Weekly Bulletins
The weekly bulletins and Ministry Schedule require Adobe Acrobat Reader. This software comes already installed on most computers. If you are having trouble opening up a bulletin or schedule then you probably need Adobe Acrobat Reader. Click on the link / picture below to get your free copy of Adobe Reader.
Once you have the bulletin or schedule open to view, simply use the up & down scroll bar on the right hand side of your computer to view the many pages of the bulletin or schedule. You may also turn the pages by using the left and right arrow keys on the Adobe Reader menu bar.
Fasting and Abstinence:
Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are obligatory days of universal fast and abstinence. Fasting is obligatory for all who have completed their 18th year and have not yet reached their 60th year. Fasting allows a person to eat one full meal. Two smaller meals may be taken, not to equal one full meal. Abstinence (from meat) is obligatory for all who have reached their 14th year.
If possible, the fast on Good Friday is continued until the Easter Vigil (on Holy Saturday night) as the "paschal fast" to honor the suffering and death of the Lord Jesus, and to prepare ourselves to share more fully and to celebrate more readily his Resurrection.
Fridays in Lent are obligatory days of complete abstinence (from meat) for all who have completed their 14th year.
Showing Reverence When Receiving Communion:
May these norms help us as one people of God to reverently receive our Lord in Holy Communion, which is the source and life.
1. It should be remembered that Christ is fully present—body and blood, soul and divinity—in the Most Holy Eucharist.
2. In order to be properly disposed to receive Communion, participants should not be conscious of grave sin and normally should have received the sacrament of reconciliation.
3. As they approach the communion minister, the communicants bow their heads in reverence as the person in front of them is receiving communion (both the host and the cup). The normal posture for receiving communion is standing.
4. The communicant may receive the consecrated host either on the tongue or in the hand. If you receive in the hand, please place your left hand on top of you right—making a “throne” for the host. After receiving the host from the minister, take a step to the side, stop and using your right hand place the host on your tongue.
5. When the minister says “The Body of Christ” or “The Blood of Christ” the communicant answers “AMEN”.
6. Receiving from the cup is an option at all our Sunday Masses. If you are going to receive the Precious Blood, take the cup after saying “Amen”, drink from it and return it to the minister. The ministers wipe the cup with the purificator and turn it after each person has received. (The U.S. Centers for Disease Control has reported that this practice, along with the alcohol content of the wine, will prevent germs from being transmitted. As a courtesy to others, however, please refrain from receiving from the cup if you are ill.
7. The ritual DOES NOT allow the communicant to dip the consecrated host into the Precious Blood and then place the host into their own mouth. This practice not only presents a danger of dripping the Precious Blood on the floor, but also violates the liturgical principle that the Eucharist is a gift that is received and not taken.
May these norms help us as one people of God reverently receive our Lord in the Eucharist, which is the source of life.
