September 18, 2016

Dear Parish Family,

The core and center of our worship is the Sunday Mass. As we come to celebrate the Sunday Mass, we become God’s chosen people. The Holy Eucharist is a communal prayer. This communal prayer takes us through different moments. We are called to sing, to pray, to meditate, to listen, to worship. In other words, we are called to live the Holy Eucharist in full, conscious and active participation. We are called to live the Holy Eucharist with the fullness of mind, heart, and body. We come to the Holy Eucharist as a whole. We are conscious about who we are: God’s people, His disciples.

We are called to go out and proclaim the good news to the world. We offer our very self; our joys and sadness, our achievements and failures, our supplications and thanks. We are aware that we are participating in the mystery of Christ’s passion, death and resurrection. We are conscious of Christ’s divine presence through the bread and wine being transformed into his Body and Blood.

Active participation in the Holy Eucharist does not mean that everyone should be an usher, lector, extra-ordinary ministry of Holy Communion, etc. Being active means that we are called to be aware of every moment during the Holy Eucharist; we are asked to stand, to sit, to listen, to kneel, to pray and to sing. Singing is one of the primary ways that we are called to actively participate in the liturgy. We are encouraged to take part by means of acclamations, responses, psalms, antiphons, and hymns. The Sunday Mass is the most beautiful communal prayer which we can offer to God. It is a divine dialogue between God and us. It is a life transforming moment to us.

God bless you all.
​ -Father Lopez

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