Mary Queen of the Apostles Parish

IMPORTANT UPDATE: ADORATION OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT ON TUESDAYS Again due to unforeseen circumstances, Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament on Tuesdays will not be held until further notice. We are grateful to everyone who signed up for Adoration on Tuesdays. You are welcome to pray in the church, which is open Monday-Friday, 8:30-4PM (except on holidays), keeping in mind that Jesus is present 24/7 in the Holy Eucharist in the Tabernacle.

LIVE-STREAMING OF MASSES We will stream and upload the 8AM Masses on Monday and Tuesday mornings and the 4:30PM Sunday Vigil to enable our homebound to connect with the parish. For the rest of the week, EWTN telecasts a number of daily Masses, and our Cathedral streams its weekday Masses at 12N. On Sundays, besides the Masses on EWTN, Channel 43 (WUAB-TV) broadcasts two Masses: 8AM and 10AM from our Cathedral. We realize this will be an inconvenience to some folks, but we tried to reach a compromise based on our recent survey. Initially, one possibility was to cut the streaming entirely but we will not do that.

Here's the link to "Q-Tube":
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4N7DhiHNNxaPnTKO3py7-g

We will also livestream these Masses on our parish Facebook page. You can view the video and other information on this page without being a Facebook member which you can access directly from our parish website mqabrookpark.org or Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Mary-Queen-of-the-Apostles-Catholic-Parish-342319779750650

About an hour after Mass concludes, the video will be uploaded to Q-Tube (our parish's YouTube channel). which you can access directly from our parish website: mqabrookpark.org or at "Q-tube" as shown above.

"Permission to reprint, podcast, and/or stream the music in this service obtained from ONE LICENSE with license A-621009. All rights reserved."

Brothers and Sisters,

In two weeks we will begin the great season of Advent. This is one of my favorite times of the year. Without a doubt, some of the Church’s best traditional music includes her Advent hymns. It is a wonderful season of anticipation and preparation. Unfortunately, it is easy to lose sight of what the Church has in mind for us amidst the fast-paced holiday season of the culture.

That is why we have to be very intentional about not letting our hearts be carried away by either the premature celebration of Christmas or the distractions of the culture.

It is certainly an exciting time: college semesters are ending and our children are coming home, family members in the military take leave and come to visit, parties abound in the workplace, school kids are excited to go on vacation, and nostalgia rides high. And of course there’s a proliferation of delicious sweets!

But we have to hold all of that in tension with the need to prepare. It is not Christmas yet and lots of prayerful reflection should proceed the Christmas festivities. Christmastime is for jubilant celebration. Advent is simpler, slower. In fact, Advent should not only stand in contrast to Christmas but to our daily routines as well; it is something of a mini retreat where we are called to give extra time and energy to the spiritual life.

This season of preparation focuses on two important and inescapable events: the Coming of Christ at the end of time and his historical entrance into humanity remembered at Christmas. The Second Coming of Christ is the focus of the first part of Advent while commemoration of Christ’s birth becomes central during the Advent novena beginning on December 17th.

With two weeks to go, now is the time for each of us to review our spiritual lives: What is the status of my relationship with God? How consistent is my prayer routine? Do I incorporate a discipline of fasting? Do I give alms—time, talent, treasure? Do I have the Kingdom of God and my sainthood in mind? Prayerfully discovering the answers to these questions, we can develop a plan for Advent to recover or enhance our spiritual lives.

A couple ideas to help plan for a holy and fruitful Advent include:

-Make a thorough examination of conscience and go to Confession before Christmas

-Spend 5 minutes more in prayer than your daily average

-Decrease time spent watching the news, sports, YouTube, etc. and replace it with spiritual reading

-Pick a simple-to-moderate fast (such as no coffee on Wednesday’s or no TV during the week) and offer it for a specific intention (souls in Purgatory, conversion of sinners, someone’s return to the Faith, etc.)

-Attend one more Mass per week

It is not meant that we would necessarily incorporate all of these or go crazy trying “to do” Advent, as if it is by our own efforts that we grow in holiness. Rather, the point is to open our hearts and minds to give God extra room to work. We certainly should want to be as ready as possible for Jesus—at Christmas and in the end. Please see the insert for our Advent programming to help enjoy a holy and fruitful season.

Next week we will celebrate Christ the King, the final Sunday of the liturgical year. We are planning to use incense to increase the solemnity of our celebration. The use of incense has several purposes. First, as the liturgy engages our senses, the sweet smell helps to lift our hearts to God. Second, the gently rising smoke beautifully helps us to contemplate our prayers as rising up to God (an image from Scripture). Finally, it also blocks our view of sacred objects (altar, ambo, offerings) to remind us of our as yet imperfect view of God.

Thank you for the tremendous generosity for God, our parish, and so many others. May God bless your Advent!

In amore Christi,

Fr. Michael

AM 1260 THE ROCK NEWS!  

With the Advent and Christmas season fast approaching, AM 1260 The Rock will broadcast special programming starting December 1, then throughout the season, to celebrate this joyous time. Things like Advent Reflections each Sunday at 4PM and 9PM and The Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary at 9:30PM. For a complete listing of the Advent and Christmas Program schedule, please visit am1260therock.com.

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Classes are held Monday evenings  6:45-8:15pm (Sept-May)

Contact Trish Solon for more information

216-433-1440 x21

The hall is used for parish functions and events, such as parish dinners sponsored by the Queen's cooks, Night at the Races sponsored by the Holy Name Society, and a Spring Salad Luncheon sponsored by the Ladies Guild.
McMcafferty Hall is not available or rented out for private functions.