A Holy Hour is the Roman Catholic devotional tradition of spending an hour in Eucharistic adoration in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. A plenary indulgence is granted for this practice. I believe that spending time in the presence of the Lord (the Blessed Sacrament) helps develop our love for Him, thus drawing us ever closer into His life. This past week I met with a gentlemen who told me that when life gets tough, he can always find peace in the silence and presence of the Lord—in all Catholic churches. That is a Catholic Blessing for sure!
Sadly for too many people Confirmation means the end. The thought this Sacrament brings to mind is: “I can now decide for myself if I will continue going to Mass.” The belief that I’m now an adult in the Church—at age 15 when society keeps raising the age of childhood upwards till soon we will be having “youthful indiscretions” at age 48! this idea of “Catholic adulthood” is all wrong and it leads to asking the wrong question, rather Confirmation should pose just one question for us to ponder: “What kind of Catholic Christian shall I be?”
Vatican City, Apr 19, 2017 / 06:05 am (CNA/EWTN News).- As the Church jumps into the Easter season, Pope Francis Wednesday offered a reflection on Christ’s Resurrection and the start of Christianity, saying it’s not about us and what we do, but what the Lord has done for us. “(Christianity) is not so much our search for God, but rather God's search for us. How beautiful to think that Christianity, essentially, is this!
No. We continue to celebrate for 50 days. Catholic 101 will help us understand why. Let’s turn to The Reverend Lawrence Rice, CSP and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to understand more fully. “Most people think of Easter as a single day. It’s never had the commercial appeal of Christmas, and because it always falls on Sunday, most people don’t get an additional day off from work. But for Catholics, Easter isn’t just a day, it’s a whole season. The Easter season stretches all the way to the feast of Pentecost.
Appreciation goes to everyone who made our Holy Week and Triduum Masses and services such a wonderful celebration of our Catholic faith. From the lectors and Eucharistic Ministers and altar servers, to the lectors, choirs and ushers, the decorators and flower folks, the Liturgy Committee and all who attended our celebrations—THANK YOU for making our parish such a family of faith and a light in our corner of the world. Peace and joy to all for all that you do!
This weekend as Catholic Christians we celebrate the great gift of God’s Love—Eternal Life—offered to each of us who believe in God through the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. This gift of Love comes to us unmerited by our being and actions yet freely given so that we might share in the Divine Life of the Father—a life of unending Joy and Perfection. To be “Perfect” or “Perfected” does not mean to be without fault or to never making a mistake of not stumbling in living out the Christina life, but rather “to be perfect” means to accomplish the Will of God that each one of our lives was created to do
Our Catechists (religious education teachers and assistants) spend untold hours in preparation and teaching time each weekend in order to pass on the Catholic faith to a new generation of believers—your children—and I know that I join all of our parents in offering our collective appreciation.
This Sunday we shall hear Matthew’s gospel account of the Passion story. Rather than read it in parts—which we will do on Good Friday—we hear Matthew’s account today and in doing so it is helpful for the reader (and listener) to know some background behind the story in Matthew’s writings.
This Sunday, Palm or Passion Sunday, begins Holy Week in the Christian faith. We prepare at this time for the celebrations of the Chrism Mass on Tuesday, April 11th, at the Cathedral of Saint Joseph in Hartford when Archbishop Blair will be joined by the priests of the Archdiocese to renew their Ordination promises and while at the same time the Archbishop will also bless the sacred oils that are used to carry out the Sacramental Life of the Church
This is the third Scrutiny Sunday and again we hear from the Gospel of John, this Scrutiny Sunday we face, in the gospel, the third scrutiny challenge which comes from death—which can be a challenge and obstacle to our own Catholic faith lived well. No matter who we are we will all face the challenge of death as it relates to trusting and believing in God.
Holy Week begins on Sunday, April 9—Palm Sunday—and has many Catholic observances such as Palm Sunday and the blessing of the psalms, Tuesday’s Chrism Mass at the Cathedral in Hartford when the priests of the Archdiocese renew their priestly promises of Ordination before the Archbishop and the congregation, the Sacred Oils used in the Sacramental Life of the Church—Baptism, Confirmation, Ordination and the Anointing of the Sick and Viaticum, Holy Thursday and the Washing of the Feet and the celebration of the Lord’s Supper and His institution of the Eucharist and the priesthood; and Good Friday’s Passion celebration.