31st Sunday in Ordinary Time

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it”. ( Psalm 118:24) On this 30th Sunday of Ordinary time, the gospel of Mathew 22: 34-40, gives us the rich message of loving God and neighbor. It is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets as affirmed by the Lord himself. It is pretty much the summary of the Bible. So, what is Love? It is not a feeling or an emotion. As St. Thomas Aquinas says it is willing the good of the other. It transcends feelings and emotions and concentrates on concrete decisions and actions which flow from that Will. We see the true love on the Cross. God the Father made the concrete Decision of sending His Son Jesus Christ into the world through the Blessed Virgin Mary who gave Him Birth and raised Him. The Son of God willingly gave himself up to death on the Cross for the redemption of the whole humanity. By rising from the dead on the third day, he brought us salvation. It started at the Last Supper when the Lord gave himself to us in the Eucharist under the appearances of Bread and Wine as the eternal Sacrifice of the new Passover marking it as the new Covenant. That Love of God is celebrated during the holy Mass every day. As 1John 4:8 says that GOD IS LOVE, the understanding here is that God always wills the good of His children. Let all of us as God’s children rejoice in and reaffirm this truth at all times. We love God by our true worship of Him and by following His Commandments like the Blessed Virgin Mary and all the saints had done. BENNET AND ELIZABETH PUMO,JR: We congratulate Ben and Liz on being the recipients of St. Jude medal for the year 2026 from Sacred Heart Parish, St. Joseph, Dade City. Ben and Liz have been the Parishioners of our Parish for the last nine years. They regularly practice their Faith by attending Sunday Masses and Holy days of Obligation. They have been tirelessly working for the Parish Fall festival being in the Committee, in the Parish kitchen, catering to the Parish Volunteer appreciation dinners and being generous to the Parish. Ben is a member of the Parish Council, and head of the Christmas Card display ministry in our Parish. Beyond the Parish, Ben serves as deputy grand Knight of the Knights of Columbus, Council 1768 located at St. Antonio, Florida. As a talented cook, Ben delights many people with delicious food. He was featured on Fox 13 on a Cooking segment. Ben also serves on the Farm Bureau. God bless you! Fr. Bob Romaine

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it”. ( Psalm 118:24) In the gospel on this 29th Sunday of Ordinary time, our Lord is telling to give to God what belongs to God and to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. (Mathew 22:15-21). The Lord wants us to be the best citizens by observing all the rules and regulations of our country. Giving God the top most priority and fitting Worship due to Him, and doing corporal works of mercy would be ‘giving to God what belongs to God’. WORLD MISSION SUNDAY: This weekend we celebrate the 100th Anniversary of World Mission Sunday instituted by Pope Pius XI in 1926. While every baptized Christian is a missionary disciple, not all of us can go overseas to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ. Some of the members of the Clergy, the Religious and the laity are actively involved in spreading the Lord’s Good News in areas where the local people have never heard of the Lord. Our present holy Father Pope Leo XIV has chosen the theme “One in Christ, united in mission” for this year’s world mission Sunday. The holy Father calls the entire Church to unite in prayer, Eucharistic celebration, and a special financial collection to support the missionary work, education, and social care across more than 1130 mission territories. Our second collection this weekend would benefit the world mission Sunday purposes. Blessed Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen served as the National Director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, now known as the Pontifical Mission Societies, USA, for 16 years during which he raised millions of dollars and material aid to support the catholic missions around the world. He promoted the World Mission Rosary with different colored decades of beads to pray for the missions across the five continents. MARY ANDRYSIAK: This weekend we say ‘Farewell and Shalom’ to one of our active parishioners and a former Staff member Mary Andrysiak. Mary joined our Parish in 2015 along with her mother Marge Andrysiak who passed away in 2025. She served the Lord and the Parish in multiple ministry roles such as: A. RCIA director (now known as OCIA) from 2017-2024 B. Project support for the deanery’s Courageously Living the Gospel plans from 2019-2022 C. Lector, Extraordinary minister of Holy Communion, Counter, and sacramental Register coordinator from 2017-2026 D. Baptism coordinator from 2025-2026 Mary has been the recipient of St. Jude medal in 2021 in recognition of her exceptional Service and spreading the Good News of the gospel within the parish. At the end of this month she will be moving to Fort Myers to be close to her family. Mary sincerely loves and appreciates the Sacred Heart Parish family for their friendship and support over the years. On behalf of our Parish, I thank Mary for her selfless service to the Lord and His People. God blessed her with the gift of a sweet and gentle nature through which she brought many People to the faith during her tenure as the director of OCIA. She will touch many more souls. She has made the right decision of moving to be close to her immediate family in Fort Myers. I have invited Mary to visit us and to keep in touch. GOD GO WITH YOU, MARY! God bless you! Fr. Bob Romaine

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,  “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it”. ( Psalm 118:24) It is only during the Ordinary time of the year that we get to hear the parables of our Lord. For the last few Sundays, we have been listening to different parables told by our Lord. This Sunday, the parable is about a king organizing a wedding banquet in honor of his son. When the invited guests refuse to come to the banquet, he orders his servants to go to the highways and byways and bring in the guests. Again this parable is aimed at the Jewish leadership ( the pharisees and the scribes) who rejected the Lord Jesus Christ as the Messiah. The ordinary Jewish people represented by the Apostles accepted the Lord as the Messiah. It is our fervent prayer that the present day Jewish People would accept Jesus Christ as the Messiah as the fulfillment of the prophecies of the old testament. The Month of October: In the Catholic Church, the month of October is traditionally dedicated to praying the holy Rosary, asking the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary for the Courage and Commitment to protect, preserve and promote the gift of human life. Let us also ask our Blessed Mother to pray that the Holy Eucharist which is the eternal Sacrifice of the new Passover of the new Covenant, instituted by her Son and our Lord Jesus Christ, would be celebrated until He returns. The Eucharistic Miracles: As part of our study of the theology of the Eucharist, let us concentrate on the Eucharistic miracles this weekend. So what is a Eucharistic miracle? Of course the transubstantiation which is the transformation of substance of the bread and the wine into the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ at the time of the Consecration during the Mass, is itself a miracle. This miracle happens at every Mass. The Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity which is the Real Presence of Christ is hidden under the outward appearances of bread and wine. A Eucharistic miracle is an unexplainable physical manifestation of the transubstantiation. It means that an individual or a few people are given the grace to see the actual flesh and blood of Christ without being hidden under the appearances of the Bread and Wine. God allows such an extraordinary phenomenon to happen in order to strengthen the weak faith of a person or a group of people. For example, a priest from Lanciano, Italy, in the 8th century, experienced doubts regarding the Real Presence of the Lord in the Eucharist. Once during the Mass, as he pronounced the words of Consecration ” This is my Body——-This is my Blood ”, he saw the actual flesh and blood of the Lord in the Patten and the Chalice while the outward appearance of bread and wine disappeared. This is called the Eucharistic miracle of Lanciano. The Church teaches that we do not need such Eucharistic miracles to believe in the real Presence of the Lord in the Eucharist. The powerful and everlasting words of our Lord are enough for us to believe in the Eucharistic presence of the Lord. The Church considers the Eucharistic miracles as private revelations allowed by the Lord to strengthen the weak faith of the people. I have been celebrating the holy Eucharist for the last 35 years as a priest. I do not need a Eucharistic miracle to believe in the real Presence of the Lord in the Eucharist. His Words alone are enough for me to believe: “ This is my Body—-This is my Blood ”. As your Pastor, I share the same Eucharistic faith you. God bless you! Fr. Bob Romaine

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, “ This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it”. (Psalm 118:24) From ancient times vineyards are a common sight in Israel so much so that they are mentioned in the Bible. The first reading from the book of the Prophet Isaiah 5:1-7, and the gospel of Mathew 21:33-43 compare the vineyards to the people of Israel. The bad tenants mistreating the servants of the owner of the vineyard and killing the owner’s son was a direct hint to the leadership of the Jewish People who rejected the prophets and the Son of God. Our Lord Jesus did not mince words when he told the Pharisees and the Scribes that the Kingdom would be taken away from them and given to a people that will produce its fruits. The same message applies to us today if we do nothing to spread the Kingdom of God. THANK YOU!!!: I thank the organizing Committee, the sponsors, the vendors and all the volunteers who worked hard to make our St. Joe Fall festival a success. It is a community building event which brings people together. Therefore it is worth the hard work. Thank you and God bless you and your families. BLESSED ARCHBISHOP FULTON J. SHEEN: This weekend we take a break from the study of the theology of the Eucharist and concentrate on the Blessed Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen whose beatification Mass took place on September 24, 2026 in the Dome at the America’s Center, St. Louis, Missouri as 50,000 Catholics took part in it. He was given the title ‘Blessed’ during the Ceremony of the Beatification which is one step closer to being declared a saint. Let us take a brief look at his life. He was born on May 8, 1895 to a farming couple Newton and Delia Sheen in El Paso, Illinois. As an altar boy at the age of 8, Fulton sheen received a prophetic blessing from the Bishop John L. Spalding of Peoria diocese. The story is that When Bishop Spalding was celebrating the Mass, the altar boy Fulton Sheen dropped a wine cruet. After the Mass, Bishop Spalding spoke to the frightened boy and made two bold prophecies about him. The first, that Fulton Sheen would one day study at Louvain in Belgium; second, that he would someday become a Bishop. As a teenager, Sheen went to high school in Spalding Institute, Peoria, Illinois. As a young man, he attended St. Paul Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota and was ordained to the holy Priesthood on September 20,1919. Two years later he went to pursue advanced study in Philosophy at the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium. There was the first prophecy of Bishop Spalding fulfilled. After his return from Belgium, Father Fulton Sheen taught Philosophy and Religion at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. for 23 years. It was there that he excelled as a Professor, writer and orator. He also did radio broadcasting called ‘The Catholic hour’ through which he eloquently explained the catholic doctrines. On June 11, 1951, Father Fulton J. Sheen was consecrated a Bishop. Thus the second prophecy of Bishop Spalding came true. Bishop Sheen took part in the second Vatican Council where he impressed the future Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI with his eloquent talks. In 1966 he was appointed the Bishop of Rochester, New York. Having resigned from that responsibility in 1969, Bishop Sheen spent the rest of his life in preaching and praying. Pope Paul VI named him Archbishop of the Titular See of Newport, Wales. He was acclaimed as a great evangelist thanks to his television series ‘Life is worth living’, and a number of inspirational articles and books. In the midst of his fame, Archbishop Sheen never forgot to make his daily ‘holy hour’ in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. We give Thanks to God for the inspiring life of Blessed Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen. God bless you! Fr. Bob Romaine

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, “ This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it” . ( Psalm 118:24 ) From time to time we hear the phrase ‘ If you love someone, prove it’. Another common phrase is ‘ Actions speak louder than words’. In the gospel of Matthew 21:28-32 for this 26th Sunday in Ordinary time, Our Lord told us the parable of a father with two sons. When the father asked the sons to do a task, the first son said ‘No’ at first, but repented and changed his mind and did that work. The second son said ‘yes’ but never cared to do what his father asked him to do. The message for all of us is if we love God, we do His Will which is doing our daily duties faithfully. ST. JOE FALL FESTIVAL: I ask all of you to please invite your family and friends to come and enjoy the St. Joe Fall festival organized by our Church on our Church Campus here in Dade City, FL, on Saturday, October 3, 2026 from 9 am - 3 pm. THE PASCHAL MYSTERY: Usually we hear priests and deacons talk about the Paschal Mystery during the season of Lent as we approach the Holy Week. The Paschal Mystery means the Passion, death, Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus Christ. It begins on Holy Thursday at the Last Supper where the Lord instituted the holy Eucharist, his agony in the garden, Carrying of the Cross, Crucifixion, death on the Cross and finally his glorious Resurrection on the third day. In our understanding of the theology of the Eucharist, Paschal Mystery stands at the Center of it. The Catechism of Catholic Church, number 571 says: “The Paschal Mystery of Christ’s Cross and Resurrection stands at the Center of the Good News that the Apostles, and the Church following them, are to proclaim to the world. God’s saving plan was accomplished “once for all” by the redemptive death of his Son Jesus Christ”. The temple priests used to slaughter the poor lambs on the altar in the sanctuary of the temple and sprinkle their blood over the people as a gesture of the remission of their sins even though the blood of the animals had no power to forgive sins. That was part of the old Passover. At the time of our Lord, the people who witnessed the Crucifixion of our Lord returned to their homes beating their breasts thinking that it was a Roman execution. The place where our Lord was crucified (Golgotha or Calvary) was outside the city walls of Jerusalem. Digging deeper, the Church Fathers and Biblical Scholars had viewed the Crucifixion of Jesus not as a Roman execution but as the Sacrifice of the new Passover of the new Covenant which started in the upper room at the Last Supper when the Lord instituted the holy Eucharist giving himself willingly to us as the Lamb of God under the appearance of Bread and wine. Therefore at Calvary when the Lord was crucified, he offered himself freely as the Priest and the Victim. Thus in the new Passover of the new Covenant, there is no need for an animal to be slaughtered. The Lord Jesus by willingly dying for us on the Cross became the Lamb of God whose Blood has the Power to forgive our sins. From the death of Jesus on the Cross as the Completion of the new Passover Sacrifice of the new Covenant to the glorious Resurrection on the third day is the paschal Mystery we celebrate in every Mass as the Sacrament. The risen Lord who was seen by the Apostles before he went to heaven is present in the holy Mass. That’s why the holy Mass and the Paschal Mystery are integrally connected. I truly believe that the continuous Celebration of the Eucharist which is the Sacrifice of the new Passover of the new Covenant until He returns, will indeed transform the world as we wait for his second Coming. God bless you! Fr. Bob Romaine

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it”. ( Psalm 118:24) On this 25th Sunday of Ordinary time, our Lord is teaching us through the gospel of Matthew 20:1-16 that our God is so generous beyond the human standards, that He invites all people to the Kingdom no matter the time. The Parable of a generous landowner who hires laborers to work in his vineyard at different times of the day and paying them the same wage, points to our Heavenly Father who welcomes all his children to heaven when they repent even at the last minutes of their lives. THE FOURTH CUP: Based on the book ‘The Fourth Cup’ written by the well known catholic Theologian, Dr. Scott Hahn, Director of St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, Steubenville, OH, I would like to present to you his findings of the connection of the Paschal Sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross to the Jewish seder dinner and the drinking of the fourth cup as the completion of the new Passover meal. The Passover dinner of the Jewish people, known as the Seder dinner, has four parts or courses marked by drinking of four cups of wine. It is celebrated every year by the Jews to commemorate God’s deliverance of the ancient Israelites from slavery in Egypt to freedom when God miraculously opened the red sea so that the Israelites could walk through it to freedom ( Exodus 14 ). The Passover meal was also the time to renew their Covenant with God. Three days before his Passion and death, our Lord Jesus held the Passover dinner with his disciples in the upper room. We call it the Last Supper during which Jesus instituted the holy Eucharist. The following are the four cups of wine drunk at the end of each course: The First cup or The Kiddush Cup: This is the first part of the dinner during which bitter herbs are eaten and the food is blessed and the participants drink the first cup of wine known as the kiddush cup, meaning the cup of the festival blessing. 2. The Second cup or The Haggadah Cup: The second part of the dinner consists of narrating the story of God’s deliverance of ancient Israel through question and answer form. The youngest at the table asks the question and the oldest answers. Then the second cup is drunk. The word ‘Haggadah’ means narrative. They pray the psalm 113 known as the little hallel. 3. The Third Cup or The Barukah Cup: During this part, the roasted lamb is eaten along with unleavened bread. Eating of the lamb was very essential as a communion meal which signified the Covenant with God. When Jesus instituted the Eucharist during this third part of the dinner, He replaced the lamb with himself to be eaten by us as the hallmark of the new Covenant as he told the Jews of his time in the gospel of John 6: 54: “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life”. Then they drink the third cup, the Barukah cup known as the Blessing cup. They pray the psalms 114-118 known as the great hallel. 4. The Fourth Cup or The Consummation Cup: During this part, the dinner is completed by the drinking of the fourth cup. Without drinking the fourth cup of wine, a Passover dinner is incomplete. Jesus and the disciples leave the Last Supper abruptly without drinking the fourth cup. The Biblical scholars have questioned why Jesus skipped the fourth cup at the Last Supper. Well, this is where Dr. Scott Hahn made the Biblical research based on John’s gospel and found out that Jesus had some other place in mind to drink the fourth cup to complete the Passover dinner and transform it into the new Passover. Since John the beloved was the only disciple who was present at the Crucifixion along with Mother Mary and other women, he was the eye witness to the details of the Crucifixion. As Jesus was crucified on the Cross, the soldiers offered him a sponge soaked in common wine on a hyssop branch. When Jesus tasted the wine, he said, “Now it is finished. Then he bowed his head, and delivered over his spirit” ( John 19:30 ). This is the fourth cup which he drank on the Cross. The “It” in this sentence refers to the Passover liturgy, which he started in the upper room, got interrupted by his agony in the garden, by his carrying of the Cross and finally completed it on the Cross. He willingly gave Himself as the Lamb of God given to us in the Eucharist at the Last Supper and whose Blood shed on the Cross sealed the new and eternal Covenant which can never be broken unlike the old Covenant. I highly recommend that you read the book “The Fourth Cup’ to deepen your understanding of the Eucharist as the new Passover of the Sacrifice of Jesus on the God bless you! Fr. Bob Romaine

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it”. (Psalm 118:24) This weekend the Lord is teaching us the lesson of forgiveness. In the gospel of Mathew 18:21-35 the Lord told Peter and the disciples to forgive seventy seven times and told them the parable of a kind master who forgives his servant of his big debt. Sadly that same servant did not have the heart to forgive his fellow servant who owed him a much smaller debt. He had him put in prison. When the whole matter was reported to the master, the wicked servant was punished. Our Lord concludes the parable by saying that our heavenly Father will do the same unless we truly forgive our brother or sister. The month of September is dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows whose Memorial is celebrated on September 15th. The whole life of Mother Mary is filled with suffering. The Servite Religious Order and the Cistercian monks like St. Anselm and St. Bernard of Clairvaux from the 12 the century and St. Bridget of Sweden in the 14th century made the sorrows of Mary as integral part of their spirituality. The Church has summarized the sorrows of Mary into seven: 1. The Prophecy of Simeon 2. The flight into Egypt 3. The loss of Jesus in the temple 4. The meeting of Jesus and Mary on the way to Calvary 5. The Crucifixion and death of Jesus 6. The Body of Jesus is placed in the arms of his mother 7. The burial of Jesus EUCHARISTIC ADORATION: As part of the Eucharistic theology, I like to highlight the importance of Eucharistic Adoration. Since the time of the Apostles and the early Church, and throughout these two thousand years, Eucharistic Adoration had been held in high esteem as a gratitude to the Eucharistic Lord who is truly, really and substantially present in the consecrated Bread an Wine. The Council of Trent (1551 AD) had stated and affirmed that the Blessed Sacrament should be publicly exposed and adored and attached anathemas or church censures to anyone who claimed that Christ should not be adored in the Eucharist. The Council of Tent had given rise to the devotion of 40 hours of Eucharistic Adoration and the practice of spending one full hour in the presence of the Lord in the Eucharist, known as holy hour. The priest or the deacon brings out the consecrated host from the tabernacle and places it in a monstrance on the altar. A monstrance is a sacred vessel designed to hold the Eucharistic Lord in the consecrated host. The priest or the deacon incenses the Eucharistic Lord in the monstrance and begins the Eucharistic Adoration. The people take part in the Adoration by praying the psalms together, singing together, listening to the word of God and then spending time in silent meditation. After the prayers of the Faithful, the priest or the deacon does the Benediction which consists of incensing the Lord, and giving solemn blessing in silence by lifting the monstrance with the Eucharistic Lord and tracing the sign of the Cross over the people. In some situations, the priest or the deacon exposes the Blessed Sacrament on the altar. He then incenses the Lord and says the opening prayer and the rest of the hour is spent in silent Adoration by the Faithful. In the case of 40 hours of Adoration of Adoration, each hour is spent in silent Adoration of the Lord. According to the liturgical document ‘Holy Communion and Worship of the Eucharist outside of Mass’, number 88, there should be at least two people adoring the Lord every hour when the Blessed Sacrament is exposed in the monstrance. This norm does not apply when we adore the Lord who remains in the tabernacle. We have silent Eucharistic Adoration every Friday from 8:30 am - 9:30 am. The praise and worship style of Eucharistic Adoration is on every first Monday of the month from 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm. Please come and adore the Lord even if it is for only a few minutes. God bless America! Fr. Bob Romaine

This weekend, through the gospel of Mathew 18:15-20, our Lord is encouraging us to offer prayerful and fraternal corrections to each other out of love. Let us not give up on the troubled members of our family and friends, but offer them to the Lord in prayer for healing and enlightenment. Labor Day: 9/7/2026: I wish everyone a happy Labor day. Enjoy this federal holiday with your family and friends. The Labor Day had been designated to appreciate the dignity of all workers and their contribution to the society. It was signed into law by President Grover Cleveland on June 28, 1894, making the first Monday in September an official national holiday. It is the common understanding that Labor Day is the conclusion to all summer vacations and getting back to work. The Catholic Church has always highlighted the nobility of work as building up God’s kingdom here on earth. Pope Leo XIII in his encyclical ‘Rerum Novarum’(1891) and Pope John Paul II in his encyclical titled ‘Laborem Exercens’ (1981) address the economic and social challenges of the society and give the right understanding of work based on christian principles. Let us learn from our elders who have high work ethic. As we work hard for the good of our families and the Church, God will bless us abundantly. 9/11 Remembrance: As we are reminded of this horrific day every year, let us continue to pray for the healing of our country from the wounds caused by the terrorist attacks on 9/11 and for Peace in our country and in the world. We pray for the repose of the souls of 2,977 people who died and consolation to their families. We appreciate the great work done by the first responders. The Theology of the Eucharist: Following the doctrine of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, I like to address the question asked by many non catholic friends as to why they can not receive communion in our churches when they attend Funerals and weddings. The answer is that the bread and the wine which are visible to the human eye, are indeed the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ after the Consecration. One should believe in this truth to receive it. A non catholic who does not believe in the real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, can not receive it without such a faith. The second reason a non catholic can not receive Communion is because of being in union with the catholic Church under the leadership of the pope whom we call the holy father. The word ‘Communion’ gives us the understanding of unity and oneness. We welcome our non catholic friends and family to study, understand and believe in the catholic beliefs through the process of the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA). God bless America! Fr. Bob Romaine

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it”. (Psalm 118:24) On this 22nd Sunday in ordinary time, the Lord in the gospel for this weekend (Mathew 16:21-27) has spoken powerful words which people in general do not want to hear. Those words are about carrying our daily crosses and following him. Not even the leader of the Apostles, St. Peter, could understand why the Messiah had to suffer. He got reprimanded by the Lord for trying to evade this important subject. The Lord had unequivocally declared to the disciples that his passion and death was the defining element of his Mission as the Messiah. He did not leave the disciples with the sadness of the cross but told them about his glorious Resurrection on the third day. If we accept our crosses willingly trusting in his love and and care, the Lord will reward us. Monthly Praise and Worship Eucharistic Adoration: We are going to resume the monthly Praise and worship Eucharistic Adoration on the first Monday of every month, 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm, beginning September through May. Since the first Monday in September falls on Labor Day, which is a federal holiday, we are hosting the Eucharistic Adoration on August 31st a week early. Please bring your children and youth to introduce them to Praise and worship type of Eucharistic Adoration. Anointing & Confessions: Usually we have anointing given during the 8 am Mass on the first Thursday of a month followed by Confessions from 8:30 am - 9:30 am. We will offer anointing during the 6:30 pm Mass too on the first Thursday of every month followed by Confessions from 7 pm - 7:30pm. THE THEOLOGY OF THE EUCHARIST: We are going to focus on ‘the real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist’ today. According to St. Thomas Aquinas the real presence is the fruit of transubstantiation. As soon as the substance of the bread and wine are miraculously transformed into the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ, He becomes truly, really and substantially present in the Eucharist under the appearance of bread and wine. His glorified Body is present in a unique, sacramental mode proper to the mystery of the altar. Such a supernatural phenomenon is beyond the capability of science or any other empirical investigations. One may ask as to who has the authority to allow such a supernatural event to take place in our imperfect human world. The answer is: The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. In the beginning when God created the world, he said: “Let there be light”(Genesis 1:3), and there was light. Neither our intellect nor the science have the capability to analyze how God’s Word brought about the light and the whole world into existence. The Son of God, Jesus Christ who was present at the time of the Creation of the world, pronounced the powerful words of Consecration which transformed the ordinary bread and wine into His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. Therefore the teaching of the protestant theologians that the Eucharist is only a symbol or metaphor does not flow from the Bible narrative of the last Supper where the Lord instituted the Eucharist. There is no mention of the word ‘symbol’ in the texts of the Consecration (Mathew 26:26-28, Mark 14: 22-24, Luke 22: 19-20). The verb ‘is’ is used when the Lord said: “This is my Body, This is my Blood”. The verb ‘is’ denotes that something is present right here and right now. It does not point to anything else. When the Lord declared to the Jewish people of his time that he is the Living Bread that came down from heaven and that unless they ate his flesh and drank his blood, they had no life, they all left him (John 6:66). I pray that the 70% of our Catholics who are struggling to believe in the Real Presence of the Lord in the Eucharist and our protestant Brothers and Sisters who are being taught that the Eucharist is only a symbol or metaphor, would one day be brought to the enlightenment of the truth of the Eucharist. God bless you! Fr. Bob Romaine