Grace offered at a staff luncheon to thank Msgr. Sacks

 

 

 

Grace offered at a staff luncheon to thank Msgr. Sacks

After 33 years as pastor, extraordinaire, of Our Lady of Perpetual Help parish in Bethlehem, PA, Msgr. Edward Sacks will become pastor emeritus and remain with us at OLPH.

When a Thank you is not enough but it is all that we can offer, what can we possible do.  Here goes, “May flowers always line your path and sunshine light your day.  May songbirds serenade you every step along the way.  May a rainbow run beside you in a sky that’s always blue.  And may happiness fill your heart each day your whole life through.”

 

When speaking of our gratitude, we Irish [sometimes say], may you have goodness, may God increase you, and may you have a thousand good things.  God has indeed “increased you” in your priesthood and during your 33 years as our pastor at OLPH.  It is our good fortune that as you are “retired” you stay here with us, so your spiritual guidance will continue to “increase us.” 

Our prayer for you is that the daily blessing you receive be the blessing you need most.  Dear God, “Bless us with good food, the gift of gab, and hearty laughter, [and] may the love and joy we share, Be with us ever after.”

Now let us bow our heads as we pray, “Bless us O Lord ….”  Amen.

Msgr. Thank you, thank you, a thousand thank you(s).

St. Joseph, pray for us.

Saint Andre Bessette intercede for us.

May God Be Praised!

 

 

Life During the Pandemic

 

Pandemic Praying

 

A Despairing Lament [Psalm 88], Yet Hope In God [psalm 23] and the Gospel of John [14:1-14]

 

“I Lord, the God of my salvation, I call out by day;

    at night I cry aloud in your presence.

 Let my prayer come before you;

    incline your ear to my cry.

 

For my soul is filled with troubles;

    my life draws near to Sheol.

 I am reckoned with those who go down to the pit;

    I am like a warrior without strength.

 

My couch is among the dead,

    like the slain who lie in the grave.

You remember them no more;

    they are cut off from your influence.

 

You plunge me into the bottom of the pit,

    into the darkness of the abyss.

 Your wrath lies heavy upon me;

    all your waves crash over me.

 

Because of you my acquaintances shun me;

    you make me loathsome to them;

Caged in, I cannot escape;

 my eyes grow dim from trouble.

 

All day I call on you, Lord;

    I stretch out my hands to you.

 Do you work wonders for the dead?

    Do the shades arise and praise you?

 

Is your mercy proclaimed in the grave,

    your faithfulness among those who have perished?

Are your marvels declared in the darkness,

    your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion?

 

But I cry out to you, Lord;

    in the morning my prayer comes before you.

Why do you reject my soul, Lord,

    and hide your face from me?

 

 

I have been mortally afflicted since youth;

I have borne your terrors and I am made numb.

Your wrath has swept over me;

    your terrors have destroyed me.

 

All day they surge round like a flood;

    from every side they encircle me.

Because of you friend and neighbor shun me;

    my only friend is darkness.”

 

My Hope is in the Lord

 

“The LORD is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack.

In green pastures he makes me lie down; to still waters he leads me; he restores my soul.

 

He guides me along right paths for the sake of his name.  Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me;

your rod and your staff comfort me.

 

You set a table before me in front of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil;

my cup overflows. Indeed, goodness and mercy will pursue me all the days of my life; I will dwell in the house of the LORD for endless days.”

 

The Lord is Ever with Me

 

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me.

In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be.

 

Where I am going you know the way.  Thomas said to him, “Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?”

 

Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.  If you know me, then you will also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

 

Philip said to him, “Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.

Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?

Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who dwells in me is doing his works.  Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else, believe because of the works themselves.

 

Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father.  And whatever you ask in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it.”

 

St. Joseph, pray for us.

Saint Andre Bessette intercede for us.

May God Be Praised!

 

 

Praying with the Scriptures

Praying with the Scriptures

 

Antiphon 1 “Remember me, Lord God, when you come into your kingdom, alleluia.” [Morning Prayer Week I]

 

From Psalm 27       

“I am sure I shall see the Lord’s goodness

in the land of the living.

Hope in him, hold firm and take heart.

Hope in the Lord!

… There is one thing I ask of the Lord,

for this I long, to live in the house of the Lord,

all the days of my life,

to savor the sweetness of the Lord,

to behold his temple.”

 

From Psalm 23

“The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack.

In green pastures he makes me lie down; to still waters he leads me; he restores my soul.

He guides me along right paths for the sake of his name. 

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff comfort me.

You set a table before me in front of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

Indeed, goodness and mercy will pursue me all the days of my life; I will dwell in the house of the Lord for endless days.”

 

Revelation 22:5, 3

“Night will be no more, for the Lord God will be the light for his servants,

– and they shall reign for ever, alleluia.”

 

A plea from Deacon George Kelly, “Lord remember me in your Mercy rather than in your Justice, so I may Walk and Live in Your Light.”

 

St. Joseph, pray for us.

Saint Andre Bessette intercede for us.

May God Be Praised!

 

 

Wisdom for Living

                                                            Wisdom for Living

 

 

St. Francis de Sales offers us his “Golden Counsels” to guide our life:

Peace, Patience, Confidence, Love, God’s Will, Perseverance, Devotion, Penitence, Providence, Trust, Suffering, Cooperation with God, Hope, Everyday Life and Death.

 

Here is an example, “Let nothing disturb you; Let nothing frighten you.  All things are passing.  God never changes.  Patience obtains all things.  Nothing is wanting to him who possesses God.  God alone suffices.” 

 

 

 

 

If you are interested in a little gem of St. Francis de Sales’ Wisdom you can purchase a copy of his Golden Counsels [28 pages]: http://embracedbygod.org/product/golden-counsels-of-st-francis-de-sales/

 

 

St. Joseph, pray for us.

St. Francis de Sales instructs us.

Saint Andre Bessette intercede for us.

May God Be Praised!

 

We are called to Love, not necessarily to Like

 

We are called to Love, not necessarily to Like

 

The humorist Will Rogers told us that he never met a man he didn't like.  Jesus said, "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you."

 

How can we handle this call to love when we don’t like some people?  Thomas Merton the Cistern monk offers us an important distinction regarding loving and liking and our call as disciples of Jesus Christ.  “Liking is an emotional thing.

Loving is an act of the will.  He said Jesus doesn’t ask the impossible

we are not called to like everybody, but to love everybody.”

 

Jesus calls us to love as He did, that is difficult to follow, but richly rewarding to follow.

 

Kahlil Gibran wrote: “When love beckons to you, follow him, Though his ways are hard and steep….” [The Prophet]. Jesus beckons you, answer His call.

 

St. Joseph, pray for us.

Saint Andre Bessette intercede for us.

May God Be Praised!

 

 

 

 

 

Mother’s Day 2021

 

Happy Mother’s Day to my Mom, my wife Joanne [mother of our five children and grandmother to our ten grandchildren], my daughter Elizabeth, my daughters-in-law: Laurie and Amy.  

Like the Blessed Mother who nurtured, supported, and affirmed Jesus during His life, mothers have the task of molding our lives and helping us be the best person we can be. 

They have the unique ability to help their children no matter the age of those children.  Our children have been blessed many times over by the love lived day in and day out by my wife Joanne.   

A mom’s influence never ends.  Maybe this story can illustrate that point.

 

“Phil Keith, the former police chief of Knoxville, Tennessee, tells of receiving a call from his mother while he was in the middle of a televised press conference.

 

Keith knew his mother wouldn’t call him under those circumstances unless something was seriously wrong, so he excused himself from the press conference to answer the phone.  When his mother picked up the phone, she said, ‘Phil Keith, are you chewing gum?’

 

He said, ‘Um, yes, ma’am.’  She said, ‘Well, it looks awful. Spit it out.’  So, Police Chief Phil Keith spit out his gum and returned to finish the press conference. Isn’t it amazing the power mothers have over our lives?  [Sermons.Com May 9, 2021]

 

Today pray for your mother living or deceased, and pray for her every day because of the many sacrifices she has made for you.  

I was richly blessed by my Mom and I know she still is looking out for me and praying for me.   

Moms are a wonderful gift from God, so important that God created one, Mary, for His own Son, Our Lord, Jesus Christ.  Jesus loved His Mother, remember the miracle at Cana?  

Today offer a prayer of thanksgiving to the Blessed Mother and for your Mom.

 

A Mother’s Prayer

 

If I live in a house of spotless beauty with everything in its place, but have not love, I am a housekeeper--not a homemaker.

If I have time for waxing, polishing, and decorative achievements, but have not love, my children learn cleanliness - not godliness.

Love leaves the dust in search of a child's laugh.

Love smiles at the tiny fingerprints on a newly cleaned window.

Love wipes away the tears before it wipes up the spilled milk.

Love picks up the child before it picks up the toys.

Love is present through the trials.

Love reprimands, reproves, and is responsive.

Love crawls with the baby, walks with the toddler, runs with the child, then stands aside to let the youth walk into adulthood.

Love is the key that opens salvation's message to a child's heart. Before I became a mother, I took glory in my house of perfection.

Now I glory in God's perfection of my child.

As a mother, there is much I must teach my child, but the greatest of all is love.

Author Unknown [Sermons.com 5/09/2021]

 

A Special Blessing as we remember and celebrate Mothers:

 

Loving God, as a mother gives life and nourishment to her children, so You watch over Your Church; bless all women who encourage and love. 

May their example of faith and support shine forth each day. 

Grant them the respect and profound love they deserve for sharing their glimpse of Your Divine Goodness.

 

May all the mothers living, deceased and to come be blessed today and every day.

 

St. Joseph, pray for us.

Saint Andre Bessette intercede for us.

May God Be Praised!

 

 

 

Pandemic Prayer Time in the Morning

 

Morning Prayer Time

 

During the COVID 19 Pandemic, I Begin My Day Praying the Prayers Below Before I Pray the Liturgy of the Hours

 

My God, I give you this day.

I offer you, now, all the good

that I shall do …

and

I promise to accept, for love of you,

all the difficulty that I shall meet.

Help me to conduct myself during this day in a manner [most] pleasing to you.

 

Lord God, open my heart to praise your Holy Name, cleanse me from any worthless, evil, or distracting thought.  Grant me the wisdom I need to pray this Liturgy of the Word with reverence and love.  Hear my plea, fill me with Your Love that I may shine forth Your Radiance to the world.  Hear my cry!  “Lord, listen to my prayer: turn your ear to my appeal.” 

 

You are my refuge and hope, I turn to You during this COVID 19 Pandemic and plead for Your intercession.  In Your mercy and compassion “… grant eternal rest to the dead, comfort to mourners, healing to the sick ….” strength and endurance to the first responders, compassion and empathy to the medical personnel, wisdom, and courage to government leaders.  End this coronavirus scourge.  Send Your light to guide me as I wander in darkness and give me the solace of Your eternal love today.  Amen.  [Psalm 143 and Collect from Mass Time in Pandemic Adopted by Dcn. George Kelly]

 

“Come, Holy Spirit, [Come] fill my heart.  And kindle in me the fire of Your Divine love.  Send forth Your Spirit and I shall be created.  And You will renew the face of the earth.” 

 

St. Joseph, pray for us.

Saint Andre Bessette intercede for us.

 

 

Then I pray the Office of Readings and Morning Prayer from the Church’s Liturgy of the Hours.

 

May God Be Praised!