POPE SAINT PIUS X, PRAY FOR US!

This weekend we celebrate our patron saint, Pope Saint Pius X!  The readings for this Sunday are found below as a separate entry for the blog.  We will read the Gospel for the 20th Sunday of the Year next week with the Gospel reading for the 21st Sunday of the Year.

A short biography of our Patron Saint can be found here.

Pope Pius X was known for his love of Jesus in the Eucharist, his love for children and his love for the poor.  These three elements of his life are invitations to us as a parish community.  When we love Jesus in the Eucharist, our children and the poor, we announce to the world our magnificent message of hope, joy and charity.  

Our Discipleship Prayer

This weekend we are introducing our new discipleship prayer for our community.  It is based on our mission statement and also serves to help us become disciples after the heart of Saint Pius X.

Lord our God,

You came in mercy to your Chosen People, time and again renewing covenants with them until You restored all things in Christ.  

Give us the grace today to love You above all things and our brothers and sisters with a love worthy of You, so that we might make disciples of all nations. Through Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Saint Pius X, pray for us.

LET'S GIVE PEOPLE SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT! 

With Saint PIus X as our model, we are inviting you to live our faith in new and different ways.  When we live differently, people are going to talk--and let's take up the challenge to give others something POSITIVE to talk about!

The Eucharist: This year we are taking up the challenge to keep the Eucharistic Revival alive in our parish.  We are focusing on Jesus in the Eucharist through a number of ways--none of them new, but renewals of what are already doing.

1. On September 1, we will be bringing back the 5:15 PM weekday Mass on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.  If you have felt the Lord invite you to attend Mass on a weekday in addition to Sunday, this is a reinforcement of His invitation.  If you feel like you need something more in your prayer life, this is a reinforcement of that invitation.  Please join us!
2. On September 1, we will be adding in times for adoration.  On Monday, we will have Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament in the church following the morning Mass until 10:00 AM.  We also have Exposition in the Adoration Chapel (lower level off the East parking lot) from 6--10 PM.  On Tuesday, we have Exposition in the Adoration Chapel from 6 AM--12 Noon.  On Wednesdays (except the first Wednesday of the month) we will have Exposition following the 5:15 PM Mass until 7:30 PM.   On Thursdays we will have Exposition from 11:30 AM --1 PM in the church.  On First Fridays we have Exposition with our Encounter experience from 7--8:30 PM.  Please sign up and make this a part of your routine.  A simple guide for Adoration can be found here.
3. We will be handing out books from DYNAMIC CATHOLIC on the Eucharist in September.
4. We will be moving all of our sacramental celebrations of Baptism, First Communion and Anointing of the Sick to our regular Sunday Masses.  This means that we won't be baptizing after Masses--we will be including these celebrations in our Sunday Masses.  We won't have separate "Healing Masses"--we will be celebrating the Anointing of the Sick within a regular Sunday Mass for our parishioners who need prayer.  We will celebrate First Communion at our regular Sunday Masses.  Too often we believe that these are "private celebrations"--and they are not.  We need to support and be supported by the praying community.

The children: This year we will be inviting our children into our relationship with Jesus in the Eucharist.  Our school will be offering the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd to our 3 year-old preschool program.  The Catechesis of the Good Shepherd uses the Montessori model to teach children about the Mass and the Catholic faith.  Our school and faith formation ministries will be offering our students time for adoration, eucharistic processions and more.

The poor: This year the Pastoral Council will be discerning how we can better love the poor in our midst.  Too often we think of being poor as solely a financial problem--we certainly have folks who are poor spiritually, relationally, emotionally and other ways.  Our first way of serving is through the process of forming small life groups within our community.  When we gather to share life with each other--we are feeding the other through a relationship rooted in Christ.  We will be hosting an Information night twice--Sunday, August 25 at 5:00 PM and Tuesday, September 3 at 6:30 PM.  This Information Night will give you a better idea of the small life groups and our vision.