The 2021 Mass Book is now open, for your Mass Intention requests (living or deceased). The Parish Office is open Monday to Friday from 9am till 4pm and on Saturday and Sunday from 9am till 3pm.
Please note, we have limited the amount of names that can be listed as the intention and if there is a middle name, only the middle initial will be used.
This weekend we will be welcoming the members (men, women and children) of the Brotherhood of the Lord of the Miracles to their annual Feast Day Mass. While our numbers will be smaller, due to the pandemic and social distancing, we are grateful that we are able to continue this great tradition here at Blessed Sacrament Church. This devotion began in Peru and has spread throughout the world and people of all languages and cultures participate in this beautiful devotion to our
Lord. Overthelastsevenyearswehavebeen seeking to strengthen our spiritual life, here in the parish and among the many who come to our Church, by expanding the spiritual opportunities that are available. Every week we celebrate 12 weekday Masses, 6 Sunday Masses and have at least 6 hours devoted to the Sacrament of Confession. Every last Sunday of the month we celebrate a Mass in Spanish at 2:30pm for the members of the Brotherhood and anyone else who would like to attend. On First Friday’s we have exposition of the Blessed Sacrament from after the 12:10pm Mass till the Three O’clock hour when prayers are offered to The Divine Mercy. We now have 4 nine day Novenas and celebratory Masses spread through the year. These celebrations are to: Santo Nino (January), El Niño Divino (July) , The Lord of the Miracles (October) and to Our Lady of Guadalupe (December). We also have three perpetual Novenas which take place every week. On Monday after the 12:10pm Mass the Novena to Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal takes place. Every Tuesday the Novena to Saint Anthony is prayed and on Wednesday, the Novena to Saint Joseph occurs. This coming First Saturday in November we will begin “Prayers to the Immaculate Heart of Mary”. These prayers will take place every first Saturday of the month after the 12:10pm Mass. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic we were unable, during this past July, to have the Blessing and Conferral of the Brown Scapular.
Why do we do all of this, and so much more? If we don’t get our spiritual lives in order than we will never get our physical lives in order. The one depends upon the other. We can only live (rather than survive) in this world if we are properly grounded with a vibrant spiritual life. That is our task here at Blessed Sacrament.
As we have been writing over these past few weeks the Church, in her readings at Mass, is pointing us to the end of our lives, the end of the world and the judgement that will take place at each juncture. Next Sunday we celebrate “The Solemnity of All Saints” and, the day after, “All Souls Day”.
Sometimes we tend to forget that in order to be declared a saint we have to die to this world and then physically die. Recently you might have heard of Carlo Acutis. He has just been declared “Blessed”, the next to last step before being declared a saint. He died (October 12, 2006) at the age of fifteen, one week after being diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia. Carlo went to Mass every day and availed himself of the Sacrament of Confession once a week. He was a normal teenager who loved computers. He developed a website dedicated to miracles concerning the Blessed Sacrament. When he was diagnosed with leukemia in 2005 he offered up his suffering for Pope Benedict XVI and the universal Church. Blessed Carlo Acutis said: “The Eucharist is my highway to heaven.”
Another teenager, Chiara Badano, died when she was eighteen on October 7, 1990. Chiara was declared “Blessed” by the Church on September 25, 2010 and her feast day is this coming Thursday, October 29th. Like any other normal teenager she would on occasion disobey her parents and have fights with them. She struggled in school, failed her first year and was bullied at times because of her faith. In 1988 she felt pain in her shoulder while playing tennis and after extensive tests she was diagnosed with bone cancer. She offered up her sufferings to Jesus and refused to take strong pain medication so that she could think and pray clearly. Doctor Antonio Delogu, said of her: “Through her smile, and through her eyes full of light, she showed us that death doesn't exist; only life exists.” Eventually Chiara was unable to walk. When Cardinal Saldarini visited her in the hospital he asked her: “The light in your eyes is splendid. Where does it come from?” She replied: “I try to love Jesus as much as I can.”
Holiness comes from a dynamic relationship with Jesus and His Blessed Mother. Both Carlo and Chiara had that type of relationship with them. Death was only a moment in time, eternal life is forever.