Sunday, June 13, 2021
Monday, June 7, 2021
“So You Could Not Keep Watch with Me for One Hour?”
Dear Parishioners,
The time for our 40 Hours
of Eucharistic Adoration begins next Sunday (6/20/21) after the 11 AM Mass. Our Eucharistic Lord
will be present continually on the altar for prayer and adoration (except when
there is a scheduled Mass) until 9 AM on Tuesday (6/22/21). We conclude our devotion on the memorial of our patron, St. Thomas More. Masses on Monday will be at 9 AM and 7 PM.
I have asked all of you to
consider spending at least one hour during these days before Our Lord in
the Blessed Sacrament.
What are some of the things
that we might possibly pray for during this time?
- For those in our family or among our relatives and friends who no longer practice their Catholic faith or who have abandoned it.
- For priestly or religious vocations in our Church. (Remember our diocese is not scheduled to ordain any priests in 2023.)
- In reparation for our sins. (I know I need to spend a few hours myself on my knees with this intention in mind!)
- In thanksgiving for the many blessings God has bestowed on us during our lives. (Most of us probably do not say “thank you” quite enough.)
- For our Catholic Church: for clarity in her teaching and doctrine; for holiness in her leaders; for healing in those who have been hurt or abused; that all of her members may walk the path to salvation and eternal happiness.
- For our deceased relatives and friends; for the forgiveness of their sins and lessening of any time in purgatory.
- For our enemies. Didn’t Jesus remind us to pray for them? (See Mt. 5: 43-48)
Maybe you just might need to spend some quiet time with
Our Lord listening to what He might say to your heart.
During this time of year there
are fans who will spend hours and hours watching game after game.
There are other people who will be fixated in front of their tablets,
computers, televisions or phones for multiple hours. There are still others who will work out at the gym several times each
week religiously. How much quality time do you
think is given to prayer by the average person?
Right before His crucifixion,
while Jesus was agonizing in the garden of Gethsemane about his impending
suffering and death, He asked His disciples to take time to pray with Him. Could you ever imagine His disappointment
when He found them sleeping instead?
“So you could not keep watch with me for one hour?”
One hour of your time
for the Lord who gave His life for us.
Is that too much to ask?
Fr. Ed Namiotka
Pastor
Sunday, June 6, 2021
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
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)