Bulletins
July 28 WEDNESDAY
8:30am Mass for the intentions of Rob Hawkins (Wilmott)
9:10am Rosary
7:00pm St. Thomas Schola, Church
July 29 THURSDAY
8:10am Rosary
8:30am Mind Mass for the intentions of Randy and Kristin Yoshimura followed
by “coffee” in the old rectory
7:00pm Choir practice, Church
7:00pm RCIA, Fireside Room
July 30 FRIDAY
9:00am Cleaners at work, Church
12:00pm Mass for the soul of Dick Hofmann (Wilmott)
July 31 SATURDAY
9:00am Mass for the intentions of Madeline Johnson (Johnson)
9:40am Rosary
10:00am Confessions
3:30pm Confession
5:00pm Vigil Mass for the intentions of Fr. Ronald Belisle
Aug. 1 SUNDAY
Breakfast is sponsored by the Knights of Columbus
Liturgy of the Hours for week 2
8:00am Mass for the soul of Elizabeth Weigel (Heacock)
9:30am Mass Pro Populo
11:30am Mass for the soul of Robert LeVan Wheeler (MacPherson)
Aug. 2 MONDAY
8:30am Fr. Paul Mass for the soul of Rita Donaldson (Meyer)
10:00am Vacation Bible School, Hall
6:00pm Scouts, Hall
Aug. 3 TUESDAY
8:30am Mass for the soul of Ryan Guindon (Guindon)
9:10am Rosary
10:00am Vacation Bible School, Hall
4:30pm Prayer and Study, Fireside Room
6:50pm Circle of Love Prayer Group, Fireside Room
7:30pm Knights of Columbus, Hall
Aug. 4 WEDNESDAY
6:30pm Men’s Breakfast, Lakeside Chalet
8:30am Mass for the soul of Gerald Meyer (VanKuren)
9:10am Rosary
9:30am Aquinas Guild, Fireside Room
10:00am Vacation Bible School, Hall
7:00pm St. Thomas Schola, Church
Aug. 5 THURSDAY
8:10am Rosary
8:30am Mind Mass for the soul of Rita Weigel (Heacock) followed by “coffee” in
the old rectory
10:00am Vacation Bible School, Hall
6:30pm Holy Hour, Church
7:00pm RCIA, Fireside Room
7:30pm Choir practice, Church
Aug. 6 FIRST FRIDAY - begin Novena to Mary Assumed into Heaven p. 134
9:00am Cleaners at work, Church
10:00am Vacation Bible School, Hall
12:00pm Mass for the soul of Rita Donaldson (VanKuren)
Aug. 7 FIRST SATURDAY - Novena to Mary Assumed into Heaven p. 134
9:00am Mass for the soul of Stephen Bradley (Parent) with anointing of the sick
9:40am Rosary
10:00am Confessions
3:30pm Confession
5:00pm Vigil Mass for the intentions of the Anderson family (Johnson)
Aug. 8 SUNDAY - Novena to Mary Assumed into Heaven p. 134
Coffee Hour is sponsored by Squires
Liturgy of the Hours for week 3
8:00am Mass for the intentions of the Horning family (Johnson)
9:30am Mass Pro Populo
11:30am Mass
Aug. 9 MONDAY - Novena to Mary Assumed into Heaven p. 134
8:30am Mass for the intentions of Jane Connell (Johnson)
6:00pm Scouts, Hall
Holy
Days of Obligation
Pope's
Letter on Sunday Obligation
Keeping
Holy the Sabbath
Holy
Days Defined
In
the United States, there are 58 (57 in the west) Holy Days of Obligation
each year:
Every Sunday - Every Sunday is a Holy Day of Obligation.
Missing Mass for no sound reason (necessary work, emergencies, caring
for an infant) is a grave sin against the Third Commandment and requires
our being forgiven through the Sacrament
of Confession before we may return to Holy
Communion. Learn more about how and why we
are to Keep
Holy the Sabbath here.
Immaculate
Conception—December 8
Christmas Day—December 25
Holy Mary Mother of God—January 1
Ascension Thursday (although in the western region
of the U.S. it is celebrated on the following Sunday)—Forty days
after Easter
The Assumption—August 15
All Saints' Day—November 1
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Sunday
Mass is a Serious Obligation
Pope John Paul II
Angelus, August 9, 1998
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
1. In the recent Apostolic Letter Dies Domini on keeping Sunday holy,
I wrote that the Eucharistic assembly is the heart of the Day of the
Lord. Therefore to observe Sunday properly, our first task is to take
part in Holy Mass. This is a serious obligation, as the Catechism of
the Catholic Church has recalled (n.2181), but, yet more important,
it is a deep need which cannot but be felt by Christian souls.
The sacrifice made once and for all on Golgotha is renewed in every
Eucharist, and the Church, uniting her sacrifice to that of the Lord,
announces his death and proclaims his Resurrection as she awaits his
coming. If this is true for Holy Mass celebrated on any day, it is especially
true with regard to Sunday, since Sunday is particularly associated
with the commemoration of Christ's Resurrection.
2. Sunday is the day when the whole community is called together; this
is why it is also called dies Ecclesiae, the day of the Church.
On this day, the Christian assembly listens to the Word of God, proclaimed
in abundance and with solemnity; thus in the first part of Mass there
is a true dialogue of the Lord with his people.
Then, through participation in one banquet, communion is deepened among
those who are united in the Spirit of Christ. The Sunday Eucharist is
thus the privileged place in which the Church manifests herself as a
sacrament of unity, "sign and instrument of communion with God
and of unity among all men" (Lumen gentium, n. 1).
There is an urgent need for the Lord's disciples to offer this witness
of fraternal unity in a world that is frequently fragmented, torn and
scarred by outbreaks of division, violence and war.
3. May Mary most holy who was with the Apostles in prayer on the day
of Pentecost, obtain for our Eucharistic assemblies the gift of effectively
showing the presence of the risen Christ and of his Spirit. May her
constant intercession ensure that the faithful live as "one heart
and soul" (cf. Acts 4:32), eve ready to respond to anyone who asks
them to account for the hope that is in them (cf. 1 Pt 3:15).
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Keeping
Holy the Sabbath
The following is from Through the Catechism with Father
Champlin—A Question-and-Answer Guide. You can purchase
this book at Queen
of Peace Catholic Bookstore in Vancouver.
Q: What is the meaning of the word sabbath in the third commandment?
A: “Remember to keep holy the sabbath day”
means, literally, to keep holy Saturday, the seventh day of the week.
Faithful Jewish people today observe the Sabbath from sundown Friday
to sundown Saturday.
The Sabbath has rich connections with events in the Old Testament or
Hebrew Scriptures. It recalls the creation of the world. It recalls
the deliverance of the Chosen People from pagan slavery in Egypt and
the obligation of the liberated covenant that God made with us as we
observe a day of praise and gratitude for the Lord’s saving actions.
It recalls the fact that God rested on the seventh day as a model for
us to imitate.
Q: Why, then, do most Christians keep the sabbath on Sunday?
A: At the very beginning of the Christian era, the
Church shifted this observance from Saturday to Sunday, basically for
two reasons: Jesus rose on Easter Sunday, and the Holy Spirit came upon
the apostles fifty days later, also a Sunday. It also sees in the celebration
an understanding that Christ ushered in the new creation and fulfills
the sabbath.
Q: Is Mass central to keeping Sunday holy?
A: Yes. There is a double dimension to the Sunday
obligation—praising our God and resting from work. The Church,
also from ancient times, has stated that the “Sunday celebration
of the Lord’s Day and His Eucharist is at the heart of the Church’s
life (CCC-2177). Sunday is the feast day, the foremost holy day of obligation,
and was for years the only celebration of the Church year. Every Sunday,
therefore, is a little Easter.
Q: Do Catholics have an obligation to be present for Mass every
Sunday?
A: Yes, or at an anticipated Mass on Saturday evening.
Over the past thirty years, there has been some unclear teaching about
the serious responsibility of Catholics to attend Sunday Mass each week
and a generally lax approach among many Catholics in that regard. The
Catechism gives clear teaching on this topic.
The Sunday Eucharist is the foundation and confirmation of all Christian
practice. For this reason the faithful are obliged to participate in
the Eucharist on days of obligation, unless excused for a serious reason
(for example, illness, the care of infants) or dispensed by their own
pastor. Those who deliberately fail in this obligation commit a grave
sin (CCC-2181).
Q: How do we observe Sunday as a day of rest?
A: By avoiding unnecessary work and engaging in activities
that will “recreate” us and all those with whom we are connected.
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from Our Sunday Visitor's
Catholic Dictionary
Holy Days: Also called days of precept, holy days
are feasts of such importance in the liturgical calendar that attendance
at Mass is required. The Code of Canon Law (cc. 1246-1248) discusses
these, rightly beginning with Sunday, describing it as "the day
on which the paschal mystery is celebrated in light of the apostolic
tradition and is to be observed as the foremost day of obligation in
the universal Church" (Can. 1246). It then lists the following
to be observed: Christmas, Epiphany, Ascension, Corpus Christi, Mary
Mother of God, Immaculate Conception, Assumption, St. Joseph, Sts. Peter
and Paul, and All Saints. This list is the same as that given in the
1917 code, with the feast of the Circumcision eliminated in favor of
the restored title for Jan. 1, Mary, Mother of God. The present code
then states that "the conference of bishops can abolish certain
holy days of obligation or transfer them to a Sunday with the prior
approval of the Holy See" (Can. 1246). The United States bishops
decided not to make the feasts of St. Joseph and SS. Peter and Paul
days of precept and transferred the Solemnities of the Epiphany and
Corpus Christi to a Sunday.
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