RESPONSORIAL PSALM: The just man is a light in darkness to the upright.
TODAY’S MASS INTENTION: Anna Cseh, by the Family
MASS SCHEDULE & INTENTIONS FOR THE COMING WEEK:
| February | 6 | Monday | 9:00 AM | Steve & Renee Spisak (sp. intention), by Mary Spisak |
| February | 7 | Tuesday | 9:00 AM | Parishioners of St. Emeric and St. Elizabeth parishes |
| February | 8 | Wednesday | 9:00 AM | Ádám Kindler-Matavovszky, by Marcsi Matavovszky |
| February | 9 | Thursday | 9:00 AM | Stephen Kacsala, by Mary Spisak |
| February | 10 | Friday | 9:00 AM | Celebrant’s Intention |
| February | 11 | Saturday | 5:00 PM | † Members of Nemeth/Hehn Families, by the Family |
| February | 12 | Sunday | 11:15 AM | Joseph & Anna Cseh, by the Family |
FROM THE DESK OF FR. BONA: This past week we blessed candles (February 2) and this weekend we will offer the Blessing of St. Blaise. These are examples of sacramentals, but perhaps the most well-known sacramental is holy water. So today, I would like to offer a short catechesis on the difference between sacraments and sacraments.
Conceptually we began to distinguish between sacraments and sacramentals from the 10th and 11th centuries on. By that time, the teaching about the sacraments had developed enough to differentiate clearly between these two realities. A fundamental difference between the two is that while the seven sacraments were instituted by Christ, the sacramentals were created by the will of the Church. Popularly, we tend to formulate the difference that while the sacraments are necessary to achieve salvation, the sacramentals are not mandatory. Like all simplifications, this one tends to obscure the matter. Therefore, it is better to say that the sacramentals are not mandatory, but they are still necessary.
As Father János Szalai wrote: “The sacramentals add the prayer of the Church to my weak prayers. For example, when I arrive at the church, I ask that the Lord forgive my sins so that I can participate in the common prayer and sacrifice with a pure soul; if at the same time I also sprinkle myself with the holy water, then not only am I asking this myself, but the Church is also asking it for me. If I pray for myself or my dead loved ones in the presence of a burning blessed candle, then to these prayers the Church adds her own supplication. When I have certain things blessed (e.g. a vehicle, house, prayer book, etc.), I not only connect the prayer of the Church to my own, but I also ask that the blessed object not only fulfill its earthly role, but that I use it for spiritual benefit and also serve for my salvation. Blessings and sacraments are not spells with which I can use God’s power to serve me. They are not unnecessary, out of fashion gone old habits either. The prayer of the Church is never superfluous, because it makes my feeble prayer more effective.”
So why to use the sacramentals? Because the sacramentals sanctify certain circumstances of life, and with the help of the Church’s prayer, they prepare the soul to receive grace and help her to cooperate with it. Using an analogy taken from medicine: if the sacraments are the medicine needed for the maintenance and development of the spiritual life, then the sacramentals are the nutritional supplements with a medicinal effect. Even if they are not medications, they still have a healing and strengthening role (farkasretiplebania.hu – modified).
MEMORIAL OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY OF LOURDES: On February 11, we pray for the protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Lourdes. Blessed Pope Pius IX promulgated the dogma of the Immaculate Conception in 1854. Four years later, the Marian apparitions took place in Lourdes, France, between February 11 and July 16, 1858. The Immaculate Virgin appeared to Bernadette Soubirous eighteen times. She used her to draw the attention of the sick and suffering to the importance of the Eucharist. This day is also the World Day of the Sick (as ordained by St. Pope John Paul II in 1992). On this day, thus, we ask for the intercession of the Holy Virgin for our suffering brothers and sisters and for those who care for the sick and suffering.
LAST WEEKEND’S COLLECTION: (1/29) – Sunday collection: $1,342; maintenance: $250. May God reward your generosity in supporting the church. Thank you for sending in your donations by mail or using our website https://stemeric.com/donations/.
PLEASE PRAY FOR THE SICK, especially for Bev Kimar, Rose Dudevszky, Teréz Kalász, Lajos Boday, Julius Skerlan, Márta Takács, Zsuzsanna Hunyadi, Albert Kovács, Viola Kocskár and Mária Hokky.
THIS SUNDAY the 11:15 AM Mass from St. Emeric church will be livestreamed at https://www.facebook.com/saintemeric/ and https://stemeric.com/
LET US PRAY THREE HAIL MARYS FOR OUR PARISH EVERY DAY!
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