Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA): we had our introductory meeting of the RCIA program complete with seven (7) individuals who are discerning becoming Catholics at the Great Easter Vigil. This initial stage, known as the time of Inquiry, offers our potential Catholics the opportunity to learn more about the faith and to see if it is a right fit for their current spiritual journey. Let us all pray for them as they seek to become one with God. If you are interested in looking into the Catholic faith more closely, please consider coming to our next meeting which is Monday night, November 9 at 7 p.m. in the parish Library. You are certainly welcome to call me (658-1642) if you have any questions you would prefer to ask in private.
Liturgical Needs: Like all things earthly, they do not last forever. Most of the liturgical items of our parish are from the mid-1970s or from somewhere in the 1980s and all are in need of replacement. Vestments are tattered and our pall is thread-bare, our thurible is corroded and the boat is broken, there is no travel Mass kit currently, likewise the baptismal shell, candelabra, and the ciboria set. Repairing them, often times, equals or surpasses the cost of replacement. I am listing some of the items that are needed more urgently in hopes that some individuals may wish to either purchase them for the Church or make an offering toward their cost. We are happy to purchase any item in memory of either a deceased loved one or in the name of a family or friend of the parish. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at the parish office on 658-1642. Thank you in advance for your generosity. Please know that our parish uses The Catholic Purchasing Service, which is a co-op and offers prices discounted between 25% and 40%, for the identical articles found in the retail religious good catalogs.
- Two Candelabras—for Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament ($500 each)
- Travel Mass Kit—for use at twice monthly McLean Home Masses and for use at home Masses for the seriously ill ($395)
- Silver Baptismal Shell—for use in infant baptisms ($95)
- Holy Water Sprinkler—for use at grave side burials ($49)
- Holy Water Pot/Sprinkler—for use at Mass ($395)
- Thurible & Boat—incense for use at Mass and funerals ($415)
- Thurible Stand—to hold Thurible and incense boat ($445)
- Ciboria Set (communion cups)—for distribution of Holy Communion (set includes three bowls, $1485)
- Funeral Pall and matching funeral vestment—for use at a funeral Mass of Christian burial (approximately $550 for pall and $400 for vestment).
There are options for each item listed and I selected the mid- to lower-range of costs. Some of the prices are outrageous, and some of the styles are far too gothic or imperial for the style of Saint Catherine of Siena. Obviously, I stayed within the simple structure of our parish so that things would match nicely.
All Saints Day / All Souls Day. This weekend (and Monday) we celebrate All Saints Day and All Souls Day, respectively. Due to Monday being All Souls Day and a weekday as well, we celebrate the ritual of remembrance at the Sunday, 11 a.m. Mass.This is a great time to remember all who have gone before us and with whom we share the hope of eternal resurrection. Catholic theology teaches us that the dead continue to live eternally due to the perfect sacrifice of Christ Jesus, and so we not only do not forget them but continue to converse with them through the power of prayer. Catholics pray to the Church triumphant (in heaven), for the Church on earth (us, as we journey toward God), and for the souls in Purgatory, that they may quickly come before God in the Kingdom. The Church provides many prayers for the deceased and for the living (go to yenra.com/catholic prayers or Google “Catholic Prayers”). It is both our privilege and our obligation as Catholic Christians to pray for those in need, to seek God’s bless-ings, and to be united with the whole of Creation—from the be-ginning of time—in the conversation of God, that is prayer. We focus on this day for the faithfully departed and we remember them always. The Church prays unceasingly for the dead as they are remembered at each and every Mass all across the globe. In a particular way, we will pray for our beloved dead both as a community today and during the whole month of November during the breviary which I will offer at the specified hours each day. Names taken from the basket in front of the altar will be prayed for during my priestly office (kindly print their names so that I may read them aloud during these times).
All Saints Day 2009—A Solemnity in the Church. And while the Church seems to celebrate the names of people such as John the Baptist, Peter and Paul, Catherine of Siena, Elizabeth Seton, Gerard, Matthew, Benedict, Sixtus and Clement, today’s celebration is also about the countless saints without names, “whose faith is known to You alone,” as the Eucharistic Prayer IV expresses it. This solemnity is a reminder that we are all called to be saints, and that heaven is full of souls whose names we don’t know.Today we hear the Gospel of Matthew and the great Beatitudes. In eight short lines, Jesus declares blessed those who are poor in spirit, who are meek, who are merciful…He gives us the blueprint to follow so that we may too become a saint in heaven. For if we follow these proclamations of Jesus, we will receive the Kingdom for which He came to make manifest in our words and actions…in our habits, in our character, in what becomes our destiny.
Today we are reminded that God is very generous, and that the saints are beyond all counting. Among them are surely members of our families and our friends who by their faith-filled lives have helped us on our way to become closer to God and closer to life everlasting. Today we should also follow deeply the first reading and ask ourselves, “How does our liturgy reflect the great liturgy in heaven?” Do we fully participate—in a loud and strong voice, knowing that the Mass is a dialogue for all to participate? Lumen Gentium, the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Vatican Council II, declares, “all the faithful, whatever their condition or state—though each in his own way—are called by the Lord to that perfection of sanctity by which the Father Himself is perfect.” “The faithful must participate in the offering of the Eucharist.” (LG10).
PEACE -Father Michael
