- I am pleased to share with you an announcement two years in the making. Yesterday I signed a 14-year lease with The Embers Academy, securing our joint future focusing on the universal call to holiness emphasized by Vatican II. The importance of this moment for our parish cannot be overstated. Firstly, The Embers Academy is a Christ-centered apostolate whose mission is not only in line with our own but brings valuable wisdom and perspectives. Many Embers families have become important members of our community, breathing new life into our parish and modeling for us what a Christ-centered family can look like. Additionally, without the income from The Embers Academy, our parish would be in a far worse financial situation. Our stewardship report will help everyone to understand this more, but without the presence of The Embers Academy, our parish would be financially insolvent. Our entry into a long-term relationship with Embers is an important milestone in the 60+ year history of our parish. I would like to offer a special word of gratitude to Fr. Chris Gustafson, Rich Gargul, Steve Dolan, and former members of the parish and finance councils. Their investment of time and energy helped grow the relationship with Embers and is the reason I can share this good news with you. I am also grateful for the opportunity to work with Tom Carter and the leadership of Embers and look forward to our continued long-term partnership. We look forward to The Embers Academy helping to Spark Joy in our community and beyond!
- The first phase of the school construction project is nearing completion. Importantly, a new handicap parking lot will soon be available adjacent to the Greenwood doors. As you know, these doors are the closest to our limited mobility pews. As a reminder, our limited mobility section is for all who cannot come forward to receive communion, whether it is due to physical difficulties or simply the challenges of juggling young children. At weekend Masses, one of our ministers brings communion to this section first. At weekday Masses, our minister brings communion to this section last. In the coming months, we hope to install an automatic door at this side entrance, increasing the ease of access for those with mobility challenges. This is just one of the many ways that the construction project will benefit our community.
- Our Senior Leadership Team has returned from the Word on Fire evangelization conference. It was a blessing to spend time with Catholics from around the country, all on fire for helping the Catholic Church to reconnect with its fundamental mission. Bishop Barron and his team spoke about the freeing power of the Gospel, the need to recenter and reorganize all of the Church’s life around evangelization, and much more. A word of gratitude to Bishop Barron and his team for welcoming the Our Lady of Ransom contingent to this important gathering. It's providential that, at the annual bishops' meeting this past week, Archbishop Gomez, the head of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), plainly said to the bishops: "The Church exists to evangelize ....to proclaim Jesus Christ and to help every person to find him and to walk with him." Everything we do at Our Lady of Ransom - everything! - is directed towards this fundamental truth.
- As mentioned a few weeks ago, we will share the annual stewardship report this weekend. While we have been consistently communicating the main themes of the report over the past year, seeing the raw data can be jarring. There are abundant signs of fruitfulness and renewal at work in our community. There are, however, some troubling trends. I ask you to listen to the stewardship report with an open heart, asking the question of how Christ the King of the Universe is calling us to be better stewards of the many gifts he has given us.
- Below, our music director Paul Matijevic continues to educate us about music in the liturgy and how our new resource will support us in praying the Mass. As a reminder, this new resource will be in the pews the first weekend of Advent. A fews items related to this:
- With this new resources, we also gain access to an outstanding electronic platform. Therefore, also beginning the first weekend of Advent, we will publish a weekly electronic worship aid, containing all the hymns, readings and prayers for Sunday Mass. We will provide instructions on how to access the worship aid on your phone or tablet. Whether you like to page through a physical book, or prefer the ease of a well-formatted electronic worship aid, we will have the perfect resource available to you!
- Since the "Source & Summit" hymnal will be in our pews, we will remove the small bottles of hand sanitizer. We still encourage you to sanitize your hands prior to receiving communion and ask that you bring your own hand sanitizer.
- For several years, our community has exclusively used the Apostles Creed at Mass. With new hymnals in the racks, we will use the Creed that is most common at other parishes, the Nicene Creed. For those who might be a little rusty on the Nicene Creed, it is printed in the new "Source & Summit" book and we will share the page number with you during Mass.
- We are very thankful for the many hands that contributed to the Alpha experience in the area of 'feeding the hungry'. The meals became a fun part of each group bringing their own special flair. Everyone truly provided amazing food, stellar clean-up efforts, and created a joyful ambiance through all the laughter and fun in the kitchen. Thank you to the Knights of Columbus (3 meals), Therese McCall/Linda Polan (1 meal), OLR Staff & Leadership Team (1 meal), Colleen O'Dowd/youth volunteers (1 meal), and the Alpha Team (4 meals). The Hospitality offered to the Alpha participants truly revealed the Heart of Jesus to all involved. Thank you!
Heavenly Father, we are thankful for the gifts that you give, those we recognize and those we fail to recognize. We are especially grateful for ...
- a young man who has begun to turn his life around and make better life choices;
- a parishioner who is celebrating the end of the first part of cancer treatment with no side effects and a very hopeful prognosis;
- the safe travels of the Senior Leadership Team and their experience at the Word on Fire evangelization conference;
- the new lease with The Embers Academy;
Jesus, for those graces spoken and unspoken, we give you thanks; and we ask that you multiply their fruits in our lives and the lives of those around us.
- Amen
PART 4
For the last several weeks, we have been discussing the introduction of the Source & Summit Missal at Our Lady of Ransom. Today we want to discuss the difference between what we had in the pews prior to the pandemic and what will appear in the pews on the first weekend of Advent, November 27th and 28th.
Prior to the pandemic, we had the Gather Hymnal, which contained some liturgical hymns, many devotional hymns and some mass settings, as well as a seasonal missalette. By moving to Source & Summit, we will be consolidating these into one book that is more in keeping with the vision and mission of Our Lady of Ransom.
Every page of the Source & Summit Missal is designed to help parishes elevate the liturgy, while presenting the standard offerings of a missal, such as the Sunday readings and antiphons, daily Mass propers, and an Order of Mass. The heart of the missal, however, is its immense repertoire of antiphon settings as well as an expansive hymn library above and beyond the familiar hymns of past decades.
The phrase “Source & Summit” is often used in many Catholic circles to refer to the Eucharist alone, says Jethro Higgins, the marketing director at Source & Summit. “But when you read the texts of the Sacrosanctum Concilium (the constitution on the liturgy from the Second Vatican Council), [the phrase] actually refers to the liturgy as the Source & Summit of our faith, with the celebration of the Eucharist being the pinnacle of that.” This means that when the liturgy is celebrated well, and in its proper context as the summit of the faith, the rest of the Catholic life and mission — from evangelization and catechesis to the devotional life — can “flow from that.”
We are pleased to announce that the music program will be introducing the Source & Summit Missal to Our Lady of Ransom on the first weekend of Advent, November 27th and 28th. Stay tuned for more information on the premiere of this new missal in the pews!