August 19, 2018
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Our Lady of Lourdes Church Massapequa Park, New York 11762 Pastor: Msgr. James P. Lisante Baptism Assistants: Rev. Anthony John Heinlein It is advised that the parents schedule an interview with a Rev. Kevin Thompson priest one month before the preferred baptism date. In Residence: Rev. Emmanuel Afari Baptismal preparation classes are offered on the 2nd Sunday of the month. Parents are encouraged to attend the Permanent Deacon: Rev. Mr. Dominick Valdaro 10:30 AM mass on the 2nd Sunday and the preparation Rev. Mr. Frank Gariboldi class will follow the mass in the Rectory. All couples Rev. Mr. Ferdinando Ferrara seeking to baptize a child must attend the class. Baptisms are preformed on the 2nd and 4th Sunday of every month Business Manager: John Brosnan at 2PM. Please call the Rectory to schedule an Outreach Director: Corinne Lok appointment at (516) 541-3270. Music Director: Elizabeth Woods Religious Ed. Director: Donna Kesselman Confessions Parish Trustees: Dr. James R. Dolan, Jr. Saturdays, Eves of Holy Days and Eves of First Fridays Mrs. Dorothy O’Sullivan 4:00 to 5:00pm. Telephone Numbers Marriages Rectory: . .541-3270 The prospective bride and groom should discuss details of Religious Education: . .799-5179 the marriage with one of the priests of the parish at least Convent: . .541-1748 six months prior to the date of the wedding. R.C.I.A.: . .799-5179 Parish Outreach: . .541-1260 Website: www.ollmp.org The Mission Statement of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish The Parish Office Schedule Monday to Thursday 9AM to 9PM Our Lady of Lourdes is a welcoming parish family Friday 9AM to 4PM whose purpose is to model Christ, as guided by Mary, Saturday 9AM to 5PM Sunday 9AM to 3PM in a life defined by faith and love. We seek to advance The office is Closed from 12/Noon to 1PM for Lunch God's will through acts of Charity and Kindness. Mass Times “to Jesus through Mary” Monday through Friday: 6:45, 8:30am, 8:00pm Saturday: 6:45, 8:30am/5:00pm and 5:15pm Chapel Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time Sunday: 7:30, 9:00, 10:30am, 12:30pm August19, 2018 Page 2 Our Lady of Lourdes Parish AUGUST 19, 2018 This Week’s Lector Schedule Masses Monday, August 20th Saturday, august 25th 6:45 In Thanksgiving -5:00 PM - Tom Varriale 8:30 Int. Grace Martini Cioci Family 8PM Helga Richert Peter & Evelyn Regan Sunday, august 26th Tuesday, August 21st -7:30 am - Michelle Tiné 6:45 Vocations to Religious Life -9:00 am - Dolores Cianciabella 8:30 Eileen Palmer Mary & Jim New -10:30 am - Mary Lucich & Jim Dolan 8PM Joseph Desmond Family -12:30 pm - Isidora Bacani Wednesday, August 22nd 6:45 Int. Vincent J. Lentini 8:30 Clement Hudson Family 8PM Fr. Robert Mason Thursday, August 23rd 6:45 Souls in Purgatory 8:30 Victor Caputo, Jr. Edna Noonan 8PM Gary Volpe Audrey Volpe-Balzano Friday, August 24th May the Souls of the 6:45 Protection of the Unborn 8:30 Blair Fensterstock Leslie Gretschel 8PM Patricia & Emile Zelencic Mildred Michalczyk Faithful Departed, Saturday, August 25th Through the Mercy of God, 6:45 Priests of OLL Parish 8:30 Int. Kathy Sullivan Roy Citrano Rest in Peace. 5PM Dec. Members of Power & Baker Families Beth Baker 5:15PM Joseph & Josephine Giugliano Dolores & Enrico Giugliano Sunday, August 26th 7:30 Dolores Tamayo Angelina & Victor Abad 9:00 Gena Urbanowski Margaret Urbanowski 10:30 Patricia Cestora, Tommy Shavel, Antoinette DeVincent 12:30 25th Wedding Anniv. of Annesly Fong Annesly Fong The bread and wine have Mass Celebrants for been donated in memory of Next Weekend William Fielding Saturday, August 25th By his Family 5:00 p.m. Fr. James 5:15 p.m. (Chapel) Fr. Tony Sunday, August 26th The sanctuary candles in the 7:30 a.m. Fr. Kevin chapel and church have been 9:00 a.m. Fr. Emmanuel donated for a Special Intention 10:30 a.m. Msgr. Lisante 12:30 p.m. Fr. Tony Our Lady of Lourdes Parish Page 3 AUGUST 19, 2018 Homily for August 19, 2018 By Deacon Michael Houghton Homiletic & Pastoral Review Today’s Gospel passage marks the fourth consecutive week that we’ve been march- ing through John, chapter six, and we’ll continue on in John, chapter six, next Sun- day as well. John, chapter six, is profoundly significant in the Church’s understand- ing of the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. The Catechism of the Catholic Church puts it this way: In the most Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist “the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the whole Christ is truly, really, and substantially contained.” Exactly how this occurs is a mystery, but when we study John, chapter six, combined with the Biblical accounts of the Last Supper, it is quite clear that Jesus intended it this way. And because we are the Church that he formed, we have always followed his teaching, and we always will. The Real Presence in the Eucharist is one of the most critical and fundamental beliefs that we hold as Catholics. But accepting and believing it is not universal. Clearly, there is doubt about the real presence in other Christian faiths, who will say that the Eucharist is not the real presence of Jesus Christ but rather a sign or a symbol. But what is disheartening is that surveys of Catholics tell us that at least half of all Catholics do not believe in the real presence. Now, it’s not as bad as it may sound at first. Many of those who say they don’t believe in the real presence in fact simply don’t know what we teach about it. But there are some who truly do understand what we teach and yet refuse to believe it. And this, my friends, is troubling. In John chapter six, we find Jesus repeatedly standing his ground despite opposition from those around him when he states that we must eat his flesh and drink is blood. The people continue to argue that he can’t be serious, but with each escalation in the argument Jesus escalates his response. If you were to take time to look at the original Greek of John six you would see that the words that Jesus uses for “eat” continue to become more aggressive, moving from “eat” to words like “gnaw” and “munch.” Jesus was not playing around; he was quite literal. This would have been controversial, to say the least, but at the last supper he continues the dialogue from John six when he tells his disciples to take the bread and eat it, for this is his body, and to take the wine and drink it, for this is his blood. So in John chapter six Jesus gives us the “what” – we must eat his flesh and drink his blood in order to have eternal life. And in the Last Supper he gives us the “how” – we must eat the bread and drink the wine that is consecrated in the Eucharistic Prayer. In so doing, we literally eat his flesh and drink his blood through the real presence. And then he tells them to continue to do it in memory of him, and we as a Church have continued to do so for the past 2,000 years. Now, I could go on defending our belief in the real presence, but instead I ask you to consider the following. In the 700’s, a priest in Lanciano, Italy was celebrating Mass. Sadly, this priest doubted the real presence in the Eucharist. But on this day, when he pro- nounced the words of consecration, the host was miraculously changed into flesh, and the wine into blood. It was a Eucharistic mira- cle. Those who witnessed the miracle spread the news throughout the surrounding area. The archbishop ordered that the flesh and blood be placed in a special ivory reliquary, but they were not hermetically sealed. Church authorities certified the miracle. Now you may be thinking: that’s a nice story, but it could just be legend. There are many such stories of Eucharistic miracles which have happened that we cannot substantiate. But for this one, there is more. So let’s continue the story. In 1713, the flesh was moved to a monstrance and the blood to a crystal chalice. So what, you say? Well, we must realize that the flesh and blood were now 1,000 years old, and despite being exposed to the air, they remained intact. Over 250 years later in 1971, Pope Paul VI permitted a series of scientific studies on the flesh and blood, and the results of that analysis were quite stunning. The flesh had the structure of the human myocardium (tissue from the heart wall). The blood was also of human origin and was type AB. As an interesting point of reference, the blood on the Shroud of Turin is also type AB. Proteins in the clotted Blood displayed the characteristics of fresh human blood. Given that these samples were free of preservatives and origi- nally not hermetically sealed, they should have deteriorated in days or weeks. However, after 1,200 plus years they still appeared fresh. And do you know what’s really fascinating? To this day, if you go to Lanciano, you can still see the flesh and blood on dis- play. The real presence in the Eucharist is both a mystery and a gift. Some struggle to accept it. But in closing, I offer you this to reflect upon.