A Place at the Table
There is a place for you. Come, just as you are.
TABLE
Before You Visit
Check out our website (so far so good, right?)… and be open to why God has brought you this far already. God is amazing and so are you! You were made with a purpose and we are glad you’re here.
Pray that the Holy Spirit will guide you. If you don’t know about the Holy Spirit yet, that’s ok too!
Check out our social media accounts to learn more about us. And please feel free to stop in the church office during the week to chat with one of our parish support ministers.
When You Visit
Visiting a new church can be intimidating: What should I wear? Where do I park? Where do my kids go? We understand the many thoughts that can come from visiting a new church, so we want you to feel completely comfortable when you visit. Below are some frequently asked questions. If you have any additional questions, don’t hesitate to contact us or talk with an usher when you visit.
What are the Mass Times?
WEEKEND
Saturday Evening: 4:30 PM in the Church
Sunday Morning: 7:30 AM, 9:00 AM, 10:30 AM in the Church
WEEKDAY
Tuesday: 6:30 PM in the Chapel
Wednesday through Friday: 8:00 AM in the Chapel
HOLY DAYS OF OBLIGATION (unless indicated otherwise)
See the church bulletin.
When is Confession Available?
Saturdays: 3:30 PM till 4:00 PM in the Chapel (or by appointment)
Is there a time for Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament?
Nothing scheduled at this time.
What should I wear?
Appropriate Dress code for a Church is modesty
How do I get to Saint Jude the Apostle Church?
Here is the address for the CHURCH and OFFICE: 1208 West 6th Street, Erie, PA 16505
Where should I Park?
Both the Church building and the Chapel have ample sized parking lots. The office is located around the back of the church.
Where do my Children Go?
All Children are welcome and encouraged to accompany their parents/guardians. Children’s Liturgy of the Word (Children’s Church) is held during the 10:30 AM mass most Sundays during the school year.
I’m not Catholic … so, how do I know when to sit, stand and kneel?
Try your best to follow along by following the congregation’s movements, and do NOT worry about “getting it wrong.” God is pleased to have you here!
I’m not Catholic … is it okay for me to participate in communion?
Guidelines for the Reception of Communion
FOR CATHOLICS
As Catholics, we fully participate in the celebration of the Eucharist when we receive Holy Communion. We are encouraged to receive Communion devoutly and frequently. In order to be properly disposed to receive Communion, participants should not be conscious of grave sin and normally should have fasted for one hour. A person who is conscious of grave sin is not to receive the Body and Blood of the Lord without prior sacramental confession except for a grave reason where there is no opportunity for confession. In this case, the person is to be mindful of the obligation to make an act of perfect contrition, including the intention of confessing as soon as possible (canon 916). A frequent reception of the Sacrament of Penance is encouraged for all.
FOR OUR FELLOW CHRISTIANS
We welcome our fellow Christians to this celebration of the Eucharist as our brothers and sisters. We pray that our common baptism and the action of the Holy Spirit in this Eucharist will draw us closer to one another and begin to dispel the sad divisions which separate us. We pray that these will lessen and finally disappear, in keeping with Christ’s prayer for us “that they may all be one” (Jn 17:21).
Because Catholics believe that the celebration of the Eucharist is a sign of the reality of the oneness of faith, life, and worship, members of those churches with whom we are not yet fully united are ordinarily not admitted to Holy Communion. Eucharistic sharing in exceptional circumstances by other Christians requires permission according to the directives of the diocesan bishop and the provisions of canon law (canon 844 §4). Members of the Orthodox Churches, the Assyrian Church of the East, and the Polish National Catholic Church are urged to respect the discipline of their own Churches. According to Roman Catholic discipline, the Code of Canon Law does not object to the reception of Communion by Christians of these Churches (canon 844 §3).
FOR THOSE NOT RECEIVING HOLY COMMUNION
All who are not receiving Holy Communion are encouraged to express in their hearts a prayerful desire for unity with the Lord Jesus and with one another.
FOR NON-CHRISTIANS
We also welcome to this celebration those who do not share our faith in Jesus Christ. While we cannot admit them to Holy Communion, we ask them to offer their prayers for the peace and the unity of the human family.
© 1996, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
Am I expected to put money in the offering?
No one is “expected” to give money as if they were paying for a sacrament, but it is a teaching in our faith to offer almsgiving. A suggested amount is 10% of one’s income as tithing to the Church which helps the Church to continue to pay its bills and render service to the community.
I have a hearing problem. Is there any special assistance?
Yes, we have assisted listening devices available for those who have hearing issues.
The Celebration of Mass
The celebration of Mass is an act of the whole assembly gathered for worship. In the Mass, the Church is joined to the action of Christ. We are joined to this divine action
through Baptism, which incorporates us into the risen Christ. This action, which lies at “the center of the whole of Christian life” (General Instruction of the Roman Missal [GIRM], no. 16), is initiated not by us but by God acting in and through the Church as the Body of the risen Christ. The Liturgy is designed to bring about in all those who make up the worshiping assembly a “participation of the faithful, namely in body and in mind, a participation fervent with faith, hope, and charity” (GIRM, no. 18). To the extent that we are able to participate in this way, the work of redemption becomes personally effective for each of us. By such participation we make the actions and prayers of the Liturgy our own; we enter more fully into our personal communion with Christ’s redeem- ing act and perfect worship.
“In the celebration of Mass the faithful form a holy people, a people of God’s own possession and a royal Priesthood, so that they may give thanks to God and offer the unblemished sacrificial Victim not only by means of the hands of the Priest but also together with him and so that they may learn to offer their very selves. They should, moreover, take care to show this by their deep religious sense and their charity toward brothers and sisters who participate with them in the same celebration. . . . Moreover, they are to form one body, whether in hearing the word of God, or in taking part in the prayers and in the singing, or above all by the common offering of the Sacrifice and by participat- ing together at the Lord’s table” (GIRM, nos. 95, 96).
The participation of each person in the Liturgy is important. Each person needs to do his or her part.
How do I Pray?
Various forms of prayer are presented in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC 2623-2649). These various forms include prayer of blessing or adoration, prayer of petition, prayer of intercession, prayer of thanksgiving, and prayer of praise.
What is meditation?
Meditation is a Christian practice of prayer dating back to the early Church. As the Catechism states: “Meditation is above all a quest. The mind seeks to understand the why and how of the Christian life, in order to adhere and respond to what the Lord is asking.” By meditating on the Gospels, holy icons, liturgical texts, spiritual writings, or “the great book of creation,” we come to make our own that which is God’s. “To the extent that we are humble and faithful, we discover in meditation the movements that stir the heart and we are able to discern them. It is a question of acting truthfully in order to come into the light: “Lord, what do you want me to do?” (CCC 2705-2706).
Meditation is above all a quest.
Meditation is an essential form of Christian prayer, especially for those who are seeking to answer the vocational question, “Lord, what do you want me to do?”
How do we pray with Sacred Scripture?
Spiritual reading of Sacred Scripture, especially the Gospels, is an important form of meditation. This spiritual reading is traditionally called lectio divina or divine reading. Lectio divina is prayer over the Scriptures.
- The first element of this type of prayer is reading (lectio): you take a short passage from the Bible, preferably a Gospel passage and read it carefully, perhaps three or more times. Let it really soak-in.
- The second element is meditation (meditatio). By using your imagination enter into the Biblical scene in order to “see” the setting, the people, and the unfolding action. It is through this meditation that you encounter the text and discover its meaning for your life.
- The next element is prayer (oratio) or your personal response to the text: asking for graces, offering praise or thanksgiving, seeking healing or forgiveness. In this prayerful engagement with the text, you open yourself up to the possibility of contemplation.
- Contemplation (contemplatio) is a gaze turned toward Christ and the things of God. By God’s action of grace, you may be raised above meditation to a state of seeing or experiencing the text as mystery and reality. In contemplation, you come into an experiential contact with the One behind and beyond the text.
What are devotions?
Popular devotions are expressions of love and fidelity that arise from the intersection of one’s own faith, culture and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As Saint John Paul II said in 2001:
“Genuine forms of popular piety, expressed in a multitude of different ways, derives from the faith and, therefore, must be valued and promoted. Such authentic expressions of popular piety are not at odds with the centrality of the Sacred Liturgy. Rather, in promoting the faith of the people, who regard popular piety as a natural religious expression, they predispose the people for the celebration of the Sacred Mysteries.
Devotions promote the faith of the people.
The correct relationship between these two expressions of faith must be based on certain firm principles, the first of which recognizes that the Liturgy is the center of the Church’s life and cannot be substituted by, or placed on a par with, any other form of religious expression. Moreover, it is important to reaffirm that popular religiosity, even if not always evident, naturally culminates in the celebration of the Liturgy towards which it should ideally be oriented. This should be made clear through suitable catechesis” (Address to the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, September 21, 2001).
Join with the Church as she expresses her praise and devotion to God through many popular devotional practices.
The Joy of the Gospel
“I invite all Christians, everywhere, at this very moment, to a renewed personal encounter with Jesus Christ, or at least an openness to letting him encounter them; I ask all of you to do this unfailingly each day. No one should think that this invitation is not meant for him or her, since “no one is excluded from the joy brought by the Lord”
“All revealed truths derive from the same divine source and are to be believed with the same faith, yet some of them are more important for giving direct expression to the heart of the Gospel. In this basic core, what shines forth is the beauty of the saving love of God made manifest in Jesus Christ who died and rose from the dead.”
GOOD NEWS
The New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Faith
“It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth. But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade.” Mark 4: 31-32
What is the New Evangelization?
The New Evangelization calls each of us to deepen our faith, believe in the Gospel message and go forth to proclaim the Gospel. The focus of the New Evangelization calls all Catholics to be evangelized and then go forth to evangelize. In a special way, the New Evangelization is focused on ‘re-proposing’ the Gospel to those who have experienced a crisis of faith.Pope Benedict XVI called for the re-proposing of the Gospel “to those regions awaiting the first evangelization and to those regions where the roots of Christianity are deep but who have experienced a serious crisis of faith due to secularization.”1 The New Evangelization invites each Catholic to renew their relationship with Jesus Christ and his Church.
The New Evangelization offers hope.