From the Pastor's Desk

I am not sure that we as Catholic Christians really understand how blessed we truly are with all of our liturgies. We
belong to God’s “church” which can trace itself back to the founding apostles. We celebrate God’s love in a ritual
enactment of the Eucharist, in fact in all the sacraments. At Sunday Mass we can experience God’s outpouring of grace
and He in turn calls us to overflow with life in response. Through regular participation in the Sunday Eucharist, celebrated
well, we set out hearts to worship and place our lives in God’s hands. To do this, we need to celebrate the liturgy with the
attention and intensity that the liturgy deserves. We cannot hide from the mystery of God’s love when ritual is celebrated
well.
When people tell me that Mass is “boring”, it is the same old thing, they are showing how programmed they are by
our culture. Our culture fosters a, “be entertained” attitude. It seems as if every waking minute, we must be stimulated.
There are headphones, cell phones, stereos, televisions, computers, ipads, and text messaging; we cannot simply be still
and silent. Liturgy within the context of Mass, involves us in worship, which means us actually praying, singing, listening,
and being open to God speaking in the silence of our hearts. It does not mean that we come to Mass to be entertained.
Our celebration of mass is strengthened by our prayer life. The more we take time out of our daily life to talk with
God, the more meaningful our celebration of the liturgy grows. If all we do is come to mass on Sunday and the rest of
the week we forget about God, our celebration of the liturgy becomes less meaningful. It reduces into something we just
“check off.”
As baptized believers, we are each called to draw others to holiness, to a life filled with God’s grace. As members
of God’s family, we are to celebrate God’s love in community, receiving God in the Eucharist. This is the supreme act of
worship on our part as God’s children, and the supreme act of God’s love to us.
Catholic Liturgy celebrated well, moves us back in time to the Last Supper. Yes liturgy takes on a little personality of
the parish in which it is celebrated, but the content, the structure is always to be the same. As we travel, whether in this
country or abroad, we are able to worship at Mass even though we may not know the language because the liturgy is
the same. If you come to Mass to be entertained you will be disappointed. Come to mass to worship in God’s house and
be a part of God’s family in prayer, a prayer that can be traced back to the apostles.
The Church Council Classes for Adults, picking up with Vatican II, are Sundays at 10am in the Dining Room of the school