Priesthood Sunday is a special day set aside to honor priesthood in the United States. It is a day to reflect upon and affirm the role of the priesthood in the life of the Church as a central one.
Peter approached Jesus and asked him, "Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive? As many as seven times?" Jesus answered, "I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.
There is an urgent need for food! Today (Sunday, 9/10) until 3:00 PM the St. Ann Knights of Columbus will be collecting food & monetary donations in the north parking lot for Catholic Charities of Northeast Kansas (CCNEKS) food pantries.
Please join us for an evening of fellowship to raise funds for our church, school and young child center. Party starts at 5:30 PM on Friday, October 6th. Ticket includes rustic buffet by Brancato's Catering offering fried and roasted chicken, brisket, sides, desserts and beverages! Beer and wine are complementary.
It is in the Synagogue setting where we find Jesus after he is presented in the Temple in Jerusalem and before his triumphant entrance into the city before his Passion and Resurrection
When we, as Catholic Christians, gather for Mass, we experience both the Temple and the Synagogue experience of our predecessors in faith—the Jewish people. We participate in the sacrifice of the Temple, albeit bloodless, and the reading of the Law and the Prophets. The Mass is composed of two major sections: the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist.
The Eucharist that Christ instituted at the Last Supper is a combination of the typical Synagogue service and the animal sacrifices that occurred only at the Temple in Jerusalem. The word “sacrifice” comes from two Latin words meaning “to make holy.”
When we are gathered together for public worship, the Church invites us to act as a body of unity. In public worship, we sing, stand, bow, kneel, and pray in unison. It is by this unison that we exemplify the unity of the Church itself.
We are invited to learn more about what we do at our weekend worship in this Year of Eucharist Revival. We need to be careful during this Eucharist revival not to place too much emphasis on processions and adoration instead of worshiping well. We are first and foremost a Eucharist community.
In the Catholic Church, and in Christianity itself, it is recognized that there are, in general, two types of prayer. These two types have their origin in our ancestral Jewish heritage. And the two types are colloquially called public and private worship.
When we are willing to accept Jesus into our lives, everything else starts to make sense. When others don’t understand the Church or the Lord, let’s be patient. Love is patient. Sometimes it has to hide before it is revealed.
“Come to me all you who labor and are burdened and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Jesus is capable of giving us rest because he is the one who forever reposes in the heart of God the Father. He is “yoked” to the Father in his divinity. But he is humbly “yoked” to us, sharing in our humanity.
As we continue throughout this year of Eucharist Revival, I’d like to help us develop a better understanding of what we do at worship. There are certain things: responses, singing, postures, etc., that we are invited to accomplish as a body of worshipers.
Your 2023 Fall Festival Auction Team has been hard at work since January and has some exciting news to share with all of you. Mark your calendars for Friday, October 6th - the date of this year’s Fall Festival!
Jesus’ words to his disciples this Sunday, when he says, “Don’t be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.” Fear, in this sense, refers to where we find our deepest identity and our highest love. That’s why Jesus says next that when we acknowledge him before others, he will acknowledge us before the Father. It doesn’t mean we’re brash or boastful. But rather we unhesitatingly and humbly embrace our identity as followers of Jesus and children of God the Father.
This week scripture tells us, “The harvest is abundant, but the laborers are few.” Look again: there is spiritual fruit hanging all around us! The lonely ready to be visited. The sick ready to be healed. The forgotten ready to be remembered. So, let’s ask the Lord to send laborers to get to work. And he will. He might send you and me.
Saint Paul says of the Eucharistic bread, “Is it not a participation in the body of Christ?” For Paul, the answer is obvious. Yes, it is exactly that. Which is why he can say, “we, though many, are one body.” Jesus is truly, really, and substantially present in the Holy Eucharist.
This Sunday is Trinity Sunday. We ponder anew that God in His unity is a play of multiplicity: Lover, Beloved, and shared Love. Or, as we also proclaim, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Imagine if we spoke of the mighty deeds of God in a way that everyone could understand. That’s precisely what the Holy Spirit descends upon us to do. Ask Him to come as a tongue of fire to you once again, and He will. Then speak!