Sep 09, 2021

Greetings,

This weekend following the 11:00am Mass we will begin our Annual Eucharistic Devotions. This is a time when our Eucharistic Lord is exposed on our altar day and night for three days giving us an opportunity to come before Him to offer adoration and praise, thanksgiving and ask for pardon of offenses. In order to pull this off, we need a minimum of two people in the church at all times to keep vigil. Ideally the church would be full the entire time, but I doubt such a thing can be sustained, say, at 3:00am. Having two people assures someone will be present and adds a bit of company for you.

SIGN UP:  There are sign-up sheets on the altar rail in front of the Blessed Virgin Mary statue. Don’t be put off if there are already 2 or 3 people signed up for the hour you desire. Who knows what could happen? A flat tire! A case of Chicken Pox! Who knows what strange things can happen and you will be there to save the day. Thank you to everyone who can commit to an hour and assure the success of our devotions.

CAN’T SIGN UP?:  Then come whenever and as often and for as long as you can! If you can’t come for an hour, come for half an hour (or until your restless spirit says, “Let’s go!”) Come three times for 5 minutes. If you are one of those incredibly busy people with no time on your hands, drive past the church and park in front of the plaza, look through the glass doors up to the altar where Our Lord looks lovingly out at you. Keep your foot on the break long enough to say, “I love you. Thanks.” And then go on with your busy day. If you are homebound, watch Mass on Monday and Tuesday and pray for the Devotions and contemplate Him in a special way during these days.

WHY?:  At the very heart of everything we do is a Person with Whom we are to be in a relationship. At the very center of Catholicism, at the center of our parish, at the most important spot in our church building is not a governing body, is not a slogan, not a creed or idol, but the very Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord and God, Jesus Christ. Just as we have special occasions to realign our relationships with others, (family dinner, date night, visiting relatives) we have these devotions in which we visibly, concretely and prayerfully reaffirm and strengthen this most important relationship.

I offer this to you:  You will get something out of an hour visit. You may hate the idea of going. You might even suffer a bit being there. But after, you will have accomplished something great. And should you be hit by a falling loose nut from the space station and are facing eternity from a hospital bed, you will be thankful that you spent this one hour in prayer rather than watching a television rerun!

FR. BARRY GEARING:  Consider coming to the closing of Eucharistic Devotions on Tuesday night beginning at 7:00pm. There will be prayer. Fr. Barry Gearing will speak some good words to us. There will be a little time for adoration and then we will have Benediction. By 8:00pm you can be in your car on your way home. I hope to see you there.

NO CONFESSIONS ON TUESDAY:  Because of Eucharist Devotions, there will be no confessions on Tuesday, September 14th.

IN OTHER NEWS:

STATUS ANIMARUM:  This report, in English, “The State of the Souls” is an annual report of all parishes around the world, which was just completed for our parish. Typically, I would write about it in this letter, but this year, please read the Angelus Letter that is sent on Thursdays. If you do not get the Angelus Letter or you missed it, please call Cathy Sivec in the office and she will get it to you.

God bless,

Fr. Valencheck