Aug 27,2023
This weekend we celebrate our Saint Aloysius annual Summer Social. While this is of particular concern for the Saint Aloysius community, our larger community, including Lebanon Junction and Saint Benedict, are certainly a welcome part of the festivities! There is something special about gathering and spending time with one another. The introverts amongst us, me included, may find large social gatherings difficult; yet our hearts long for that connectivity to others – we can call that the desire for heavenly communion! There will be many opportunities after the event to thank the many hands who have had and will have contributed to the overall success of the Social, both in terms of bringing people together and raising money for the parish. In a general way, I want to go ahead and thank everyone involved with the Social, for I am confident their efforts will be rewarded.
There is a connection between prayer and socializing. One might say that we pray to socialize and socialize to pray. Earlier, I referenced the desire for heavenly communion, and isn’t that the point – Heaven? After our time on earth, and whatever final purification we may need, the disciple of Christ has the assurance of a heavenly reward. An aspect of this reward would be that there is no longer a difference between prayer and socializing. Imagine it, the eternal beatific vision – the worship of our God most high, and yet at the same time, without diminishing the singular focus on God, we will also have perfect union with one another. For now, while in this life, we don’t experience that union as ideally, we try to bridge the gap by uniting prayer and socializing. Just take a moment to reflect on the experience right before and right after Mass. We say hello to one another, let one another know how we are doing, and then, while in prayer, lift one another up to the Lord! It is a deepening of this opportunity to pray and socialize that I would like to invite you to consider.
One of the difficulties in being the pastor of two parishes is not having a routine sense of stability in the weekday worship. Currently, Saint Benedict has two weekday Masses (Tue. and Thu.) while Saint Aloysius has the other two weekdays (Wed. and Fri.) Monday is my ‘day off.’ This setup is a bit disjointed, and difficult for individuals to make the practice of daily Mass a reality in their lives. There is also the issue of the weekday Masses taking place at 9 AM, which excludes a substantial part of the working population. There is no easy fix to this situation, and no perfect time will accommodate everyone. After much prayer and conversations with the staff, parish councils, and weekday Mass attendees, I offer the following schedule that will take effect on September 4 – Labor Day.
Eucharistic Adoration (Mon. – Fri.) at Saint Aloysius from 7-8 AM
Mass at Saint Aloysius (Mon., Wed., Fri.) at 8 AM
Mass at Saint Benedict (Tue. Thu.) At 8:30 AM
Eucharistic Adoration (Wed.) at Saint Aloysius from 5:30-7:30 PM
I have several hopes for this new schedule: (1) Working adults and perhaps even students will stop in on their commute and spend 5, 10, and 30 minutes in adoration once or twice a week. (2) Volunteers will step up to lead a Liturgy of the Word service at Saint Aloysius on Tue. and Thu. giving the people who attend Saint Aloysius an opportunity for daily private prayer in adoration and communal prayer in either Mass or a Liturgy of the Word service. (3) Having a daily communal prayer opportunity, those who attend may be interested in gathering for coffee in the basement.
There is a great deal of loneliness in our world. We can help alleviate some of that loneliness by enhancing our opportunities for prayer and socialization. Will everyone be able to attend these prayer times? Certainly not, but moving them up will be more accommodating. I also hope those who have reached retirement, and are often more susceptible to loneliness, will find this opportunity for daily coffee a much-welcome bonus to praying together every morning.
Two Parishes – One Heart,
Fr. Adam