On Sunday St. Mary's welcomed our beloved bishop, the Most Rev. Joseph Cistone, to our parish.  

Bishop Cistone, Successor to the Apostles, brought the apostolic ministry to St. Mary's and received these eight candidates into the Catholic Church.  The bishop then, through the laying on of hands and the anointing with Sacred Chrism, imparted the gift of the Holy Spirit to them in the Sacrament of Confirmation and also gave them their first Holy Communion.  In addition to these eight, one adult Catholic student received the Sacrament of Confirmation.    

The following is an excerpt of Thomas Merton’s autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain. Merton reflects on his own adult faith conversion to Christ and His Church and offers encouragement to others pursuing the path of holiness in Christ.

Whoever you are, the land to which God has brought you is not like the land of Egypt from which you came out. You can no longer live here as you lived there. Your old life and your former ways are crucified now, and you must not seek to live any more for your own gratification, but give up your own judgment into the hands of a wise director, and sacrifice your pleasures and comforts for the love of God and give the money you no longer spend on those things, to the poor.

Above all, eat your daily Bread without which you cannot live, and come to know Christ Whose Life feeds you in the Host, and He will give you a taste of joys and delights that transcend anything you have ever experienced before, and which will make the transition easy.