The month of May is filled with renewal as winter’s grip falls away, windows are opened, and the sounds of life permeate throughout our daily lives.  Our cemeteries have also awakened from winter’s sleep.  The grass is being cut and the sound of trimmers moving through the sections returns.  Families arrive to remember their loved ones at Easter, Mother’s Day, and Memorial Day, with Father’s Day not far behind.  We celebrate life renewed; we find peace in the tranquility of these sacred places.

May is also the time of year when we honor our Blessed Mother and reflect on her message to us all.  She is the mother of our church, and it is her strength that guided it in the beginning.  We celebrate our Blessed Mother and acknowledge her message of peace.  She is the Immaculate Heart, very much alive today in our hearts, and in those moments when she came to us to guide us toward God.  She is an example of pure love, a mother’s unconditional love. 

Mary’s pierced heart shares our pain when we suffer the death of someone we love, and we can imagine her joy when she saw her Son resurrected.  Her pierced heart devastated by the death of Jesus, now healed when He conquered death and returned to us. 

The death of a loved one causes intense pain, and that pain is exacerbated when the death is unexpected or tragic.  Some deaths are particularly traumatic if caused by the careless or intentional act of another, or if the death is the result of unseen pain felt by the deceased.  In these times of great suffering, it is the wounded heart of our Blessed Mother that guides us, and, in our faith, we find peace. 

God Bless

Andrej Lah