Padre's Message
Click here to send an email to Fr. Gregory Golyzniak.
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June 3, 2021
Dear parishioners and guests, I would like to share few reflections for the solemn Feast of Corpus Christi. It is three feasts in one: the feast of the Eucharistic sacrifice, the feast of the Sacrament of the Eucharist and the feast of the Real Presence of Jesus in this Sacrament. Corpus Christi is a doctrinal feast established for three purposes: 1) to give God collective thanks for Christ’s abiding presence with us in the Eucharist and to honor Him there; 2) to instruct the people in the Mystery, Faith and devotion surrounding the Eucharist, and 3) to teach us to appreciate and make use of the great gift of the Holy Eucharist, both as a Sacrament and as a sacrifice. Although we celebrate the institution of the Holy Eucharist on Holy Thursday, the Church wants to emphasize its importance by a special feast, formerly called “Corpus Christi.” Pope Urban IV first extended the feast to the universal Church. This is one of the few feasts left in which we observe a procession and a sung “Sequence." Dominic Tang, the courageous Chinese archbishop, was imprisoned for twenty-one years for nothing more than his loyalty to Christ and Christ’s one, true Church. After he had spent five years of solitary confinement in a windowless, damp cell, his jailers told him that he could leave it for a few hours to do whatever he wanted. Five years of solitary, confinement and he had a couple of hours to do what he wanted! What would it be? A hot shower? A change of clothes? Certainly, a long walk outside. A chance to call or write to family? What would it be? The jailer asked him. “I would like to say Mass,” replied Archbishop Tang. The Vietnamese Jesuit, Joseph Nguyen-Cong Doan, who spent nine years in labor camps in Vietnam, relates how he was finally able to say Mass when a fellow priest-prisoner shared some of his own smuggled supplies. “That night, when the other prisoners were asleep, lying on the floor of my cell, I celebrated Mass with tears of joy. My altar was my blanket and my prison clothes my vestments. But I felt myself at the heart of humanity and of the whole of creation.” In the early 1900s, there were 18 families in Monument who desired Mass. The first Masses for that community were celebrated in a private building where a piano with three legs served as the altar. Our now-restored chapel was their first official place of worship in 1918. The Feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Jesus constantly calls us beyond ourselves to sacrificial love for others. Scripture readings for Corpus Christi contain three themes: the Eucharist as blessing or praise of God (action of Melchizedek in Gn 14:18-20), the Eucharist as memorial of what Jesus did at the Last Supper (1 Cor 11:23-26) and the Eucharist as food for the multitudes (Lk 9:11b-17). The never-ending supply of bread with which Jesus fed the multitude prefigured his own Body, the consecrated Bread that sustains us until he comes again. The Eucharist is also a re-enactment of Christ’s sacrificial Self-giving. The Eucharist is the Mystery of our Faith, the mystery of our Hope, the mystery of our Charity. The Eucharist gives us a mission: “Go in peace, glorifying God by your life.” The Eucharist, (the Body and Blood of Christ), teaches us the importance of community, the bond that results from this sacrifice. By receiving Holy Communion we become Christ-bearers as Mary was, with the duty of conveying Christ to others at home and in the workplace, as love, mercy, forgiveness and humble and sacrificial service. With prayer, Fr. Gregory |
Bishop-elect Fr. James Golka and Fr. Gregory Golyzniak
About Fr. Gregory
Fr. Gregory Golyzniak was born and raised in Muszyna, Poland, the youngest of four children. He attended the world's largest Catholic Seminary in Tarnow, Poland, and was ordained in 1998. Father Gregory came to the United States and was assigned to the Diocese of Syracuse, New York, from 2002-2008. He then transferred to the Diocese of Colorado Springs, first serving as pastor of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Southgate. In 2013, Fr. Gregory was assigned to St. Peter Catholic Church in Monument. Fr. Gregory is currently working long distance on a PhD in Sacred Architecture with an emphasis on the Gothic architecture of the 11th-17th centuries. UPON THIS ROCK
Building our future, honoring our legacy. Our plans to renovate the chapel, construct a new ministry center and expand the school are moving forward. Your pledge is vital to making this project a success. We are growing and we are all grateful for that! With growth often comes opportunities, equating to the need for space to accommodate the number of persons wishing to maintain and expand our stewardship and faith potential. Currently, our ministries use St. Peter School for many of their activities. In order to keep our school students as safe as possible, the school facilities must be dedicated for school use only. Please prayerfully consider financially supporting this project. Your support is greatly appreciated. The “Upon This Rock” pledge card is located on our website petertherock.org. If you have any questions about the project or want to meet with Father Gregory or Debby Dover, our Campaign Coordinator, please stop by or call the office at (719) 481-3511, we are happy to meet with you!
Groundbreaking Ceremony
Sunday, March 3, 2019 |