Hello, St. Margaret Mary Parish,

Tomorrow, we celebrate the Feast of our Patroness, St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. I shared some of her life in last week’s update. This week, I would like to share about her close connection to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, First Friday Devotion, and Eucharistic Adoration.  

It was the evening of the Feast of St. John the Evangelist, Dec. 27, 1673. A seemingly ordinary French nun, Sr. Margaret Mary Alacoque, was praying before the Blessed Sacrament, lingering a bit longer than usual to remain near to her beloved Jesus in the tabernacle. She had learned to find refuge and strength in His Eucharistic Heart even as a child, enduring poverty and crippling illness with patience and faith.

But this time, something was different; it was like the calm before a great storm. She wrote in her recollections:

“The first special grace I think I received … was on the Feast of St. John the Evangelist. Our Lord made me rest for several hours on His sacred breast. After that I saw this Divine Heart as on a throne of flames, more brilliant than the sun and transparent as crystal. It had its adorable wound and was encircled with a crown of thorns, which signified the pricks our sins caused Him.



It was surmounted by a cross which signified that, from the first moment of His Incarnation, that is, from the time this Sacred Heart was formed, the cross was planted in it; that it was filled, from the very first moment, with all the bitterness, humiliations, poverty, sorrow, and contempt His sacred humanity would have to suffer during the whole course of His life and during His holy Passion.”

“He made me understand that the ardent desire He had of being loved by all people and of drawing them from the path of perdition into which Satan was hurrying them in great numbers, which had caused Him to fix upon this plan of manifesting His Heart to all, together with all Its treasures of love, mercy, grace, sanctification and salvation.”

This devotion was a last resort of His love … He wished to favor us with his loving redemption, in order to withdraw them from the empire of Satan, which He intended to destroy, and in order to put us under the sweet liberty of the empire of His love.

Two more times over the next 18 months, her beloved Jesus would appear to her and unveil to her the secrets and desires of His Heart, especially His plan to dethrone the prince of darkness by manifesting Christ’s love for all of humanity. Without a doubt, our Savior commissioned St. Margaret Mary Alacoque to spread devotion to His Sacred Heart, all aflame with love, as the healing remedy for a world full of cold hearts and broken hearts.

It was from these visions, much prayer, and Spiritual Direction that St. Margaret Mary Alacoque sought to bring about the First Fridays Devotion, in which she promoted receiving the Eucharist on the first Friday of every month in reparation for the coldness and sins of humanity. She also promoted the Holy Hour, in which she introduced the practice of spending an hour in Eucharistic adoration on Thursday nights to meditate on the agony of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Finally, she sought to promote the Feast of the Sacred Heart: She advocated for the establishment of a liturgical feast dedicated to the Sacred Heart, which was later approved for the universal church.

As you can hopefully see, our seeking to establish Eucharistic Adoration on First Fridays is part of an important history of our patroness, St. Margaret Mary.

Beginning on the First Friday of November, and continuing on every First Friday thereafter (with the exception of holidays, such as January 1, 2027), we will begin Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament in the main St. Margaret Mary Church at the conclusion of the 6:30 AM Mass. The Blessed Sacrament will be reposed just prior to the 8:15 AM Mass, and Exposition will resume at the conclusion of that Mass and continue until 4 PM.

Adoration will conclude at 4 PM with a simple Reposition of the Blessed Sacrament by a Priest, Deacon, or EMHC.

To begin this First Friday practice, we will need SMM parishioners to cover Holy Hours from approximately 7 AM to 4 PM on the First Friday of each month. Personally, I would like to have at least three parishioners signed up for each hour so that if someone cannot make it in a particular month, the hour will still be covered.

If you are interested in covering a particular hour on a First Friday, please contact the Parish Office and let Rosie, our receptionist/secretary, know, or email her at rgrothaus@smmomaha.org, and she can sign you up.

It is particularly important that the final Holy Hour, from 3–4 PM, be covered by parishioners who are already an EMHC or are willing to become an EMHC, so that the Blessed Sacrament can be reposed if a Priest or Deacon is not available.

Thank you for your consideration in helping us cover these First Fridays.

As a reminder, we are now praying Vespers / Evening Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours at 5 PM in St. Margaret Mary Church each Sunday. You are welcome to join us for Vespers and stay for Mass, or you can simply come to pray Vespers and then leave prior to Mass.

Last week I also shared about our use of incense at the 10 AM Mass. I would like to additionally share that we are going to be respectful of those who might have any respiratory issues by keeping the use of incense primarily in the Sanctuary. So, for example, although we have a server or seminarian walking in procession down the main aisle with the thurible, we are not adding the incense to the thurible until we are at the altar. Again, I just wanted to share this clarification.

Last week, Fr. Andy and I along with most of the Priests of our Archdiocese were together for our 2 day Clergy Conference. On day 2, Deacons of our Archdiocese joined us. The theme of this year’s conference was preaching the kerygma at the Sunday Mass. What is the Kerygma? Kerygma is a Greek word that means proclamation. We, as Catholic Christians, are called to share the Gospel message (the Good News) as we evangelize: God loves you, has a plan for your life, but because of sin we have been separated from him, and the only one who can save us is Jesus Christ. This is where I have shared before Fr. John Ricardo’s from Acts 29 as well as Dr. Ed Sri’ from Focus way to remember and share the Good News…the Kerygma. 



• We all begin in Relationship with God
• Our relationship gets Ruined by sin
• Jesus Christ Rescues us
• Our lives are Restored
• We have to Respond to this transformation

Stay tuned, you will be hearing more of the Kerygma on Sundays because we need to hear it over and over and over.

This weekend is Donut Sunday after the Sunday morning Masses. Please remember that this month it is being held over at West Campus. This weekend is also the World Mission Sunday Collection throughout the Archdiocese. This collection grants funds to mission dioceses, which help to underwrite the basic physical footprint that keeps missionary life going: where priests live, where sisters live, where children are catechized, where formation and pastoral work can happen, and where Holy Mass can be celebrated, often for the first time. Part of the funds are used to help missionary dioceses run and survive, while the rest of the funds are used to build churches, seminaries, convents, and pastoral centers. In an average year, WMS helps to fund over 900 infrastructure-related projects for the Church! Read more about the mission here. Envelopes will be available in the pews during all Masses, or you can donate online through WeShare.

Looking ahead, we are quickly approaching All Saints' Day, November 1st, and All Souls' Day on November 2nd. Please look out for an email that you will be receiving specifically for our All Souls Day special Mass and remembrances. On November 2nd, we will have an additional 6 PM Mass for All Souls followed by a light reception in the East Foyer of the Church.

I pray you have a blessed weekend.

Prayerfully yours in Christ,

Fr. Jim Keiter

The Archbishop’s Annual Appeal kicked off this past weekend. The Appeal helps to build One Church throughout the Archdiocese of Omaha. Your support of the annual appeal directly impacts parishes, schools, and ministries throughout northeast Nebraska as they work to become missional communities. Please view the video from Archbishop McGovern, then read more about the Appeal by clicking on the image. You can make your gift by selecting the button below. You will also find the Archbishop’s Annual Appeal brochure/pledge card / return envelope and giving guide in this weekend’s bulletin. I would encourage everyone to pray the Annual Appeal Prayer and submit any prayer intentions that you would like Archbishop McGovern to pray for.

Lord Jesus, Through this Most Holy Sacrament of Your Body and Blood, we are united with our brothers and sisters in every parish across the Archdiocese of Omaha as one people, one Church.

Make us Your Sacrament, that we might bring Your love and mercy to the world.

Increase our desire to be Your disciples, and show us how to be generous with our gifts of time, talents and resources.