June 24, 2018
The Nativity of Saint John the Baptist
Views From The Pews
2
Did You Know?
In an e-mail, Pat asks three questions.
“The ‘Gloria’, first sentence…’we bless
you.’ I thought that God blesses us, not
the other way. Is this a translation problem?”
“It is a translation problem. The original Hebrew
word, barak, also means to praise, congratulate or
salute. Don’t ask me why the Church doesn’t use one of
those words. I don’t know.”
The Church warned at the beginning of the Sexual
Revolution that ignoring Church rules on sexual behavior
would lead to tragic results. Well, there were two sexually
transmitted diseases before 1960. The number is now
twenty-five and climbing.
Father Mike
“The ‘Our Father’ … ‘lead us not into temptation.’ Jesus
gave us this prayer. Why would he include the phrase that
asks God not to lead us into temptation, when we are
taught that is impossible for God? Is this a translation
problem?”
“This is not a translation problem.
The exact
translation of the Greek is “...and lead us not into
temptation.” Here’s the problem. The phrase, standing
alone, leads to your confusion. The phrase is incomplete
without “but deliver us from evil.” The complete phrase
means: “we’d prefer you don’t even expose us to a test
of our character but, if you do, we are assured you will
give us the grace to successfully overcome the test.” Why do we do what we do?
“A few years ago, when the US bishops gave us an
updated Mass liturgy, why didn’t they update the most
common prayers, the Our Father and Hail Mary, by
changing the Old English words: thou (you), thee (you),
art (are or is) and thy (your). I think the word amongst in
the Hail Mary has been changed to among.”
“I don’t know. However, either the Old English
version or the vernacular version is acceptable.” All are welcomed!
You continue to shower me with wonderful going away
messages. Here is part of an especially delightful one
from the Ly Family. “You are truly one of the sweetest,
caring, loving, understanding and kindest pastors.”
“Thank you for your extraordinarily kind words. That
kind of exaggeration is usually reserved for a eulogy, but
I certainly appreciate hearing it now, as I leave, not die.”
Father Mike
Eucharistic Adoration
Christ suffer ed and died for Y OU. His love for you is
unfathomable. It’s time to take time for Him. Visit Him
during Eucharistic Adoration Thursday, June 28th in the
Day Chapel.
Call the Pastoral Center at 347-2203 to be placed on the
Adoration schedule.
Drop ins are ALWAYS welcome!!
The Mass Explained
Week 2 on
The Introductory Rites
&
The Liturgy of the Word
Wednesday, June 27 th
6:00pm
in the Main Body of Church
Want to dig deeper into your Catholic faith?
We can help.
Visitation of Our Lady Parish will
be offering The Rite of Christian
Initiation of Adults Program (RCIA)
beginning this August. The RCIA
Program is designed for adults 18
and over who are:
unbaptized
baptized in another Christian faith who wish to
become Catholic
baptized Catholics who have not yet received the
sacraments of First Communion or Confirmation, or
who received little or no instruction in the Catholic
faith as children.
Classes are held every Wednesday from August to April
at 7 p.m. in the Visitation of Our Lady Church meeting
room. The classes are interesting and fun. And there are
NO TESTS. For more information, call Fr. Francis at (504)
347-2203.
First RCIA class starts August 29, 2018.