Fr. David's Padre Pio Blog

May 2021 – what an outstanding month! May 1st, the first Saturday in May, we celebrate the Crowning of Mary. Them, May 1st we also celebrate St. Joseph the Worker, and this year dedicated to St. Joseph, we consecrate ourselves to him. May 5th is the foundation day of the Padre Pio Prayer Groups which in a few decades have spread across the world manifesting the work of the Holy Spirit. May 2021, we celebrate the Ascension when Jesus ascended to the Father after appearing to those who believed in Him for forty days. And finally, fifty days after Easter, we celebrate the Holy Spirit descending upon the Church (Acts 2). This certainly is a “fully loaded” month spiritually.
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God continues to shower His Church with endless blessings; He even purifies us so we are properly disposed to receive the Sacraments.

Pentecost is associated with the Sacrament of Confirmation. Have you looked back to reflect on the day of your Confirmation? Perhaps confirmed as an adolescent or an adult but the nature of Confirmation is to seal us with the Holy Spirit and grace us the seven gifts: Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety, Fear of the Lord. With these gifts we can live and say, “Jesus is Lord” (1 Corinthians 12:3).

As Catholics we do not proselytize, but rather, we attract people to our Christian faith. These comments echo the words of Pope Benedict XVI, which the Capuchin friar, Fr. Luciano Lotti, reiterated in his February catechesis for the Padre Pio Prayer Groups.
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Attraction is reflected in the life of Jesus. People are drawn to Our Saviour by not only what He teaches, but how He radically lived by human standards; and yet, Jesus lived the fullness of life that we are all called to live. Jesus came so that we might have life in abundance (John 10:10).

The Padre Pio Prayer Groups have been characterised as “womb communities” (by Fr. Mascone, the Director General of Padre Pio Prayer Groups). “Womb community.” What do you think this expression can mean? Obviously, the womb places us within the meaning of “motherhood.” This image of “womb” and “mother” is rich in symbolism: in Advent we reflect on Mary as the Mother of Our Saviour. When we pray the Rosary we pray to Mary’s with the words, “Blessed is the fruit of your womb…” The other image of Mother is the Church herself, she is our Mother because she gives us spiritual life. The Church is also the Bride of Christ. Now, how does the female imagery of motherhood situate us as a “womb community”? We think of life growing in the womb, and in the case of the Virgin Mary and the Church, this is spiritual life, supernatural life, the life of Grace, the work of the Holy Spirit.
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As members of this “womb community” we grow together. And our spiritual life is inter-connected. Even though we may feel disconnected, especially during a time when a pandemic appears to have taken control over our lives by the laws regulating/restricting activities,” nevertheless, we continue to spiritually grow, regardless of laws because the supernatural life is not subjected to any law except the law of God.