PRECIOUS BLOOD CATHOLIC CHURCH

Holy Vestments: The word "vestment" comes from the Latin word meaning clothing. It is generally used to represent the garments that are worn by the minister in the performance of their sacred duties. For the celebration of Mass, a priest wears an Alb, Cincture, Stole, and Chasuble.  The Alb reminds the priest of his baptism, when he was clothed in white to signify his freedom from sin, purity of new life, and Christian dignity. The Cincture is a long, thick cord with tassels at the ends which secures the alb around the waist. It reminds the priest to become holy yourselves in every aspect of your conduct, after the likeness of the holy One who called you” (I Peter 1:13-15).  The Stole reminds the priest not only of his authority and dignity as a priest, but also of his duty to preach the Word of God with courage and conviction and to serve the needs of the faithful. Finally, the Chasuble reminds the priest of the charity of Christ. We use different colors at different times. The colors (red, violet, white and green) have special symbolic significance. Red vestments, representing blood, are worn when celebrating the events of Jesus' Passion, and feasts for the martyrs of the Church. Violet, signifying preparation and anticipation, is worn during the time of Advent and Easter; the weeks leading to Christmas and Easter respectively. White, the symbol of purity, is worn for happy celebrations such as Christmas, Easter, and feasts recognizing saints who were not martyrs. Green, the color of life and growth, is worn at all other times. With the help of many generous people from our parish we bought two sets of Vestments. Thanks for your generosity, for your love for the parish and liturgy. May God bless you for your generous heart.

Uncle, Mentor and Friend: Fr. Philip Thomas, my dad’s youngest brother, is a priest of my congregation, Heralds of Good News. He is the Assistant Superior of my Order. He works in India. He is also the Director of a large Catholic School in the State of Andhra, India. He is my mentor and inspiration. He is my uncle, also my closest friend. Fr. Philip will be visiting me from the 27th of this month and will be with me for the next two weeks. He will be presiding and preaching at the 8:00 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.  Masses on October 2nd . Welcome Fr. Philip to the family of Precious Blood.

Don’t Worry, I Am Safe: There is this story of a couple who decided to go somewhere sunny during a particularly cold winter. They planned to stay at the same hotel where they spent their honeymoon 20 years earlier. Because of hectic schedules, it was difficult to coordinate their travel schedules. So, the husband flew off first with his wife flying down to join him the following day. The husband checked into the hotel. There was a computer in his room, so he decided to send an email to his wife. However, he accidentally left out one letter in her email address, and without realizing his error, sent the email. Meanwhile, in another part of the world, a widow had just returned home from her husband's funeral. The widow decided to check her email expecting messages from relatives and friends. After reading the first message, she screamed and fainted.  The widow's son rushed into the room, found his mother on the floor, and saw the computer screen which read: To My Loving Wife: Subject: I've arrived. I know you're surprised to hear from me. They have computers here now and you are allowed to send emails to your loved ones. I've just arrived and have checked in. I've seen that everything has been prepared for your arrival tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing you then. 

SCRIPTURE READING