The Eucharist

Following is a brief explanation of the term and of the beliefs Catholics hold concerning the “Blessed Sacrament”. 

Since the Last Supper, when Jesus broke the bread and distributed the wine, saying, “This is my Body” and “This is my Blood”, Catholics have believed that the bread and wine are no longer merely bread and wine, but are the actual presence of Jesus in His resurrected, glorified state. We also believe that Jesus, through the action of the priest in the act of consecration during Mass (the Liturgy of the Eucharist), changes the substance of bread (usually in the form of a wafer or “host”) and wine into His living presence. The Blessed Sacrament, also called Holy Eucharist, is received by the faithful in Holy Communion. We believe that the Real Presence of Jesus in the form of the Blessed Sacrament does not end when Communion is complete. The Blessed Sacrament, in the form of consecrated hosts, is reserved in the tabernacle. The presence of the Eucharistic Jesus in the tabernacle is indicated by the burning candle in the red sanctuary light located near the tabernacle.

Since we hold our belief in the Real Presence, Catholics show signs of reverence such as genuflecting or bowing toward the tabernacle on entering and leaving the church as well as a reverent, not necessarily silent, demeanor while in the church when the Blessed Sacrament is present. The words: “Be still and know that I am God...”(Ps.46) come to mind.

Many Catholics find that being in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament is a source of comfort and consolation and consider frequent meditation and prayer before the Blessed Sacrament exposed (displayed in the ornate vessel called the monstrance) to be a path to spiritual growth. This devotional practice is known as Eucharistic Adoration.

Our parish is blessed with a Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration Chapel opened in 2004. There is Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament 24 hours a day here in our chapel with someone always present spending some time with Jesus in the Tabernacle—the chapel is open for all to come and visit

God is still On Mission - but we need to change Hearts.

"Missio Dei." God is on mission.  His on-going mission is to reach every man, woman, and child with the message of hope in His Son, Jesus Christ. God has called us to join Him on this incredible Mission. Yet the fragility of humanity is such that evil enters. It has been so since the story of the apple in the Garden of Eden. This past week we saw such frailty, such evil, approach our Nation and even infect its Capital; resulting in the injury, and loss of human life, including those who have dedicated themselves to the service of the virtues and ideals for which we stand strong, proud and free. While this is a time of shock, it is not a time for despair.

We on our part, within our circles of influence, must name what we saw for what it is – pure evil - and pray for its revoking from further hearts, wills and lives. We will accomplish this through working in unity with others, expressing as the Body of Christ, Hope in the moments of fear, Calm in the times of storm and Peace in the occasions of aggression. This comes by our lives of prayer.

Let us this Lord’s Day Weekend gather as a Family of Faith, and offer prayers for those slain in the acts of violence in Ottawa and Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec. Let us pray for families mourning, for lives affected, and most of all for our nation and our world. A book of remembrance will be available in our Parish Centre this Lord’s Day and special prayers will be offered. May the shining light from our hill remove the shadow and retrench in human hearts the only beacon that can abolish evil - Jesus Christ.

Prayer for Peace in the World by St. John Paul II

Immaculate Heart of Mary, helpPrayer for Peace in the World by St. John Paul II us to conquer the menace of evil, which so easily takes root in the hearts of the people of today, and whose immeasurable effects already weigh down upon our modern world and seem to block the paths toward the future.

From every kind of injustice in the life of society, both national and international, deliver us. From readiness to trample on the commandments of God, deliver us. From attempts to stifle in human hearts the very truth of God, deliver us. From the loss of awareness of good and evil, deliver us.

From sins against the Holy Spirit, deliver us.

Accept, O Mother of Christ, this cry laden with the sufferings of all individual human beings, laden with the sufferings of whole societies. Help us with the power of the Holy Spirit conquer all sin: individual sin and the “sin of the world,” sin in all its manifestations.

Let there be revealed once more in the history of the world the infinite saving power of the redemption: the power of merciful love. May it put a stop to evil. May it transform consciences. 

May your Immaculate Heart reveal for all the light of hope. Amen

CONFIRMATION: Why do we choose a saint’s name?

This week I have run into several of our young people who are seeking to be leaders for our "Searching in the Spirit" program which helps to prepare their peers for the Sacrament of Confirmation.  Do you remember your Confirmation? Do you remember choosing the name of a saint? As Catholics, have you ever been asked, “Why do you choose another name in addition to your own?” What’s the best way to answer that question?

As we go through our sacramental preparation for Confirmation, saints are chosen to be a person we want to  be like, as well as someone who can pray for us from heaven. Through the process of canonization (when someone is declared by the Church to be a saint) the Church is proclaiming that this member of the faithful practiced heroic virtue during their life on earth, ‘the Church recognizes the power of the Spirit of holiness within her and sustains the hope of believers by proposing the saints to them as models and intercessors’ (CCC 828). 

To aspire to be like a saint is the same as trying to imitate an actor, musician, or athlete; a confirmation saint  is someone who we want to be like! You may have a famous actor, musician, or athlete that you really admire for their talent and skill. What many  people don’t realize is that there are good people to look up to within our Church, for us to try to be like as well! It is common for us to think that only adults are able to become saints, but that is wrong.

As a young teen in the early 4th century, Saint Agnes was martyred because she refused to denounce her faith. Saint Aloysius, a young Jesuit in the late 16th century, helped care for people who were sick with the plague, giving them care and love as they left this world. His close contact with the disease took his life soon thereafter. Both these young saints bear witness to having love of God as their first priority.

It is important to remember that as members of the Church, we are never alone, as St. Paul said, ‘We are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses’ (Hebrews 12:1). These witnesses are the saints who continually intercede for us (CCC 956); in choosing a confirmation saint, we are choosing a special friend to intercede for  us in heaven and after whom we can model our lives while here on earth.

You can’t call up a famous person you want to be like and ask them for help, but your Confirmation saint is someone who you can talk to whenever you need them and they will always have your back!

Thanksgiving Prayer

O God, when I have food,

help me to remember the hungry;

When I have work,

help me to remember the jobless;

When I have a home,

help me to remember those who have no home at all;

When I am without pain,

help me to remember those who suffer,

And remembering,

help me to destroy my complacency;

bestir my compassion,

and be concerned enough to help;

By word and deed,

those who cry out for what we take for granted.

Amen.

-Samuel F. Pugh

Four Authors

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (the four authors of the gospels) have traditionally been represented by four symbols:

St. Matthew: a divine man

St. Mark: a winged lion

St. Luke: a winged ox

St. John: a rising eagle

These symbols are taken from scripture, specifically Ezekiel (1:1-21): and Revelation (4:6-8). These images in both the Old and New Testament prompted St. Irenaeus (140-202) to liken them to the four Gospel writers. He felt each writer had a particular focus on Christ. More specifically, St. Irenaeus explained the symbolism as follows:

St. Matthew is represented by a divine man because the Gospel highlights Jesus’ entry into this world, first by presenting His family lineage — “A family record of Jesus Christ, Son of David, son of Abraham” (Mt 1:1) — and His incarnation and birth: “Now this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about” (Mt 1:18). “This then,” according to St. Irenaeus, “is the Gospel of His humanity.”

The lion is the symbol of St. Mark because his Gospel begins with John the Baptist, whose preaching is described as a voice crying in the wilderness like the roar of a lion. He said, “The voice in the desert crying” reminds one of a lion’s roar.” The lion also signified royalty, an appropriate symbol for the Son of God.

The winged ox represents St. Luke. Oxen were used in temple sacrifices. For instance, when the Ark of the Covenant was brought to Jerusalem, an ox was sacrificed every six steps (2 Sm 6). St. Luke begins his Gospel with the announcement of the birth of St. John the Baptizer to his father, the priest Zechariah, who was offering sacrifice in the Temple (Lk 1). St. Luke also includes the parable of the Prodigal Son, in which the fatted calf is slaughtered, not only to celebrate the younger son’s return, but also to foreshadow the joy we must have in receiving reconciliation through our most merciful Savior who as Priest offered Himself in sacrifice to forgive our sins. Therefore, the winged ox reminds us of the priestly character of our Lord and  His sacrifice for our redemption.

Lastly, St. John’s symbol is an eagle because his Gospel has a “lofty” beginning with Jesus existing in heaven as “the Word of God” before he came to earth: “In the beginning was the Word, the Word was in God’s presence, and the Word was God. He was present to God in the beginning. Through Him all things came into being, and apart from Him nothing came to be” (Jn 1:1-3). The Gospel of St. John, unlike the other Gospels, engages the reader with the most profound teachings of our Lord, and the beautiful teachings on the Bread of Life and the Good Shepherd. Jesus, too, identified Himself as “the way, the truth, and the life,” and anyone who embraces Him as such will rise to everlasting life with Him. The wings on all of the symbols of the gospels are to symbolize their connection to the divine. Like eagle wings or angels (who were the messengers of God), they deliver this story and good news.

While each of these symbols focuses on the particular theme of each Gospel, only in penetrating all four Gospels do we encounter fully our Lord.

Our Liturgical Colours tell what Season it is.

The Catholic Church uses different colors for the various seasons and occasions during the Liturgical year. You will notice these colors on the priests’ vestments, the covers of the books, decorations in the church, etc. All of the colors have different meanings.

GREEN is the default color and represents nature and life. It is used for Ordinary Time, the Sundays between Epiphany and Lent (roughly January to March) and the Sundays after Trinity (roughly May/June to October/November). These two seasons are also called ‘Ordinary Time’ because the Sundays have no names, just ordinal numbers, like The 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

RED is the color of blood, and therefore is used for the feasts of saints who are martyrs (those who have died for the faith). It is also used on Palm Sunday when we remember...and read...the Passion of the Lord. Because it is also the color of fire and, therefore, the Holy Spirit (see Acts 2:3), red is used for Pentecost Sunday and for priests’ ordinations and installations. 

In antiquity, purple dye was very expensive, so purple came to signify wealth, power, and royalty. Therefore PURPLE is the color for the seasons of Advent and Lent, which celebrate the coming of the King. Since, as Christians, we prepare for our King through reflection and repentance, purple also represents penance and humilty. The priest also wears a purple (violet)stole when hearing confessions.

Angels announced Jesus’ birth and His Resurrection, and the New Testament consistently uses white to describe angels and the risen Lord. Therefore, WHITE is the color for the seasons of Easter and Christmas. It represents light, innocence, purity, joy, triumph, and glory. White is used for funerals, since it is the color of the Resurrection, for weddings, regardless of the season, and for secular holidays that are observed in the church. It is also used for feasts of saints who are not martyrs.

GOLD vestments are often worn on solemnities in lieu of white as a sign of joy and great celebration, as at Christmas and Easter. 

ROSE represents joy, and is always used on Gaudete Sunday (Third Sunday of Advent), and Laetare Sunday (Fourth Sunday of Lent). This is the Church’s way of further heightening our expectation as we draw ever nearer the Solemnities of Christmas and Easter.

Take notice of the colors used on any given Sunday. As you can see, there is special meaning and significance!

Why We Do What We Do

The vestments worn by our priests are not only beautiful and decorative—they have significant meaning. 

Alb - The alb is the long white, robe-like vestment worn by all clerics at liturgical celebrations. White is the symbol of purity and the term alb, from the Latin word albe, means white. It can be traced to the Roman alb worn under a cloak or tunic. The priest prays: “Purify me, O Lord, and cleanse my heart, that being made white in the Blood of the Lamb, I may come to eternal joy.”

Stole - The stole symbolizes the clerical office, immortality, and the Yoke of Christ. This, matching the liturgical color, is a long, scarf-like vestment worn over the alb and under the chasuble. This is presented at Ordination when made a Deacon and worn diagonally across the body. When ordained Priest, the stole is ceremonially untied and from then on worn hanging equally down the chest. (A Bishop wears the stole in the same way because he never ceases to be a priest.) The origins of the stole are the towels that slaves wore around their necks. When bending down, or kneeling, they would use the towel to wipe the feet of guests or their masters. Jesus wore a towel around his waist and washed the feet of the disciples at the Last Supper. The stole is seen as a symbol that the cleric is to serve the people of God. When putting on the stole, the priest kisses the Cross on the stole 

Chasuble - The chasuble symbolizes charity and the Yoke of Christ. This matches the liturgical color and is a long, often ornate, sleeveless poncho-like garment worn by priests and bishops over the alb and stole during the sacrifice of the Mass.

In future articles we will look at the meaning of the different colors of the vestments and church decorations.