THE EDIBLE ALTAR

A note from the Sacristan:  Are you going nuts trying to decorate for Thanksgiving and un-decorate, and, the very next day after the Turkey, having to rush out and get greens for that Advent wreath?

Well here is our solution:  the Edible Altar.  If the Pastor and servers find the service too long, they can get a snack.  It is “green” in every sense of the word (unless it is yellow) and totally recyclable too.  Sometimes it turns out to be an “attack” Altar…..This year the challenge was the Chinese Eggplant and the Tangerines which kept hopping off at odd times (not pictured!).  Oh well.  It is all a controlled disaster anyhow…

Some don’t worry about any of this stuff…..

 

 

 

but now – for those Advent greens!

The Habit of Thanksgiving

Today is Thanksgiving, a National Day of Thanks.  A holiday.  A Day most of us probably associate with family and friends, turkey, a trip to Grandma and Granddad’s house, snow, playing with cousins, the Wizard of Oz,  The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, football,  the aroma of cooking pumpkin pies and a host of other wonderful, or maybe not so wonderful, memories.

It is a once a year event, all good and well, but as Fr. Hugh Vincent Dyer O.P., our chaplain, reminded us this morning at Mass, for us Thanksgiving is a day we celebrate every day when we partake of the Eucharist.  The word Eucharist means “thanksgiving” and so it is the Church’s Service of praise and thanksgiving.  To quote from the old and venerable book, The Practice of Religion, “The Eucharist is the one true sacrifice, one that honors God as God, one that satisfies the holiest aspirations of the soul.  In it we plead Our Lord’s Death and Passion, worship and adore Him Supernaturally Present, and receive Christ unto Everlasting Life.”   

So celebrate the National holiday with family, friends, good food, and activities, but don’t forget that as Catholic Christians our true Thanksgiving is celebrated every time we partake of the Body and Blood of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and give thanks for the liberty we still have in our country to be able to do so.

KING OF HEARTS

This Sunday is known as “Christ the King”, the last Sunday in that time we call “ordinary” and the last of the Church Year.  What can we say about our Lord Jesus as “King” we who have no king?  Here is a thought from Blessed John Henry Newman:

“There are three favored servants of God in particular, special types of the Savior to come, men raised from low estate to great honor, in whom it was his will that his pastoral office should be thus literally fulfilled.  And the first is Jacob, father of the patriarchs, who appeared before Pharaoh. …And what was his employment?  the care of sheep.  ….Who is more favored than Jacob, who was exalted to be a Prince with God, and to prevail by intercession?  Yet, you see, he is a shepherd, to image to us the mystical and true Shepherd and Bishop of should who was to come.

“The second is Moses who while he was keeping the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, saw the Angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in the bush,  And the third is David, the man after God’s own heart.  He was found among the sheep.

“Jacob endured, Moses meditated – and David wrought. …Christ, too, not only suffered with Jacob, and was in contemplation with Moses, but fought and conquered with David.  David defended his father’s sheep at Bethlehem; Christ, born and heralded to shepherds at Bethlehem, suffered on the Cross in order to conquer. … Jacob was not as David, nor David as Jacob nor either of them as Moses; but Christ was all three, as fulfilling all types, the lowly Jacob, the wise Moses, the heroic David, all in one – Priest, Prophet and King. ….Blessed are they who resolve that he shall be their Lord and Master, their King and God!”

 

Thank You For Your Prayers

Recently, Sr. Mary Charles was asked if she felt able to write a blog sharing her experiences over the past few months.  While many of her friends and supporters have been in contact with her through personal visits, email, snail mail, and phone, we felt it would be nice to have something to post from her and in her own words.  So today we post this message from our Sr. Mary Charles.

It has been a long time since I left the Convent at 5 am on March 20^th for what should have been a fairly simple, though serious, surgery.  

Since that day, I have been on a medical roller coaster ride, which during a time of unconsciousness and delirium became a terrifying nightmare.  Some of you will have heard how I was doing along the way.  In a Blog in July, Mother Emily Ann wrote that it looked as if I were heading for my eternal reward.

When University of Maryland Hospital was ready to release me to rehab again, I knew I wasn’t ready to benefit from it.  Dr Simard, my surgeon and Mother Emily Ann talked about it and it was decided to send me to Joseph Richey House for palliative care, in order for me to catch up on rest and gain strength, which I have done under the excellent care provided by the nursing and other staff.

I will soon be transferred to Saint Martin’s Home, which is closer to home, to be cared for by the Little Sisters of the Poor and their staff.  I am not yet back on my feet, but my daily exercise routine has gotten me almost ready to use the walker.

I am so grateful for the many prayers on my behalf.  Even though I’m doing well, please don’t stop praying for me.

In case you don’t know about the Joseph Richey House, you can read a little about it on our website, under Sharing Christ/Our Ministry of Outreach.  

Joseph Richey House is now in partnership with Gilchrist Hospice Care, and you can read more about the care from their website by searching for Joseph Richey Hospice.