Dear Parishioners,

Archbishop Fulton Sheen may become a saint soon. His canonization process is moving forward and we should all pray for this to happen. He was a great voice for Catholicism in the 20th century and someone we can all point to as an example of what a Christian should be. Many of his talks are still inspiring today. If you have not heard of him, then please do yourself a favor and look him up on Youtube.

One thing I especially love about Fulton Sheen is his great love for the Blessed Sacrament. He promised when he became a priest that he would pray a Holy Hour every day and say a Mass dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary every first Saturday of the month. He owed all of his success to keeping these two promises. He gives his reasons for keeping this promise in his autobiography, Treasure in Clay: “The purpose of the Holy Hour is to encourage deep personal encounter with Christ. The holy and glorious God is constantly inviting us to come to Him, to hold converse with Him, to ask for such things as we need and to experience what a blessing there is in fellow ship with Him. When we are first ordained it is easy to give self entirely to Christ, for the Lord fills us then with sweetness, just as a mother gives candy to her baby to encourage her child to take the first step. This exhilaration, however, does not last long; we quickly learn the cost of discipleship, which means leaving nets and boats and counting tables. The honeymoon soon ends, and so does our self importance at first hearing the stirring title of ‘Father.’ “Sensitive love or human love declines with time, but divine love does not. The first is concerned with the body which becomes less and less responsive to stimulation, but in the order of grace, the responsiveness of the divine to tiny, human acts of love intensifies.

“Neither theological knowledge nor social action alone is enough to keep us in love with Christ unless both are preceded by a personal encounter with Him. When Moses saw the burning bush in the desert, it did not feed on any fuel. The flame, unfed by anything visible, contin ued to exist without destroying the wood. So personal dedication to Christ does not deform any of our natural gifts, disposition, or character; it just renews without kill ing. As the wood becomes fire and the fire endures, so we become Christ and Christ endures.”

(Full text available at: http://www.ignatiusinsight.com/ features2005/fsheen_hourday_july05.asp)

I think we all could use more time in front of the Blessed Sacrament. As you may know, we have Eucharistic adoration available almost every Thursday (9:30 am /9:00 pm) and every first Friday (9:30 am /2:00 pm) in the chapel. I encourage you all to come and to love Our Lord. He is waiting. We especially need regular adorers for certain hours. For details, please contact Carol Donofrio at cdonofrio56@hotmail.com.

God bless!

Father Carter