Communication with Visitors* Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on us! June 1 (P.S. June 23, July 28: A Reflection on WYD 2002) Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ, How are you? June is the month in which we honor the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The heart in our culture is a symbol of love. Holy Church uses the symbol of the heart to express the love Jesus our Savior for the men and women whom He has redeemed by his becoming man, suffering, dying, rising from the dead, ascending into heaven and taking His place at the right hand of the Father whence He shall return to earth again to place the world at the feet of His heavenly Father. Before leaving this world, however, He instituted for us the Holy Eucharist, the sacrament of His Body and Blood, the visible sign of the invisible grace of His real presence among us. Reflection upon this upon this act of Jesus leads us to see in it a mystery of His wisdom, His power and His love. While , then, the symbol of His heart reminds us of His love for us, a love that is both human and divine, the Holy Eucharist is the profound and supreme expression of that love. For who of us could ever surmise or imagine that our Divine Lover in the hour of His departure from us would continue to remain among us under appearance of consecrated bread and wine? And what a privilege is ours that our Divine Redeemer in His wisdom chose so to remain with us and in His power created this marvelous of doing so. With grateful hearts we pray: Lord Jesus you have left us in this sacrament a wonderful memorial of your love. Grant us, we ask you so, to venerate this mystery of love as always to be conscious within ourselves of the fruit of our redemption. Most Sacred Heart of Jesus be merciful to us. Yours sincerely in Christ, Michael Lapierre, S.J. P.S. (June 23) World Youth Day --- Toronto, July 23-28, 2002 WYD-2002 will be celebrated in the city of Toronto, Canada, during the last week of July this year. Enthusiasm and the excitement have been growing as the days of celebration approach. What has drawn much attention during the past few days has been the arrival of the Youth Cross in this city. A large crowd gathered on the Cathedral grounds to celebrate formally its entry to the city. At the moment its bearers are taking it to various sites and institutions to arouse devotion and to call down blessings on their members. Our hope and prayer is that the focus of this WYD will not be lost in the many enticing programs and fanfare that will fill these engaging and inspiring days; that young men and women of many peoples and nations will, under the banner of the Cross pray to and sing in praise of the God of their salvation and invite he world to join with them in their joy and jubilation. For further information, click here. To register, click here. Have a nice summer in the Lord! P.S. (July 28) A Reflection on World Youth Day Today the World Youth Day celebrations came to a joyful and triumphant end with the Papal Mass held at Downsview. I say joyful for the exuberant exclamations of the attendants resounded more than once during the ceremonies and their triumphant out bursts became a chorus throughout the proceedings. Different television stations channeled the event. The station that appealed most to me presented the whole with a minimum of comment, letting the various scenes display themselves, naming the activities as they followed one another, translating into English at the bottom of the screen the foreign language inserts of the speaker. Further commentary seemed intrusive and unnecessary, somewhat of a hindrance to the listener's attention and concentration. Yet some viewers may have preferred the longer commentary. We were fortunate, then, in having these different patterns of presentation. What dominated the entire service was the spirit of reverential joy and the expression of intimate bonding between the youthful audience and the Pope who was addressing them. The articles, the comments of various writers, the letters sent into the newspapers revealed with amazing forthrightness the thoughts, the feelings, the reactions of their authors. We will perhaps never know how deeply the events of this World Youth Day have affected its observers and attendants or what results it will have upon their future lives and activities. * Fr. Michael Lapierre, S.J., and the editor John Cheng are currently taking part in this column. While the latter is doing January, March, May, etc., the former is partaking in February, April, June, etc. As usual, we take a summer break during July and August. The background hymn is a certain version of "O Salutaris Hostia".
June 1 (P.S. June 23, July 28: A Reflection on WYD 2002)
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
How are you? June is the month in which we honor the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The heart in our culture is a symbol of love. Holy Church uses the symbol of the heart to express the love Jesus our Savior for the men and women whom He has redeemed by his becoming man, suffering, dying, rising from the dead, ascending into heaven and taking His place at the right hand of the Father whence He shall return to earth again to place the world at the feet of His heavenly Father.
Before leaving this world, however, He instituted for us the Holy Eucharist, the sacrament of His Body and Blood, the visible sign of the invisible grace of His real presence among us. Reflection upon this upon this act of Jesus leads us to see in it a mystery of His wisdom, His power and His love.
While , then, the symbol of His heart reminds us of His love for us, a love that is both human and divine, the Holy Eucharist is the profound and supreme expression of that love. For who of us could ever surmise or imagine that our Divine Lover in the hour of His departure from us would continue to remain among us under appearance of consecrated bread and wine? And what a privilege is ours that our Divine Redeemer in His wisdom chose so to remain with us and in His power created this marvelous of doing so.
With grateful hearts we pray: Lord Jesus you have left us in this sacrament a wonderful memorial of your love. Grant us, we ask you so, to venerate this mystery of love as always to be conscious within ourselves of the fruit of our redemption. Most Sacred Heart of Jesus be merciful to us.
Yours sincerely in Christ,
Michael Lapierre, S.J.
P.S. (June 23) World Youth Day --- Toronto, July 23-28, 2002
WYD-2002 will be celebrated in the city of Toronto, Canada, during the last week of July this year. Enthusiasm and the excitement have been growing as the days of celebration approach. What has drawn much attention during the past few days has been the arrival of the Youth Cross in this city. A large crowd gathered on the Cathedral grounds to celebrate formally its entry to the city. At the moment its bearers are taking it to various sites and institutions to arouse devotion and to call down blessings on their members. Our hope and prayer is that the focus of this WYD will not be lost in the many enticing programs and fanfare that will fill these engaging and inspiring days; that young men and women of many peoples and nations will, under the banner of the Cross pray to and sing in praise of the God of their salvation and invite he world to join with them in their joy and jubilation.
For further information, click here. To register, click here.
Have a nice summer in the Lord!
Today the World Youth Day celebrations came to a joyful and triumphant end with the Papal Mass held at Downsview. I say joyful for the exuberant exclamations of the attendants resounded more than once during the ceremonies and their triumphant out bursts became a chorus throughout the proceedings. Different television stations channeled the event. The station that appealed most to me presented the whole with a minimum of comment, letting the various scenes display themselves, naming the activities as they followed one another, translating into English at the bottom of the screen the foreign language inserts of the speaker. Further commentary seemed intrusive and unnecessary, somewhat of a hindrance to the listener's attention and concentration. Yet some viewers may have preferred the longer commentary. We were fortunate, then, in having these different patterns of presentation. What dominated the entire service was the spirit of reverential joy and the expression of intimate bonding between the youthful audience and the Pope who was addressing them. The articles, the comments of various writers, the letters sent into the newspapers revealed with amazing forthrightness the thoughts, the feelings, the reactions of their authors. We will perhaps never know how deeply the events of this World Youth Day have affected its observers and attendants or what results it will have upon their future lives and activities.
* Fr. Michael Lapierre, S.J., and the editor John Cheng are currently taking part in this column. While the latter is doing January, March, May, etc., the former is partaking in February, April, June, etc. As usual, we take a summer break during July and August. The background hymn is a certain version of "O Salutaris Hostia".