On January 28, 10:30am, students and other interested parishioners are invited to enroll in the Angelic Warfare Confraternity, or the Cord of St. Thomas Acquinas.  The enrollment will be followed by an opportunity for confessions, and at 12 noon, we'll celebrate the Mass of the memorial of St. Thomas Acquinas.  A lunch celebration will be served following Mass.  A confraternity is a supernatural organization of Catholics officially recognized by the Church that has a specific spiritual purpose to support members in walking a certain aspect of Christian faith.  This confraternity exists to help members to live a chaste and pure Christian life (see www.angelicwarfare.org for more information).

        Ibarraran                                   "God so loved the world"                          Jesus High Priest

In 1675 in a convent in Paray le Monial in France, St. Margaret Mary Alacoque received a series of locutions or visions of Jesus with His Heart exposed. He said, “Behold this Heart that has loved humanity so much…” After speaking with her about His Sacred Heart, Jesus asked that a new devotion be established in the Church to remind Christians of His Divine merciful love that comes to us through His human Heart. Jesus has a human Heart that is full of love for every person. To come in contact with this Heart that is poured out to us in the Holy Eucharist, Jesus recommended a “Holy Hour of Reparation” before the Exposed Blessed Sacrament offered for sins committed against the Holy Eucharist (Pope John Paul II added, “…and for sins against human life”). “Reparation” means “repair” or “to make amends for.” By our act of loving devotion we console the Heart of Jesus. 

CMU St. Mary's sent 54 pilgrims to World Youth Day (WYD) Madrid this August.  The pilgrimage, which is a religious journey of faith, began in Avila, Spain the birthplace of St. Theresa of Avila, Doctor and reformer of the Carmelite Order in the 16th century.  St. Theresa is known for her reform of the Carmelite Order of Nuns as contemplatives, whose reforms are still in place today.  She also published several famous spiritual writings including The Interior Castle and Way of Perfection.  She was friends with St. John of the Cross, another Doctor of the Church who reformed the male Carmelite Order. 

The pilgrims then visited Javier Castle, the birthplace of St. Francis Xavier, also a 16th century saint.  He is known as one of the greatest missionaries in Church history, baptizing hundreds of thousands of souls in Asia and the Far East.  After Javier, the pilgrims gathered at Loyola, the birthplace of St. Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits).  Three thousand other pilgrims gathered there from various Jesuit institutions around the world.  After Mass with Father General of the Jesuits the pilgrims were divided into groups of twenty-five.  Five different countries were represented in each small group, called "MAGIS Groups," and were sent out all over Spain and Portugal for various service experiences. prayer and reflection. 

After eight days of service and reflection, the pilgrims made their way to Madrid for the five "World Youth Day" events.  Those events included an opening Mass, Papal Welcome, Stations of the Cross, daily Mass and catechesis sessions in language groups, spiritual talks, music and cultural events, vocation discernment opportunities, Eucharistic Adoration, and pilgrimage to the Papal Mass site.  Pope Benedict XVI officiated over Evening Prayer and Eucharistic Adoration at a Vigil with 1.9 million pilgrims; the next morning he returned to the site to celebrate the concluding Mass. 

The theme of WYD 2011, "Rooted and built up in Jesus Christ, firm in the faith," comes from St. Paul's letter to the Colossians.  Rooting and building our lives on Christ makes us happy and fulfills us as human beings.  WYD provided a taste of making Christ the center of one's life, in the context of the Christian community.  Pilgrims experienced the sufferings of huge crowds, injuries, crowded and loud sleeping areas, overused bathrooms,  105+degree heat, and other inconveniences only to experience the joy of being together with Jesus Christ, 2 million pilgrims, and His personal representative on earth, the Pope.  The experience of the visible unity of the Church in the midst of difficult circumstances brought incredible joy.  Pilgrims learned how fun the Christian life can be when all are together learning and growing in faith.

By Fr. Prospero, S.J.

 By Father Will Prospero, S.J.

Beginning this weekend (August 20/21) we will return to our full schedule of Masses.  Sunday Masses will be at 10:15 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.  Our Saturday evening Mass time has been changed to 5:00 p.m.

A New Translation of the Mass: A Great Blessing

We anticipate the new translation of the Mass to be a great blessing to the Church!  This is a

 chance to rediscover the words that we pray each Sunday and how they the connect us to the God and His amazing love for us.  

The following is an excerpt of a talk given given last month by Auxiliary Bishop James Conley of Denver at the Midwest Theological Forum in Valparaiso, Indiana:

The key point here is that the words we pray matter. What we pray makes a difference in what we believe. Our prayer has implications for how we grasp the

 saving truths that are communicated to us through the liturgy.

For instance, our current translation almost always favors abstract nouns to translate physical metaphors for God. If the Latin prayer refers to the “face” of God, “face” will be translated in abstract conceptual terms, such as “presence.” References to God’s “right hand” will be translated as God’s “power.”

This word choice has deep theological implications. 

The point of the Son of God becoming flesh is that God now has a human face — the face of Jesus. Jesus is the image of the invisible God. Whoever sees him seesthe Father.vi 

Yet if in our worship we speak of God only in abstract terms, then effectively we are...CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING EXCERPT