Page 2 Vol. 50 No. 13 September 30, 2018 Father Vic+ PASTOR’S THOUGHTS: September 29-30, 2018 Donation Envelopes to our HVAC (heating and cool- ing) System Replacement Project can be found at all entrances to our Co-Cathedral church. Please use the en- velopes for your donations or the envelopes that was mailed to you. At the end of this month and every month till mid-December, please check the Stewardship Section (Weekly Collection Report) to see how we are doing with donations for this project. Thank you for your support! Phase III of our HVAC System Replacement Project is going well, copper pipes and new electrical panels are installed, and the workers have patched and repaired some large holes and openings on brick walls from previous projects. I would like to call your attention to a serious concern I have with regards to our FIRST FRIDAY Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. As you know, every 1 st Friday of the month, we expose the Blessed Sacrament in the church from 7 am till 5 pm. The liturgical rules of the Church on Solemn Exposition require that “in order for the Blessed Sacrament to be exposed, a substantial number of ador- ers must be present.” I was told that lately, an average of 1 or 2 people are present at “some” hours during the sol- emn exposition, which is not good. Based on previous Sign-Up sheets of adorers, the hours of 1 to 5 pm is where we need more adorers. IF YOU CAN SPEND AN HOUR with the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament after lunch until the 5 pm Mass – the Lord needs you, we need you! If we cannot fill the afternoon hours with the re- quired number of people, then we have to shorten the number of hours for this solemn exposition; we don’t want to do that! It is a privilege for us to pray with the Lord before the exposed Blessed Sacrament especially during these difficult times in our Church, in our country and in the world. Can you stay and keep watch with Him, watch and pray? If you can, just consider signing up as an adorer on the hours needed as mentioned above. The Sign- In Sheet will be located in the offertory table by the baptismal font. Thanks. Religious differences is not a new thing; it has been in existence for a very long time going back to the time of Moses (1 st reading from the Book of Numbers), during the time of Jesus (Gospel of Mark), and until now. When Jesus said “where two or three are gathered in my name” (Matthew 18:20), I always say, “there will be differences!” Why? Because it is part of our nature and freewill, i.e. people will always disagree and opinions abound even about God. We see this truth at play in our two readings this weekend. Jesus, however, respond to “religious differences” and places things in perspective when He said, “There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name who can AT THE SAME TIME speak ill of me. For whoever is not against us IS for us.” The consistency of faith and belief for Jesus is what iden- tifies us as His disciple. If we are truly His disciple and belonging to God, we all must be doing God’s work, speaking of His Words, living out His love. Becoming what we believe and living-out what we profess is the motto of every person baptized in Christ. Anything contrary to that is not of God. For Jesus, if we claim to be children of God and His followers, we must, at all times, be reflecting God all the time; this is the visible sign of God’s presence in us and us being present to God. Jesus is so serious about this requirement that the closing lines in the gospel of Mark seem so harsh, sound so painful, and yes, even deadly! Jesus would not settle for anything less from us. This is the reason why as Catholics, our mission is to UNITE a divided Church and communities besieged by differing religious opinions. Doctrines and dogmas may differ from one faith tradition to another BUT it should not divide us as Christians and members of Christ’s body – the Church! As one popular song goes, “we are many parts, we are all one body!” (1Cor. 12:12) The challenge of our faith this weekend is this: What can I do to promote unity (not necessarily uniformity) in the Church? Bishop’s Inaugural Award Recipients: A Special congratulations to our three recipients of our Bishop’s Inaugural Awards. These individuals exemplify outstanding high moral values in living their faith, as well as dedicating their time and support to different ministries, our diocese and the foundation. Bishop Fabre and the Catholic Foundation are excited to honor and recognize the following recipients: Bishop’s Faith in Action Award ~ Mr. Charles “Mike” Callais Matthew 25 Catholic Charities Award ~ Mr. Allen J. Danos, Jr. Seminarian Champion Award ~ Dr. James “Jimmy” Peltier