forgives us, we find a clean soul. We live in the Light again.

As we will raise the new Paschal candle in our Church (which symbolizes the resurrection of Jesus from death to new eternal life; from the dark into the Light) on Holy Saturday, in just a few weeks, we will be challenged to keep that light held high into the future.

The challenge is to walk to a future filled with eternal promise, with eternal light, with eternal life. Our opportunity starts today. The choice is ours.