October 8, 2023
Twenty-Seventh sunday of ordinary time
by Fr. Boniface Endorf, OP
Dear St. Joseph Parish Family,
We have a lot of events this week as our Fall schedule unfolds. This Tuesday at St. Patrick’s Cathedral Fr. Mike Schmitz will celebrate a 4:30pm Mass followed by a Eucharistic procession. I’ll be there and it would be great if many of you could join.
This Friday, 10/13, we have the first of our three Fall Thomistic Institute talks. Dr. Michael Root will talk about “Purgatory: Good News for Most of Us.” It will be in McGuire Hall and the doors open at 6:30pm, the talk starts at 7pm. It should be a great talk!
This Saturday, 10/14, ArtHouse2B will host a Catholic art exhibit at St. Joseph’s. the doors open at 7pm and the exhibit will be in McGuire Hall. I’m hoping that St. Joseph’s can become a hub of the Catholic art scene in NYC and this event is an effort in that direction.
There are many more events planned for this Fall so make sure to check what’s happening at St. Joe’s every week.
God Bless,
Fr. Boniface
Mass Tidbit:
The next part of the Eucharistic prayer is one of my favorites. The celebrant prays: “Be pleased to look upon these offerings with a serene and kindly countenance, and to accept them, as once you were pleased to accept the gifts of your servant Abel the just, the sacrifice of Abraham, our father in faith, and the offering of your high priest Melchizedek, a holy sacrifice, a spotless victim.”
We again ask God the Father to accept the sacrifice we’ve taken part in: Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. The prayer links this sacrifice to the previous ones from Scripture, offered by Abel, Abraham, and Melchizedek (see the book of Genesis for details). What makes the sacrifice of the Mass different than those is the spotless victim: Christ Himself. This sacrifice of the Mass is thus the ultimate sacrifice which washes away the sins of the world. Our hope lies in Christ’s victory on the cross. We ask God the Father to accept that victory, knowing that our hope is certain. Because of Christ’s actions we have no need to fear for Christ has won us for Himself.
