New Beginnings: Liturgical Year & Sunday Mass Schedule
Dear Fellow Parishioners of Our Lady of Divine Providence Family of Parishes,
Today we celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King, and bring the Church’s liturgical year to an end. Next Sunday begins a new church year, with the First Sunday of Advent, and the beginning of preparation for Christmas. As we listen to the readings, let us consider the ways in which we live as participants in the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus is a true King, and we can be with Him in Paradise this day, if we resolve to confess our sins, embrace our crosses, and acknowledge His rule over every aspect of our lives. Pope Francis wrote, “It has been said that the only real regret lies in not being a saint (L. Bloy); we could also say that there is only one real kind of poverty: not living as children of God and brothers and sisters of Christ…”
This week we celebrated the Feast of Our Lady of Divine Providence, and consecrated the people of our Family of Parishes to Jesus through Mary, in a special way. This is a practical and devotional gesture of submitting to His Kingship. Thank you to all who participated in the prayers of preparation and who contributed to the celebration. As the readings and prayers of the preparation process taught us, it is good to be close to Mary to be closer to Jesus.
As we grow in our identity as children of Our Lady of Divine Providence, and therefore brothers and sisters of Jesus, we can practically solidify the reality of the Kingdom of Heaven by uniting together and sharing our strengths. As a Family of Parishes, we will begin to do that in a real and visible way in the new calendar year, with a new weekend Mass schedule. As you know from reading past bulletins, this new weekend Mass schedule will begin on January 11, 2025, on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord and the beginning of Ordinary Time. This new Mass schedule will make us more unified in the one Christ, as we become more united around the one Bread of Life and the one Chalice. Practically, the new Mass schedule will allow us to accommodate more Saturday funerals, potentially, as well as the possibility of a Sunday evening Mass, which many people have been asking for.
The new Mass schedule will be envisioned by a team of people from the Family of Parishes Worship Committee, which is composed of representatives from each of the individual campus worship commissions. Guided by a volunteer consultant who has successfully led six other Mass schedule changes at Families in the Archdiocese, this team will present three options to me, and, I will make the final choice.
On a personal note, I am grateful for many of you who have expressed your support and understanding of the role that I have undertaken as pastor. You’ve expressed understanding of this big job with all its moving pieces. It has been a transformative challenge for me so far, and I look forward to that transformative process continuing. I am grateful for the many blessings these parishes share, for our many strengths, and for the vision of a stronger, more united Catholic presence in our community.
I also wish each of you a blessed Thanksgiving filled with gratitude! Let us also remember in our hearts and prayers those for whom the holidays are a challenge. Some folks are reminded of their grief and loneliness during the holidays, and we should make a point to identify with them, as Christ has identified Himself with us and suffered with us and for us.
Let us resolve to become saints, and so be united in making the Kingdom of Heaven a practical reality for us today. As Jesus tells us, “the Kingdom of Heaven is among you.” May Mary, who possessed that Kingdom always in her heart, and now reigns over it as Queen, guide us along the path of Divine Providence.
Yours in Christ,
Fr. Henry Hoffmann
