We now have weekend Masses with limited attendance.

NEW MASS TIME - The Saturday Evening Vigil Mass here will begin at 4:00pm starting October 31st.
  
Mass on Sunday will also be live-streamed on Facebook at 8 AM.
 

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The Lion's Roar

Why pray the daily rosary?

At Fatima (1917) Our Lady said: “I am the Lady of the Rosary. Pray the rosary every day to obtain peace for the world.” Add after each decade the following prayer:
 

“O my Jesus forgive us our sins, save us from the fire of hell, and lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of Thy mercy.”

 

• St. Francis de Sales said that the greatest method of praying is to pray the rosary.
• St. Thomas Aquinas preached 40 straight days in Rome, Italy, on just the Hail Mary.
• St. John Vianney, patron of priests, was seldom seen without a rosary in his hand.
• “The rosary is the scourge of the devil,” said Pope Adrian VI (1522-23).
• “The rosary is a treasure of graces,” said Pope Paul V (1605-21).
• St. Padre Pio, the stigmatic priest said, “The rosary is the weapon.”
• Pope Leo XIII (1878-1903) wrote 9 encyclicals on the rosary.
• Pope John XXIII (1958-63) spoke 38 times about our Lady and the rosary. He prayed 15 decades daily.
• Pope John Paul II (1978-2005) said “To recite the Rosary is nothing other than to contemplate with Mary the face of Ministries for the weekend of Christ.”

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It is a beautiful and praiseworthy tradition to recite an act of spiritual communion when one is unable, for whatever reason, to receive Holy Communion. Below is an act of spiritual communion composed by Saint Alphonsus Ligouri.
 
My Jesus,  I believe that You are present in the Most Holy Sacrament.  I love You above all things, and I desire to receive You into my soul.  Since I cannot at this moment receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart.  I embrace You as if You were already there and unite myself wholly to You.  Never permit me to be separated from You.  Amen.

 
The whole law and the prophets depend on these two command-ments.  [Matthew 22:40] Like many things that are simple, it’s easy to fail to explore the depth of this morally foundational saying of the Lord.  

I suspect most of us instinctively think of the Ten Commandments when we hear the word “commandment.” For Catholics of my generation, memorizing the Ten Commandments was one of the early tasks of our religious education, whether we attended Catholic schools or went to CCD (as religious education for public school students was ordinarily called in those days).

But in the time of Jesus, the Jewish people had 613 commandments of the Law of Moses, mainly because of interpretations of what the Ten Commandments entailed in following God. So Jesus was saying that all those 613 commandments could be boiled down to just two: [1] love God above all things, and [2] love your neighbor as yourself.

In practice we probably follow them in reverse order. That’s probably necessary because if I don’t love myself I’m not really able to love anyone else, including God. So usually we will come to know what a healthy self-love entails, and then we apply that experience of love to the way we relate to others, including other human beings and God.

What is a healthy self-love? It means that I care enough about myself to seek what is truly good for myself. The most important thing that is good for me is to live in such a way that I fulfill the purpose of my life: to choose what will lead me to a relationship with God that begins on this earth and ends in the union with God that we call “heaven.” That kind of love is not mainly an emotional love, a good feeling. It is a choice to seek the ultimate Good, that God revealed to us by Jesus Christ.

Healthy love for our neighbor is also a love of choice, not feeling: it means the choice to do what is good for the other person regardless of what, if anything, I receive back from my care for that person. Healthy love for God follows the same path: adoring God because He is the greatest good, Goodness Itself, regardless of whether or not I receive good feelings from loving God.

Are feelings of love bad? Of course not. But the love of feelings has two limitations: it tends to center on myself rather than on the other person, and it is not consistent. Our feelings come and go, and we can’t make ourselves feel good whenever we want to. We might say that feelings are the icing on the cake of love, but we know that we can only take so much frosting before we’re sick of it.

When we examine our consciences it’s well to remember the words of Jesus and to ask myself, “To what extent can I honestly say I love God above all things? What does that look like in my life? … To what extent to I love myself, and my neighbor as myself? What does that look like in my life?”

Remember: all the things God commands us can be boiled down to these two Great Commandments. Remember also the words of St. Paul in First Corinthians 13: “… if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.”

• Mass on Sunday will be live-streamed on Facebook at 8 AM.
• NEW MASS TIME - The Saturday Evening Vigil Mass here will begin at 4:00pm starting October 31st.
• Daily Mass: We are celebrating daily Mass here on Mondays and Tuesdays at 8 AM.
• Anchor: Episode 28 - Visit with our priests this Thursday, October 29, on Facebook at 11:30 AM.
• Confessions: Tuesday 8:30-9:30am; Wednesday 11:00-12:00am; Saturday 11:00-12:00am

  

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SS Peter and Paul FALL FESTIVAL

This year we will experience our annual Fall Festival a little differently. There will be no gathering this year for the event. This year’s ticket will cost $50. Call the parish office to purchase your ticket. Fall Festival on Sunday, November 22 at 5pm. You will be called the following day of your winnings. We will only be selling 200 tickets. Our parishioners get first chance at a ticket. After October 15th, we will sell to families and friends. Checks can be made to SS Peter and Paul with “raffle ticket” in the memo.
 

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Religious Education

Five to Skydive (indoor!)

Fulfill the following:

1. Memorize the Ten Commandments in order. (Look at the Catechism.)
2. Recite the prayers: The Lord’s Prayer, The Hail Mary, The Glory Be, The Apostles’ Creed, The Act of Contrition
3. Narrate three Gospel parables. (What Gospel is the parable from?)
4. Talk about five saints. Where is the saint from? When did the saint live? What is the saint a patron saint of?
5. Be familiar with the responses at Mass.

When you are ready, make an appointment with Fr. Ariel. Send him an email at: avalencia@rockforddiocese.org.

The first five students to successfully fulfill the requirements will be rewarded with a spot to go indoor skydiving at iFLY, Naperville.

Day and time will be on an agreed upon schedule.
    

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Important Messages from Bishop David J. Malloy

Bishop David Malloy announced in a letter to all priests Oct. 8, a list of changes to the “Back in His Presence” guidelines issued in June of this year.

Bishop Malloy said in his letter that modifications to the original protocols are being made periodically “based in the experience that we gain as we live through this pandemic.”

After consultations with the Deans and with the Presbyteral Council, the following modifications have been made to “Back in His Presence.” These changes were made effective for Masses beginning October 10-11, 2020.

Prior COVID-19 Statements from Bishop Malloy
Letter from Bishop Malloy and Executive Summary for reopening churches
Bishop Malloy's Dispensation Statement
Diocesan Cancellations AND Postponements

Call to Political Responsibility
from the Catholic Bishops of the United States

Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship

Political Guidelines Brochure

As Catholics, we bring the richness of our faith to the public square. We draw from both faith and reason as we seek to affirm the dignity of the human person and the common good of all. With renewed hope, we, the Catholic Bishops of the United States, are re-issuing Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, our teaching document on the political responsibility of Catholics, which provides guidance for all who seek to exercise their rights and duties as citizens.

Everyone living in this country is called to participate in public life and contribute to the common good.  In Rejoice and Be Glad [Gaudete et Exsultate], Pope Francis writes:
 

Your identification with Christ and his will involves a commitment to build with him that kingdom of love, justice and universal peace. . . .You cannot grow in holiness without committing yourself, body and soul, to giving your best to this endeavor.

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