Msgr. Tom’s Weekly Update – October 17, 2024

As the Catechism of the Catholic Church states, The Eucharist is the source and summit of the Christian Life. (1324-1327). This past July, the National Eucharistic Congress was held in Indianapolis, IN. The last national Eucharistic Congress held in the United States was 83 years ago, so it was really an historic moment. This experience was attended by approximately 60,000 laypeople, clergy and religious from around the country.

Our parish was represented by Carolyn Colonna, our Adult Discipleship Coordinator; Tracey Sowa, our Baptism Coordinator and Director of Kid’s Corner; and Maria Auricchio, one of our ministry leads here at Saint Helen. I was lucky to experience much of the program from my office and the living room of the Rectory as it was live-streamed. Excellent speakers and break-out workshops were focusing on the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. Many of the sessions were tailored to various missions based on states in life, including adult, youth ministry, and families. Each of our three participants from St. Helen went to different workshops.

When members of our parish returned home, they brought with them numerous ideas that we have already begun to implement. We have also solicited ideas from those of us who watched the live stream.

In addition to our monthly Adoration done on Sunday evenings (usually the first Sunday of the month, after the 6:00 PM Mass), we now have Adoration in our Chapel the second Tuesday of the month from 2:00PM-8:00PM. Each of our Adorations are a time for prayer and reflection.

In addition, a group of our parishioners went to the Regal Hadley theater to see Jesus Thirsts. Many of us gathered on Wednesday, June 19, 2024 to reflect on and discuss the content of an excellent presentation on the Eucharist. Also, this past week, the children in our middle school religious education learned about the real presence of the Eucharist and actually experienced adoration of the Blessed Sacrament firsthand.

October is Respect Life month. Earlier this weekend, on Saturday, October 12, 2024 at 9:45AM we had a special Respect Life Holy Hour. Last Saturday, on October 5, 2024, we celebrated a Pregnancy and Infancy Loss Remembrance Mass followed by luncheon, both of which were quite moving. While we must always pray for and defend life, Respect Life month is a particularly important time to remember the key teachings of the church which is to value life from the time of conception until natural death. The “Right to Life Committee will be selling raffle tickets on behalf of the New Jersey Right to Life this weekend. The Knights of Columbus will be

present after all Masses on October 26/27, 2024 for Rose Sunday asking for donations to support our respect life efforts.

God Bless You All,
Msgr. Tom

  • 908-232-1214
  • Monday - Friday: 9:30am - 5:00pm
Mass Schedule:
Daily: Monday-Saturday 9am
Weekend: Sat 5pm | Sun 8am | 10am | 12pm | 6pm
  • 1600 Rahway Avenue, Westfield, NJ 07090
© 2022 Parish Community of Saint Helen, a Church of the Archdiocese of Newark   Privacy Policy