Dear Parishioners,

I attended my first Mardi Gras dinner last Saturday. It was a lovely and fun evening. The Prime Rib/Salmon dinner was fantastic. Thanks to Ron and all the Knights who prepared it. And thanks to the youth who did a marvelous job serving tables. Matt did a wonderful job as the MC and auctioneer of the amazing and beautiful desserts. And thanks to all the organizers and decorators. The evening was a great success.

I want to introduce to you a way that can lead to spiritual renewal/revival in our parishes. It is Eucharistic Adoration. As the Second Vatican II states: “The Eucharist is the source and summit of our Catholic faith.” Jesus has left us his very self in the Eucharist when he said at the Last Supper, “Do this in memory of me.” The Eucharist contains grace (food) for the soul in two moments: during the celebration of Mass and his remaining and abiding Real Presence in the tabernacle. It has been a long practice in religious communities, monasteries and many parishes throughout the world to have what is called Eucharistic Adoration. This is where Our Lord in Eucharist is Exposed in a monstrance for the Adoration, that is we can see the host, which is the Real Presence of Jesus. It is a way to come close to him and renew our love and faith in Jesus. But mostly to receive the love Jesus has for us who is the Bridegroom of our souls. We have been doing Eucharistic Adoration on Fridays at St. Mary’s for some time.

It has become very common that parishes will establish a chapel for the purpose of Eucharistic Adoration - where the faithful can go to privately adore our Lord. The fruits of such a program is an enhanced prayer life. Some parishes have a 24/7 Adoration program when there is always a parishioner before the Lord in Adoration. Usually a parishioner commits to signing up for a one hour a week Adoration time. In my last parish we had over 150 parishioners sign up to be weekly Adorers - we were well on our way to making it perpetual.

I have already asked the bishop and he has granted approval for establishing an Adoration Chapel at St. Mary of the Rosary. It will be in the little side chapel at the entrance, which has the image of the Divine Mercy. The image of the Divine Mercy will stay in the chapel. We are presently working on a design for a special tabernacle that will be made of wood and will securely house a monstrance. There is minimal cost associated with this project and will be covered by a benefactor. In conjunction with this project we will be looking into improving the security of the campus with a keyless entry system.