Heavenly Father; the joy of the Gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter your son, Jesus Christ. Rain down the fire of the Holy Spirit on our parish family so that we may be filled with the same courage and joy that led Mary to respond, fiat, let it be done, when as the first disciple she heard the invitation, “Come, follow me.”

We ask this through Christ our Lord, Amen.

For those of you who missed Father Drew’s homily last Sunday, he preached about the Holy Spirit and how the wind surrounded the first Apostles to strengthen them in their faith.  The breath of the Holy Spirit strengthens us on our faith journey too.  This day presents us with an opportunity to consider how we are living each day.  Are we relying on the power of God’s spirit? Are we open to using and sharing the Holy Spirits gifts?  Do we limit ourselves? Let’s use this time to consider our participation in the fellowship, worship and mission of the Church.   We are invited every day to encounter the Lord in the same way the apostles did at Pentecost.  This summer we are offering formation opportunities to our parish to continue to advance our Parish Priority Plan and to equip each of us to live out every day in closeness with Christ.  

• To create the conditions for the faithful to more powerfully to encounter the Lord at our parish Masses is the goal of our priority “Enhancing Our Sunday Mass Experience”.   Consider joining Presence: The Mystery of the Eucharist.  It is a powerful 3-part series about Christ’s real presence in the Eucharist that invites us into an intimate union with God himself. This 3- part series begins Sunday, June 10th at 10:00 in the Bishop Gerber Room. 
• To encourage those habits that lead us to experience the deep joy of encountering the Lord through a better prayer life is the goal of our priority “Cultivating Our Spiritual Life”.  With this book, Father Drew will give us a beginning look at St. Ignatius’ Rules of Discernment and how their insights are essential to our spiritual growth.   The 7-week series begins Wednesday, June 6th from 6:00 to 7:30 PM in the Bishops Hall. 
• The goal of the priority, “Living the New Evangelization” is to equip Blessed Sacrament parishioners with the skills needed to share their faith in an inviting and compelling way.   A book study offered on Forming Intentional Disciples. A group reading as a 6-week book study beginning July 11th at 7:00 AM in the Bishop Gerber Room.  Something extra this year -  we will conclude this study with a “workshop” led by Father Adam introducing the Focus model of spiritual multiplication and some very practical steps of how to utilize what was learned in the 6-week study.  
• To register or for questions for any of these, please call 316-682-4557, visit our website or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Father Drew made a comparison in his homily on Pentecost with a memory of his mom bringing him comfort when he had an “ouchy” by breathing on it.  Her breath was refreshing, renewing and made him feel better.  Yesterday, Jake came to me with a burning scrape.  I comforted him by breathing on it.  He said, “Mom, we should get Father Drew to blow on my wound.”  This made me pause and reflect on Father Drew’s homily.    Am I going to let this period get by me?  Am I going to accept the invitation to be closer to Christ, to be more reliant on him?   Join me in this journey and prayerfully consider taking advantage of one of our summer formation opportunities or participate in the Summer Challenge!   

Let’s respond like Mary did, fiat, let it be done.