Change for Mass Intentions on certain Major Holidays
Easter + Christmas + All Souls + Our Lady of Guadalupe + Mother’s Day + Father’s Day
A longstanding custom in the Catholic Church is to have a Mass offered for a particular intention (i.e., world peace, the country, benefactors) or in memory/honor of a person (living or dead). This is a way of inviting the greater parish family to pray for and apply some of the infinite Grace of every Mass toward a particular prayer intention. Every Mass unleashes the full infinite Grace, Mercy, and Love of Christ perfect, once-for-all Saving Sacrifice upon the Cross in the re-presentation of that same sacrifice anew in our midst at Mass.
Usually the public recognition of this invitation to prayer and application of Grace is facilitated by contacting Linda Davis in the parish office to coordinate a date, making a small sacrificial offering (current standard is ten dollars) and recording your intention so that the priest and people know the intention for each particular Mass. These intentions are listed in the bulletin and typically (at Holy Family) read as part of the Prayers of the Faithful (i.e., petitions) at Mass.
Last Fall, Archbishop Thompson formally authorized a small change in practice that is permitted by Canon Law for the accepting of Mass Stipends for certain important Feast Days in the Church calendar. Typically, only one formal intention can be accepted for one Mass. However, depending on the local norms of one’s particular (arch)diocese with regard to Mass Intentions, it is possible that some Masses could have more than one intention under certain circumstances. It is these norms and circumstances that Archbishop Thompson has updated. He has decided to allow multiple Intentions to be accepted for six particular Holy Days in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis: Christmas Day, Easter Sunday, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, All Souls Day, Our Lady of Guadalupe. These Holy Days (& two secular days of recognition) are often popular or ‘in demand’ by parishioners wanting their particular loved one(s) being remembered publicly in a specific way at the Mass on these Feast days. The change in local norms by the Archbishop now makes it possible to accept multiple intentions on these Feast Days.
For these days five Feasts Days, you will see multiple intentions listed in the bulletin for the Mass(es) according to all the requests received from the parishioners. You would still need to contact Linda Davis in the parish office and make the small offering for your intention to be listed. In order to be included and listed in the bulletin, the office needs to hear from you no later than 21 days prior to the Feast (unless otherwise noted in the bulletin) to guarantee inclusion. For Easter 2024, that would be 11 March 2024. (There are often earlier print deadlines around Christmas and Easter.) Given the anticipated list of memorials, these intentions will not be read by name at the Sunday Liturgy as part of the Prayers of the Faithful (i.e., Petitions) but the list will be referenced in the petitions.
We will begin this practice at Holy Family with Easter Sunday on 31 March 2024.
We will honor intentions already scheduled and not additional ones for those Masses.
Please call the office or me directly if you have any questions!
The National Eucharistic Congress is being held at the Indianapolis Convention Center from 17-21 July 2024. The full schedule of speakers & events can be viewed by visiting: eucharisticcongress.org. In order to allow interested members of Holy Family Catholic Church to take advantage of the group discount pricing for the Eucharist Congress, a form has been posted on the parish website, Facebook, and here: http://bit.ly/HFPECtickets. The parish will purchase discount tickets on your behalf for reimbursement. Tickets purchased will be for the full Eucharistic Congress only. (There are day-pass options now available for those interested). The parish will not be organizing or taking a formal group, but we will share (with your permission) the names of those who have purchased tickets through the parish back with you so you can coordinate your own carpools and meet up at the Congress.
+ Nothing Less than saints for the Holy Family of God. +
Holy Family, Praying for our whole Family – living and deceased, Pray for us.
~ Fr Jeremy M. Gries