To Live the Great Commandment: Love of God and Love of Neighbor
SOLEMNITY OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OFTHE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY Monday, December 9 - Mass: 9:00am at St. Mary 5:00pm at St. Joseph
From the Desk of Father John
This advent we are providing you with a special book: Matthew Kelly, 33 DAYS TO EUCHARISTIC GLORY! This is the first ever Eucharistic Consecration guide. This consecration is an invitation to dedicate yourself to God and make yourself 100 percent available to Him. It will prepare you to make an unconditional surrender to Jesus in the Eucharist, filling your life with the astounding clarity and lasting joy only He can provide.
We hope you are excited for Holy Family Catholic Community Journey to the Manger that begins at the Masses on the first weekend of Advent. We all can strive to dive deeper into our personal faith as we continue to live our faith in our homes and daily life. If you are new here, welcome! If you have been around for some time, please prayerfully consider who the Lord may be putting on your mind and heart to invite back to Mass during this Season of Preparation. A simple invite or encouragement is good. An invite with an offer to sit with your friend or neighbor at Mass and go grab brunch/coffee hour following is better! During Advent, we prepare to celebrate the coming of Jesus at Christmas, an event that manifests God’s great love for us. His birth reminds us that the God-man really lived, loved and suffered as we do. Advent offers us a special opportunity to understand more fully that Jesus still dwells with us in his glorified state, and that a special bond exists between Jesus’ incarnation and his continued presence with us in the Eucharist. This season encourages us to focus on this bond and to better appreciate Jesus’ Eucharistic presence.
Since the seventh century in the Western Catholic Church, the Eucharist has been called “the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.” Jesus sacrificed himself out of love by suffering and dying on the cross to atone for the sins of the world. His Good Friday sacrifice continues in an unbloody manner at every Mass. The liturgy, including bells, singing and silence, reminds the faithful that this awesome event that happened 2,000 years ago is made present on our altars, whenever Mass is celebrated.
Jesus’ Paschal Mystery sets the stage for the four ways that he is present at Mass. He is present in:
§ the Scriptures proclaimed at Mass
§ the congregation assembled
§ the person of the presider
§ and the consecrated bread and wine, his body and blood.
While all four ways enhance one another, particular focus rests on the consecrated Eucharist species, received by the faithful at Mass. Belief in the Mass as a sacrifice roots belief that the Eucharist is really Jesus’ body and blood. As we prepare to celebrate Jesus among us at Christmas, let Advent provide us with a wonderful opportunity to link the Incarnation with Jesus among us in the Eucharist.
In our Synodal process, we heard the call of the need for a True Eucharistic Revival. We heard the need for deeper understanding and appreciation of the gift of the Eucharist and for the formation that would help us to enter more fully into the mystery. We heard the need for a Eucharistic Revival that would make our parishes places of true welcome, hospitality, and communion. We heard the need for a Eucharistic Revival where we are forgiven our sins, built up in virtue and the willingness to do little things with great love. In this, we are not alone. Our God is there always with us. He has come to us, He will come to us again, and He today, here and now, comes constantly to us. This Advent as we prepare to bring our three-year Eucharistic Revival to end, we embark on a collective resolution: to grow in Eucharistic knowledge, faith, amazement, love, life, charity and apostolate. The three-year Eucharistic Revival the bishops have has brought us an opportunity to look at each of the liturgical seasons with fresh eyes and Eucharistic lenses. For this to happen l am asking you that we embark on A Spiritual Pilgrimage guided by Matthew Kelly’s book, 33 DAYS TO EUCHARISTIC GLORY. We are at one of those critical times in history, and consecrating ourselves, our families, our country, and indeed, the whole world to the Eucharist may make all the difference. Eucharistic Consecration will take your spiritual life to unimaginable new levels, but it will also energize your relationships, refocus your professional life, rearrange your priorities, awaken your dreams, and show you the genius of Catholicism. The key to unlocking these fruits in your life is surrender. Prepare yourself for an explosion of grace in your life. Grace is the assistance God gives us to do what is good, true, noble, and right. And there is no better way to receive God’s grace than through the Eucharist. Over the next thirty-three days you will learn how these great saints and others lived in Eucharistic Glory. Thank you for your willingness to make this pilgrimage together and consecrate yourself to Jesus in the Eucharist. The renewal of the Catholic Church depends on people like you allowing Jesus to work through you in powerful new ways. May the Eucharistic Glory of Jesus Christ find a home deep in your soul and remain with you forever! Fr. John
Mission Statement
To live the Great Commandment
Jesus said to him, 'You shall love the Lord, your God with all your heart,
with all your soul, and with all your mind.' And
'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'
Matthew 22: 37-38