“All you need is love,” familiar lyrics from days long ago, but this
Sunday takes the cake. In the front pew, Chris and Trisha have brought their
baby son Ethan Christopher to be baptized. This little one was making cute
sounds during the service that led me to say to the congregation, “Ethan has
lots to say, maybe it was the salt.” Note, in this Catholic tradition they
still use salt in the ceremony as a sign of being preserved by Christ from sin.
This was a “Childrens' Sunday Liturgy” so our young students read the
scriptures followed by an invitation to bring all the kids up to the sanctuary
for a story about St. Valentine. Remember, “all you need is love” so I share
the tradition about St. Valentine curing a little girl of blindness and asked
the children for a sign of love. A young voice said that we should give people cards and
then a darling “little one” no more than three years old whispered “heart.’ She
meant put a heart in the card. Not a dry eye in the congregation.
We continued with the baptism of Ethan, mom and dad, grandparents and
godparents were all smiles. The kids joined me around the altar as we said our
prayers, but after communion the people were in for a surprise. Gannon, our choir
director, had been rehearsing a song with the children for several weeks and what
did he choose: “ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE.”
After their song, Miss Molly, our religious education coordinator,
shared that the children would be passing out a heart sticker to put in your
shoe. So our photo shows one of the kids giving a sticker to the family of
Ethan Christopher. The symbolism behind the heart sticker is that as we go
about our work, we know that Jesus walks with us throughout our day and that we
follow in his footsteps. Nice way to end a perfect baptism on another cold,
freezing rainy day in North Java.
Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends who feel left out in the cold by their faith community. Sometimes the rules and regulations get in the way of the love that Jesus brought into our lives. Forgive them, whomever hurt you, and let Jesus embrace you back with open arms and a warm heart.
BREAKING
NEWS: Holy Family has NEW Facebook page. Please take a moment and join our
facebook page and share your comments:
FIRST:
Go to your Facebook account
SECOND:
Log onto: Holy Family Parish PNCC-North Java
THIRD:
Click Follow, Share etc
Let us
know if you like the page and add your feedback. fr. matt
