Next weekend we open our Forty Hours Observance here. I have offered some history and insight into what this is and what it means for us. We are doing this in conjunction with the Period of Eucharistic Revival here in the American Church and as we have not had a parish mission since the onset of the pandemic, this is a good way to reinvigorate that time of renewal and revival for our parish. Read more.
In two weeks we will celebrate the Forty Hours devotion. This long-standing tradition in the life of the church was popularized here in the US by Saint John Neumann when he was the Bishop of Philadelphia. Forty Hours is a focused period of Eucharistic adoration, serving as a time of retreat and reflection for a parish. This is a tradition that I grew up with in Pennsylvania and am happy to bring it here for this time of the Eucharistic Revival. There is a complete list of parish focused prayer times and other events for the Forty Hours devotion available in the bulletin. Periods of parish public prayer is punctuated with the extended times of adoration. Read more.
On 17 April 2003, Pope (now Saint) John Paul II wrote an encyclical letter entitled: ECCLESIA DE EUCHARISTIA (“The Church draws her life from the Eucharist”). As we continue our preparation for forty hours, I offer the following reflection from the sainted pope on the importance of adoration. Read more.
A blessed holiday weekend to everyone. It is nice to take a respite once in a while from our busy schedules. Certainly the students and teachers in all of the schools need a little break to regroup and catch-up. Read more.
We had a nice weekend last weekend, too bad the rain took out the Saturday evening entertainment. We will have to reschedule the band and the activities for another time. Congratulations to the winners of the parish 50/50 raffle. Thank you to all who participated.