“Brothers and sisters: Every priest stands daily at his ministry, offering frequently those same sacrifices that can never take away sins. But this one offered one sacrifice for sins, and took his seat forever at the right hand of God.” (Heb. 10:11-12)
Every Sunday, something important happens in our parish. The event is centered on the “Paschal Mystery.”
What is the Paschal Mystery? Simply put, the Paschal Mystery is the suffering, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. When the Jews were slaves in Egypt, God told them to slaughter a lamb in the evening twilight and to place its blood on the two posts and the lintels of their houses. Seeing the blood, the Lord would “pass over” their homes in striking down the first-born of the Egyptians, and they would be released from their slavery. (Ex. 12).
The lambs which saved the Jewish people are commemorated in the Jewish feast of Passover, and the lamb was called the passover lamb, or “paschal” lamb in Hebrew. The meaning of this event and its prophecy were revealed in the first-born Son of God, who allowed Himself to be slaughtered in the evening twilight with His blood dripping down the cross to save us from slavery to an eternal death due to sin. In doing so (in the words of John the Baptist), Jesus was the “Lamb of God.”
The mystery of a God who loves us so much that He would become a man and suffer and die so that we might rise with Him is what makes up the mystery. That is the mystery that we proclaim with the cross of Christ, and that is the mystery in which we participate at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, where we enter into the Paschal Mystery by remembering it and receiving the Lamb of God as the Bread of Life in the Holy Eucharist.
So what is the event that happens each week? Clearly, it’s the Sacrifice of the Mass, itself. Sometimes we can be overly preoccupied with the homily at Mass or seeing our friends, or listening to the music. The above Scriptural selection from Hebrews reminds us that Jesus died once and for all as an offering to God so that our sins could be forgiven. And since the Son of God made the sacrificial offering, it exists forever and for all time. At Mass, we don’t simply “remember” what Jesus did 2000 years ago. At Mass we participate in that saving event by being in the presence of the Lord in the Eucharist, and by doing what He commanded us to do: to eat His body and drink His blood so that the angel of death might pass over us, also. Our proclamation of that great mystery of love with the sign of the cross, and our participation in the mystery through Eucharist and the Sacrifice of the Mass point to our salvation in Heaven!
(Rev. Msgr.) Christopher H. Nalty
msgr.nalty@gmail.com
St. Stephen
Saturday Vigil at 4:00 pm
Sunday at 8:00 am and 10:30 am
Sunday at 5:00 pm at OLGC
Our Lady of Good Counsel (OLGC)
Center of Jesus the Lord
Charismatic Mass
Sunday at 10 am
Weekdays Masses
Monday – Friday 6:30 am St. Henry
Tuesdays 6:00 pm St. Stephen
First Fridays 6:00 pm Latin Mass
Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
Tuesdays 4:45 – 5:45pm St. Stephen
Thursdays 7:00 – 8:00am St. Henry
Confession Times at Good Shepherd
Saturdays 3:00 – 3:45pm St. Stephen
Sundays 9:30 – 10:15am St. Stephen
Sundays 10:00 – 10:30am OLGC
First Fridays 6:30 – 7:00pm OLGC
Traditionally, the Church dedicates each month of the year to a certain devotion. In November, we remember the Holy Souls in Purgatory – faithful Christians who have died and gone before us but who still must atone for their sins. The time they spend in Purgatory cleanses them so that they may enter Heaven free from all effects of sin.
Praying for the dead, especially for those we have known, is a requirement of Christian charity. Our own prayers and sacrifices can be offered up to relieve their suffering. The following prayer, among others, can be incorporated into our daily prayers during this month: Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
A plenary indulgence, applicable only to the souls in purgatory, is also granted to the faithful who fulfill the following conditions:
Please Pray for the Faithful Departed of our Parish
The St. Vincent de Paul Society requests your help in providing Thanksgiving Baskets for the needy of our parish. We appreciate monetary donations or donations of the following: large size canned fruit, large canned yams, canned cranberry sauce, boxed stuffing mix, large boxed instant mashed potatoes, boxed macaroni & cheese, packs of gravy, cake mix and canned icing. Flyers with more details are available near the church entrances. We need all food and monetary donations by Sunday, Nov 23, 2024. Thanks for your GENEROUS support!
Jesus recounted the following to St. Margaret Mary, and this devotion has been recognized by the Church:
“To all those who, during nine months on end, will receive Holy Communion on the first Fridays of every month. I promise the Grace of final perseverance. They will not die in My disgrace, but will receive the Sacraments (if necessary), and My Heart will be sure shelter for them in that extreme moment.”
The First Friday promises of our Lord to St. Margaret Mary:
1. I will give them graces necessary for their state of life.
2. I will establish peace in their houses.
3. I will comfort them in all their afflictions.
4. I will be their strength during life and during death.
5. I will bestow a large blessing upon all their undertakings.
6. Sinners shall find in My Heart the source and the infinite ocean of mercy.
7. Tepid souls shall grow fervent.
8. Fervent souls shall quickly mount to high perfection.
9. I will bless every place where a picture of My Heart shall be set up and honored.
10. I will give to priests the gift of touching the most hardened hearts.
11. Those who shall promote this devotion shall have their names written in My Heart, never to be blotted out.
12. I promise you in the excessive mercy of My Heart that My all-powerful love will grant all to those who communicate on the First Friday in nine consecutive months the grace of final penitence; they shall not die in My disgrace nor without receiving their sacraments; My Divine Heart shall be their safe refuge in this last moment.
Each First Friday at the Basilica of St. Stephen we celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass at 6:00pm as a means of providing an opportunity to obtain the First Friday promises Jesus made to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, and of course you can make your First Friday at the morning Mass on Friday at 6:30am.
First Holy Communion classes begin on Sunday, October 6, 2024 at 9:15am in the Rectory.
Confirmation classes begin on Sunday, November 3, 2024 after the 10:30am Mass in the Rectory.
Please contact the rectory office to register so we can ensure we have sufficient teaching materials for each student.
Please contact Msgr. Nalty directly if you or someone you know is interested in coming into full communion with the Catholic Church through the Order of Christian Initiation for Adults.
Feast Day – October 4
Many of the stories that surround the life of St. Francis of Assisi deal with his love for animals. Part of his appreciation of the environment is expressed in his Canticle of the Sun, a poem written in Umbrian Italian in perhaps 1224 which expresses a love and appreciation of Brother Sun, Sister Moon, Mother Earth, Brother Fire, etc. and all of God’s creations personified in their fundamental forms. Francis’ attitude towards the natural world, while poetically expressed, was conventionally Christian. He believed that the world was created good and beautiful by God but suffers a need for redemption because of the primordial sin of man. He preached the universal ability and duty of all creatures to praise God (a common theme in the Psalms) and the duty of men to protect and enjoy nature as both the stewards of God’s creation and as creatures ourselves. On Sunday, October 6 all pets are invited into the courtyard between the church and the school at 11:45am, after the 10:30am Mass, for the Blessing of the Pets. Please make sure that your pets play “nice” before bringing them over!
The Basilica of St. Peter in the Vatican (photo left), is the second patriarchal church at Rome (after the Basilica of St. John Lateran), and under the main altar lies the precious mortal remains of St. Peter, the “rock” on which Christ built his Church. St. Peter was martyred during the persecutions of the Emperor Nero from 64-67 B.C. He was crucified upside down in Nero’s circus (arena) for the enjoyment of the crowds and to cast blame away from Nero after the Great Fire of Rome in July, 64 A.D. He was originally buried originally in a simple grave on the Vatican Hill.
The Basilica of St. Paul Outside the walls (photo right) lies over the remains of St. Paul, who was martyred during the same persecutions. Since Paul was a Roman citizen (having been born in Tarsus), he could not be killed for sport in the arena. He was martyred at the normal place for Roman executions on the Ostian Way. He was decapitated by a sword, and his body was buried where his church now stands.
From the beginning – before the churches were built – Christians showed extraordinary devotion to the tombs of the two “princes” of the Apostles. In a letter written in 210 A.D. by Caius, an eloquent priest of Rome, explains to Proclus the Montanist (who denied the authority of the Apostles and their Successor Bishops): “I can show you the trophies of the apostles. For, whether you go to the Vatican hill, or to the Ostian road, you will meet with the monuments of them who by their preaching and miracles founded this Church.”
Even during times of persecution, Christians adorned the tombs of the martyrs and the small oratories (places of prayer) which they erected over them, frequently prayed there. After Constantine the Great made Christianity legal in 313 A.D., he built the Lateran Basilica, as well as seven more churches in Rome and many more in other parts of the Roman Empire. The first two of these were the churches of St. Peter on the Vatican hill and that of St. Paul on the Ostian Way.
As St. Augustine so eloquently stated, “We erect churches or appoint priesthoods, sacred rites, and sacrifices to the martyrs; because the God of the martyrs is our God. Who, among the faithful, ever heard a priest standing at the altar which is erected over the body of a martyr to the honor and worship of God say, in praying, We offer up sacrifices to thee, O Peter, or Paul, or Cyprian; when at their memories it is offered to God, who made them both men and martyrs, and has associated them to his angels in heavenly honors… We build not churches to martyrs as to gods, but memories as to men departed this life, whose souls live with God. Nor do we erect altars to sacrifice on them to the martyrs, but to the God of the martyrs and our God.”
“Our Father, who art in Heaven, Hallowed be Thy name…” we pray every day. “Hallow,” there’s that word we’re hearing a lot about at this time of year. And it means “holy.” So what does “Halloween” mean, and where does it come from?
The origins of Halloween are very Christian and very American. Although it’s true that the ancient Celts of Ireland and Britain celebrated a minor festival at this time of year which commemorated the end of summer and the beginning of the darkness of winter, that feast wasn’t on a specific day but tied to the position of the sun. Halloween specifically falls on the last day of October because it’s the Evening before the Feast of All Saints, or “All Hallows,” which falls on November 1. So it’s All Hallow’s Eve, contracted to Hallowe’en. [Read More…]
The only reason we know about Jesus Christ is that someone told us. More than likely, that person was our parents, but it could have been a priest, a teacher or even a friend. And the person who told us only knew about Jesus because someone had told him or her. And someone told that person, too. And so on. We trace that chain of people passing on their knowledge of Christ back to the Apostles, who were told by Jesus to: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” (Mt. 28:19-20). This statement of Jesus is called the “Great Commission” – the instruction of the resurrected Jesus Christ to his Apostles to spread His teachings to everyone. It is an important tenet in Christian theology emphasizing mission work, evangelism, and baptism; and it is the primary basis for Christian missionary activity today.
The interesting thing about missionary activity is the danger that has surrounded it since the beginning. Out of the eleven Apostles charged with the Great Commission, only St. John died of natural causes. The rest were martyrs. From the first century to the twentieth century, this has stood true. As the theologian Tertullian observed around the year 200 A.D.: “We have become more numerous every time we are hewn down by you. The blood of Christians is the seed.” (“Semen est sanguis Christianorum”).
As I stated in a recent weekday homily, one of the problems we face in America is the lack of martyrs. Compared to many countries, we received our Christianity in America fairly easily, and sometimes when things are easily obtained, they’re not appreciated as well. Although we know we’re of the same faith as the martyrs Peter & Paul in the first century and the martyr Maximillian Kolbe in the last century, their tombs are not among us. But we can at least recognize a few, the North American Martyrs, a group of eight Jesuit missionaries who spread the Faith among the Indians of Canada in the 17th century, and paid the price with their lives.
Next weekend we celebrate “World Mission Sunday,” and on the Wednesday before we remember the North American Martyrs: Sts. John de Brebeuf, Isaac Jogues and their companions. These early Jesuit missionaries arrived in Quebec in 1625. Initially, their work was with the French settlers and traders and evangelizing the nearby Indians. Soon they extended their missionary efforts to the Huron nation about 800 miles west of Quebec (about 100 miles north of present-day Toronto.)
Trouble soon came from the hostile Iroquois nation to the southeast, which began ambushing the supply route between Huronia and Quebec. In 1642, Father Isaac Jogues and Rene Goupil were captured on a return trip to Sainte Marie from Quebec. Father Goupil was martyred while making the sign of the cross on a child. Father Jogues had his fingers eaten and was enslaved. Although he escaped and returned to France (where the Pope gave him special permission to say Mass without his fingers), he returned to the mission – and was subsequently martyred in 1646 (in present day New York).
The North American Martyrs were canonized by Pope Pius XI in 1930. Their feast day is celebrated on October 19th in the United States. Those of us in the “developed” world would do well to remember these martyrs and the sacrifice of their blood which became the seed for the Church in our own country. And recognizing that the Gospel has not yet reached all nations, it is our obligation to support missionary activity in the “undeveloped” world.
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