Sept 29, 2024

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My dear parish family,
 
I will be leaving soon to spend my vacation with my family in the Philippines. While I’m there, I will offer a Mass to commemorate the one-year anniversary of my mother’s death (she passed on October 6, 2023), and I will offer memorial Masses for two dear aunts whose deaths followed my mom’s by a matter of weeks. Sometimes, the valley of the shadow of death is deeper than we expect it to be. Sometimes, it is wider. For my family last year, it was both: Less than three months after my mother’s and aunts’ deaths, my brother died—just three days before Christmas. Still, the steady sunrise of grace during grief always returns us to light, and this is what my family and I will celebrate through these Masses while I am away.
 
How wonderful that our hope can be completely expressed in just eleven words:    
“Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life.” (John 6:54). This promise sustains the Catholic heart. This reality comforts us when we consciously meditate on our Communion together. This is why our parish is devoted to the ongoing Eucharistic Revival (which you can read more about by visiting www.eucharisticrevival.org. This revival is not about following a trend or merely having something to do. It’s about real people needing real hope; it’s about people seeking strength in trying times; it’s about creating mindfulness so burdened hearts can feel lighter in the presence of Christ; and, today in our parish, it’s about you: Whatever your sorrow, be assured that Jesus is here for you. Our community is here for you.
 
I know this from experience. Your thoughtfulness and expressions of sympathy last fall and winter helped me. Sharing the Eucharist—our tangible hope—with you week after week over the last year has lifted me, and I will offer thanks for this and for you during our family liturgies. Please pray with us, and I know that together God will bring us more completely into his light.
 
I look forward to being back with you in November.  
 
Fr. Allan