My Dearest Parishioners,

I pray that you are all doing well and are staying safe, sane and sober-ish.  As you remember at our first full weekend back we saw 531 souls spread over six Masses.  This past weekend (May 30/31) we saw 834 souls at the following Masses: Saturday 5pm: 176, Sunday 9am: 186 in the Church and 14 at the Fallon Center Mass, 11:30: 144, 1:30pm: 243, Sunday 5pm: 71.  I hope this information is helpful to gauge which might be a better Mass to go to.  Again, you still have the dispensation from the Bishop to not attend Mass if you don't feel comfortable coming out.  Daily Mass is a good option for those who would like more space and a shorter service.

Here at Our Lady of Lourdes we have had Perpetual Adoration for over 25 years and it has brought tremendous blessings to all who have been involved and I'm sure untold miracles to those who were prayed for.  For many years we have had difficulty getting the required two adorers for each hour.  Many appeals have been made and we always get a few new people who will make a weekly commitment for a critical hour which is greatly appreciated. 

It dawned on me recently (Actually I named my Guardian Angel Dawn which covers all bases because in the South, Dawn and Don are pronounced the same: Dawn) that our dentists do a thriving business and have hourly scheduled appointments two or three months out from patients that they only see two or three times a year and not the same person every week at the same day and time.  Same with our doctors.  It is the same with getting an oil change or maintenance on our car.  Not many would want to do that weekly but we GLADLY do it every four months or so, especially if it were free, because we know that our car would be a hot mess if we didn't.  We have no problem going to a hair salon or barbershop every couple of months and making an appointment and sitting there reading a Field and Stream magazine from 1998 while we wait.  After our Quarantini-hairdos for the past two months we can see who is in desperate need of a buzz.  Well imagine the state of your immortal soul.

I don't want to just target people for a weekly commitment but to take the maintenance approach and get EVERY parishioner to treat your soul at least as well as you would your teeth, car and hair.  We all make a scheduled appointment in our secular lives whether it is twice a year or once a month and we know that we are better off for it.  The bread and butter of dentists and doctors are the patients that they see infrequently but who know that their wellness will improve as a result of that one visit.

Please give Jesus Christ access to your heart by going to our adoration website: oll.weadorehim.com and sign up for an hour that currently has only one scheduled adorer. Do so again when you feel the NEED and not because you feel OBLIGED.  If we all do this then our Chapel will be booked solid with at least two adorers in the Heavenly waiting room 24/7 and the floodgates of grace will pour out upon the world.  Imagine the difference that you can make and imagine the personal transformation.

The night before He died Our Lord asked his three closest apostles for just one hour of their time to pray with Him that night.  He never got that hour.  Jesus awaits you in the Adoration Chapel to give Him that one hour that He so desperately needed.  We pray that it will lead you to desire a daily encounter with Our Eucharistic Lord but we must all start with baby steps.

You are all so very dear to me and I thank God that I am your pastor.  Thank you for all that you do.  Peace be with you.
Fr. Pat