Pastor's Notes for Oct. 10, 2010

We are four parishes and we have four parish feast days.  Let's review them: 

January 20 is the memorial of Saint Sebastian, martyr.  He may have died in 286, which makes his the youngest of our parish's titles, since the others are related to Jesus and Mary.  The image of Sebastian shot through with arrows has been very popular through centuries of European art.  Interestingly enough, the arrows didn't finish him off!  We have a 6:30 pm Mass scheduled at St. Sebastian on Thursday, January 20, 2011, followed by a meeting of the pastoral council of the four parishes.

May 31 is the feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary's Visitation of Elizabeth -- the marvelous event, recorded in the first chapter of Luke's Gospel, in which two pregnant women share with each other their experience of the mercy and marvels of God, which few other people could appreciate.  In 2011, May 31 falls on a Tuesday.

The other feast days depend on the date of Easter, and in 2011, Easter falls on the second-latest day possible: April 24.  (Later on, I will present a discussion of the determination of the date of Easter.)  The solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Friday after the second Sunday after Pentecost, falls in 2011 on July 1.  Given that 2011 is the 125th anniversary year for Sacred Heart Parish, we need to begin planning for this celebration, which, coincidentally, is very close to the Franklin Fourth of July celebration!  Immediately following Sacred Heart, the Immaculate Heart of Mary memorial (the more common rendering of the name "Sacred Heart of Mary") is Saturday, July 2, 2011.