Dear friends,
Thanks be to God, we have finally obtained the necessary permitting from Brevard County, and the construction work of phase 1 is officially underway. You may have noticed the beginning of the road work from our parking lot to St. Andrew’s Drive, along with the sidewalk that will connect the northern entrance (near the choir) to the courtyard. Please keep the workers involved with this project in your prayers.
We are still working on the pricing of the grotto (phase 2), and as soon as we have that information, we will be ready with a brochure and pledge cards for your participation. Start setting aside funds for this wonderful cause!
Thank you for your generosity with the Harvest Food Drive in support of the Farm Workers. Your overwhelming response makes a difference in the lives of so many. Thanks also to those who participated in this year’s “Trunk or Treat” – those who decorated their trunks, donated candy and baked goods, and the many volunteers who participated in support of this joyful celebration of the saints and our beloved deceased.
We have a number of important events occurring in the next couple of months, so I’d like to highlight some of the more important ones:
1 November 2021: All Saints Day – two Masses, 8 a.m. and 6 p.m.
2 November 2021: All Souls’ Day – three Masses, 8 a.m., 12:05 p.m., and 6 p.m.
6 November 2021: The Annual Mass of Remembrance at 10 a.m., lunch to follow.
13 November 2021: Welcome Dinner for new parishioners at 6 p.m.
14 November 2021: Retirement Celebration for Deacon Tom Tagye following the 11 a.m. Mass.
20 November 2021: Packing Food for the Children’s Hunger Project at 9 a.m.
24 November 2021: Vigil Mass of Thanksgiving at 7 p.m.
25 November 2021: Thanksgiving Mass at 10 a.m.
27/28 November 2021: First Sunday of Advent
29/30 November and 1 December 2021: Advent Mission at 7 p.m.
On the 31st Sunday of Year B, the Church invites us to reflect upon this most important question: How close are you to the kingdom of God – or how far away from it are you, as the case may be? Everything hinges on our commitment to the “Golden Rule,” that greatest commandment to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind and one another as yourself. How about falling in love with our awesome God!
God has already made the move toward you. What are you waiting for?
With love,
Fr. John
Let us also continue our reflection on the Eucharist found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
ARTICLE 3: THE SACRAMENT OF THE EUCHARIST
- THE PASCHAL BANQUET
1382 The Mass is at the same time, and inseparably, the sacrificial memorial in which the sacrifice of the cross is perpetuated and the sacred banquet of communion with the Lord's body and blood. But the celebration of the Eucharistic sacrifice is wholly directed toward the intimate union of the faithful with Christ through communion. To receive communion is to receive Christ himself who has offered himself for us.
1383 The altar, around which the Church is gathered in the celebration of the Eucharist, represents the two aspects of the same mystery: the altar of the sacrifice and the table of the Lord. This is all the more so since the Christian altar is the symbol of Christ himself, present in the midst of the assembly of his faithful, both as the victim offered for our reconciliation and as food from heaven who is giving himself to us. "For what is the altar of Christ if not the image of the Body of Christ?"(St. Ambrose, De Sacr.
5,2,7:PL 16,447C), asks St. Ambrose. He says elsewhere, "The altar represents the body [of Christ] and the Body of Christ is on the altar” (St. Ambrose, De Sacr. 4,2,7:PL 16,437D). The liturgy expresses this unity of sacrifice and communion in many prayers. Thus the Roman Church prays in its anaphora:
We entreat you, almighty God,
that by the hands of your holy Angel
this offering may be borne to your altar in heaven in the sight of your divine majesty,
so that as we receive in communion at this altar
the most holy Body and Blood of your Son,
we may be filled with every heavenly blessing and grace.
(Roman Missal, EP I (Roman Canon) 96: Supplices te rogamus, omnipotens Deus: iube hæc perferri per manus sancti Angeli tui in sublime altare tuum, in conspectu divinae maiestatis tuae: ut, quotquot ex hac altaris participatione sacrosanctum Filii Corpus et Sanguinem sumpserimus, omni benedictione cælesti et gratia repleamur).
"Take this and eat it, all of you": communion
1384 The Lord addresses an invitation to us, urging us to receive him in the sacrament of the Eucharist: "Truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you” (John 6:53).