On Oct. 17, the Diocese of Boise, along with dioceses throughout the United States, will launch the first year of a three-year period of Eucharistic renewal. The theme of the Eucharistic renewal in the Diocese of Boise will be “Remain In Me.”
To begin the year, Bishop Peter Christensen is inviting all to attend a holy hour and a Mass at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist on Sunday, Oct. 17, beginning at 4 p.m. The holy hour will begin with a 10-minute talk on the Eucharist, leading into one hour of Adoration, followed by the Mass.
The Bishop is also asking that parishes offer one day a week for Adoration during the Advent season, which begins Nov. 28.
Parishes providing one day a week for Adoration during Advent “will require very little of each of us but will, I hope, be a profound source of refreshment and unity to us all,” Bishop Peter said in a letter to diocesan leaders. “Pray be-fore the Blessed Sacrament and by this simple action, align yourself with Jesus and with each other. Unify our Diocese by praying together,” he wrote.
He referred to a passage from Isaiah 42:16, “I will lead the blind on their journey, by paths unknown I will guide them. I will turn darkness into light before them and make crooked ways straight. These things I will do for them, and I will not forsake them.”
“My brothers and sisters, we are the blind,” the Bishop wrote. “The past two years have left our communities exhausted, worried, worn out and painfully divided. As we begin Advent, the liturgical season so associated with Isaiah, let us offer ourselves and our communities the opportunity to reground and restore themselves in Jesus. Let us offer them respite before the Blessed Sacrament, a place to lay down their burdens of fear and conflict in complete trust and reliance on the Lord, who will make our ways straight and guide us in our blindness. What a wonderful assurance that we need no strength of our own, but instead may always rely on the strength of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Priests may choose to offer the Sacrament of Reconciliation during their Advent holy hours and provide other devotional practices such as seasonal litanies, prayers of reparation, meditations and Eucharistic-themed hymns.
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