Sunday, May 30, 2021
Sunday, May 23, 2021
Tuesday, May 18, 2021
40 Hours of Eucharistic Adoration
Dear Parishioners,
Next month, on Tuesday, June 22nd, we will celebrate the feast day of our patron, St. Thomas More. At that time our parish will also observe 40 Hours of Eucharistic Adoration beginning after the 11 AM Mass on Sunday, June 20th until the 9 AM Mass on June 22nd. Following the 11 AM Mass on June 20th, the Blessed Sacrament will remain continually present on the altar for
private prayer and adoration, except when a Mass is scheduled. We will also have an evening Mass at 7 PM
on Monday, June 21st, (in addition to our regular morning Mass at 9 AM).
On Tuesday, June 22nd, we will close the 40 Hours at 9 AM with Holy Mass and a Eucharistic Procession. More information will be given in the upcoming weeks.
I truly believe that when we take
the time to be with Jesus in the Blessed
Sacrament, it is a time of tremendous blessing not only for us as
individuals but also for our families and for our entire parish family. I do not ever
want us to take for granted the great gift of the Real Presence of Jesus
in the Holy Eucharist. Time spent with
Him is a grace-filled time. We can
express our love and adoration for Jesus, thankfulness for our blessings, and contrition
for sin (our own and the sins of others). We can also intercede for one another and
petition the Lord for our various needs.
It is an invaluable time to spend with Jesus, truly present in the Most Blessed Sacrament.
When we come into the
Lord’s presence, Jesus can do something to us. We may think that we go to pray, to
petition and to worship, or even that we are doing God a favor by spending some of our precious time with
Him. Our Lord Jesus, however, can
transform us while we spend time with Him. We do not need to worry about what prayers we
should say, what spiritual readings we should be reading or what we should be
doing in His Presence. Just being with the Lord can be transforming. He can soften our hearts, heal our wounds,
inspire us and guide us. He can give us
an inner peace that nothing in this world can match. Making the commitment to spend time with Him
can truly transform us.
What I am requesting
from you, my parishioners, is that you plan to dedicate one hour sometime during these three days with the Lord in
adoration. (This should be in
addition to any time attending Mass, when possible.)
This devotion will continue for two nights—around the clock—and I
need your help and cooperation in order to do this. Could you please think about dedicating an
hour in prayer before the Most Blessed Sacrament? Why not encourage members of your family to
pray as a family for an hour? Perhaps a group or organization within the
parish can make a holy hour together (choir, Knights of Columbus, St. Vincent de Paul Society, Small Christian Communities, Faith and Justice Team, catechists, lectors,
extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion, etc.). I especially need a few insomniacs or
night owls to cover the late hours! Sign-up sheets will be made available in the coming weeks so that all hours are covered and Jesus is never left alone.
Pastor
St. Thomas More
Sunday, May 16, 2021
Tuesday, May 11, 2021
Preparing for the Holy Spirit
Dear Parishioners,
After His Resurrection, Jesus
appeared to His disciples and told them: “. . . You will receive power when the Holy
Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout
Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)
As Christians, we first received
the Holy Spirit when we were baptized. In Jerusalem, St. Peter
declared to the crowd: "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the
name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive
the gift of the Holy Spirit." (Acts 2:38) St. Paul also reminds us: “Do you not know that your body is a temple of
the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your
own?” (1 Cor. 6:19)
In Confirmation, the same Holy Spirit is once again given to us. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
“It is evident from its celebration that the effect of the sacrament of
Confirmation is the full outpouring of the Holy Spirit as once granted to the
apostles on the day of Pentecost.” (#1302)
In Jerusalem after Jesus’
Ascension, the apostles were assembled in the upper room as a community. They remained there in prayer together with Mary, the mother of Jesus, in preparation for
the descent of the Holy Spirit upon them at Pentecost. (See Acts 1:13-14)
Each year we should prepare similarly as we approach Pentecost Sunday. The idea of a novena—nine consecutive days
of prayer—took place in the early Church between Ascension Thursday and Pentecost
Sunday. We should pray for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon ourselves, our
families, our parish, the Church, our nation, and our entire world. We need the Holy Spirit to guide us, to
strengthen us, to protect us and to fill us with His love.
Pray for the gifts and fruits of the
Holy Spirit to fill your lives. The
seven gifts of the Holy Spirit (See Isaiah 11:2) are wisdom,
understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. The fruits
of the Holy Spirit, according to the Catechism
(#1832), are “perfections that the Holy Spirit
forms in us as the first fruits of eternal glory. The tradition of the Church lists twelve of
them: ‘charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity,
gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, chastity.’" (Gal. 5:22-23)
Remember that the Holy Spirit is a Person—the third Person of the Blessed Trinity. Sometimes the limited images (tongues of
fire, a dove, etc.) used to describe this mysterious Person may restrict our thinking and understanding. We should strive to know and truly love this
mysterious Person. There should be a certain intimate relationship
that we establish with the Holy Spirit through prayer.
Begin praying that the Holy
Spirit fills the hearts of all believers and enkindles in them the fire of His
love more fully!
Fr. Ed Namiotka
Pastor
Sunday, May 9, 2021
Sunday, May 2, 2021
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