Dear friends,
What a blessing it is to be Catholic! We are continually reminded of God’s immense love for us through the many significant feasts celebrated over the course of each calendar year. With the Feast of the Ascension, Pentecost Sunday, and the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity in the month of May and the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, and the Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
celebrated in June, we now enter fully into the Ordinary Time of our Liturgical Calendar. Let us allow God to penetrate the ordinary of our daily lives as we celebrate the 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time.
The Eucharistic Procession following the 11 a.m. Mass was a moving experience for those who lined our pathway to pay homage and give thanks to Jesus Christ as he walked amongst us, the same Jesus who walked the earth over 2000 years ago. This is the significance of such a procession, and we hope more of you will join us next year.
During this hurricane season, please make the necessary preparations to protect yourselves and continue to pray through the intercession of Our Lady of Prompt Succor to avert the deadly storms and spare us from harm:
“Our Father in Heaven, through the intercession of Our Lady of Prompt Succor, spare us and our homes from all disasters of nature. Our Lady of Prompt Succor, hasten to help us. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.”
Also, I recommend that we pray Psalm 91 in appeal for God’s protection, verses 11 and 12: “For God commands the angels to guard you in all your ways. With their hands they shall support you, lest you strike your foot against a stone.”
As we enter the summer months of leisure and relaxation, I ask that you read a few paragraphs each weekend from Section Two, Article 3 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, The Sacrament of the Eucharist, as we reflect together and begin to more fully appreciate this precious and invaluable gift.
ARTICLE 3: THE SACRAMENT OF THE EUCHARIST
1322 The holy Eucharist completes Christian initiation. Those who have been raised to the dignity of the royal priesthood by Baptism and configured more deeply to Christ by Confirmation participate with the whole community in the Lord's own sacrifice by means of the Eucharist.
1323 "At the Last Supper, on the night he was betrayed, our Savior instituted the Eucharistic sacrifice of his Body and Blood. This he did in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the cross throughout the ages until he should come again, and so to entrust to his beloved Spouse, the Church, a memorial of his death and resurrection: a sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity, a Paschal banquet 'in which Christ is consumed, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us'" (Sacrosanctum Concilium 47).
Be Blessed!
With love, Fr. John