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Liturgies at St. Thomas More Church
Feast of St. Thomas More
Sunday, June 22, 10:15 AM - East
Campus Worship Space (Please note, there will not be a Sunday Anticipatory
Mass on Saturday the 21st nor a 10:15 AM Sunday Mass celebrated at the West
Campus)
West Campus Worship Space
1550
Summit Avenue
Tuesday - Friday,
8:00 AM and Liturgy of the Word with
Communion on Mondays at 8:00 AM.
Saturday,
4:15 PM
- Sunday Anticipatory
Sunday, 10:15 AM
East Campus Worship Space
1093 Summit Avenue
Sunday,
9:15 AM & 11:15 AM
Reconciliation
Saturday, 3:30 PM, West Campus Worship Space or
by appointment: 651/227-7669, ext. 302
Centering Prayer
Tuesday, 5:30 PM - East Campus
Eucharistic
Adoration Tuesday,12:30-9:00 PM - East Campus
Liturgies with Saint Thomas
More Catholic School
9:00 AM in the East Campus
Worship Space
Our last School Mass for the 2007/2008
academic year is on
Wednesday, May 28
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What is Eucharistic
Adoration?
Catholics believe that during the Mass which we
attend each week (for some of us daily), the priest (during the
consecration) speaks these words as he holds the communion host, "...He took
bread and gave you thanks. He broke the bread, gave it to his disciples, and
said: Take this all of you, and eat it: this is my body which will be given
up for you". When the priest says "this my body", it is at that instant
when, through the miracle of transubstantiation, the bread and wine which we
offer as the bloodless sacrifice to our Lord truly become the Body, Blood ,
Soul and Divinity of Jesus. It is His true Presence in the form of bread and
wine. It is Christ.
Perpetual Adoration is when the priest takes a
consecrated host, such as the one described above, and places it in a
monstrance. (monstrance comes from the Latin "monstrare" to show, to expose
to view.) The monstrance is then placed in front of the tabernacle (an
ornate box which holds the monstrance and any consecrated hosts) or on the
altar of the church or chapel for adoration.
What do you actually do during adoration? You
may sign up to be an "adorer" which allows you to schedule yourself for one
or more hours per week to pray before the very presence of Our Lord, exposed
in the monstrance. It means that you can have some time alone with Jesus to
recite your favorite prayers, read the bible, contemplate acts of faith,
hope, charity, thanksgiving, reparation, pray a rosary or do whatever type
of prayerful devotion that suits you before Our Lord. You can just sit and
say nothing simply keeping Him company, just as you would with a dear
friend.
Eucharistic Adoration
by: Pope John Paul II
I encourage Christians regularly to visit
Christ present in the Blessed Sacrament, for we are all called to abide in
the presence of God. In contemplation, Christians will perceive ever more
profoundly the mystery at the heart of Christian life.
Teach young people the value of Eucharistic
Adoration
I urge priests, religious and lay people to
continue and redouble their efforts to teach the younger generations the
meaning and value of Eucharistic adoration and devotion. How will young
people be able to know the Lord if they are not introduced to the mystery of
His presence? Like the young Samuel, by learning the words of the prayer of
the heart, they will be closer to the Lord, who will accompany them in their
spiritual and human growth. The Eucharistic mystery is in fact the "summit
of evangelization" (Lumen Gentium) for it is the most eminent testimony to
Christ’s resurrection.
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Centering
Prayer
Centering Prayer is a method of prayer, which
prepares us to receive the gift of God's presence, traditionally called
contemplative prayer. It consists of responding to the Spirit of Christ by
consenting to God’s presence and action within. It furthers the development
of contemplative prayer by quieting our faculties to cooperate with the gift
of God’s presence.
Centering Prayer facilitates the movement from
more active modes of prayer - verbal, mental or affective prayer - into a
receptive prayer of resting in God. It emphasizes prayer as a personal
relationship with God. At the same time, it is a discipline to foster and
serve this relationship by a regular, daily practice of prayer. It is
Trinitarian in its source, Christ-centered in its focus, and ecclesial in
its effects; that is, it builds communities of faith.
Centering Prayer is drawn from ancient prayer
practices of the Christian contemplative heritage, notably the Fathers and
Mothers of the Desert, Lectio Divina, (praying the scriptures), The Cloud of
Unknowing, St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa of Avila.. It was distilled
into a simple method of prayer in the 1970’s by three Trappist monks, Fr.
William Meninger, Fr. Basil Pennington and Abbot Thomas Keating at the
Trappist Abbey, St. Joseph’s Abbey in Spencer, Massachusetts.
For further information, visit
Contemplative Outreach
Ltd.
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Patricia Kallstrom
