Some parishioners have asked me to use the weekly column to talk about MAINTAINING REVERENCE IN OUR CHURCH. I am happy to do so for two reasons:
1. REVERENCE is an integral part of our on-going parish focus on EUCHARISTIC RENEWAL and 2. in my 11 years at OLHOC, at different times we have tried different ways to encourage such REVERENCE IN OUR CHURCH and clearly the TIME HAS COME TO RENEW OUR PAST EFFORTS !

How can we KEEP SILENCE BEFORE MASS? How can we provide an environment allowing everyone to pray in silence in preparation for the great MIRACLE OF EVERY MASS: a personal encounter with JESUS HIMSELF? I am considering to put once again signs on the glass doors leading to the church (nave) reminding people that they are ENTERING HOLY GROUND: GOD IS ALWAYS PRESENT IN THE TABERNACLE. However as shown in past, such signs have failed to have a long-lasting impact. What else can we do?

What are the current problems we need to address? Our parish is blessed with a spacious NARTHEX, which facilitates to welcome and greet people coming to Mass and also serves to foster a sense of community as people are leaving church after Mass and enjoy FELLOWSHIP. However, if you sit in the back of the NAVE, you can be distracted by sounds coming from the Narthex.

We need to address two separate issues: 1. How to maintain SACRED SILENCE within the NAVE itself and 2. How to MINIMIZE background NOISES in the NARTHEX BEFORE MASS BEGINS (and then also DURING MASS). Significant changes can happen only if EVERYONE is committed individually to BE REVERENT while entering the HOUSE OF GOD.

I believe that the HOLY SPIRIT and HIS SPOUSE THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY will assist us as a Parish Community sharing the same spiritual goals. We pray that they will guide us individually in being REVERENT by:

1. blessing ourselves with Holy Water and making the sign of the Cross before we enter the Nave through the glass doors

2. genuflecting to adore Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament reposed in the Tabernacle before we sit in our pew (if like me you have difficulty in genuflecting, make a deep bow before you enter a pew)

3. maintaining silence before the Mass begins

As a follow-up to our "little" Eucharistic miracle, we have already written and spoken extensively about the importance of REVERENCE throughout the Mass: first the Liturgy of the Word and then the Liturgy of the Eucharist, so that we can have a personal encounter with Our Lord Jesus Christ. REVERENCE includes the utmost RESPECT of the EUCHARIST during the Consecration and the Holy Communion.

I value your feedback/suggestions on how to continue promoting REVERENCE IN OUR CHURCH.

The ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN (August 15) happens to fall on a Sunday this year. As we have done in past celebrations of this great Solemnity honoring our Blessed Mother, we will all together renew our CONSECRATION TO JESUS THROUGH MARY at the end of each Mass (simple prayer will be distributed at each Mass). Many of us, including myself, will have by then completed the 33 days of preparation for this Total Consecration according to St Louis de Montfort. If you have not yet done those 33 days of preparation we encourage you to do so next time we promote it in our parish.

Let us pray that Mary, our Mother and Queen in Heaven, will always guide us to her Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us pray with St Louis de Montfort: "O HOLY SPIRIT plant in my soul the Tree of true Life, which is MARY...O HOLY SPIRIT, give me great DEVOTION TO MARY, Thy Faithful Spouse. Give me great confidence in her maternal heart and an abiding refuge in her mercy so that by her THOU may truly form in me JESUS CHRIST..."

"O Holy Spirit and Mary, help all of us to maintain a deep sense of Reverence at every Mass we attend."

One in Christ,

Fr. Alain