Dear friends,
With the Solemn Celebrations of the All Saints and All Souls Days we have launched in to the month of November. This is the month in which we particularly remember our beloved dead. Praying for the souls is our privilege and a sweet obligation. May all the Souls of the departed members of each of our families and of our parish community REST IN THE PEACE of CHRIST!
On Saturday, 6th November, we Remembered all those who have died in the past one year. I take this moment to thank all those who are involved in our Funeral Ministry who have really toiled hard and with love to accompany those of us who have experienced death in our families. This ministry has been going out on the limb to care for the grieving families. I also want to thank our music and media ministry for their assistance with funeral Masses. A special thanks to our Art and Environment team for helping to make this Annual Remembrance Mass such a wonderful gift to our families.
Our construction work has REALLY begun now in full force. The whole construction area is now fenced off making it a little inconvenient for us to access the doors of the Church. Hence, I am requesting you to be patient and endure this slight inconvenience cheerfully and with a strong sense of Christian Charity. I am also requesting you truly care for those of our elderly members in the parking lot and give them preference. May I suggest that those of us who are younger can park a bit farther and do a little bit more walking, which is always good for our bodies. While you walk the distance please pray one Our Father, and three Hail Mary’s for the souls in purgatory.
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!
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:
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.
This weekend we step into the 32nd Sunday of Year B. The church holds up two widows for our reflections, one from the prophet Elijah’s time and the other from Jesus’ time. Both widows are proposed to us for their utter TRUST in divine providence and for their generosity. They both gave everything they had and yet God sees to it that “the jar of flour shall not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry” (1 Kings 17: 14). Trust in the Lord and be generous and God will always fill your jars and jugs of life.
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
1385 To respond to this invitation we must prepare ourselves for so great and so holy a moment. St. Paul urges us to examine our conscience: "Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself” (1 Cor 11:27-29). Anyone conscious of a grave sin must receive the sacrament of Reconciliation before coming to communion.
1386 Before so great a sacrament, the faithful can only echo humbly and with ardent faith the words of the Centurion: "Domine, non sum dignus ut intres sub tectum meum, sed tantum dic verbo, et sanabitur anima mea" ("Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul will be healed) (Roman Missal, response to the invitation to communion; cf. Mt 8:8).” And in the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom the faithful pray in the same spirit:
O Son of God, bring me into communion today with your mystical supper. I shall not tell your enemies the secret, nor kiss you with Judas' kiss. But like the good thief I cry, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."
1387 To prepare for worthy reception of this sacrament, the faithful should observe the fast required in their Church (Cf. CIC, can. 919). Bodily demeanor (gestures, clothing) ought to convey the respect, solemnity, and joy of this moment when Christ becomes our guest.
1388 It is in keeping with the very meaning of the Eucharist that the faithful, if they have the required dispositions (Cf. CIC, can. 916. 222 Cf. CIC, can. 917; The faithful may receive the Holy Eucharist only a second time on the same day [CF. Pontificia Commissio Codici luris Canonici Authentice Intrepretando, Responsa ad proposita dubia, 1:AAS 76 (1984) 746], receive communion when they participate in the Mass. As the Second Vatican Council says: "That more perfect form of participation in the Mass whereby the faithful, after the priest's communion, receive the Lord's Body from the same sacrifice, is warmly recommended” (SC 55).
1389 The Church obliges the faithful to take part in the Divine Liturgy on Sundays and feast days and, prepared by the sacrament of Reconciliation, to receive the Eucharist at least once a year, if possible during the Easter season (OE 15; CIC, can. 920). But the Church strongly encourages the faithful to receive the holy Eucharist on Sundays and feast days, or more often still, even daily.
1390 Since Christ is sacramentally present under each of the species, communion under the species of bread alone makes it possible to receive all the fruit of Eucharistic grace. For pastoral reasons this manner of receiving communion has been legitimately established as the most common form in the Latin rite. But "the sign of communion is more complete when given under both kinds, since in that form the sign of the Eucharistic meal appears more clearly” (GIRM 240). This is the usual form of receiving communion in the Eastern rites.
Be Blessed! With love, Fr. John