THE ALTAR IS THE GATEWAY TO GOD! These words proclaimed by CARDINAL GREGORY in his homily touched the hearts of many of our parishioners attending the solemn Liturgy of the Dedication of our new altar last Sunday. These words touched my heart too and they resonated in my ears throughout the entire Liturgy. We were all focusing on a new altar where Heaven and earth were to meet for the first time in the presence of the Shepherd of our entire Archdiocese. We were blessed and honored to have Cardinal Gregory preside. For nearly all of us, including me, this was also the first time to participate in such an ancient rite. It was, truly a...

St JOHN BOSCO had many prophetic dreams and performed many miracles (including healing) through his beloved MARY HELP OF CHRISTIANS. In 1862, he had a remarkable, mystical dream, a vision of the future of the Church. I will provide here my own summary of this dream, focusing only on a few points. The church is represented by a fleet of ships which are under attack by the ENEMY. In the midst of a fierce naval battle and a major storm, TWO COLUMNS of great height appear. They are very close to one another. On top of one, there is a STATUE OF THE VIRGIN MARY, with the inscription in Latin AUXILIUM CHRISTIANORUM (HELP OF CHRISTIANS in English); on the other, stands a LARGE HOST (EUCHARIST) with the words: SALUS CREDENTIUM (SALVATION OF THE FAITHFUL). After a long battle, the main ship of the Church (with the Pope on board as leader) is finally anchored to the two large columns, and the Church fleet becomes victorious miraculously. The enemy ships disappear under the waves ...and the sea is calm again...

Cardinal Gregory is coming to OLHOC next Sunday, January 23rd. You are all INVITED to join him at the 11:30 am Mass when he will dedicate our new altar. I wrote about his visit extensively last week (January 9 weekly bulletin) and emphasized that THE ALTAR IS CENTRAL to the CELEBRATION OF THE EUCHARIST. At every Mass, the altar represents the two aspects of the same Paschal mystery: the ALTAR OF THE SACRIFICE OF THE CROSS (Jesus, as Victim, dying on the Cross for the forgiveness of our sins) and the TABLE OF THE LORD (Jesus' Last Supper Institution of the Eucharist). The liturgy of the Mass expresses this unity of sacrifice and communion in many prayers. While the priest at Mass represents Jesus, the High Priest, St Ambrose said eloquently: "The Altar represents the Body of Christ (sacrificed victim) and the Body of Christ (after the consecration and before Communion) is on the altar.” Several of you asked questions about...

Cardinal Gregory is coming to dedicate a new altar at the 11:30 am Mass on Sunday January 23rd. It is a great honor for our parish and all our parishioners. This will be his second visit in less than two years. I hope that many of you will be able to join us and welcome him as you did on the occasion of our 40th anniversary in September 2020. We are grateful to God for the generosity of the two pa- rishioners who have funded this latest OLHOC project for a new altar and have chosen to remain anonymous. We are also grateful to the members of our Parish Council who unanimously recommended...