$2000 raised for St. Teresa's

This year's SJV Religious Education Lenten project was a wonderful success raising $2000 for St. Teresa's, our twinning parish. Each religious ed class was asked to participate in the "Walk for Change" by doing a neighborhood walk, walking the labrynth at Church or walking the outdoor Stations of the Cross at Mt. St. Rita. Each student was responsible for earning pledges by either giving up something or doing something to help someone in need.

St. Teresa's will use the funds to buy books, crayons and other supplies for their religious education program.

Congratulations to all that participated in this wonderful project!

Eucharistic Quote of the Week (March 25)

FOOD for THOUGHT

Acts of the Apostles 2:42,46-47 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.

Eucharistic Quote of the Week (March 18)

FOOD for THOUGHT

John 6:47-51 Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.

A Summary of Fr. Ray's Homily (March 10-11)

Food for our Journey

We were given the reading about Moses and the Burning Bush. In this incident the Lord invited Moses to a Faith journey. When we come to Mass God is more present to us in the Eucharist than God was present to Moses in the burning bush. The Lord is inviting us also to take the next step on our faith journey.
We have the Food for our journey—the Eucharist.

We are so concerned about our everyday food and what we consume and put into our body. Let us be concerned about this Spiritual food that we need. May we be faithful to being fed at the table of the Lord.

Eucharistic Quote of the Week (March 11)

FOOD for THOUGHT

"When we receive Holy Communion, we receive our joy and happiness."

St. John Vianney

A Summary of Fr. Ray's Homily - March 4, 2007

Sunday March 4, 2007. REAL PRESENCE


Reflecting on this topic of the “Real Presence” of Jesus in the Eucharist, I was trying to recall how I came to “know” that Jesus was really present in the Eucharist and in the tabernacle because my parents told me and they believed what they told me. There was no question in my mind, no doubt in my mind. My parents, grandparents, family, teachers, priests and everybody else around me believed it and as a result I believed it.
Because Jesus was really present in the Eucharist and in the Tabernacle we were also taught the proper ways to behave in church and at Mass. E.g. Boys were reminded to take their hats off and girls to put hats on when going into church. We were taught to bless ourselves with holy water when entering church and to be washed clean of our sins. How to genuflect when entering and leaving was taught as a way to show respect and worship.
We were always reminded to be quiet and respectful, no chewing gum or eating. We were to reflect that we were in the presence of God.
How was it possible that the God of the universe was really present in this Host”
Who knows how He does this? But if the God who created everything out of nothing says to us that when we receive the host we receive the Body and Blood of Jesus, then I believe that I am receiving the Body and Blood of Jesus.
We should have the utmost respect and honor for Jesus in the Eucharist—truly a special gift. We show it by being present at Mass, by our respect and worship, by our fasting for an hour before we receive which helps us to prepare for this special moment.
FOR THE FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST, THERE IS NO GREATER ACT ON EARTH THAN TO CELEBRATE THE EUCHARIST. In this act we recall the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Christ, God’s saving action : the Mass.
Eucharist is the center of the Church’s life, This is who we are. This is who God is. When we celebrate the Eucharist in all its fullness, we can truly wonder at this great gift God has give us in His Son Jesus.
Our constant reception of the Eucharist enable us to become more and more like Jesus.

A Summary of Fr. Ray's Homily - Feb. 25, 2007

The Importance of Sunday Mass

Can someone be a good person without coming to church on Sunday? Absolutely! A person can be kind, loving, generous, forgiving, etc., without coming to Mass.

Can someone be a good Christian without coming to Sunday Mass? Absolutely Not! Christianity is about following a person. Christianity is about a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

The way we come in contact with Jesus is through his church, especially when the church gathers for the celebration of Sunday Mass. Sunday is the day the Lord rose from the dead, the day he most often appeared to his disciples, the day he sent the Holy Spirit on Pentecost and Sunday is the day the Lord comes to be with us in a powerful way as we gather for Mass. “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am.” An early definition of Christians is this, “Christians are people who gather on Sunday.”

If we want to have a personal relationship with Jesus, we need to be there when Christ is most powerfully present, namely, at Sunday Mass. It is then that the example of Jesus Christ is set before us. At Mass God gives us his very life as we share the Body and Blood of the Lord in holy communion. We become one with the Lord, who told us, “Unless you eat my body and drink my blood you have no life in you. Sharing the Body and Blood of Christ also unites us with our fellow Christians. We become “one holy communion.”

When the Mass ends we are sent to love and serve the Lord and to be kind, loving, generous, forgiving, etc. We are fed and strengthened by the Lord. Mass is absolutely essential for a Christian. Little by little we are transformed into the one we meet in the Eucharist, we become more like Christ.

As Pope John Paul II wrote, “It is crucially important that all the faithful should be convinced that they cannot live their faith or share fully in the life of the Christian community unless they take part regularly in the Sunday Eucharistic assembly.” The Mass is essential for our Christian life; without it our faith withers and dies.

A Summary of Fr. Ray's Homily - Feb. 18, 2007

Sunday before Ash Wednesday - February 18, 2007

This homily is based on the Gospel passage of Matthew 1-18 which is the gospel for Ash Wednesday. In this Gospel Matthew and later on the Church take this passage as a model of what we should base our Lenten activities, namely, prayer, fasting and almsgiving.

PRAYER
The Mass, Sunday Eucharist is the heart of our spiritual life. It supports everything else. If your attendance is at all weak, strengthening it belongs at the top of your list.
Daily prayer is something to look at too, in our family life. Pray together as a family.
Say the rosary or maybe at least a decade of the rosary. And maybe read some Scripture
or lives of saints, or periodicals, like the Providence Visitor, our diocesan newspaper.
How about going on a pilgrimage? Doesn’t have to be to the Holy Land. Visit La Salette, the church where you or your children were baptized, the cathedral in Providence, the cemetery where loved ones are buried. Go in church and look at the Stations of the Cross.

FASTING
Fasting means consuming less. Abstinence means avoiding a certain kind of thing—such as meat on Friday or television. Is it time to lock the liquor cabinet, put a clip on the bag of chips. Prepare simple foods for yourself. Bring food for the poor. Exercise! Oh, no.
Is this the time to fast from gambling? You will win more if you put it in the poor box.

ALMSGIVING
Count your blessings. Stop and think of all the blessings that you have. Name the gifts you have received from the Lord. Many opportunities to give during Lent. Give of your time and visit the sick, meet someone for lunch, get in touch with your godchild and spend some quality time with them. Put your talents to work. How do you share your treasure?

Choose resolutions that you can accomplish and sustain. But make them challenging.

Hear the Bishop!

Bishop Tobin joined Dan Yorke on WPRO News Talk 630 this week. The entire 1 hr. broadcast is available by clicking the following link: http://www.630wpro.com/personalities/dan_audio.shtml