Pastor's Letter

 A DEEP BREATH

Happy Birthday everyone!  Today is Pentecost, the day of the birth of the Church in the world; the day when Mary and the Apostles felt the power of the Holy Spirit come into their lives, which emboldened them to unlock the doors of the upper room and head into the world to talk about Jesus Christ.
 
That’s a packed sentence, no doubt. If you say it out loud it may require taking a deep breath to get through it.  And maybe that’s not a bad exercise, because today in John’s gospel we’re meant to focus on Jesus’ breath, which is a sign of life.  John tells us when Jesus appeared after his Resurrection, he first gave them his peace, and then he breathed on them giving them the Holy Spirit.
 
As we profess in the Creed every week, the Holy Spirit is the giver of life.  And it almost immediately reminds us of the creation narratives in the first chapters of the bible.  We hear that God gave Adam life by forming him out of the dust of the ground. The author tells us God “blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being” (Gen 2:7).
 
Breath—like wind—is a remarkable image for God’s intimacy in our own lives.  Just as we need air to breathe to sustain us, we need God in our lives to sustain us, too.  Breath is a moving force of life.
 
It’s another way to find spiritual communion with God.  These days when we’re not able to come to Church to receive the Eucharist—the very presence of God the Son in our lives—we can take in God the Holy Spirit through the simple act of breathing.  And when we make it an intentional prayer, it can be a powerful way to feel God with us. 
 
So a very simple spiritual exercise on this Pentecost Sunday, when we’re focused on the coming of the Holy Spirit into our lives, may be to take a few minutes to simply sit down, take a breath, and pray.  When we breathe in, we can breathe in the breath of God—God who desires intimacy and communion with us. We can take in his presence, just as we would take in the Eucharist. And as we breathe, we can move our thoughts to God.
 
The God who breathes life into us, is the God who also wants to let us know he is there as we experience the wealth of emotions that have surfaced during this pandemic.  Breathing in and breathing out is a normal reality of life.  But so is God.

Congratulations to the Class of 2020! 

Our school year has come to an end.  After these past couple of months of eLearning, the students at Saint Hubert School are ready for a break and a little bit of fun.  And like every year, it’s also time for our 8 ^th graders to celebrate their achievements!
 
Unlike any other graduating class, this year’s graduation is something they’ll always remember.  It’s a different kind of celebration than ever before. We’ll gather separately in cars for a parking lot ceremony, complete with the awarding of diplomas. What will be the same, though, is celebrating and blessing the lives of our students who are ready to move forward to new beginnings.  We congratulate them and their families and thank them for their faith in Saint Hubert Catholic School.  There’s nothing like a Catholic education, which isn’t just focused on the mind, but the heart and soul, too.  Congratulations Class of 2020!
 
                —Fr. Mike