Happy Birthday to our Church!

Pentecost Sunday

Fifty days after Easter Sunday and ten days after the Ascension of Jesus into heaven, we celebrate this feast. Before Jesus’ Ascension He gave His apostles instructions to stay in Jerusalem.

When Jesus had spoken to his apostles about the Holy Spirit their minds and hearts were not spiritually prepared to take in all this holiness.

²⁶ The Advocate, the holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name—he will teach you everything and remind you of all that [I] told you.

This is exactly what the Holy Spirit does with me. When ministering to others I am reminded of Scriptures or certain stories in the Bible that relate to the subject matter.

The Ascension

In great amazement, Jesus’ disciples watched as He ascended into heaven. But now the apostles had to replace Judas, the one who betrayed Jesus. There had to be twelve apostles. The number twelve represents the twelve Tribes of Israel; it’s also the number of Divine Government and apostolic fullness (Gen 49:28; Ex 15:27; Mt 19:28). Matthias became the twelfth apostle. Now they could continue with their mission.

They were gathered in the Upper Room and for nine straight days: the apostles, Mary, the mother of Jesus, and the other women prayed in one accord. “Praying in one accord” meant that they were seeking God and waiting for the promise of the Holy Spirit. Our Catholic novenas derive from this holy feast.  The Novena to the Holy Spirit is prayed during the period between Ascension Thursday and Pentecost Sunday.

The Upper Room

The Upper Room In Jerusalem is entered through the Zion Gate. As you walk past the Jerusalem stone walls you are met by street vendors selling goods made of sesame, honey bars, and other products indigenous to the Holy Land. When the path splits into two, the walk continues toward the left until you reach a statue of David. The Jews frown upon this statue because they believe that it is an offense; Jewish culture does not venerate idols and considers this a graven image. Of the many times that I have visited, poor David has suffered amputated toes from the hands of Jews and, on several occasions, his nose has been broken

This area of the Upper Room is considered the Jewish section of the Old City. The Muslims consider this to be a mosque, but the Israelis believe the lower level of the old structure is the Tomb of David. As Christians we remain neutral; we visit the Tomb of David but spend most of our time in the Upper Room. This is one of my five favorites sites to visit in the Holy Land.

The Upper Room, also referred to as the Cenacle, is located in the southern part of the Old City of Jerusalem. In this room many historic occurrences took place that changed the course of Christianity: Jesus washed the feet of His disciples,  the Last Supper, the Resurrection of Christ, the post-Resurrection, Pentecost, and the descent of the Holy Spirit.

In all the times I have traveled to Jerusalem, our team would never miss the opportunity to visit the Upper Room. You can still feel the anointing in that room. Our team spent a lot of time in prayer there.

The Holy Spirit

Our son Mikos is a great planner.

The Plan

It started several months ago. Mikos wanted to host a small reunion with a few of his high school buddies, but he also wanted to include their families. This get-together was based around their friend Aaron’s schedule. Aaron is the manager of the New York Yankees. With Aaron’s busy schedule, Mikos knew he was taking a chance, but he went ahead and sent out the Evites.

The Friends

Having only one friend from high school that I still keep in contact with, I marvel that Mikos has maintained so many of his friends. Jay was the only local. He, along with his family, live in Orange; Mark  lives in Fort Collins, CO, and Carter lives in Northern California. These three all confirmed that they would attend the gathering.

The Dinner

With Mike making the best chile rellenos and my famous refried beans, it was a no-brainer that Mikos asked us to cook dinner for his guests. It was a small, intimate group: Mikos, Jenny, Jay and his wife Michelle, Carter, Mark, and Mike and me. While the men were reminiscing about their boyhood stories, the subject about the nude beach came up.

The Nude Beach

They were 15 years old when we took a trip up to Santa Barbara. We still have a little cottage a stone’s throw away from Ledbetter Beach. But these boys wanted to be dropped off at Henry’s Beach. I had to load them up in my car to drive them there. I knew that there was a nudist beach, but it was a few miles’ walk and I never expected these guys to venture off that far.

It was well into the afternoon, no cellphones, just a communication to meet me at the front entrance to Henry’s Beach at 3 o’clock. Sonja and I waited and waited; then, as if they had been on a long jog, slowly they started to appear. Mark was the last one to surface, and I was a little suspicious. I will never forget the image of his face, it was flushed red. When the boys got in the car I asked, “You didn’t go to the nude beach, did you?” “Oh, heck no!” they laughed when they answered. I knew something was up, but I let it go. Only after this dinner did I finally get the details.

Of course they walked deep into the private beaches of Hope Ranch because they wanted to experience the nude beach, but they were wearing swimming trunks. To Mikos’ recollection, “We saw an old man playing Hacky Sack and I wanted to turn back, but Mark wanted to continue.” Mark was right and their dreams were about to come true. As they lay in the sand, two beautiful, young college girls came down the steps that led to the beach. The boys held their excitement because the girls were fully dressed. I’m sure these boys waited with bated breath as they watched the girls disrobe.  As if it were a free show, the beautiful young girls stripped to their bare bottoms, their birthday suits!

The Disrobing

As the story continued my eyes were wide with amazement.  Turns out we only knew part of the story. Mark had a great idea: “I think we should take off our trunks.” At first Mikos and Carter were nervously apprehensive but, as groupthink would have it, they made a consensus. “If we do this, we can’t look at each other’s privates,” Mikos added. “Oh my gosh! did you guys take off  your trunks?” I asked. They did but, for some strange reason, only rolled their trunks to their knees.

The BBQ

Aaron finally confirmed that he would make it to the BBQ. It was going to be a big group. With our family alone, we are ten: Aaron, his parents, Bob and Sue, along with his brother Matt and his family. Jay, Michelle, and their son George, Carole, Chris, Jay’s mom. Carter, Rachael, and Jane, Carter’s mom. We had the best time sharing stories about the boys.

Sue shared the sweetest story about Aaron and Sonja. Sonja was a freshman, and Aaron was a senior in high school. Aaron handed Sonja a quarter with a folded piece of paper containing his phone number. He told her that he was just a phone call away if she ever needed anything. This is who Aaron was and still is: a gentle, humble man.

The Video

I’m part of the fans that will go the extra mile to promote my Blog, mycatholicroots.com. Preparing ahead of time how I was going to wrangle Aaron into doing this, I had to hit while the iron was hot. Poor Aaron had barely walked in when I asked if he could do the video.  Of course, as gracious as can be, Aaron made a Reluctant Chef video. Plus I think he liked the bean dip too! Aaron took photos with everyone who was there. He is so sweet and patient.

Aaron had to leave early because he is the manager of the New York Yankees! We all stayed behind and enjoyed the wonderful company. But the day was just beginning.

The Game

Later that evening we had great seats to the game. Maddie, her friend Thompson, Mike and I had a wonderful time at the game. We headed up to the Diamond Club for our farewell to Mark and Carter.

I remember the mounds of nachos I made for those boys. We had a tortilla factory and manufactured our own chips, so the barrel of nachos never went dry. Our home was their safe haven and will always remain that for them.

My Prayer

Dear Lord, I pray for Aaron as he manages the toughest baseball team in the world. May You continue to give him godly wisdom in every decision he makes as a manager. Lord, protect our families. May we grow in the knowledge of Who You are in our everyday lives. Amen.

Matthew 28:19-20   New American Bible (Revised Edition)

¹⁹ Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.

On Saturday, May 10, 2025 over 100 children received their Sacrament of First Holy Communion at St. Norbert. It was a record breaking, sweltering 97 degrees!

Three Years

This is my third year of volunteering to teach First Holy Communion at St. Norbert.  The process to complete this Sacrament in our diocese is two years. So for two years I have had the pleasure of teaching the same students. In this particular class, I also had older children, up to seventh grade; 14 students total, with two sets of siblings.

Miss Teresa and Jacob

I’ve been blessed to have the best helpers. Teresa is a junior at Mater Dei High School, sings in the choir, is on the track team and makes time for volunteering as my assistant. Jacob, my grandson, is also on the track team and is busy with Boy Scouts. For every class Jacob lovingly bakes a special treat for the students. Both Teresa and Jacob share in reading Bible stories to the students.

The Sacrifice

The parents make a huge sacrifice in the their own and their children’s schedules to attend these classes. The classes start at 6:30 p.m. and dinner is sometimes placed on hold until after class. Many of my students played sports, so they would come from a practice or a game.

When these children are confirmed, their parents go to great expense to make sure that they have the right attire, white dresses, shoes, and their hair is perfectly in order. Most of the boys in my class wore suits. Our parish offers a professional photographer. All these expenses add up. Two of my students had two other siblings making their First Holy Communion also.  That’s three per family!

First Holy Communion

First Holy Communion is the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation.  Receiving First Holy Communion strengthens us to bond closer with Christ. Through penance and reconciliation our sins are forgiven. The Church wants us whole;  through the forgiveness of sins we can move forward without any guilt. We can repair damaged relationships through reconciliation which restores our spiritual peace. So many graces are bestowed on us when we learn to forgive. The sincere purity of forgiveness restores our weakened character and gives us confidence to move past our sins. It helps us to clear our conscience of any unpleasant thoughts that have held us in bondage. With a clear conscience the Enemy can no longer remind us of our shortcomings. As for myself, not a day goes by without my committing venial sins.  I attend daily Mass because  I desire to remain in the good graces of God.

Teaching the Children

The most important lesson in life for your children is to lead them to Christ. Setting a firm Christian foundation starts with the parents. We are their first role models. If you want your children to live a peaceful life, they need God; without God they will be lost. To instill the love of Christ, is to live a holy life. We will always be surrounded by the world’s annoyances. Only through the love of Christ can we maneuver through life’s challenges by understanding the fundamentals of our Christian faith. The Catholic Church has centuries of experience in laying down the path for our salvation. The sacraments are the fundamentals of our faith; we cannot move forward without Baptism and First Holy Communion.

Children’s minds are pliable for a reason; we must, at a young age, introduce Christ. This is referred to as the “age of reason.” This takes place around the second grade, when children understand the difference between right and wrong. At this age children are aware when they have sinned. They also understand that sin is breaking God’s law. We all want our children to become productive members of society. This is why, as parents, it is our God-given responsibility to introduce them to Christ at a young age.  This is part of the molding of children’s spirits and characters as servants of Christ. Parents who do not instill Christianity in their children’s lives will suffer the consequences of wayward children. These are the kids who will fall for every wind of doctrine. This is all due to the lack of a solid Christian foundation. Yes, many of these children will succeed, but they will always feel that sense of void in their lives. This void is in their spirits waiting to be awakened by serving God. There is nothing more fulfilling.

Priorities

What’s most important in your child’s life? Making sure they get on the traveling Club Team? Getting the highest grades in school? In the end the most important thing you can give your children is to lead them to Christ. Because when they have Christ-centered minds, they will be better equipped to take on the matters of life in a more confident manner. When you understand the essentials that are taught in these classes, you know that God is your protector. I teach my students how to deal with fearful situations by giving them examples of Bible Characters. They know that by praying the Our Father or a Hail Mary or both, their fear will no longer rule their hearts. In our class they learn about  forgiving others and not harboring anger.

Our job as parents is never done because we must continue to pray for our children. I have been praying for my grandchildren to continue in their Christian walk and I’m also praying for their future helpmates. I know that both of my grown children are instilling Christ in their families. Nothing is more pleasing to me as a Christian parent, because what the future holds for them will be fulfilled, they will be complete.

My Prayer

Dear Lord, move upon the hearts of parents who are failing to introduce Christianity in their children’s lives. I pray for all students who received the Sacrament of First Holy Communion.  May their hearts be filled with the desire to serve You,  and may they ingest Your most precious body. Amen.