Announcements: 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Dear Holy Rosary parishioners, here are a few announcements:

First Communion: June Ingram is going to have Kara and Josh baptized. Additionally, on the same Sunday, they will be receiving First Communion and First Reconciliation. There will be a potluck to follow. We are still trying to pin down the date but it will probably be the first or second Sunday in December.

Storm Windows: We are currently replacing the windows in the rectory with the new improved version…actual storm windows. After receiving a donation from Catholic Extension and special ordering the windows (twice) the first window has been installed last week. A contractor, Scott King, will be helping me on Monday, October 13, 2008, to install the huge windows about the garage. If you would like to donate some time trimming out the windows or helping in any way, please let me know.

Rosary: A set of letters have gone out to the Anchorage parishes requesting donations for heating fuel. It worked out well last year. We raised about 11 thousand dollars for fuel. The rosary we have been praying the first Sunday of every month will continue this year. The next rosary will be November 2nd after mass. Thank you for all of the prayers.

Card and prayers: I have received many cards and prayers from all of you about my Dad’s death. Thank you very much…it really means a lot to me.

Gospel: We are asked to pay Cesar what is due Cesar and God what is due God. How does this play out in our daily lives in 2008?

Statue Blessing: I used incense to bless the statue. An explanation of what incense is used for in the church is below with a couple of pictures.

The use of Incense
Incensation is an expression of reverence and prayer as signified in the sacred scripture. “Another angel came and stood at the altar, holding a gold censer. He was given a great quantity of incense to offer, along with the prayers of all the holy ones, on the gold altar that was before the throne” (Revelation 8: 3). The use of incense is optional in any form of Mass (GIRM 276). The person who performs the incensing is called the Thurifer. The object which harbors the incense is called the Thurible or Censer. Incensing marks where God is, or will be, during the liturgy.

At the beginning of the mass, the cross and altar are incensed. The gospel is incensed because God actually speaks to us during the Liturgy of the Word. The gifts are incensed as an indication that the bread and wine will be changed into the actual body and blood of Christ. The congregation is incensed because we are all made in the image and likeness of God and the Holy Spirit is in all of us. There are several guidelines that should be followed when incensing.

First, there should be a profound bow before and after the incensing.

Second, the Most Blessed Sacrament, relics of the holy ‘Cross, images of the Lord exposed for public veneration, gifts for the sacrifice of the Mass, the altar cross, the book of the Gospels, the paschal candle, the priest, and the people should be incensed with three swings of the censer.

Third, relics and images of the saints exposed for public veneration, only at the beginning of the celebration when the altar is being incensed, should be incensed with two swings of the censor (GIRM 277).