As children celebrate May Crowning and First Communion, Father Ryan Maher invites young communicants to ‘make a dwelling place’ for Jesus in their hearts

Maura Baker

Staff Writer

May in the Catholic Church is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, Mary. Traditionally, and in many parishes today, one way that she is celebrated during the month is through a “May Crowning” — a ceremony where a statue of Mary is crowned, typically by the parish’s children, representative of her role as Queen of Heaven.

May Crowning at the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption, Covington, coincided with the Sacrament of First Communion for three parish children, May 3. These children were the ones to crown Mary during that morning Mass, celebrating with their parish, families and with Father Ryan Maher, the Cathedral’s rector as well as the Mass’s celebrant and homilist.

During his homily, Father Maher descended from the sanctuary to sit with and speak directly with the first communicants. He began his homily speaking to the children about St. Peter.

“It was Peter that Jesus chose to be the head of the 12 and the head of the Church,” Father Maher said, “and we know about Peter’s life in the Scriptures — Peter sometimes got excited about something and wasn’t able to follow through.”

“Sometimes,” he said, “he wanted to love Jesus with his heart — and then, when Jesus needed him, he wasn’t around. He betrayed Jesus.”

Father Maher pointed out to first communicants the depictions of St. Peter in the cathedral’s windows, where he is seen dressed in gold vestments — “because he was chosen by the Lord to be the head of his Church and the head of all of us in the life of faith.”

Referencing the second reading of the Mass, as St. Peter speaks to the Church’s early disciples, Father Maher told the children, “He says, go to him. Go to him, a living stone. Jesus, he’s talking about, is a living stone. Jesus is chosen and precious in the sight of God, be built into a spiritual house.”

“The same Jesus who forgave Peter forgives us when we are far away from the Lord,” said Father Maher. “… Peter is telling the early Church to go to him and to become like him because we are chosen. We are precious in the sight of God … and we are to be built into a dwelling place.”

While the Cathedral itself can be considered a spiritual dwelling place, Father Maher said that “Jesus, in the Gospel today, speaks of another type of dwelling place … it’s the place of Heaven.”

“Did you know?” he asked communicants, “Did you know that God, the Father, has already made a place for you in Heaven? For me in Heaven? For all of you in Heaven? That’s how much he loves us.”

“On this day, the day of your First Holy Communion, make a dwelling place in your heart for Jesus,” Father Maher continued, “… Every time you come to Mass, open your heart because you are chosen and you are precious in the sight of God. If we can all remember that we will truly become a dwelling place that’s fit for the Lord Jesus — a place to know in Holy Communion how much we are loved, how much mercy the Father has for us. When we allow ourselves to be built into living stones and our heart becomes a tabernacle for Jesus in the Eucharist, you know what changes? Our whole life.”