Sunday, August 20, 2023 –The Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
-
August 15, 2023Dear Parishioners and Friends,
This past week, on Monday, August 14, we began our Sixth Annual Novena to Our Lady of Knock, which will conclude on Tuesday, August 22. Please consult our website for the prayers and read all about the story of Our Lady of Knock. There is also a link to the Shrine of Our Lady at Knock in Ireland, where you can listen to the Knock hymn. Let us storm heaven with our prayers through the intercession of Our Lady of Knock during these difficult times.
On Tuesday, August 15, Immaculate of Heart of Mary School opened for the 2023-2024 scholastic year, our seventy-first year. These days of upheaval in our country remind us that education is much more than academic progress. What is needed are boys and girls, and men and women of strong character. Christian education aims to lead children to Christ through a combination of home life, school life, and parish life. This is not an easy task, for we know well that the “harvest is great, but the laborers are few.” Let all of us re-consecrate ourselves to this noble task.
The greatest threat to souls is what Pope Benedict XVI called the “dictatorship of relativism.” More and more there is a loosey-goosey attitude - anything goes. That is not the way to happiness even in this world, let alone for all eternity. These are days made for saints. Now is the time to stand up taller than ever.
Let us keep up a rigorous Catholic discipline and way of life. I suggest minimally: 1. Daily prayers, beginning in the morning with the Morning Offering and concluding in the evening with an Act of Contrition, recited together if possible. 2. The assistance at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass on all Sundays and holydays of obligation. 3. The Daily Family Rosary. Remember, that the “family that prays together stays together.” 4. Spiritual reading from the Bible and other approved sources. 5. The study of Catholic doctrine, especially the official catechism. Catechisms are available at the parish office.
Now is a grand time to be renewed mind, body, and soul in the Lord Jesus!
Yours in the Immaculate Heart of Mary,
Fr. Mark G. Mazza, Pastor
