Parish Feast Day

This weekend is our Parish Feast Day Weekend. On this, our parish's feast day, we give thanks to Almighty God for all the graces and blessings that He has bestowed upon us, as a Parish Community and as individuals. As we do, it is a wonderful time to reflect upon, rejoice in, and seek the grace to continue responding to all that the Father is calling us to be as a Parish Family. WHAT IS A PARISH FEAST DAY ?

The richness of our Catholic faith believes in the intercession of saints. The patron saint of a particular group of people is a saint who has special affinity to that group, and whose attributes speaks to its members. Some consider asking a saint for intercession, rather than expecting to be answered themselves, as an act displaying humility, calling to mind what is written in the Book of Job 42:8.

Our Feast Day is celebrated on May 31. The Feast is of medieval origin and was only universally adopted in 1389. In 1969, Pope Paul VI moved the celebration to May 31, between the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord and that of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, "so that it would harmonize better with the Gospel story".

The Visitation is the encounter of the Virgin Mary and Elizabeth as recorded in the Gospel of Luke 1:39-56. Mary, having heard at the Annunciation that Elizabeth was six months pregnant, left her home to visit her. Elizabeth and John the Baptist were inspired by the Holy Spirit at her arrival; and Elizabeth ,seeing Mary’s faithfulness, cared for her giving her the opportunity to nourish the gift of life, Jesus, within her. Mary, surrounded by Elizabeth’s love, pronounced the "Magnificat". It is the second Joyful Mystery of the Rosary, with the Spiritual Fruit of a Love of Neighbour.

Thus as a parish community dedicated to Mary, under the title of Our Lady of the Visitation, this Feast reminds us of our call to love our neighbour, to be welcoming and to provide a place for others to grow nourishing the Lord within them. Our Parish Feast Day gives us all not only the opportunity to marvel at all that the Lord is doing in our midst, but also the occasion to rejoice!

After each Mass the members of the Knights of Columbus will be having their annual “Roses for Life” Appeal which assists Pro-Life Causes. Thank you to the Knights for all their good work in our parish and community. At our 11:00am Mass we will celebrate with 12 couples from our parish their Marriage Jubilees, we have 1 couple celebrating 55 years, 1 couple celebrating 50, 2 couples celebrating 40, 2 couples celebrating 35, 3 couples celebrating 25, 1 couple each celebrating 20, 10 and 5 years of married life. What a joy filled 11:00am Mass we will have! Then on Tuesday, May 31st, our actual feast day, 25 children will be a part of our “Crowning of Mary” with the celebration of Mass. Please join us at 7:00p.m. for this grace filled time.

I pray that our Parish Feast Day Weekend will provide many fond memories of our year to date, and that it may inspire us to continue to become who the Father is calling us to be

May Our Lady of the Visitation continue to be our inspiration, model and guide.

Celebrating With The Community On Sunday

We are currently celebrating First Holy Communion with over 90 young people in our parish family; it got me thinking about Celebrating With The Community On Sunday


PARTICIPATE REGULARLY - We are called by our baptism to participate in the Sunday Eucharist each week. Sunday is the Lord=s Day and all the baptized have a serious obligation to participate in the Sunday Eucharist every week on this day. In recent years there has developed among many Catholics a rather casual attitude toward Sunday Mass: attendance when convenient. Because of the nature of the Sunday Eucharist, which is to praise God for our common life in Christ and to build up the Body of Christ, our regular participation in the Sunday Eucharist is necessary. Our presence each Sunday serves to strengthen the faith of our brothers and sisters and renew Christ=s life within us. Parents have a special responsibility to give good example to their children by making participation in the Sunday Eucharist a priority in their family.

PARTICIPATE FULLY - During the past 35 years the Church has introduced many changes into the way we celebrate the Eucharist and other sacraments. All of these changes have been made to encourage us to participate Afully, consciously, and actively@ in the liturgy. Every parishioner has both the privilege and obligation to participate in the prayers, songs and actions of the Mass. Such participation is not reserved only for the Aministers.@

PREPARE FOR MASS - All of us are urged to prepare for Sunday Mass and our reception of Communion. Our preparation may include reflection on the gifts we have received from our gracious God C especially our life in Christ. We may read and reflect on the Scripture readings at home before coming to Mass. All of us are asked to observe the Eucharistic fast C to refrain from eating and drinking for one hour prior to communion. The celebration of Sunday Mass will touch our hearts and enrich our faith more powerfully if we prepare to celebrate.

REVERENCE THE RESERVED EUCHARIST - Outside of our celebration of Mass, we as Catholics have the practice of showing reverence for the Reserved Eucharist. Upon entering the church (and leaving it) it is our custom to genuflect C or make a profound bow C to the Blessed Sacrament, reserved in the tabernacle. Sadly, this custom is frequently not observed today. Sometimes people make no sign of reverence upon taking their seats. Other times a hurried, seemingly half-hearted genuflection in no particular direction is made. Every effort ought to be made to show a meaningful sign of reverence to the reserved sacrament and to teach our children to do so.

RECEIVING COMMUNION - When receiving communion, we are asked to do so with reverence and with faith. We show our reverence by the way we approach the sacrament slowly and deliberately and by the sign of reverence we make: e.g. a profound bow or the sign of the cross as we approach the minister. When receiving communion on the hand, we hold our hands with palms extended (one hand under the other, making a Athrone@ for our King) and consume the Body of the Lord immediately before returning to our seats. We receive the Blood of the Lord in a similarly reverent manner by taking the cup as it is presented to us and drinking reverently. If not receiving from the cup, it is appropriate to bow to the cup when passing it on returning to our places. In both instances, we express our faith in Christ=s Eucharistic presence by saying AAMEN@ in response to the minister=s words: The Body of Christ . . . The Blood of Christ.

Something to Think About

BUT FATHER, I GET BORED AT MASS"

I once attended a cricket match in Waterloo. Many people gathered dressed in their finest summer whites and straw hats. The players took their places in the lower field and we, the spectators, sat comfortably in our folding chairs. The games began and I had no clue what was going on. When people cheered, I cheered. I did not know why I was cheering, but I knew that it was the thing to do. Often this can be our experience at Mass. We sometimes know when to sit, when to stand, and when to say "and also with you," but we may not know why we do what we do.

To cure the boredom, one understands what we are engaging in and why we do what we do. It is understanding who is the Eucharist. Some practical things we can do to engage in the Mass are:

1) Pick up a Sunday missal: (The readings are the same all across the world!) It has all the readings for the year and read them before going to Mass. The readings are also found on our website www.stmaryhespeler.ca. Prepare before hand to get the most out of it when you are there.

2) Move from the back pew to the front pew, or at least plan to move one pew forward each Mass. (To have a better "view from the pew, you can know what to do"). Arriving a tad early also gives you time to focus, reflect and pray.

3) Read over and meditate on the Eucharistic prayers: these are the prayers the priest prays over the bread and wine, they are so rich and can help us with our faith lives. Listen for key words that touch you...that way you are not listening but praying.

4) Check our the religious articles displays at Church, or go to the local Christian bookstore and pick up some reading. There are several books on understanding the Mass. Surf the net and find some articles (i.e. www.vatican.va) Our own website has a number of links also - check it out.

5) Ask Father - sometimes a simple clarification of why we do something helps clear things up.

There are many other ways to delve into the mystery of the Holy Mass.

Happy Mother's Day

PRAYER FOR ALL MOTHERS

Eternal God, we ask Your blessing upon our mothers.

Bless all mothers who labour in the home for their families; give them courage and strength when the going gets rough.

Bless those mothers who are preparing for the birth of their child. Give eternal joy to our mothers whom you have called to be with You in eternal life.

We bring this prayer to Mary, the Mother of Your Only Son, so that she may intercede with Jesus our Lord who answers all our prayers. AMEN.

Blessed Pope John Paul II

Today at four o’clock (EDT) the Mass at which Pope John Paul II will be declared “blessed” will begin in the exact place where little more than six years ago he lay for his funeral Mass. Saints do not get to be saints because every decision they made in life was correct or perfect. They are saints because of their personal holiness, their self-sacrificing service to the Gospel imperatives. In his life the focus was applying the Gospel to daily life. Blessed John Paul II had an unerring sense of popular piety and what it needed and when it could he helpful. With Blessed John Paul II’s soul mate, Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, I have now been touched in my lifetime by two people whom the Church universal will likely soon refer to as “saints” but it didn’t take the process of Beaitification to convince me that these two were in different ways extraordinarily holy people.

I wish I could be there in person, but it will be wonderful to watch that vast piazza at St. Peters and the surrounding streets burst once again with people chanting as I know they will, “santo subito.” Blessed John Paul II, intercede with the Father to whom you are now close, to help this local Church serve all of God’s people.

Easter 2011

On this Easter Sunday we hear the great and glorious news that our Saviour is Risen! The pain of the passion, cross and death of Jesus, while not forgotten, has now been overwhelmed with an unbelievable outpouring of God's love for all humanity made visible through the gift of his Son. The Resurrection now becomes reality. The hope and promise of everlasting life with God has been given to us. We are now a new creation, called to go forth and proclaim the truth of the Resurrection.

We now begin the fifty days of Easter. For the next fifty days our liturgical readings will remind us and show us how we are to be the light of Christ to the world. Easter, just like Lent, will place before us new challenges to meet as we journey towards full discipleship. To be Mandatum to the world is to carry the light of Christ always, and to be nourished on this journey with the gift of Eucharist. In the glow of the Easter Candle let us now begin our new journey, the journey of Easter towards the celebration of Pentecost. May this Easter Season be a time of great blessings for you.

Happy Easter to all !

Good Friday

V/. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
R/. Because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Lk 23:34).
At the height of his Passion, Christ does not forget man, especially those who are directly responsible for his suffering. Jesus knows that more than anything else man needs love; he needs the mercy which at this moment is being poured out on the world.
“Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise” (Lk 23:43).
This is how Jesus replies to the plea of the criminal hanging on his right: “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (Lk 23:42).
The promise of a new life. This is the first fruit of the Passion and imminent Death of Christ. A word of hope to man.
At the foot of the Cross stood Mary, and beside her the disciple, John the Evangelist. Jesus says: “Woman, behold your son!” and to the disciple: “Behold your mother!” (Jn 19:26-27).
“And from that moment the disciple took her to his own home” (Jn 19:27).
This is his bequest to those dearest to his heart. His legacy to the Church.

The desire of Jesus as he dies is that the maternal love of Mary should embrace all those for whom he is giving his life, the whole of humanity.
Immediately after, Jesus cries out: “I am thirsty” (Jn 19:28). A word which describes the dreadful burning which consumes his whole body.
It is the one word which refers directly to his physical suffering.

Then Jesus adds: “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” (Mt 27:46; cf. Ps 22:2). These words of the Psalm are his prayer. Despite their tone, these words reveal the depths of his union with the Father.
In the last moments of his life on earth, Jesus thinks of the Father. From this moment on, the dialogue will only be between the dying Son and the Father who accepts his sacrifice of love.
When the ninth hour comes, Jesus cries out: “It is accomplished!” (Jn 19:30).
Now the work of the redemption is complete.
The mission, for which he came on earth, has reached its goal.
The rest belongs to the Father:
“Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” (Lk 23:46).
And having said this, he breathed his last.
“The curtain of the temple was torn in two...” (Mt 27:51).
The “Holy of Holies” of the Jerusalem Temple is opened at the moment when it is entered by the Priest of the New and Eternal Covenant.

PRAYER

Lord Jesus Christ,
in the moment of your agony
you were not indifferent to humanity’s fate,
and with your last breath
you entrusted to the Father’s mercy
the men and women of every age,
with all their weaknesses and sins.
Fill us and the generations yet to come
with your Spirit of love,
so that our indifference
will not render vain in us
the fruits of your death.
To you, crucified Jesus, the wisdom and the power of God,
be honour and glory for ever and ever.

Amen.

--Pope John Paul II
Meditations for the Via Crucis
Good Friday 2000