I don't have to tell any of you that the calendar really fills up quickly in December. Firstly, I pray that all of us will make it a priority to include God in our day-to-day trek to Christmas as Advent begins next Sunday, November 27, and runs until Christmas. We will offer new reflection booklets for each day of Advent, and hope you will not miss many or any days reading them during the Advent season.
Please mark the following special dates on your December calendar, and try to make it a priority to join your fellow parishioners for our Advent Day of Recollection with the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Tuesday, December 13) and the Diaconate Ordination Mass for Nelson Rubio, our adopted seminarian (Saturday, December 17).
The Day of Recollection will be led by Father Jerome Kodell, the former long-time Abbot of the Benedictines at Subiaco, Arkansas, and a noted speaker and scripture study author. It will start with 9:00 a.m. Mass and end with our Advent Reconciliation and opportunity for individual reception of the sacrament at 1:00 p.m. More details will follow in the next few weeks.
The Diaconate Ordination of Nelson Rubio will happen at Sacred Heart Church on Saturday, December 17, at 10:00 a.m., followed by a nice reception with food and drink in our lower hall. As you, the parishioners of Sacred Heart Church, have been so supportive of our seminarians in prayer and in financial help for their formation, especially in recent years, this Ordination mass is a great opportunity for us to share in an important step in Nelson's journey to the priesthood as he makes his vow of celibacy and is ordained a transitional deacon which will enable him to serve the Lord in new days like preaching and presiding over sacraments like Baptism and Matrimony when they are celebrated outside of Mass. As Bishop Taylor presides at Nelson's Diaconate Ordination Mass with priests con-celebrating, and most of our Arkansas seminarians serving the Mass or joining you in the pews, it will be a joy-filled, special liturgy which, I pray, many of us will participate in, and will be blessed by, as well as be, a blessing to Nelson who is very excited about this Mass with his "Parish Family."
Please mark the following special dates on your December calendar, and try to make it a priority to join your fellow parishioners for our Advent Day of Recollection with the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Tuesday, December 13) and the Diaconate Ordination Mass for Nelson Rubio, our adopted seminarian (Saturday, December 17).
The Day of Recollection will be led by Father Jerome Kodell, the former long-time Abbot of the Benedictines at Subiaco, Arkansas, and a noted speaker and scripture study author. It will start with 9:00 a.m. Mass and end with our Advent Reconciliation and opportunity for individual reception of the sacrament at 1:00 p.m. More details will follow in the next few weeks.
The Diaconate Ordination of Nelson Rubio will happen at Sacred Heart Church on Saturday, December 17, at 10:00 a.m., followed by a nice reception with food and drink in our lower hall. As you, the parishioners of Sacred Heart Church, have been so supportive of our seminarians in prayer and in financial help for their formation, especially in recent years, this Ordination mass is a great opportunity for us to share in an important step in Nelson's journey to the priesthood as he makes his vow of celibacy and is ordained a transitional deacon which will enable him to serve the Lord in new days like preaching and presiding over sacraments like Baptism and Matrimony when they are celebrated outside of Mass. As Bishop Taylor presides at Nelson's Diaconate Ordination Mass with priests con-celebrating, and most of our Arkansas seminarians serving the Mass or joining you in the pews, it will be a joy-filled, special liturgy which, I pray, many of us will participate in, and will be blessed by, as well as be, a blessing to Nelson who is very excited about this Mass with his "Parish Family."
I am so pleased to know that we are, once again, offering an opportunity for our parishioners (and any family members they have visiting) to come together on Thanksgiving Day for a traditional Thanksgiving meal. Chef Johnna from the DeSoto Club has agreed to prepare and provide a delicious meal for us. I want to thank Johnna for doing this for us. The relatively low price she is charging us is, in part, a "thank you" to our parish for using her services throughout the year for many of our dinner gatherings. We are inviting those who would like, to bring a dessert to share for our Thanksgiving dinner. While this dinner was started with the concern that some of our parishioners were either alone or did not have many people to prepare a whole traditional Thanksgiving meal, I see it now as an opportunity for any single, couple or family in the parish to forgo cooking and instead, be with a larger group of "family" (fellow parishioners) to share fellowship and good food. Donations to help pay for the meal will be accepted. Remember, we are having Mass on Thanksgiving Day at 9:00 a.m.
Also, PLEASE remember our annual Parish Memorial Mass on Wednesday, November 30, at 9:00 a.m. as we encourage all parishioners, especially those whose loved ones have passed into the merciful, loving arms of the Lord in this year, 2016, to join us to pray for these loved ones, and to support each other, and in a special way those who are grieving their loved ones passing from their sight, buh not their hearts. We certainly want to include those whose loved ones died outside the parish, as we (as a parish) weren't able to be there to support our fellow parishioners at the funeral or their loved ones. Please join us for the Mass AND the reception that will follow with food and drink in the Lower Hall.
Also, PLEASE remember our annual Parish Memorial Mass on Wednesday, November 30, at 9:00 a.m. as we encourage all parishioners, especially those whose loved ones have passed into the merciful, loving arms of the Lord in this year, 2016, to join us to pray for these loved ones, and to support each other, and in a special way those who are grieving their loved ones passing from their sight, buh not their hearts. We certainly want to include those whose loved ones died outside the parish, as we (as a parish) weren't able to be there to support our fellow parishioners at the funeral or their loved ones. Please join us for the Mass AND the reception that will follow with food and drink in the Lower Hall.
All of us have "routines" in various aspects of our lives that we often hate to break for any reason whatsoever. So too, whether we realize it or not, we all have routines when it comes to when and what we do when we come to church for Mass. Some get there right before Mass begins and only have time to find a pew to sit in. Others come very early and pray. Others come early enough to read and reflect on the readings of the day. Others spend most of their time before Mass visiting with people (hopefully outside of church or in the narthex or quietly in the pews). Are any of these "routines" best for some or for all? I think not. That's why it is truly a blessing that the church has a "routine" to get all of us ready for the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist. It is called the Introductory Rite and it consists of a greeting, a penitential rite, the Gloria (most of the year) and the opening prayer disposition, so that we can enter fully into the celebration of Mass with minds and hearts ready to be touched by the Lord in a unique and personal way. Aren't we blessed to have a Church that is so concerned with our spiritual formation at every Mass regardless of what we do or what I say in my pastor's remarks before Mass begins?