FIRST COMMUNION
Holy Eucharist is the Mystery/Sacrament in which Jesus Christ gives his Body and Blood-himself-for us, so that we too might give ourselves to Him in love and be united with Him in Holy Communion. In this way we are joined with the one Body of Christ, the CHURCH. [1322,1324,1409,1413]
After Baptism and Chrismation/Confirmation, the Eucharist is the third mystery/sacrament of initiation of the Catholic Church. The Eucharist is the mysterious center of all these sacraments, because the historic sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross is made present during the words of consecration in a hidden, unbloody manner. Thus the celebration of the Eucharist is “the source and summit of the Christian life”(Second Vatican Council, Lumen gentium [LG], 11). Everything aims at this; besides this there is nothing greater that one could attain. When we eat the broken Bread, we unite ourselves with the love of Jesus, who gave his body for us on the wood of the Cross; when we drink from the chalice, we unite ourselves with him who even poured out his blood out of love for us. We did not invent this ritual. Jesus himself celebrated the Last Supper with his disciples and therein anticipated his death; he gave himself to his disciples under the signs of bread and wine and commanded them from then on, even after his death, to celebrate the Eucharist.
“Do this in remembrance of me” (1 Cor 11:24)
Congratulations to all of our First Communicants; Jack Hessler, Christopher Simon, Georgia Slinkard, and William Vasel.
These young children have completed the Mysteries of Initiation (Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist), and we look forward as a community to their growth in our faith.
Special thanks to Mrs. Joan Rask for preparing the First Communicants for this special Sacrament.
Men’s Society Golf Tournament
On Sunday June 5th, the Men’s Society will be hosting their Annual Golf Tournament in Memory of Mike Buckley. The Golf Tournament will take place at Union Hills Golf Course. Registration and Sponsorship forms are available in the vestibule of the church.
Liturgies for the Feast of the Ascension will be celebrated Thursday May 5th at 8 am and 7 pm.
Please join
St. Raymond’s Cathedral
Ladies Society
“Showering”
Our Lady’s Inn
We will be collecting baby items for
the month of April. Please place your generous donation in the boxes.
Thank you for your generosity!!
Ladies Society
The Ladies Society will hold their monthly meeting on Tuesday May 3rd. The ladies will meet at 6:30pm in church for Liturgy and Rosary followed by the meeting in the Lebanon room.
Men’s Society
The Men’s Society will hold their monthly meeting on Thursday May 5th. The meeting will start at 6pm with dinner, meeting at 6:30pm, and liturgy at 7pm
Liturgy Time Change
Beginning Sunday June 5th, there will only be one liturgy celebrated on Sundays at 10 am until the Fall. Saturday liturgy will remain at 5 pm.
Income:$7,938.12
Expenses: $8,241.10
This does not include Wednesday lunch
MYO
The 2016 National Maronite Youth Workshop is July 16-21 in Latrobe, PA.
Please contact Susan DuBois or the rectory if you are interested in going and would like more info. Information for the retreat will be on the table in the vestibule. All travel arrangements must be submitted by June 16th.
ANNUAL BISHOP’S APPEAL
We kindly ask you to respond to the Eparchial Appeal for this year. We appeal to each one of you to give generously so we can meet our goal. Please be generous to extend a hand of support to our mission.
St. Raymond’s has collected $5,315.00 so far and our goal is $8,500.00. If we don’t reach our goal, the parish has to make up the difference. We have to reach our goal by the end of April.
Kitchen Scoop
Tuesdays Making Kibbi Aras @ 8:30am
Wednesdays Preparing Lunch 8 am– 11am and
Serving lunch on the line 11:00am–1:30pm
Carry-Out 11am- 2pm
On Monday May 2nd @ 8:30 am we will be making Tabouli to serve on Wednesday May 4th. We are in need of volunteers to help pick parsley, chop tomatoes, and chop onions.
NAM Convention
Flyers for the NAM Convention hosted by the Maronite Parish of San Francisco are available in the vestibule. We encourage you to consider joining all the Maronites nationwide for this special gathering from July 6-July 10, 2016.
The deadline for the 2016 application for St. Raymond’s High School Scholarship is Sunday May 15th. Forms (hot pink) are on the back table in the vestibule.
Sub-Deacon Candidate’s Corner
As part of our formation, one of the goals of our ministry is to help parishioners develop a greater understanding of our rich Maronite Catholic History and Heritage. In furtherance of that goal we will be adding a short explanation to each bulletin about some aspect of our faith. This continues the discussion about our Maronite Liturgy.
What do you think the Maronite Church has to offer to fellow Catholics, fellow Christians, and non-Christians?
PART 2 continues from last week
…the Eastern Churches are given the right to honor their customs and traditions as the Universal Church recognizes that these Rites are the custodians of their liturgy, customs, and traditions. This being said the traditions of the Antiochene Rite Churches, Maronite being one of these, have provided the Universal Church traditions and artifacts that continue to offer any Catholic a view to where and how the church has grown to what it is today. Without the early (Antiochene) Catholic’s endurance of persecution and our fore father’s passing of tradition and customs, the Universal Church as a whole would be different. As the current custodians of the Maronite Rite, it is our responsibility to insure the traditions and legitimacy of the liturgy and customs, only changing to return to our ancestral traditions.
The traditions of the Maronite church like the receiving communion by intinction, recitation of the consecration in Aramaic, and the central view of God’s role of all things and their connection to God are examples of the ancestral traditions that have been kept alive and revived to confirm the legitimacy and uniqueness of the Maronites faith amongst the Catholic Rites.
The Maronite Patriarch is the head of the Maronite Rite as set forth by tradition and Ecumenical Council. He is the father of the church and leader; his role is that of leader of “those of Maron”, but he continues to acknowledge the successor of St. Peter. The Patriarch has all the rights to govern and creation of Eparchies, assignments and elevations, and setting the liturgical calendar within the Rite he is responsible.
Another consideration …thedecree of the Universal Catholic Church…. is the discussion that all Sacraments either those perform by Latin or Eastern Priests are equal and carry the same gravity; even though the Sacraments may be performed at differing times of life or in different manners. The Universal Church recognizes no difference between the actions of Latin and Eastern Clergy. It is the goal of the Universal Church to include each Rite within the Universal Church, never impeding or usurping their authority, but rather recognizing the beauty of their differences and fostering a greater understanding and fullness of the followers of the Rite and for all those of the Universal Church.
If you have questions about Catholic teaching or our Maronite tradition, or would like to suggest a topic, please email us or tell us the next time we see you. Thank you and God Bless.
Altar Servers
As we have announced in the past, we are still in great need of altar servers at ALL MASSES. We are looking for all interested BOYS AND GIRLS that would like to serve at mass to send an email to Tony or David. We would love to have more servers and can teach you everything you need to know. NO PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE NECESSARY
David (wahby@sbcglobal.net)
