From the Desk of Father Nathan | March 14, 2021
A Message from Father Nathan
My dearest people who are all close to my heart! Prayers and blessings to you.
What is Holy Mass?
What we do and why do we do this?
Vatican II, bulletin 1324 said the following: –
The Eucharist is “the source and summit of Christian life.” 136 ‘the other sacraments and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented towards it. For in the blessed Eucharisht is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself, our Pasch.”137 Then in 1325 ‘The Eucharist is the efficacious sign and sublime cause of that commuion in the divine life and that unity of the People of God by which the Church is kept in being. It is the culmination both of God’s action sancifying the world in Christ and of the worship men offer to Christ and through him to the Father in the Holy Spirit. ‘138 And finally in1326, -by the Eucharistic celebration we already unite ourselves with the heavenly liturgy and anticipate eternal life, when God will be all in all.
The Importance of Rituals
As Catholics, we know what is going to happen next. One of the basic, distinctive marks of our way of praying is ritual. We do things over and over. When the priest says: “The Lord be with you”, without and without any thought or hesitation the congregation responds: And with you Spirit”. The priest says, “Let us pray”, and the congregation stands up.
Our daily lives have their rituals also: There are set ways of greeting people, eating, responding to a text. When we are accustomed to a certain way of doing things, we seldom ask why we just do it that way.
In the Eucharist, too, we have many ritual actions which we perform asking why? What is the Mass or Liturgy? A good way to describe the Mass is to say that it is Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday made present today and every day in ritual.
It is not merely a meal that reminds us of the Last Supper, or a Passion play which helps recall Good Friday, or a Sunrise Service which celebrated the Lord’s resurrection. The basic “shape” of the ritual of the Mass can be described as a meal. This is not to say it is “just another meal” or that we are ignoring the Mass as a sacrifice. Not at all. The point is, the shape of the Mass even when viewed as a sacrifice, is that of a meal.
When friends gather for a meal, they sit and talk: Eventually they move to the table, say grace, pass the food and eat and drink, and finally take their leave and go home. On our walk through the Masses we will follow this same map: we will see ritual acts
1) gathering
2) storytelling
3)meal sharing and
4) commissioning.
Let us talk about other details in the week to come.
Ever wanting to be faithful to your service,
With love and blessings,
—Fr. Sahayanathan Nathan
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Past Messages from Father Nathan
From The Desk Of Father Nathan | November 14, 2021
I am extremely glad to witness a lot of our winter parishioners who are coming back again to the parish upon their return to Florida! I fee extremely delighted and happy to see your faces without a mask. As I mentioned doing the weekend Masses please continue to be safe and take good care of
yourself.
From The Desk Of Father Nathan | October 21, 2021
All Saint’s Day is a solemn holy day in the Catholic Church celebrated annually on November 1st to honor all the saints, known and unknown.
From The Desk Of Father Nathan | July 11, 2021
July 14 We Celebrate St. Kateri Tekakwitha – Patroness of ecology and the environment, people in exile, and Native Americans.
First Native American to be recognized as a saint by the Catholic Church
From The Desk Of Father Nathan | May 16, 2021
Praying a rosary has been a tradition in the Church for a long time. Praying the rosary is such a powerful means to reach Jesus. The rosary is the vehicle for Mary to intercede to her Son Jesus. It’s an extremely powerful weapon and Catholics need to hold it in their pocket at times.
From The Desk Of Father Nathan | May 9, 2021
44% of all Americans have received at least 1 dose of the COVID Vaccine. While India still struggles. We are blessed to Live in the USA!
From The Desk Of Father Nathan | April 25, 2021
Church tradition dedicates the month of May to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Ways to show devotion to Mary during the month of May.