Dear Parishioners,

First of all, I want to give you a short course on our Catholic understanding of the Eucharist/ Communion. Love for the Eucharist is central to our Catholic Faith so I give you a short and quick overview of its meaning for us – using four key words.

Memorial: At the Last Supper Jesus said: “Do this in memory of me.” Doing what Jesus did at the Last Supper is our “key and central memorial” of Jesus.”

We gather at a shared meal together; we talk about and reflect on the work that Jesus did; we take bread and wine and we use the words of Jesus: “This is my Body; This is my blood;” and we share a meal/ a ritual of remembering Jesus’ work of redemption and of friendship to those called to be his followers! And we re-commit ourselves to his work! – totally in obedience to his Word.

Sacrament: This is another way of saying “the Real Presence of Christ” in the Eucharist. The bread is changed into Christ Himself; the wine is changed into Christ Himself. “My flesh is really food; my blood is really drink; the one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me and I in them,” says John 6. It is so clear in the Scriptures that it is hard to understand why some Christian Churches do not understand and accept this reality. Jesus chose to be present to all of us through the ages and He has done so by changing the bread and wine into Himself – to be the source of our spiritual nourishment and to be worshipped and adored! HisphysicalresurrectedbodyisinheavenwiththeFather;butJesusestablishedawayof beingtrulywithusthroughouttheagesin His Sacramental Body. It is the same Christ in heaven as on our altar. It is the food for our eternal life; it is Christ Himself living within us. What a great gift! What an immense “mystery of faith,” this gift of the Eucharist!

Sacrifice: St. Paul says: “Whenever you do this, you proclaim (make present) the death of the Lord until he comes again!” The meaning of the Mass is that we are able to join our imperfect human worship to the full offering of Christ to the Father; and then His sacrifice and prayer becomes our sacrifice and prayer. – Much more prayerful and meaningful than praying on a golf course or on the top of a mountain!!!!

Covenant: I love this concept! A Covenant was the most powerful and demanding agreement between peoples or nations. It promised that one person or nation would give their life for the good of another person or nation. Guess what, God gave his life for us and (guess what) we promise to give our lives in his service! The Covenant of marriage is similar to the Covenant with God but the one with God is on an even higher level! We renew our covenant promise with Christ each time we come to Mass! And, at the end of Mass, we take our covenant home with us and live it!

The above reasons are why Mass is so important for Catholic people and why this Feast today is so beautiful.

Now, I wish to publicly say good-bye to Fr. Tad and to thank him for his three years of service in priesthood to our Parish.

I am grateful for all that he has done amongst us – for his gift of insightful preaching, for his willingness to go beyond normal expectations of service and take on extra pastoral ministry as the demands arise, for his friendship to and openness to the needs of parishioners.

I do hope and pray that he brings with him to his new assignment a sense of the goodness and love that the people from St. Mary Parish have offered to him and a sense of the respect and friendship that they feel for him.

It is always hard to see a good and committed priest leave from a Parish, even when it is a necessary decision. Fr. Tad is seeking “incardination” in the Diocese of San Jose and the first condition for “incardination” is that the priest be in two Parishes in his first five years in a new Diocese and be evaluated as to his Pastoral Ministry. So, Fr. Tad has to be moved to his new assignment to fulfill this condition.

He has been assigned to St. Joseph Cathedral in San Jose... so he will not be far from here. He can visit us and we can visit him. Please, in your own way, express to him your gratitude for his work in our Parish and with all of us as he prepares to leave this weekend.

Our prayers go with him; may our friendship and respect for him sustain him in his coming years of ministry.

Fr. Dan