This bulletin column covers everything from chairs to parishioners heading on mission to Mexico City. Those things go together, right? Definitely.
Currently, the celebrant and deacon chairs at Our Lady of the Valley are angled towards the congregation. On Friday, September 9, we will rotate them to face the altar. Before just moving the chairs, I wanted to take a second to explain why we are making this small shift. There are parts of the Mass where the priest is addressing God and, other times, he is addressing the faithful. By rotating the chairs, we can show this with our posture. For example, the priest can face the congregation for sign of the Cross, greeting, invitation to reflect on our sinfulness before the penitential act, and the “Let us Pray.” Then, for the times that we are praying to God the Father, the priest can face the altar, such as, the penitential act itself, Gloria, and the Collect prayer. Our posture more clearly shows who we are communicating with during which part of the Mass. Thanks! I am more than incredibly excited to share Our Lady of Guadalupe, Hope of the Poor, and its ministry with 14 new individuals. A group of 15 of us are headed down to Mexico City September 13-18. That is 14 new people who get to encounter and fall more deeply in love with Christ in the poor. We do not know yet which ministry venues where we will be serving, but it could include any of the following—the homeless, the city dump, men’s shelter, women’s shelter, or anything else that Hope of the Poor has in store for us! It will also be a trip rooted in prayer. Please keep the 15 of us in prayer that we may experience what our Lord and Blessed Mother desire for us. Please know with confidence that we will be praying for all of you and your intentions.
As our departing plane leaves absurdly early in the morning, we aren’t going to be able to ask parishioners to drop off clothing or other donations for us to take down. If you’d like to participate in our mission, however, then I’d invite you to do one of two things or both: pray for us and/or send Hope of the Poor a monetary donation.
To donate online, go to hopeofthepoor.org and give via credit card or check—just click donate. If you donate online, please let me know, then I will let Craig, the founder of Hope of the Poor, know which donations came for the S4 Family of Parishes. Then, Craig will let me know how he is using our donations the week that we are in Mexico City and beyond. Then, I’ll share that with all of you. I will do my best to post occasional social media updates during our trip and we will definitely share the fruits upon our return. And if you are wishing that you were joining us, I’m sure I’ll take a trip down in the future. It is such a wonderful experience focused on our Lord Jesus Christ. And Our Lady of Guadalupe kinda has my heart—she keeps drawing me back. Praying for all of you!