Words from Our Pastor - 40 Hours Devotion Baptism

Saint Elizabeth Roman Catholic Church

Forty Hours Devotions: A Special Time of Prayer

This year our parish will celebrate the annual Forty Hours Devotions on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, November 3-4-5. The Forty Hours Devotions are a special time of prayer before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, solemnly exposed in the monstrance on the altar. All are encouraged to participate in this great time of grace at Saint Elizabeth!

At this year’s Forty Hours Devotions, our pastor, Fr. Tom Mullin, will offer a series of three reflections on the Sacraments of Initiation (Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Eucharist) within an overall theme: “Continuing to Grow as a Community of Disciples with God at the Center of our Lives.” This theme is rooted in our Parish Vision:

We are called by Jesus Christ to grow as a community of disciples,

deepen our faith and be grateful stewards of God’s gifts.

On Sunday, Monday & Tuesday evenings, we will have Evening Prayer, a homiletic reflection and Benediction at 7:00 PM in church. On Monday and Tuesday, we will have Mass in church at 7:30 AM, followed by Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament between 8:00 AM and 7:00 PM, providing time for personal prayer and quiet reflection throughout the day.

On Tuesday morning, we will have Mass for the parish school at 11:00 AM. And on Tuesday evening, we will close with a Eucharistic Procession together with our parish liturgical ministers.

Please consider participa­ting in this year’s Forty Hours Devotions with your loved ones. Individuals, couples and families are invited to take advantage of this sacred time and spend a few minutes, a half-hour or more praying before Jesus really present in the Blessed Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist during the day and/or to attend the communal prayer services each evening. Those who would like to register for a period of adoration as public representatives of the parish community as a whole are asked to sign their names on the schedule posted on the bulletin board outside the daily Mass chapel.

Some Background to the Forty Hours Devotions

The Forty Hours Devotions have a long history in the Church, beginning in 1530 in Milan, Italy. Each parish in the Archdiocese of Milan was assigned a specific three days for the Forty Hours Devotions, so that Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament continued throughout the entire year. In 1539, Pope Paul III issued a solemn pronouncement confirming the practice of the Archdiocese of Milan for the Church as a whole. By 1550, both Saint Peter Neri and Saint Ignatius Loyola had instituted this devotional practice in their religious communities.

Here in the United States, Saint John Neumann, fourth bishop of Philadelphia, was a strong advocate and promoter of the Forty Hours Devotions. In 1853, he developed the first systematic schedule for all the parishes of the diocese to conduct the Forty Hours Devotions. It has since been customary for many parishes to celebrate the Forty Hours Devotions on or near the feast day of their patron saint. Here in our parish, we celebrate each year around the traditional feast of Saint Elizabeth and her husband Zachary on November 5. What a fitting way to mark the anniversary of the dedication of our church (November 4, 2005) and to honor our patroness, Saint Elizabeth!

Saint Elizabeth Roman Catholic Church

Upper Uwchlan Township, PA

Forty Hours Devotions: November 3-4-5, 2019

Preacher: Rev. Thomas M. Mullin

Theme: Continuing to Grow as a Community of Disciples with God at the Center of our Lives

Sunday Evening: Reflections on the Sacrament of Baptism

[Readings: Titus 3:4-7; Psalm 27; Matthew 28:18-20]

Welcome to the 2019 Forty Hours Devotions. This year I invite you to join me in three short reflections on the Sacraments of Initiation: Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Eucharist, as we continue to grow as a community of disciples with God at the center of our lives.

Years ago at a parish in Drexel Hill, I recall my high school classmate’s first grade daughter getting very confused. Her teacher asked all the girls and boys to bring in a photo of their Baptism. Now I had baptized Courtney at another parish before the family moved into Saint Andrew Church, where I had served for four and a half years and had baptized many parish children. So when Courtney showed her picture and saw the other kids’ photos, she was surprised to see that I was in lots of her classmates’ photos, too: “Why is my Uncle-Father Tom in your picture???”

Those of us who were baptized as infants most likely have little recollection of the event, aside from a few family pictures and some old family stories. So tonight I invite you to reflect on three simple questions: Why do we baptize? What happens when we are baptized? And what difference does Baptism make in our daily lives?

1) Why do we baptize? The easy answer is this: As attested by Matthew’s Gospel, we baptize because Jesus told us to do so: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son and Holy Spirit.” But on a deeper level, Baptism is an affirmation that our human life comes from God, the Lord of Life. And more, the God who gives us human life desires that we come to eternal life with Him- in effect, God says to us at our Baptism: “I never want you not to be!” And that divine promise of eternal life is why we baptize!

2) What happens when we are baptized? At Baptism, each of our lives was irrevocably changed, shaped and refocused by the grace of God unleashed into the world by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. As St. Paul tells us: “in Baptism we die with Christ so as to rise with Christ.” So tonight we heard these words from St. Paul in writing to Titus:

“Because of God’s mercy, we are saved through the bath of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom God has richly poured out on us through Jesus Christ our Savior, so we might be justified by his grace and become heirs in hope of eternal life.”

The old Catechism explanation still serves us well: In baptism we are freed from sin, made temples of the Holy Spirit, become members of the Body of Christ (the Church) and heirs to eternal life in heaven.

So we owe a debt of gratitude to our parents, grandparents and whoever have brought us to Baptism so that we are incorporated into the Body of Christ and made heirs of heaven: what an amazing gift they have given to us!

3) What difference does Baptism make in our daily lives? In the end, this is the most important question of all. I recall receiving a unique farewell gift from the Pre-Cana team members when I was transferred from Saint Andrew Church; the gift still hangs on a door over in the rectory even now: it reads: “You have touched us - so what?” Tonight I ask you all: “Yes, in Baptism, God has touched you in Jesus Christ: so what?”

Each of us was given a great gift in Baptism, so what have we done with that gift? Has your life really been shaped and focused by your baptismal identity as a disciple of Jesus Christ? What do you busy yourself with day after day? Are your attitudes, values and priorities shaped by your relationship with God in Jesus Christ? Are you continuing to grow as a member of the Body of Christ with God at the center of your life?

In fact, living out our Baptism faithfully day after day, year in and year out is a demanding challenge for all of us. So God does not just leave us on our own after Baptism. No God offers us two special helps to living out our Baptism: a renewed outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Confirmation to guide us on the journey from here to heaven, and the daily bread of the Holy Eucharist to nourish us along the way. Tomorrow we will reflect on the sacrament of Confirmation and on Tuesday, on the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist.

And by the way: I am happy to say that Courtney, that first grader in Saint Andrew years ago, is now a forty year old wife and mother, and I have had the privilege of baptizing her children, too. So Courtney’s “Uncle-Father Tom” is still appearing in a few Baptism photos even now, although the polaroids have been replaced by cell phone shots! And the celebrant is looking rather old to boot!