Don't let your faith wane during this time of shut-down!
When I first heard of ''drive-in'' religious services, my first thought was of ''drive-through''. Mass shouldn't be similar to a McDonalds experience! I was a bit scandalized, and rightfully so.
COVID shutdowns have caused all of us very real and potentially long-lasting damage, and this truth is no less in the spiritual life of each individual. Our churches have been restricted, then closed down, then opened up a little only to be closed down again. Maybe we're feeling fatigued, wondering why should I bother...I don't even know why I went to Mass in the first place....
Many of our regular Sunday parishioners already treat the celebration of the Most Holy Eucharist as though it's a dine-and-dash, get-in-and-get-out, not-sure-why-I'm-here experience. If this is the case for you, then I can definitively and indisputably tell you that you are missing the incredible meaning of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass...that you are missing the sublime meaning behind the Holy Eucharist! If this is you, then you are missing out!
Coming from someone who was also 'there' for a lot of her life, trust me: missing out on the meaning of the Mass, of the Eucharist, is not something you can afford to do in this life! Let's walk together in this struggle to discover on what exactly you're missing out. Once you understand the utterly amazing and life-changing power of the Mass and the Eucharist, you won't want to miss a single Sunday celebration. Many of us have been there--Sunday Mass makes no difference in our lives, at least this is how we feel--and many of us have undergone a transformation in our lives that the secular world would never believe, through the gift of understanding the Mass and the Eucharist.
Where do we start on this journey? Come to Sunday Mass! Right now the parish has been forced to close its doors to the faithful under Public Health orders, but we are still allowed to hold the ''drive-in'' religious gatherings I mentioned at the beginning. So, if you're in a place of doubt, now is not the time to give up on coming; it's the time to double down on your faith.
(Discover Westman had a recent article on Deloraine's ''drive-in'' Sunday Mass: https://discoverwestman.com/local/deloraine-hosts-parking-lot-mass)
Why is Sunday Mass so important? The short answer is: the Holy Eucharist. Once you understand what you're receiving in Holy Communion (that is, Whom you're receiving...Whom with a capital W), your entire life will change. I promise! I can promise you this because Jesus promises us this. Receive Him with the gift of faith in the Holy Eucharist and you will never be the same.
We will celebrate the Feast of Corpus Christ (which means the Body (corpus) of Christ (Christi)), on June 6th--so soon! The Eucharist is a gift and the greatest treasure to us here on earth. If you have your doubts or want to learn more about the why and the how, don't pass up this opportunity to learn more. COVID lockdowns have given many of us more time to be able to simplify our lives, to find out what is most important and what should be scrapped. This is time to reflect on your priorities, and on what God might be inviting you to transform in your life. Contact Caroline now: faithformation@staug.ca or call the office at 204-727-4728 x108. The parish has resources and we want to share them with you!
Learn how to live your life with real purpose, to scrape off the superficiality that distracts us in the everyday, to enter into a real relationship with God through prayer, and to 'get more out of' the Mass. The answer to all of these struggles of the human condition is found in the Holy Eucharist. Don't pass this up. Don't pass up the opportunity to transform your life through real participation in the Sunday Mass, to holy reception of the Eucharist, to the most intimate encounter with Jesus you'll ever have through the greatest sacrifice gifted to mankind over 2000 years ago.
The Saints understood this gift; men have died for their love of the Eucharist. The angels reverence the Holy Eucharist; even the demons know the power of the Mass! That means you should too--we all need to!
If angels could be jealous of men, it would be so for one reason: Holy Communion.
-St Maximilian Kolbe
Join us for this Most Holy Sacrifice on Sundays at 11 AM. Enter into it. Rediscover it. You can't afford not to do so. And fear not: Christ will not disappoint!
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