October: Focus on Mary

Happy Memorial of St. Therese of Lisieux! What a great way to start off October. This month our ministry will go right along with Holy Mother Church and spend time praying as our Heavenly Mother asks us to do.

After reviewing the results of the recent Junior Acolyte Test, I am aware of some areas of improvement in the formation of the servers. One important area is Mariology, the study of Mary, the Mother of God. Why study Mary? Why not just go straight to Jesus? Please read the following:

(1.) "For every Christian, and for every human being, Mary is the one who first believed. Out of her faith as Spouse and Mother, she desires to act upon all those who entrust themselves to her as her children. And the more her children persevere and progress in this attitude, the nearer Mary leads them to the “unsearchable riches of Christ.” (Ephesians 3:8) They recognize ever more clearly the dignity of man in all its fullness and the definitive meaning of his vocation, for “Christ fully reveals man to man himself.” (Vatican II’s Gaudium et Spes, #22) (Mary in the life of the Carthusians-.pdf)"

(2) "II. DEVOTION TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN
971 "All generations will call me blessed": "The Church's devotion to the Blessed Virgin is intrinsic to Christian worship." The Church rightly honors "the Blessed Virgin with special devotion. From the most ancient times the Blessed Virgin has been honored with the title of 'Mother of God,' to whose protection the faithful fly in all their dangers and needs. . . . This very special devotion . . . differs essentially from the adoration which is given to the incarnate Word and equally to the Father and the Holy Spirit, and greatly fosters this adoration." The liturgical feasts dedicated to the Mother of God and Marian prayer, such as the rosary, an "epitome of the whole Gospel," express this devotion to the Virgin Mary.517 (CCC 971)"

There's so much more, but suffice to say that Mary leads the sinner to Jesus. In that respect she epitomizes our mission: point to God; but Mary does a whole lot more than point. As for our ministry, when the servers choose to enter the full ministry of the MEF altar servers as Junior Acolytes, they will take upon themselves a commitment to having a devotion to the Blessed Mother. (note: approved by Fr. Reid) So here's how we're going to make all of this tangible for the servers this month:

• We're inviting servers and families to the Rosary Rally at St. Patrick's on Sunday October 10th at 3:00 pm. In addition, there will be Adoration, Benediction, and a Eucharistic Procession.
• On Saturday, October 23rd, we will be praying two rosaries with Fr. Reid and St. Ann parishioners at the Hebron abortion mill. This is following the Mass for Life at 9:00 AM at St. Ann's.
• We have the privilege of having Fr. Roux come and give a talk on Our Lady of Fatima at the Monday, October 25th training session. (4 pm to 6pm - yes, it's a 2 hour session) More info on preparation for this talk to come. (Yes, there will be a quiz on it. I love you, too.) Please invite family to come to this training session and listen to Fr. Roux.