An important message about the Eucharist from Fr. Lundberg

Posted on August 16, 2022

Dear Sacred Heart Academy family,

The heart of our parish and Academy is the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. The greatest gift He gives to us and which we share is the gift of His personal love for each one of us.

Pope Francis, several years ago, shared the following at a gathering in St. Peter’s,

“It is true that the quality of Christian life is measured by the capacity to love, as Jesus said. But how can we practice the Gospel without drawing the energy necessary to do so, one Sunday after another, from the inexhaustible source of the Eucharist?”  He reminded us that, “Sunday is a holy day for us, sanctified by the Eucharistic celebration, the living presence of the Lord among us and for us. Thus, it is the Mass that makes Sunday Christian. The Christian Sunday revolves around the Mass. For a Christian, what is a Sunday in which the encounter with the Lord is lacking?”

“Some secularized societies have lost the Christian sense of Sunday illuminated by the Eucharist. This is a shame! In these contexts, it is necessary to revive this awareness, to recover the meaning of the celebration, the meaning of the joy, of the parish community, of solidarity, of the rest which restores body and soul.”

Our Diocese of Arlington is in the first of three years of preparation for our 50th Jubilee anniversary. This year is focusing on the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. All of us are called to recover an awareness of our need to be nurtured by His Love in the Sunday Eucharist.  Sacred Heart Academy exists to support your role of passing on the Faith to your children.

On a practical level, beginning this year, we will ask you to scan a QR code in the Narthex of the church or drop an envelope in the collection during Saturday’s Vigil or at a Sunday Mass. Empty or not, this is a tangible way to let us know that you are choosing to participate in Sunday Mass. This is a decision made as part of your journey with God. We will honor your commitment that you have chosen to raise your children to share and know the central importance of Mass in our parish family. While we can teach students of an obligation, they learn to love the Mass from you.

Academy families who wish to receive in-parish tuition rates can turn in their parish envelopes during the collection at Mass to let us know. If Mass attendance is not currently part of a family’s practice, we will understand that to mean that you are choosing a non-parish tuition rate. Receiving your (empty) envelope during attendance at least three Sundays a month will help us be aware of a family’s active parish membership. We subsidize approximately 20% of each parishioner-student’s education costs. Subsidized, in-parish rates are based on being an active member.  The envelope in the basket will be the simplest way for us to know how you wish us to evaluate tuition rate. A monthly update from our records will assist the Academy in maintaining up-to-date status. More families use electronic giving, so the empty envelope is the way for us to know that a family is at Mass each weekend. Families, who for whatever reason aren’t attending Mass, will be adjusted to non-parishioner rates.

Our week thrives when we’ve been nourished by the Sunday Mass. Friendship, fellowship, divine Love and grace are waiting for each of us at Sunday Mass.  Thank you for your commitment, support and the opportunity for us to reinforce your choice of discipleship. Please contact Mrs. Lisa Anthony-Price if you have questions about your parish status or tuition rate.

In Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart,

Rev. Bjorn C. Lundberg
Pastor

 

Note: Parish records of all families will be updated to ensure personalized envelopes will be sent home. In addition, temporary envelopes will be kept at the back of the church for families’ use during Mass.