Dear Parishioners:
The Dedication Ceremony for the newly refurbished Stephen P. Lynch, Sr Field.
The Peragallo Organ Company was here for three days last week. They installed the seven newly refurbished and restored reservoir bellows and winker bellows. The organ is fully operational, and its majestic sound lifts our worship of God. The total cost for this project was $53,360.
Our school had a beautiful Opening Mass of the Holy Spirit last Friday. Coming together as a school family at Mass is the best way to start the school year. I thank Bishop Evans for celebrating the Mass and blessing the Stephen P. Lynch, Sr. Field.
OLM School has weekly Mass on Tuesday mornings and First Friday and Holy Day Masses throughout the year. It is a true blessing of a Catholic School that the Eucharistic Lord is the center of our day and week. The centrality of Holy Mass in the life of our school is the best way we can educate our young saints and scholars for eternity.
A recent Pew Forum survey revealed that 69% of Catholics do not believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. For most Catholics today, the Eucharist is merely a symbol of Christ, and the Mass is merely a group of like-minded individuals gathering together to remember his life. This is a spiritual disaster, for the Eucharist is "the source and summit of the Christian life." The United States Bishops began the National Eucharistic Revival to renew the faith and revive the proper understanding of the Eucharist.
Opening OLM School Mass, September 1, 2023.
We are blessed to have Daily Mass six days a week, four Sunday Masses weekly, Eucharistic Adoration monthly, and two priests at OLM. Many parishes do not enjoy such blessings due to the shortage of priests.
Jesus gives himself to us in the Eucharist as spiritual nourishment because he loves us. By eating the Body and drinking the Blood of Christ in the Eucharist, we become united to the person of Christ through his humanity. In being united to Christ's humanity, we are simultaneously united to his divinity. The transformed bread and wine are truly the Body and Blood of Christ and are not merely symbols. When Christ said, "This is my body" and "This is my blood," the bread and wine are transubstantiated. Though the bread and wine appear the same to our human faculties, they are actually the real Body and blood of Jesus.
There is a line in Evelyn Waugh's great novel, Brideshead Revisited, which speaks to the very truth of who we must be as a parish. The Matriarch, Lady Marchmain, had just been laid to rest in the family cemetery, and the grand house was being closed. The local parish priest took the Blessed Sacrament away from the house chapel to bring it to the parish church. Lady Marchmain's daughter, watching the Blessed Sacrament being taken from the small chapel, commented, "I stayed there till he was gone, and then, suddenly, there wasn't any chapel anymore, just an oddly decorated room."
No truer words communicate that Christ, the Eucharistic Lord, is truly present in the Tabernacle. Thus, the Eucharistic Lord must be the center of our life as a parish. Without the worship of God at Holy Mass and the presence of Christ in the Tabernacle, the Church itself would indeed be an odd place.
Next weekend, we can express our gratitude and support for the many priests who served faithfully at OLM and other parishes across the Diocese. The Second Collection is for the Senior Priests Retirement Fund. Today, 89 of our retired priests receive a modest pension. Unlike Religious Order priests, who are provided for in every way by their Order, diocesan priests lose benefits such as room and board, car insurance, and salary. Many retired priests are busy, sometimes assisting at multiple parishes.
Our retired priests are an integral part of the ongoing work of our parishes in the Diocese, especially with the increasing shortage of priests. While many remain active by helping at two or more parishes, some priests in nursing homes and assisted living need even more support and assistance. In their name, thank you for supporting next week's Senior Priests' Retirement Fund Collection. Full disclosure: I am not eligible for the pension until 2040, and Fr. Mahoney until 2063!
Do good. Be well. God Bless. Go Pats!!!!!!