“God made you great. Stay great.”

Mark Link SJ

 

PROGRESS IN PRAYER 

“To some extent
prayer comes naturally to man.
Like anything innate
it often tends to follow
a natural rhythm identifiable with growth.

During childhood
recited prayer predominates
words learned by heart or read from a book ...

From adolescence to adulthood
meditative prayer develops.
We also find spoken prayer during this period.
This species, while focusing upon
a subject of one’s own choosing,
breaks forth spontaneously ...

It may be the outburst of an emotion of joy,
praise, gratefulness, sorrow ...

Finally,, silent prayer
is the prayer of the mature man, whose soul
remains speechless in the presence of God
aware of the inadequacy of whatever the soul may say to him.
But is simply content
to rest in God’s entrancing company.”

by Michael Lapierre, S.J.

Asking God your reason for being ...

I give you 

life 

I place you on 

earth 

for a very

special reason

but you won’t 

find out unless 

you ask me what 

the reason is

and talking 

is so easy

why don’t 

you do more 

with me?

J. Janda

 Saint Stephen 

Saint Philip

Saint Prochorus

Saint Nicanor

Saint Timon

Saint Parmenas

Saint Nicholas

Pray for the success of our Million Meal Event

 

I’ve always identified with Thomas. 

Thomas was asked to do what the other disciples didn’t have to do. He had to believe sight unseen. Thomas might be the easiest apostle to relate to because many of us have experienced what it is like to live between faith and doubt. Almost everyone experiences some kind of doubt at some point in their faith journey. It’s part of the faith journey.

Faith is often seen as the opposite of doubt, but that is inaccurate. The opposite of faith is certainty; there is no room for faith where there is certainty. 

Doubt is not the opposite of faith; it is one element of faith. Doubt forces us to rely on God because we don’t have it all figured out. 

In the ninth chapter of Mark’s Gospel, there is the story of a distraught father whose young son is possessed by an evil spirit. The boy's father has asked Jesus to heal his son, and Jesus told him to have faith, and his son would recover. Like the rest of us, the poor fellow had his doubts, so he said, “I’ll do my best, but while you’re attending to my son, please cure my unbelief.” The boy was cured; the father’s faith was strengthened by Jesus, who reminded him, “Everything is possible to one who has faith.”

The most excellent cure for doubt is a good prayer life that includes scripture reading. Ponder God’s word. Let it speak to you and use it to speak to God. Pray to God in the words of the psalms. Enter into the Gospel stories, try to imagine yourself in the reading. Visualize yourself as the person whom you see Jesus healing. Feel his hands rest upon you; hear his words as if they were spoken to you. Don’t read them as you read the morning paper but listen to them as part of your morning prayer. From my experience doing this, I can promise you that God will touch your heart and strengthen your faith.

The Saint Brigid Parish Stations of the Cross are Amazing

This Lent let's focus on the words rather than the images.

The first panel says:

We Adore Thee
O Christ
And
We Bless Thee
Because
By Thy Holy Cross
Thou Hast
Redeemed
The World

The cross of Christ is the greatest of all paradoxes. 

The cross was the darkest hour in history

yet it was the time of greatest light.

It was the most tragic event in the history of the world,

yet the most wonderful thing that ever happened. 

It was the saddest spectacle man ever beheld,

yet it was the most stunning defeat Satan ever suffered

   and the most glorious victory Christ ever won. 

He won by losing. 

He conquered by surrendering. 

We see man's hatred for Christ in the cross, 

yet we see Christ's love for man. 

There we see human vengeance as the crowds cried for His blood, 

yet we see divine forgiveness as Jesus prayed, 

"Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do."

The cross portrays man’s sinfulness and God’s holiness;

 human weakness and divine strength. 

It demonstrates man's inability to save himself 

and God's ability and power to do this for him. 

The cross, from the human standpoint, is foolishness;

yet it is a revelation of the highest wisdom of God. 

💗

St. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians that "for the Jewish people the cross is a scandal 

and for the Greeks (Gentiles) the cross is foolishness, but to those on the way of salvation -- 

Jew and Gentile alike -- Christ the power and wisdom of God!"

Make your Lenten prayers ... prayers for peace.

As we begin Lent, our 40-day season of prayer, sacrifice, and almsgiving in preparation for the celebration of Easter, I would suggest we offer our sacrifices and prayers for the people of Ukraine. We watch in horror as peaceful communities are turned into arenas of violence, families are separated, and young men young fathers pick up weapons. We see missiles destroy places of refuge and safety, and lives are abused, wounded, and lost, including innocent children. Millions must flee their homes with just the clothes they can carry. We all want to do something to help! And we can! As we begin our Lenten traditions, let all of us remember that prayer is powerful. Pray for peace! Pray for Ukraine. Ask God to pierce Putin’s heart.   

O God, author and giver of peace,
in whose image and likeness each of us has been created
with a human dignity worthy of respect on earth
and destined for eternal glory,
Listen to the cry that rises from every corner of this fragile earth,
from our human family torn by violent conflict:

Give peace in our time, O good and gracious God,
that peace which, as your son Jesus Christ told us
and as we have experienced in these days,
is a peace which the world cannot give.

To world leaders grant the wisdom
to see beyond the boundaries of race, religion, and nation
to that common humanity that makes us all your children
and brothers and sisters to one another.

To those who have taken up arms in anger or revenge
or even in the cause of justice
grant the grace of conversion to the path of peaceful dialogue
and constructive collaboration.

To the innocent who live in the shadow of war and terror,
especially the frightened children,
be a shelter and strength, their haven and hope.

And to those who have already lost their lives
as victims of human cruelty,
open wide your arms and enfold them all
in the embrace of your compassion, healing, and everlasting life.

Grant this through Jesus Christ, your son, our Lord.

Mary, Mother of all and Queen of peace, pray for us.

- Peter J. Scagnelli