Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I would like to congratulate Elizabeth Dodson and her family for her having made the Honor Roll at St. Paul VI High School in Fairfax. Students who are on the Principal’s
Honor Roll have achieved an average of 4.0 or above. Keep up the good work, Elizabeth!
We’re continuing to fundraise for our third parish/ school activity bus. We went ahead and purchased the bus on faith, because we didn’t want to lose four children who needed transportation in order to be able to attend. We’re hoping that we will be able cover the cost of $50,000 through donations. Each bus can hold 14 children, and I’m happy to report that we already have requests for 43 children! (Since a few children only ride either in the morning or in the afternoon, we will be able to accommodate all requests and still be at almost full capacity!) Thank you for your support for our school, and this future generation for the world and the Church which our school educates.
We have a driver for our third bus! However, if you are interested in part-time bus driving (or also substitute teaching), applications are still being accepted; please apply
at the school.
Next weekend we will have a variety of Advent supplies to help prepare for Christmas available after all the Masses. These will include candles, wreaths, calendars,
nativity sets, oplatki (Polish Christmas wafers), Spanish bibles, coloring posters, and more!
Last Sunday (including the Vigil) we anointed a total of 83 people with the beautiful sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick. Thank God for this gift that our Lord has given to
his Church.
We are hoping to place a nice statue of the Holy Family on the corner of East St.
and Edmonson St. It might be in marble or bronze. If we go with one that would
be six feet high at its highest point and 32 inches by 22 inches at the base, the
cost would be $17,320 in marble or $31,310 in bronze. We will also have to
build a plinth (a heavy base to support the statue) and mount the statue on it, which will cost more. It might be nice to build a small brick wall behind it someday as well. We hope this piece of art will be a landmark, a sign and a reminder to all who pass by of the dignity and sanctity of the family in the eyes of God. This is especially needed in today’s culture. Donations can be submitted to Precious Blood Catholic Church, putting “Holy Family Statue” in the memo line. As of this week, we have received $1700 in donations.
Some questions from our Question Box:
“Why do we go to Mass on Sunday?”
Because this is the day that our Lord rose from the dead and also the day on which the Father and the Son sent the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. For this reason we call it the
Lord’s Day.
“Why is Easter called Easter?”
This has to do with the history of the English language. The Resurrection of our Lord occurred at the beginning of spring and English scholars think that the name
of a goddess associated with spring, called “Eastre” was given to this time. For this reason, some Christians prefer to call the day “Resurrection Sunday”.
“If we cannot bring the people to the church, can we bring the church to the people?”
Absolutely. In English we use the same word for the church building, and the Church as the People of God. As a member of the Body of Christ, every time you reach out to
other people, you are bringing the Church to the people.”
“Do we really have to have singing at all the Mass? It is distracting to prayer. Other hymns are great – we pray together as we sing.”
It was hard to understand this question, but I think it is referring to the chanting at Mass. New liturgical norms came out in 2010/2011 (implemented at different times in different dioceses after they were translated into English).
The norms indicated that the Mass on Sundays and Solemnities should normally be sung, if at all possible. (I’m sure a priest would be excused if he is tone deaf or had a cold or sore throat.) At the time I tried to be obedient to these norms which came from the Vatican, but I finally realized that no other priests that I knew was chanting the Mass, and I
finally stopped. Now a couple of months ago the norms came out specifically for our Diocese and our Bishop reiterated that he wanted us to follow these norms. I am trying to be obedient to the Pope and our Bishop. As was mentioned, singing is a form of prayer, so hopefully someone can pray with the chant. I might also add (as I mentioned in church at the time) that all of the other 22 rites in the Church chant their Liturgies. We in the Roman rite were the only ones who had lost this custom, and it appears the Church would like us to bring it back.
If you are interested in visiting the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C. on November 23, with some of our parishioners, please register before November 12.
God bless,
Fr. Kevin
