click for full bulletin
From the Pastor’s Desk
Bishop Estévez Calls Faithful to Worship and Prayer
in Response to Church’s Sexual Abuse Misdeeds
This Friday and Saturday, the Feast of the Triumph of the Holy Cross and the Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows, the Most Rev. Felipe Estévez, Bishop of St. Augustine, has called all the faithful to days of worship and prayer due to the latest revelations of sexual misconduct and cover-up by the Church in the United States.
Friday, September 14 is the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. In addition to the regular 7:00 a.m. Mass, there will also be a 6:00 p.m. Mass in the Cathedral. Our Bishop has asked all of us to consider using this Friday as a day of fasting and penance for the sins of which we need to repent. In fasting, he asks that we think about doing it in the manner Christians did long ago, that is, by not eating or drinking (or, at least eating and drinking as little as possible) then going to Mass in the evening and having the reception of Christ’s Body and Blood “break the fast.”
On Saturday, the Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows, we will turn to the Blessed Mother of our Savior and Lord – she who bore untold sorrows – asking her intercession for abuse victims and sinners as well as for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit to guide the Church in these days of crisis. At 12:00 noon in the Cathedral, the Rosary will be recited in addition to praying the Litany of Our Lady of Sorrows.
Please consider coming together for these acts of worship and prayer so that, as the People of God – the family of the Church – we may seek His Providence, His Strength, His Truth, His Charity.
Love,
Father Tom