Eucharistic Adoration Invitation

BISHOP ENCOURAGES ALL TO PARTICIPATE IN EUCHARISTIC ADORATION
ON THE SOLEMNITY OF THE MOST HOLY BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST
(CORPUS CHRISTI)             

Bishop Richard J. Malone has encouraged the faithful of the Diocese of Buffalo to spend an hour in Eucharistic Adoration sometime on Sunday, June 2, in solidarity with Pope Francis who has called for a world-wide hour of Adoration on that day.           

The Holy Father urged the faithful to pray in particular for:

● Those around the world who are victims of war, human trafficking, drug running and slave labor.
● For those who find themselves in economically precarious situations, and above all for the unemployed, the elderly, migrants, the homeless and prisoners.           

Bishop Malone noted that prayer before the exposed Eucharist—the real presence of the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus, is especially powerful and efficacious.            

Pope Francis actually asked Catholics around the world to join with him in prayer before the Eucharist between 5-6 P.M. Rome time, which would be between 11 A.M. and Noon Buffalo time.  Since most parishes have Sunday Mass at that time, it would not be appropriate for a separate devotion.  Therefore, Bishop Malone recommends that Catholics devote an hour of their choosing Sunday to prayer before the Eucharist in solidarity with the Pope.           

The Bishop also noted that the Diocese has a Eucharistic Adoration Society which is available to assist parishes in organizing regular times for adoration. Contact: Deacon Michael McKeating, Director of the Eucharistic Adoration Society at 847-5548

Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ

A word from Fr. Mock about the Solemnity we celebrate today:

In 1246, Bishop Robert de Thorete of the Belgina diocese of Liège, at the suggestion of St. Juliana of Mont Cornillon (also in Belgium), convened a synod and instituted the celebration of the feast. From Liège, the celebration began to spread, and, on September 8, 1264, Pope Urban IV issued the papal bull "Transiturus," which established the Feast of Corpus Christi as a universal feast of the Church, to be celebrated on the Thursday following Trinity Sunday which was last Sunday.

At the request of Pope Urban IV, St. Thomas Aquinas composed the office (the official prayers of the Church) for the feast. This office is widely considered one of the most beautiful in the traditional Roman Breviary (the official prayer book of the Divine Office or Liturgy of the Hours), and it is the source of the famous Eucharistic hymns "Pange Lingua Gloriosi" and "Tantum Ergo Sacramentum." The Prayers the priest prays from the Chair and the Preface were written by Saint Thomas.

For centuries after the celebration was extended to the universal Church, the feast was also celebrated with a Eucharistic procession, in which the Sacred Host was carried throughout the town, accompanied by hymns and litanies. The faithful would venerate the Body of Christ as the procession passed by. In recent years, this practice has almost disappeared, though some parishes still hold a brief procession around the outside of the parish church.

NYS Action Alert - abortion expansion

Act Now to Stop Abortion Expansion!

We are coming to the last four weeks of the legislative session and the head of the largest pro-abortion advocacy group, NARAL, has confirmed that Gov. Andrew Cuomo is very close to introducing his bill to expand abortion, especially late-term abortion in New York State.

While the governor has not yet allowed the public to see the language of his bill, if it is similar to a bill he endorsed in January, it would allow more late-term abortions and permit them at storefront clinics. It would also allow non-doctors to perform surgical abortions and would forbid any commonsense regulations, like parental notification for minors.

Now is the time to act. Even if you already have sent a message to your elected officials, please do so again immediately, and share the alert at the link below with your friends through email, Facebook and Twitter. Let the Governor and your state lawmakers know that, no matter how it is packaged, you oppose more abortions in New York, the abortion capital of the nation, where one out of every three pregnances is terminated.

Send a message to them now by clicking the link below and sending the pre-written, fully editable email. If you use social networking, please also take a moment to click the Facebook and Twitter links below and follow us there to get the very latest news.

Take Action Now!

Bishop Malone's Letter - Call to Prayer

 

May 17, 2013

My Dear Friends in Christ,

In December, when the bishops announced the Call to Prayer for Life, Marriage, and Religious Liberty, they also announced a second Fortnight for Freedom.  As last year, the Fortnight will take place from June 21 (the vigil of the feasts of St. Thomas More and St. John Fisher) to July 4 (Independence Day).

There are three reasons why this year’s Fortnight is so important:

·         First, the Supreme Court’s rulings on marriage redefinition, which could have grave implications for religious freedom, will almost certainly be issued during the Fortnight.

·         Second, by the time of the Fortnight, the effective date of the HHS mandate-August 1, 2013 will be scarcely a month away, and the Administration’s decision on the shape of a final rule will likely be imminent.   We are still far from receiving the relief we need through the regulatory process.  So it will be very important to keep the public pressure on.

·         Third, the success of a second Fortnight is essential to perpetuating a new movement for life, marriage and religious liberty, highlighting the full range of ongoing religious freedom issues, here and abroad, and in so many other areas of law, such as immigration, adoption, and disaster relief.  Similarly, it is important to show that it is not tied to any election year, but to the broader principle of religious freedom. 

During the fortnight, I ask you to call on your parishioners and other constituents to join me in prayer for religious freedom.  As we all know, prayer can be very powerful and every day during the fourteen day fortnight, I am asking that in every parish, during every Mass, a special Prayer of the Faithful be said.  You are also encouraged to sponsor adoration, special devotions and catechetical sessions as part of this national religious liberty campaign.

Attached you will find suggested prayers that you may wish to use during the fortnight.  Additional resources are available on the HHS Mandate page of the diocesan website (www.buffalodiocese.org) and USCCB Fortnight resources are available at www.Fortnight4Freedom.org.

I will begin the Fortnight of Prayer on Saturday, June 22 at 8:00 a.m. Mass at St. Rose of Lima Church, corner of Parkside and Parker Avenues, Buffalo, where I will be celebrating the Rosary Novena for Life Mass and then later that same day at 4:30 p.m. Mass at St. Joseph Cathedral.  Both of these Masses are open for anyone in the Diocese who would like to come and pray with me for the intentions of the Fortnight.

The Fortnight of Prayer will conclude on Wednesday, July 3 at 3:00 pm with a Holy Hour and Benediction at the Dominican Monastery.  Bishop Grosz will preside at this celebration.

Catholics in the United States have long advocated for religious liberty, and it is our solemn duty to continue those efforts today.  Please join me and our fellow Catholics as we pray for a new birth of freedom in this great land!

Be assured of my grateful prayers and best wishes,

 

Yours sincerely in Christ,

Most Reverend Richard J. Malone

Bishop of Buffalo

May Crowning 2013

MAY CROWNING

The annual St. Benedict Parish May Crowning will take place at the 10:00 a.m. Mass on Sunday, May 5th.

 

The Rosary Altar Society will join our parish’s new third grade First Communicants, along with the eighth grade students in the ceremony to honor our Blessed Virgin Mother.

 

All families in the parish are welcome and encouraged to join the processions into church as we celebrate this beautiful event.

 

9th and 10th Graders - Christian Leadership

AN OPPORTUNITY FOR OUR NINTH AND TENTH GRADE STUDENTS

For some years our Diocese has had a summer gathering for our young people. This experience equips them for ministry with their peers, offers practical skills, and develops leadership potential. It also offers an opportunity to meet other young people from all over our diocese.

Our parish will sponsor, and underwrite the cost, for ten (10) ninth and tenth grade students for the Christian Leadership Institute which will be held at the Saint Columban Renewal Center on the Lake Shore in Derby from Sunday, June 23—Saturday, June 29.

Father Mock and Mr. Matt Smith, our Director of Youth Ministry and Faith Formation, will be sending letters of invitation to each of these students. Since space is limited to ten, please let us know of your desire to attend as soon as possible. Registrations need to be completed by the middle of May.

IMPORTANT PARISH MEETING!

We are having a Parish Planning Session on Sunday April 21 at 2pm followed by a special Mass at 4pm and dinner at 5pm.  All Parishioners are invited.  Please do everything you can to be with us for this very important day.

The general list of topics the Pastoral Council has developed are these:

Liturgy-music, homilies, times of Masses and types of Liturgy

Youth-Spiritual (Faith Formation), service, social

Parish Life/Community-Parish ministries, outreach and social aspects of parish community and increasing membership

School/Parish-The relationship between the two, how to improve interaction, communication, involvement and support

Finance-Financial health of Parish, capital projects, increased offertory

Everyone is welcome to attend this, but we will need a count for the dinner, which will be Chicken Parmesan. Please call the Rectory during regular business hours (9am-4pm), or send us an email at rectory@saintbenedicts.com to let us know you will be attending with the number joining us for dinner.

For families who want to attend, but whose children may be too young to participate in the discussions, we will have a few of our high school students available for child care from about 1:45 pm to 3:45 pm.

Everyone is welcome to attend Mass and share in the dinner. I sincerely hope you will be able to join us for this day. If you are unable, you may email the parish at rectory@saintbenedicts.com with your comments or concerns.

BishopS coming to St. Ben's

That's right!  in the next few weeks, St. Benedict Parish will be visited by TWO bishops for separate liturgies.  If you have not participated in a liturgy with a bishop in some time, now is your chance.  We welcome Bishop Malone and Bishop Grosz and are honored to have them with us.




Bishop Richard J. Malone will be at St. Benedict's on Sunday 28 April at the 10am Mass to officially install Fr. Robert Mock as our pastor.  There will be a reception for Bishop Malone afterwards in our cafeteria.  Please come and meet the new Ordinary of the Diocese of Buffalo. This is his first visit to our parish. In March of 2000, he was ordained Titular Bishop of Aptuca and appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Boston, South Region. Bishop Malone was installed as the 11th bishop of Portland, Maine, March 31, 2004. On May 29, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI named Bishop Malone 14th bishop of Buffalo. On Aug. 10, 2012, he was installed as 14th bishop of Buffalo at St. Joseph Cathedral. On the same day, he became apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Portland. For more information about Bishop Malone click his photo.



Bishop Edward M. Grosz will be at St. Benedict's on Tuesday 30 April at 7pm for the celebration of Confirmation.  Everyone is welcome to this liturgy. Confirmations with Bishop Grosz are always joyous events and full of the Spirit.  Please join us if you can.  Bishop Grosz, a Buffalo native, was appointed auxiliary bishop of Buffalo and titular bishop of Morosbisdo by Pope John Paul II on November 22, 1989. He was ordained a bishop and installed to these positions on February 2, 1990.  For more information about Bishop Grosz click his photo.

WELCOME TO ST. BENEDICT'S, BISHOPS!