When I was pastor in Ferndale, there was a man interested in becoming Catholic, but he faced an obstacle. He feared that devotion to the Blessed Virgin would take away from the centrality of Christ. I discussed this with Father Joseph Brown, S.J., an elderly priest who was living with me at the time. He replied, “well, the man needs to follow the example of the Wise Men - and discover Jesus ‘together with His Mother’.” (see today's Gospel, Mt 2:11)
Jesus cannot be separated from His Mother nor indeed from the entire Communion of Saints. I think about that in relation to prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. Even if a person is by himself in the chapel, he is never simply “alone with Jesus”. The Blessed Virgin Mary, the saints and the angels are also intensely present.
This weekend, Fr. Victor P. Warkulwiz, M.S.S. (Missionary of the Blessed Sacrament) will be with us at all six of our Masses. He will be explaining more about Eucharistic Adoration and how it can benefit us as individuals, families and as a parish. I ask you to consider making a commitment to a weekly Holy Hour before Jesus truly present in the Eucharist.
A few upcoming events to know about and to hold in your prayers:
This Friday our parish liturgy commission will meet at 6 p.m. in the Rectory.
At 7:30 p.m. on Friday, the weekly Courage group will meet. Courage is a group which through the sacraments, devotion to Mary and mutual encouragement, helps those people who are struggling with same sex attractions. Courage has met at Holy Family for close to two years now and has been a great help for the women and men who have come to these meetings.
On January 8th, Boston College Philosophy professor, Peter Kreeft will speak at Seattle Pacific University. His topic is “How to Win the Culture War”. The talk begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Gwinn Commons. For more information, please call Discover Institute, 206-292-0401.
On Sunday evening, January 14th at 7 p.m. we will begin our Marriage Preparation course. If you are getting married in 2001, please attend these sessions. You may call the rectory, 767-6220, for more information and to register.
We continue to hold Armando Perez in our prayers as he prepares for ordination to the transitional diaconate. Archbishop Brunett will come to Holy Family Parish on July 15th at 10 a.m. to celebrate that event. Please mark it on your calendar. That morning the 9:30 and 11 a.m,. Masses will be combined into one bilingual Mass for the ordination of Armando.
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