Pray for Chuck, Cathy & Jeff
and Special Intentions. 
 

Consecration Prayer for Peace

I consecrate Russia and the Ukraine to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

I further consecrate the priests, the Church and the world to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Immaculate Heart of Mary.

I do this in the name of Jesus in as far as I am able, united to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, praying to the Father, in the Holy Spirit, with all the angels and saints and the souls in purgatory through the powerful intercession of Mary, Queen of Peace. Amen.

I further consecrate myself, all members of my family and ask the Holy Spirit to fill us. I spread the Blood of Jesus on all above, I cast the devil into hell away from all of us and consecrate all persons, in as far as I am able,  to the Sacred Heart and Immaculate Heart.

     

Prayer for Grace for our Country

Dear Father united to Jesus in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the Sacrifice of Calvary sacramentally made present, celebrated around the world, in the Holy Spirit. We offer up all we do united to the Mass. We unite in one mind and one heart as members of the mystical body of Christ, with Christ our head in the pure and holy Hearts of Jesus and Mary, through the powerful intercession of Mary with all the angels and saints and souls in purgatory, and we beg for the saving grace, for our country, the United States. Please help us. We further pray for unity to always do the will of God in love. We spread the Blood of Jesus on the leaders and people of the United States and cast the devil into hell. We consecrate our country to the Sacred Heart and Immaculate Heart and all our dioceses, and beg for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. God help us. We pray for our families,  the priests, the Church and the world. In the Name of Jesus please hear us, we pray. We pray for our president and leaders. We pray that we are united as one nation under God to work together in love as God wants.   

 

August 7, 2022

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Wisdom 18: 6-9

That night had been known in advance to our ancestors,
so that, well knowing him in whom they had put their trust,
they would be sure of his promises.
Your people thus were waiting
both for the rescue of the upright and for the ruin of the enemy;
for by the very vengeance that you exacted on our adversaries,
you glorified us by calling us to you.
So the holy children of the good offered sacrifice in secret
and with one accord enacted this holy law:
that the holy ones should share good things and dangers alike;
and forthwith they chanted the hymns of the ancestors.

 

Psalm 33: 1, 12, 18-22

Shout for joy, you upright;
praise comes well from the honest.

How blessed the nation whose God is Yahweh,
the people he has chosen as his heritage.

But see how Yahweh watches over those who fear him,
those who rely on his faithful love,
to rescue them from death
and keep them alive in famine.

We are waiting for Yahweh;
he is our help and our shield,
for in him our heart rejoices,
in his holy name we trust.
Yahweh, let your faithful love rest on us,
as our hope has rested in you.
 

Hebrews 11: 1-2, 8-19

Only faith can guarantee the blessings that we hope for, or prove the existence of realities that are unseen. It is for their faith that our ancestors are acknowledged.

It was by faith that Abraham obeyed the call to set out for a country that was the inheritance given to him and his descendants, and that he set out without knowing where he was going. By faith he sojourned in the Promised Land as though it were not his, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. He looked forward to the well–founded city, designed and built by God.

It was equally by faith that Sarah, in spite of being past the age, was made able to conceive, because she believed that he who had made the promise was faithful to it. Because of this, there came from one man, and one who already had the mark of death on him, descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven and the grains of sand on the seashore which cannot be counted.

All these died in faith, before receiving any of the things that had been promised, but they saw them in the far distance and welcomed them, recognising that they were only strangers and nomads on earth. People who use such terms about themselves make it quite plain that they are in search of a homeland. If they had meant the country they came from, they would have had the opportunity to return to it; but in fact they were longing for a better homeland, their heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, since he has founded the city for them.

It was by faith that Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac. He offered to sacrifice his only son even though he had yet to receive what had been promised, and he had been told: Isaac is the one through whom your name will be carried on. He was confident that God had the power even to raise the dead; and so, figuratively speaking, he was given back Isaac from the dead.

Luke 12: 32-48

    ‘There is no need to be afraid, little flock, for it has pleased your Father to give you the kingdom.

    ‘Sell your possessions and give to those in need. Get yourselves purses that do not wear out, treasure that will not fail you, in heaven where no thief can reach it and no moth destroy it. For wherever your treasure is, that is where your heart will be too.

 ‘See that you have your belts done up and your lamps lit. Be like people waiting for their master to return from the wedding feast, ready to open the door as soon as he comes and knocks. Blessed those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. In truth I tell you, he will do up his belt, sit them down at table and wait on them. It may be in the second watch that he comes, or in the third, but blessed are those servants if he finds them ready. You may be quite sure of this, that if the householder had known at what time the burglar would come, he would not have let anyone break through the wall of his house. You too must stand ready, because the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect.’ 

    Peter said, ‘Lord, do you mean this parable for us, or for everyone?’ The Lord replied, ‘Who, then, is the wise and trustworthy steward whom the master will place over his household to give them at the proper time their allowance of food? Blessed that servant if his master’s arrival finds him doing exactly that. I tell you truly, he will put him in charge of everything that he owns. But if the servant says to himself, "My master is taking his time coming," and sets about beating the menservants and the servant–girls, and eating and drinking and getting drunk, his master will come on a day he does not expect and at an hour he does not know. The master will cut him off and send him to the same fate as the unfaithful. 

    ‘The servant who knows what his master wants, but has got nothing ready and done nothing in accord with those wishes, will be given a great many strokes of the lash. The one who did not know, but has acted in such a way that he deserves a beating, will be given fewer strokes. When someone is given a great deal, a great deal will be demanded of that person; when someone is entrusted with a great deal, of that person even more will be expected.

 

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

August 8, 2004

    INTRODUCTION – I trust we all remember from our bible history how the people of God were slaves in Egypt hundreds of years before Christ and how God set them free under the leadership of Moses. Moses told them to sacrifice a lamb and put its blood on the door posts and lintels of their homes so that when the plague of death came upon Egypt, the families of the Israelites would not be touched. Our first reading from the book of Wisdom is a meditation on the faith God's people had in doing what Moses told them and how they were set free because of their faith.

Our second reading from the Epistle to the Hebrews takes us back five or six hundred years before Moses to the time of Abraham, the father of both the Jews and the Arabs. It gives us another example of faith in the person of Abraham.

    HOMILY – A priest pulled into a gas station and found every pump was in use and several cars were waiting to be next. He got in the waiting line and decided to step out of his car and stretch his legs while he waited. The man ahead of him was also standing beside his car while he waited and he commented to the priest: “it’s a holiday weekend and everybody waits until the last minute to get ready for a long trip.” “I know,”
the priest replied. “It’s the same in my business too!”

    Our Lord is telling us today not to wait until the last minute. He will come again and we don’t know when that will be, so the only thing to do is to always be ready.

    Jesus uses two simple examples. The first is about the head of a household who was out of town for a wedding celebration. In Jesus’ day wedding celebrations often went on for days, so it’s understandable that the servants would not know when to expect their master’s return. The second is about a thief. Of course, a thief doesn’t warn a person before breaking into their house. If Jesus were preaching today, he might use the example of terrorism. We’re sadly familiar with the havoc it can cause and the need to be diligently on the alert. Jesus is going to come again for all of us, whether it’s at the end of the world or at the end of our own personal lives. Unlike the thief or the terrorist who may strike or may be prevented from striking, Jesus’ coming is not a matter of if but of when. Being ready, though, does not mean living in fear but living in his grace.

    Somehow our culture has bought into this notion that we’re all getting to heaven in the end anyway, no matter how bad we’ve been. The devil scored a real coup with that idea, because once people begin to accept that philosophy, they don’t worry about things like prayer, obeying the commandments and living a morally good life. Jesus’ teachings today and in so many other parts of the gospels tell a different story. Heaven is not automatic. It’s something we have to work for and be prepared for. And since we don’t know when the end will come for any one of us, that means we have to always be watching. But what do we have to watch for? Does being on the watch mean just sitting back, looking out the window waiting for eternity to come along? Taking our cue from today’s parables, being on the watch means watching ourselves, keeping ourselves in right relation with God, using self-discipline that we do not get lazy in our service of the Lord.

    Faith is the key to this process of being prepared, not simply a faith that says “I believe,” but a faith like Abraham’s that responds obediently when God calls. Most of us have heard the story about a hiker who slipped off of a cliff. As he started to fall he managed to grab hold of a branch of a tree growing out of the cliff. Holding on for dear life he cried out: “Help! Is there anyone up there?” A powerful voice spoke to him from out of the clouds: “I will help you my son, but first you must have faith in me.” “I trust you, whoever you are,” the man called back. Then the voice replied: “Let go of the branch.” There was a long pause and the man shouted again, “Is there anyone else up there?”

    I’m sure Abraham felt this way many times. God told him to leave his homeland for an unknown destination. God told him to keep on trusting he would have many descendants, even as he and his wife were growing very old. Then after he and his wife had a son in their old age, God told him to sacrifice his son Isaac. Even though God told him later he didn’t need to make this sacrifice, Abraham’s willingness to obey took a lot of letting go. And this is the truth - God cannot help us if we’re not willing to let go of our own will and do what he says to do. Only that is trust. Only that is faith.

 

August 2, 2022

Joyful Mysteries

The Annunciation

1. Luke 1:36-38

 And I tell you this too: your cousin Elizabeth also, in her old age, has conceived a son, and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible to God.’ Mary said, ‘You see before you the Lord’s servant, let it happen to me as you have said.’ And the angel left her. 

2. Mary served as the Mother of the Divine Redeemer.
3. Mary, the perfect, humble handmaid of Jesus.
4. Mary conceived Christ. Mary brought forth Christ. Mary fed and took care of Jesus.
5. Mary took Jesus to the temple. Mary presented Jesus to the Father, there.
6. Mary is our spiritual Mother, Mary works to help souls to go to heaven.
7. Mary suffered with Christ in the bitter Passion.
8. Mary is the singular vessel.
    Mary is Mother of Jesus.
9. Mary is the most perfect disciple of Jesus.
    No person ever followed Christ as perfectly as Mary did.
10. Mary was centered in Jesus. Mary went with Christ to the Father, in the Holy Spirit.

 

The Visitation

1. Luke 1:46-50

And Mary said:

My soul proclaims
    the greatness of the Lord
and my spirit rejoices
    in God my Saviour;
because he has looked upon
    the humiliation of his servant.
Yes, from now onwards
    all generations will call me blessed,
for the Almighty
    has done great things for me.
Holy is his name,
and his faithful love extends age after age
    to those who fear him.

 
2. Luke 1: 39-45

Mary set out at that time and went as quickly as she could into the hill country to a town in Judah. She went into Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. Now it happened that as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. She gave a loud cry and said, ‘Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord? Look, the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy. Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.’ 

3. We see Mary teaches us a lesson on humility. Mary knew without God she was nothing.
4. Mary knew God makes us great!
5. Humility is truth. God is the Creator, we are His creatures.
6. Humility helps me to see myself as I truly am, to look at both good and bad points in me.
7. Humility helps me realize God's gifts and use them to help promote God's Kingdom on earth.
8. In humility, I recognize I will have pain, I am a sinner, I have a fallen human nature.
9. Humility helps me realize I am a social creature and I need to help others.

10. James 4:6
    God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.
 

The Birth of Jesus

1. Colossians 1:15-20

He is the image of the unseen God,
the first–born of all creation,
for in him were created all things
in heaven and on earth:
everything visible
    and everything invisible,
thrones, ruling forces,
    sovereignties, powers—
all things were created through him
    and for him.
He exists before all things
and in him all things hold together,
and he is the Head of the Body,
that is, the Church.

He is the Beginning,
the first–born from the dead,
so that he should be supreme in every way;
because God wanted all fullness
    to be found in him
and through him
    to reconcile all things to him,
everything in heaven
    and everything on earth,
by making peace through his death
    on the cross.

2. The world belongs to Christ.
3. Christ came, the Son of God, born in a stable in Bethlehem.
4. Christ is our Savior. We live the Mystery of Christ in our lives.
5. Christ reigns over all creation. Man's sinfulness has mared this Christic image.
6. Jesus came a little baby, to teach us we are to grow in love.
7. Sing: Oh Come, Oh Come Emmanuel
8. Sing: Silent Night
9. Jesus lived the quiet life. We are to live united to God in the Mass in the ordinariness of our lives.
10. Jesus desires love and obedience to the Father's will.

The Presentation in the Temple

1. Luke 2:35

    and a sword will pierce your soul too — so that the secret thoughts of many may be laid bare.'   

2. Romans 6:3-4

You cannot have forgotten that all of us, when we were baptised into Christ Jesus, were baptised into his death. So by our baptism into his death we were buried with him, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the Father’s glorious power, we too should begin living a new life.

 3. We see the Pascal Mystery: Death/Resurrection.

 4. Luke 24:25-26

And he said to them, "Oh how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and enter into his glory?"

5. Sing: Little Baby Hand and Feet

6. Jesus went to the temple a baby, Simeon showed Him
    Jesus would pass over to His death.
    The transition to the life of resurrection.
    Jesus was willing to pay the price.
7. Christ has structured the Christian life by the way He lived, died, and rose from the dead.
8. Death/Resurrection is at the heart of the Church's life.
9. Mary is Mother at our side.
10. We are to continually die with Christ, so we can continually rise with Him.
 

The Finding in the Temple

1. Luke 2:48-50

They were overcome when they saw him, and his mother said to him, ‘My child, why have you done this to us? See how worried your father and I have been, looking for you.’ He replied, ‘Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?’ But they did not understand what he meant.

2. The Father's will is our guiding principle.
3. Jesus showed us this in giving Himself, emptying Himself to His death on the cross.
4. We are to die to our will, to live the Father's will, in love.
5. Jesus obeyed His Father's will.
6. This conformity to God's will can bring hurt and sorrow to those we love.
7. Mary always perfectly conformed herself in love to God's will.
8. Mary loved the Father's will, it brought her joy.
9. Mary did God's will if it was carrying a boulder or a pebble.
10. Luke 1:38
"Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word."

    Dear Mary ask God for the grace to do God's will.