Dear Friends,
Last weekend we all prayed for our catechists and realized how blessed we are to have them in our parish. I once again thank all of our catechists for their dedication to the ministry of handing on the faith. Thanks to our parents who have registered their children for our classes. I urge all parents to register your children for Religious Education, especially if your child/ren are preparing for the important sacraments of First Communion or Confirmation. I take this opportunity to thank Tom Buddington, Tyler Buddington and Peter Odenbach who will be teaching the Confirmation Classes. I also take this occasion to thank Ronnie and Schonda Rodriguez and Tiffany Wieckowski for stepping up to teach the EDGE classes.
I urge all the women of our parish to come together at 6.30 p.m. on the 7th of October 2020, the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, for a time of prayer and reflection. We will be launching some wonderful programs to enrich our spiritual life.
On the Feast of the Archangels, Tuesday 29th September, we shall celebrate the Blue Mass at 12.15 p.m. to honor our First Responders. Please come and pray for our first responders and thank them for their services to our community.
Due to Covid-19, we will do a Drive-By Blessing of Animals in honor of St. Francis of Assisi on Saturday 3rd October 2020 from 1 to 2 p.m.
On this 26th Sunday A, Ezekiel the prophet offers a mantra to preserve our life. It is simply to turn from wickedness and do what is right and just. St. Paul in his letter to the Philippians states even more clearly how to live as Christians. During this week please ponder on this, my favorite passage, Philippians 2: 1- 11: “Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves, each looking out not for his own interests, but also for those of others. Have in you the same attitude that is also in Christ Jesus…..”
Be Blessed!
With love, Fr. John
Ecclesia De Eucharistia
For this week, we shall reflect on paragraph 25 of the encyclical, “Ecclesia De Eucharistia” (The Church draws her life from the Eucharist) by St. John Paul II on the vital role the Eucharist plays in the life of the Church. This brings us to the end of the 2nd chapter which focused on theme: “The Eucharist Builds the Church.” The Paragraph 25 speaks of the importance of the Eucharistic Adoration and the visits to the Blessed Sacrament.
- The worship of the Eucharist outside of the Mass is of inestimable value for the life of the Church. This worship is strictly linked to the celebration of the Eucharistic Sacrifice. The presence of Christ under the sacred species reserved after Mass – a presence which lasts as long as the species of bread and of wine remain (Cf. Ecumenical Council of Trent, Session XIII, Decretum de ss. Eucharistia, Canon 4: DS 1654) – derives from the celebration of the sacrifice and is directed towards communion, both sacramental and spiritual (Cf. Rituale Romanum: De sacra communione et de cultu mysterii eucharistici extra Missam, 36 (No. 80)). It is the responsibility of Pastors to encourage, also by their personal witness, the practice of Eucharistic adoration, and exposition of the Blessed Sacrament in particular, as well as prayer of adoration before Christ present under the Eucharistic species (Cf. ibid., 38-39 (Nos. 86-90).
It is pleasant to spend time with him, to lie close to his breast like the Beloved Disciple (cf. Jn 13:25) and to feel the infinite love present in his heart. If in our time Christians must be distinguished above all by the “art of prayer” (John Paul II, Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte (6 January 2001), 32: AAS 93 (2001), 288), how can we not feel a renewed need to spend time in spiritual converse, in silent adoration, in heartfelt love before Christ present in the Most Holy Sacrament? How often, dear brother and sisters, have I experienced this, and drawn from it strength, consolation and support!
This practice, repeatedly praised and recommended by the Magisterium (“In the course of the day the faithful should not omit visiting the Blessed Sacrament, which in accordance with liturgical law must be reserved in churches with great reverence in a prominent place. Such visits are a sign of gratitude, an expression of love and an acknowledgment of the Lord's presence”: Paul VI, Encyclical Letter Mysterium Fidei (3 September 1965): AAS 57 (1965), 771), is supported by the example of many saints. Particularly outstanding in this regard was Saint Alphonsus Liguori, who wrote: “Of all devotions, that of adoring Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is the greatest after the sacraments, the one dearest to God and the one most helpful to us” (Visite al SS. Sacramento e a Maria Santissima, Introduction: Opere Ascetiche, Avellino, 2000, 295). The Eucharist is a priceless treasure: by not only celebrating it but also by praying before it outside of Mass we are enabled to make contact with the very wellspring of grace. A Christian community desirous of contemplating the face of Christ in the spirit which I proposed in the Apostolic Letters Novo Millennio Ineunte and Rosarium Virginis Mariae cannot fail also to develop this aspect of Eucharistic worship, which prolongs and increases the fruits of our communion in the body and blood of the Lord.