As I was preparing to start writing this Pastor's Column, I was given the Church calendar for December to look over and make changes and/or additions as necessary. Firstly, I hope you always look at this insert in the bulletin (which is included normally on the last weekend of the month). Please do not only look at it, but keep it somewhere prominent where you can reference it throughout the month. Not surprisingly, there are some "out of the normal" liturgies and activities in addition to those that happen on an ongoing basis every month.
After looking over the Christmas Mass schedule, if you are going to be here for Christmas this year, I encourage you to note three special public gatherings for prayer. The first is the Holy Day on December 8, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. Since Mary is the patroness of the United States under that title, this holyday is ALWAYS celebrated as a Holy Day of OBLIGATION. Please make every effort to join us for Mass either on Friday, December 7, at 4:00 p.m. or Saturday morning, December 8, at 9:00 a.m. We also offer on successive Tuesdays, our Annual Parish Mass of Remembrance on December 11 at 9:00 a.m. and our Advent Reconciliation Service, with opportunity for individual reception of the Sacrament of Reconciliation on December, 18 at 4:00 p.m. PLEASE circle both of these opportunities. The Parish Mass of Remembrance gives us a chance to join together to support those of our loved ones who have died this year (no matter where they died) with our prayers and support and comfort for our brothers and sisters in the Lord who lost loved ones this past year. Following this Mass we have, and encourage attendance to, a reception for all who have come to Mass that day. Plan also to join us for our Advent Reconciliation service. We will have at least eight priests available to celebrate God's mercy and forgiveness of our sins and our reconciliation with the Body of Christ, along with God's people who are wounded by our sins.
It is no secret to most of us that the Sacrament of Reconciliation is not being celebrated by most people with the regularity it once was. Please make it a priority to be with your brothers and sisters in the Lord during the holy season of Advent to cleanse your hearts and make room to truly celebrate the Nativity of the Lord. The month of December, perhaps more than any month, is so busy that we truly have to pick and choose what we do and don't do. I pray the Lord will guide us to choose those spiritual opportunities that will make everything else we do, ore fruitful!
After looking over the Christmas Mass schedule, if you are going to be here for Christmas this year, I encourage you to note three special public gatherings for prayer. The first is the Holy Day on December 8, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. Since Mary is the patroness of the United States under that title, this holyday is ALWAYS celebrated as a Holy Day of OBLIGATION. Please make every effort to join us for Mass either on Friday, December 7, at 4:00 p.m. or Saturday morning, December 8, at 9:00 a.m. We also offer on successive Tuesdays, our Annual Parish Mass of Remembrance on December 11 at 9:00 a.m. and our Advent Reconciliation Service, with opportunity for individual reception of the Sacrament of Reconciliation on December, 18 at 4:00 p.m. PLEASE circle both of these opportunities. The Parish Mass of Remembrance gives us a chance to join together to support those of our loved ones who have died this year (no matter where they died) with our prayers and support and comfort for our brothers and sisters in the Lord who lost loved ones this past year. Following this Mass we have, and encourage attendance to, a reception for all who have come to Mass that day. Plan also to join us for our Advent Reconciliation service. We will have at least eight priests available to celebrate God's mercy and forgiveness of our sins and our reconciliation with the Body of Christ, along with God's people who are wounded by our sins.
It is no secret to most of us that the Sacrament of Reconciliation is not being celebrated by most people with the regularity it once was. Please make it a priority to be with your brothers and sisters in the Lord during the holy season of Advent to cleanse your hearts and make room to truly celebrate the Nativity of the Lord. The month of December, perhaps more than any month, is so busy that we truly have to pick and choose what we do and don't do. I pray the Lord will guide us to choose those spiritual opportunities that will make everything else we do, ore fruitful!
As I am writing this Pastor's Column, we are nearing the actual date of the five-year anniversary of start of Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration at Sacred Heart Church which was November 16, 2013. In celebration, we had an impressive Mass and then dinner with various speakers who talked about their experiences with Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration (P.E.A).
If you are a regular Adorer or one of our valuable substitutes, I want to say thank you for your participation in this blessed ministry here at Sacred Heart Church. It takes a loving and faithful commitment of many people to make this ministry of adoration and prayer before Jesus exposed in the Monstrance to happen. Please continue to do it, and place your intentions and favors received from your time in adoration in the books provided next to the sign-in book on the table right inside the entrance in the chapel.
I ask those who have not offered yourself to Jesus for ONE HOUR A WEEK in adoration to PLEASE consider doing so. While we are thankful that right now all the hours of the day and night are covered by at least one person, it would be great if more, if not all, of our hours had two or more adorers present in the chapel when they are scheduled to be there. Call Tom Donnelly at 915-0880 to indicate when you would like to TRY to be an adorer.
I would like to offer this for any potential regular adorers. Commit to try it for a least three times at the same hour and see if you are not eager to keep it going. If after those three times, you want to back out, you can do so with no questions asked. I say this because I am that convinced that many more people than not, will stay with it, and grow in their relationship with the Lord and perhaps be inspired to approach the Lord more often to receive Him in Holy Communion.
I also want to remind current and potential adorers that there is a Memorial Book to the left of the altar that contains the names of deceased adorers from our parish going back to the beginning of Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration (PEA). It is a blessing anytime to lift up the deceased to the Lord in prayer, but I believe even more special when it is done before Christ in the Monstrance. GOD BLESS THIS MINISTRY FOR MANY MORE YEARS TO COME!
If you are a regular Adorer or one of our valuable substitutes, I want to say thank you for your participation in this blessed ministry here at Sacred Heart Church. It takes a loving and faithful commitment of many people to make this ministry of adoration and prayer before Jesus exposed in the Monstrance to happen. Please continue to do it, and place your intentions and favors received from your time in adoration in the books provided next to the sign-in book on the table right inside the entrance in the chapel.
I ask those who have not offered yourself to Jesus for ONE HOUR A WEEK in adoration to PLEASE consider doing so. While we are thankful that right now all the hours of the day and night are covered by at least one person, it would be great if more, if not all, of our hours had two or more adorers present in the chapel when they are scheduled to be there. Call Tom Donnelly at 915-0880 to indicate when you would like to TRY to be an adorer.
I would like to offer this for any potential regular adorers. Commit to try it for a least three times at the same hour and see if you are not eager to keep it going. If after those three times, you want to back out, you can do so with no questions asked. I say this because I am that convinced that many more people than not, will stay with it, and grow in their relationship with the Lord and perhaps be inspired to approach the Lord more often to receive Him in Holy Communion.
I also want to remind current and potential adorers that there is a Memorial Book to the left of the altar that contains the names of deceased adorers from our parish going back to the beginning of Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration (PEA). It is a blessing anytime to lift up the deceased to the Lord in prayer, but I believe even more special when it is done before Christ in the Monstrance. GOD BLESS THIS MINISTRY FOR MANY MORE YEARS TO COME!
There are many ways to get news.
We can take the initiative each time we want to get some news by tuning in or logging on to our favorite source. We can also set things up (or they are set up for us) to received news even when we have not taken the initiative to get it. The same holds true when it comes to "Church News."
I received something from Bishop Taylor's office this past Monday, that I would like to share with you. In speaking about the current crises in the Church, he quotes a statement of all the bishops which says, "We cannot content ourselves that our response to sexual assault within the Church has been sufficient." Along with asking for our prayers for all of the bishops of the United States in preperation for their Genereal Assembly meeting in the middle of this month where critical discussions and decisions will be made in response to the sexual abuse crises, our bishop let us know that he would be joining his fellow bishops in seven days of intensified prayer and sacrifice from November 5-11 for three specific intentions. These intentions include for the healing and support of all victims of clergy sexual abuse, for the conversion and just punishment of the perpetrators and concealers of sexual abuse, and for the strength of the bishops to be holy shepherds in protecting and leading their sheep from all harm.
Quite a few people have spoken positively about Bishop Taylor's transparency - about what has happened in the past in our diocese with regard to any victims of sexual abuse by clergy, Church volunteers or employees, to come forward and tell their story and receive help, hope and justice as they seek to heal from the wounds inflicted upon them. If you haven't already seen it or heard of it in the media, Bishop Taylor has put out another statement about what is happened since he came out with his first statement that listed known perpetrators of sexual abuse of minors in our diocese in the past 70 years. I invite you to go to our website, hsvsacredheart.com and read that statement. Please continue to pray that what continues to be hidden in the dark will come to light, and actions will be taken to heal our church and help us to revive trust that has been broken or even shattered, in some parts of the Church not only in our country, but in other places in the world.
We can take the initiative each time we want to get some news by tuning in or logging on to our favorite source. We can also set things up (or they are set up for us) to received news even when we have not taken the initiative to get it. The same holds true when it comes to "Church News."
I received something from Bishop Taylor's office this past Monday, that I would like to share with you. In speaking about the current crises in the Church, he quotes a statement of all the bishops which says, "We cannot content ourselves that our response to sexual assault within the Church has been sufficient." Along with asking for our prayers for all of the bishops of the United States in preperation for their Genereal Assembly meeting in the middle of this month where critical discussions and decisions will be made in response to the sexual abuse crises, our bishop let us know that he would be joining his fellow bishops in seven days of intensified prayer and sacrifice from November 5-11 for three specific intentions. These intentions include for the healing and support of all victims of clergy sexual abuse, for the conversion and just punishment of the perpetrators and concealers of sexual abuse, and for the strength of the bishops to be holy shepherds in protecting and leading their sheep from all harm.
Quite a few people have spoken positively about Bishop Taylor's transparency - about what has happened in the past in our diocese with regard to any victims of sexual abuse by clergy, Church volunteers or employees, to come forward and tell their story and receive help, hope and justice as they seek to heal from the wounds inflicted upon them. If you haven't already seen it or heard of it in the media, Bishop Taylor has put out another statement about what is happened since he came out with his first statement that listed known perpetrators of sexual abuse of minors in our diocese in the past 70 years. I invite you to go to our website, hsvsacredheart.com and read that statement. Please continue to pray that what continues to be hidden in the dark will come to light, and actions will be taken to heal our church and help us to revive trust that has been broken or even shattered, in some parts of the Church not only in our country, but in other places in the world.