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On-line Mass Intentions:
Honor a loved one with a Mass Intention. Having a Mass offered for a birthday, anniversary, or a particular need is appropriate, beneficial, and appreciated. The person’s name will be printed in the Sunday bulletin and may be mentioned at Mass, and a card may be sent to the person you designate.
- The suggested minimum donation per every requested Mass intention here is $11 ($10 Mass intention + $1 Credit Card Processing fee).
- If you want a card mailed via USPS, please add $8 per intention/Mass to cover the processing, shipping, and handling costs.
To request a Mass intention online:
1. Submit HERE your Mass intention electronic contribution via our online payment service
www.FaithDirect.net.
2. Submit the Mass intention request form below (one submission per Mass intention):
IMPORTANT: Please note that your Mass intention will be scheduled on the first available open date in the Parish Mass Calendar. You may choose a month during which the Mass will be offered for your intention; however, it is not guaranteed and may not be available. We will inform you about the actual date on which the Holy Mass will be celebrated. The Mass Schedule is listed on the home page of this website. -
Mass Cards:
Are great for any occasion!
Birthdays. . . Anniversaries. . .
Get Well Wishes. . . Blessings...
Deceased loved ones. . .
There are a variety of Mass cards to choose from. Stop by the Parish Office to schedule a Mass for your loved ones! -
The Eucharist is “the source and summit of Christian life.” (Lumen Gentium, 11) This means that it is the nourishment our spirits need, and it is the closest we can be to Christ while we live our human existence.
The Eucharist is the third of the sacraments of initiation, because in the early church, it was the meal shared by the community after one had been welcomed into the doors of the church in Baptism, made the promises of Confirmation, and then shares in the meal with the community. Receiving the body of Christ is the closest we may come to Christ while in this life. Eating and drinking food keep us alive; eating and drinking the Eucharistic meal sustains our spirit, and helps us grow in our life, always mindful of the commitment we made to be as Christ wants us through Baptism and Confirmation.
The Eucharist represents Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. It reminds us of the love of God to bring God’s word into human history, of the sin of humankind that rejects God’s love, and of the infinite mercy of God, who restores us when we are willing to accept this love. It is the ultimate way we can respond to God’s offer of love, and a way that we as Catholics, continue to remind the world that we live in eternal hope. -
What does it mean to have a Mass offered for someone?
The tradition of offering Masses for others, particular- ly the dead, originates in the very early Church. The Catholic Mass is the highest form of prayer that we know of. An individual may ask a priest to offer a Mass for several reasons: for example, in thanksgiving, for the intentions of another person (such as on a birthday), or, as is most common, for the repose of the soul of someone who has died. One must never forget the infinite graces that flow from the Sacrifice of the Mass which benefit one’s soul. Pope Leo XIII in his encyclical "Mirae caritatis," (mirror of charity) beautifully elaborated this point and emphasized the connection between the communion of saints with the Mass: "The grace of mutual love among the living, strengthened and increased by the sacrament of the Eucharist, flows, especially by virtue of the Sacrifice of the Mass, to all who belong to the communion of saints."
In his encyclical "Ecclesia de Eucharistia," Saint John Paul II, taught, "In the celebration of the Eucharistic Sacrifice, the Church prays that God, the Father of mercies, will grant His children the fullness of the Holy Spirit so that they may become one body and one spirit in Christ" (no. 43).
When a priest offers Holy Mass, he has three intentions: First, to offer the Mass reverently and validly in accord with the norms of the Church. Second, to offer the Mass in union with the whole Church and for the good of the whole Church. Third, to offer the Mass for a particular intention, such as the repose of the soul of someone who has died.
The special personal fruits of the Mass benefit the celebrating priest who acts in the person of Christ in offering the Mass and to the people who are in attendance and participate in the offering of the Mass. These fruits are both extensively and intensively finite, since each of us is finite. Therefore, the more a Mass is offered, the more benefit is conferred.
Finally, a person may ask a priest to offer a Mass for a par- ticular intention; usually, a stipend is given to the priest (a suggested minimum donation in the Archdiocese of Chicago is $10) for offering the Mass, which thereby in justice creates an obligation, which must be satisfied.
When we face the death of someone, even a person who is not Catholic, to have a Mass offered for the repose of his or her soul and to offer our prayers are more beneficial and comforting than any other sympathy card or bouquet of flowers. To have a Mass offered on the occasion of a birthday, anniversary or special need is appropriate, beneficial and appreciated.
A Mass intention may be set for: - a deceased loved one, - a living person who is sick or suffering, - a living person who is celebrating a birthday, anniversary or other special mo- ment in his or her life, - in thanksgiving to God (including the Lord Jesus or the Holy Spirit), - in thanksgiving for a prayer from a Blessed or a Saint, and - for any prayer intention (as long as such intention does not contradict Church teaching).
Mass intentions can be scheduled by visiting the Parish Office.
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Guidelines for the Reception of Holy Communion
For Catholics
"As Catholics, we fully participate in the celebration of the Eucharist when we receive Holy Communion. We are encouraged to receive Communion devoutly and frequently. In order to be properly disposed to receive Communion, participants should not be conscious of grave sin and normally should have fasted for one hour. A person who is conscious of grave sin is not to receive the Body and Blood of the Lord without prior sacramental confession except for a grave reason where there is no opportunity for confession. In this case, the person is to be mindful of the obligation to make an act of perfect contrition, including the intention of confessing as soon as possible (canon #916). A frequent reception of the Sacrament of Penance is encouraged for all.”
For Other Christians
"We welcome our fellow Christians to this celebration of the Eucharist as our brothers and sisters. We pray that our common baptism and the action of the Holy Spirit in this Eucharist will draw us closer to one another and begin to dispel the sad divisions which separate us. We pray that these will lessen and finally disappear, in keeping with Christ's prayer for us 'that they may all be one' (Jn 17:21).
"Because Catholics believe that the celebration of the Eucharist is a sign of the reality of the oneness of faith, life, and worship, members of those churches with whom we are not yet fully united are ordinarily not admitted to Holy Communion.
For Non-Christians
"We also welcome to this celebration those who do not share our faith in Jesus Christ. While we cannot admit them to Holy Communion, we ask them to offer their prayers for the peace and the unity of the human family." -
"Happy are those who are called to His supper"...
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, on November 14th, 2006 came up with the statement Happy Are Those Who Are Called To His Supper. In their statement Bishops remind us that the reception of Holy Communion is an integral part of our worship as a community of faith. Likewise, the term “communion” accentuates the fact that, in receiving Holy Communion, we are united to Jesus and thus to one another. With few exceptions, only those who are members of the Catholic Church may received Holy Communion at a Catholic Eucharistic liturgy.
In virtue of our membership in the Catholic Church we are ordinarily free to receive Holy Communion. We should strive to receive Holy Communion regularly, and worthily. We may find ourselves in situations, however, where an examination of our conscience before God reveals to us that we should refrain from partaking of the Body and Blood of Christ. In order to receive Holy Communion we must be in communion with God and with the Church (through the Sacrament of Reconciliation).
Mortal sin constitutes a rejection of communion with God and destroys the life of grace within us. Mortal sin is an act violating God’s law that involves grave matter and that is performed with both full knowledge and complete consent of the will. If we are no longer in the state of grace because of mortal sin, we are seriously obligated to refrain from receiving Holy Communion until we are reconciled with God and the Church through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. St. Paul warned the Corinthians that “whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord” (1 Cor 11:27). Certain thoughts, actions, and omissions entail grave sinful matter. While, it is not possible to make a complete list of thoughts and actions that involve grave matter, the U.S. Bishops, following the order of the Ten Commandments, mentioned some examples:
● believing in or honoring as divine anyone or anything other than God of the Holy Scriptures;
●swearing a false oath while invoking God as a witness;
● failing to worship God by missing Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligations without a serious reason, such as sickness;
● acting in serous disobedience against proper authority; dishonoring one’s parents by neglecting them in their need and infirmity;
●committing murder, including abortion and euthanasia; harboring deliberate hatred of others; sexual abuse of another, especially of a minor or vulnerable adult; physical or verbal abuse of others that causes grave physical or psychological harm;
● engaging in sexual activity outside the bonds of a valid marriage;
● stealing in a gravely injurious way, such as robbery, burglary, serious fraud, or other immoral business practices;
● speaking maliciously or slandering people in a way that seriously undermines their good name;
● producing, marketing, or indulging in pornography;
● engaging in envy that leads one to wish a grave harm to someone else;
Catholics who are conscious of committing any mortal sin must receive the Sacrament of Penance before receiving the Holy Communion.
Repeating the words of late Saint John Paul II “the Sacrament of Eucharist and the Sacrament of Reconciliation go together,” We encourage you to be renewed through the purity of heart, which is offered thought the Sacrament of Reconciliation. We invite you to taste the mercy and forgiveness of Christ offered through this Sacrament. When we confess our sins, we are transformed more into the likeness of Christ!
