Blog Post 10/31/2021 - What time is it?

 

 

    What time is it?

 

“There is an appointed time for everything,

   and a time for every affair under the heavens.

A time to be born, and a time to die;

   a time to plant, and a time to uproot the plant.

A time to kill, and a time to heal;

   a time to tear down, and a time to build.

A time to weep, and a time to laugh;

   a time to mourn, and a time to dance.

A time to scatter stones, and a time to gather them;

   a time to embrace, and a time to be far from embraces.

A time to seek, and a time to lose;

   a time to keep, and a time to cast away.

A time to rend, and a time to sew;

   a time to be silent, and a time to speak.

A time to love, and a time to hate;

   a time of war, and a time of peace.”  [Ecclesiastes 3:1-22]

 

 

Rest assured that God will right every wrong and wipe away every tear, so today do your part in God's plan, do His Will.

 

Our Lady of Perpetual Help, pray for us.

St. Joseph, pray for us.

St. Andre Bessette, intercede for us. 

St. Francis de Sales, pray for us.

“Tune my spirit to the music of heaven.”  [St. Brendan the Navigator]

 

May God Be Praised your day be Blessed.

 

Blog Post 10/30/2021 - Prayer for Those Suffering from COVID

 

Prayer to Saint André for Healing

St André at Notre Dame in 1890

 

Saint André,

I come to you in prayer for healing.

(state your intention)

You were no stranger to illness.

Plagued by stomach problems,

you knew suffering on a daily basis,

but you never lost faith in God.

Thousands of people have sought your healing touch

as I do today.

Pray that I might be restored to health

in body, soul and mind.

With St. Joseph as my loving Protector,

strengthen my faith and give me peace

that I might accept God’s will for me

no matter what the outcome.

Amen

 

Our Lady of Perpetual Help, pray for us.

St. Joseph, pray for us.

St. Francis de Sales, pray for us.

Saint Andre Bessette, intercede for us.

 

May God Be Praised and you be blessed.

 

Blog Post 10/29/2021 – What is our true vocation and how can we live it?

                                        What is our true vocation and how can we live it?

 

Two thoughts to reflect upon today: 

 

Jesus tells us, “My commandment is this: love one another as I have loved you.” 

 

St. Francis de Sales, "What is the prize if it is not Jesus Christ?  How can you take hold of him if you do not follow him?" 

 

Our Lady of Perpetual Help, pray for us.

St. Joseph, pray for us.

St. Andre Bessette, intercede for us. 

St. Francis de Sales, pray for us.

“Tune my spirit to the music of heaven.”  [St. Brendan the Navigator]

 

May God Be Praised your day be Blessed.

 

 

Blog Post 10/28/2021 - Today's Prayer

 

 Join me today and pray, "O God, bend my heart to follow Your will and allow my voice to praise Your Holy Name, cleanse me from any worthless, evil, or distracting thoughts. 

Grant me Your grace today – so I pray with reverence, awe and love.  

Listen to my pleas, hear my prayers, and answer me.  

Guide me with Your Spirit that I may shine forth Your Radiance to the world."  

[Dcn. George Kelly] 

 

Our Lady of Perpetual Help, pray for us.

St. Joseph, pray for us.

St. Andre Bessette, intercede for us. 

St. Francis de Sales, pray for us.

“Tune my spirit to the music of heaven.”  [St. Brendan the Navigator]

 

May God Be Praised your day be Blessed.

Blog Post 10/27/2021 – Humpty Dumpty had a great fall and so did we.

 

Remember the nursey rhyme Humpty Dumpty, he had a great fall and all the king’s horses, and all the king’s men couldn’t put Humpty Dumpty back together again.  In the Book of Genesis, we read about the first great fall - a fall from wholeness, holiness, grace and we are broken like Humpty Dumpty.  Unlike Humpty Dumpty the King, Jesus came to put us back together.  In 1 John 5 we read, “You know that He was revealed to take away sins, and in Him there is no sin.”

 

The centurion and the men with him … announced, “Truly, He was the Son of God.”  [Matthew 27:54]

 

St. Peter said, “Lord, to whom shall we go, You have the Words of everlasting life.”  [John 6:68]

 

Jesus came to save you and me, saying yes to His invitation will enable our journey to healing, wholeness and holiness repair the brokenness in us from original sin. 

 

Meister Eckhart offers us this precious spiritual insight,

“You must bring God everything – your dreams, your successes, your rejoicing. 

And if you have little to rejoice over, bring God that little. 

And if your life seems only like a heap of fragments, bring God the fragments. 

And if you have only empty hands, bring God your empty hands. 

Shattered hopes are God’s material; in God’s hands all is made good. 

You must bring God everything!”

God is waiting for your hands, your hopes, your heart – God is waiting for you.

 

Our Lady of Perpetual Help, pray for us.

St. Joseph, pray for us.

St. Andre Bessette, intercede for us. 

St. Francis de Sales, pray for us.

“Tune my spirit to the music of heaven.”  [St. Brendan the Navigator]

 

May God Be Praised your day be Blessed.

 

 

 

 

 

Blog Post October 26, 2021

 

 

                                                                        Servant

 

How do you measure greatness?  Books have been written; research has been conducted on it.  Why do you think somebody or some team or something is great?

 

Superbowl Champs?

World Series Champs?

Richest person in the world?

Hollywood Stardom?

World Chess Champion?

Noble Prize Winner?

Jesus gives us the answer in the GOSPEL – the one who serves.  Being a servant is hard work, demanding work and many times menial work, work that often receives no notice or reward.  St. Teresa of Calcutta, [a.k.a. Mother Teresa] became famous for caring for and loving the dying in Calcutta.

A less famous Saint who did menial work with great love, who prayed for people through the intercession of St. Joseph and is credited for hundreds of miracles – Brother Andre Bessette.  He scrubbed floors and was the doorkeeper [porter for nearly 40 years] at an Oratory in Montreal, known as the Doorman of Montreal or Montreal’s Miracle Worker.  In 1937 over a million people attended his funeral, you can Google him to read more about his life.

 

What would you say to Jesus if He asked you, “What do you wish me to do for you?”  Would you ask for wealth, looks, fame, healing?  Would you ask to be a Servant?  Jesus who is the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, “Who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped.  Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself ….” [Philippians 2: 6-8]  Because he loves, Jesus is willing to endure anything – even death – in order to save the human race. 

For a few minutes, in silence, think about the servants you have been privilege to know – thank God for them and ask God for the grace to imitate them and Jesus! 

Our Lady of Perpetual Help, pray for us.

St. Joseph, pray for us.

St. Andre Bessette, intercede for us. 

St. Francis de Sales, pray for us.

“Tune my spirit to the music of heaven.”  [St. Brendan the Navigator]

May God Be Praised your day be Blessed.

 

 

Blog Post 10/25/2021

 

 

                                                          Doing God’s Will

 

Mold my heart to do Your Will, O God.

Mold my heart to do Your Will, O God.

Guide my steps along your path, so I will Love Your Will, O God.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, may the Light of the Trinity shine brightly through my life.  Amen.

 

 

Our Lady of Perpetual Help, pray for us.

St. Joseph, pray for us.

St. Andre Bessette, intercede for us. 

St. Francis de Sales, pray for us.

“Tune my spirit to the music of heaven.”  [St. Brendan the Navigator]

 

May God Be Praised your day be Blessed.

 

Blog Post 10/24/2021

 

                                                            Letting Go and Letting God

A Flyer and a Catcher enter the circus ring and greet the audience with smiles and movement that cause their wide silver capes to swirl about them.  They pull themselves up into the large net and start to climb rope ladders to positions high up in the big tent. 

As the Flyer swings away from the pedestal board, she somersaults and turns freely in the air, only to be safely grasped by the Catcher.  The secret is for the Flyer to trust the Catcher to grasp them.

So it is with God and us, we need to trust that the Lord will grasp us each time we fly into His arms.  God longs for us to fly to His loving embrace, fly now, fly tomorrow and one day you will fly into eternity with the Lord.

 

Our Lady of Perpetual Help, pray for us.

St. Joseph, pray for us.

St. Andre Bessette, intercede for us. 

St. Francis de Sales, pray for us.

“Tune my spirit to the music of heaven.”  [St. Brendan the Navigator]

 

May God Be Praised your day be Blessed.

 

 

Blog Post - October 23, 2021

 

Isaiah shares this message with us today, God urges us “All you who are thirsty, come to the water!  You who have no money, come, receive grain and eat;  Come, without paying and without cost, drink wine and milk!”  [Isaiah 55:1]

 God wants us to come to Him with our whole being, it is that simple and that complex.

Our Lady of Perpetual Help, pray for us.

St. Joseph, pray for us.

St. Andre Bessette, intercede for us. 

St. Francis de Sales, pray for us.

“Tune my spirit to the music of heaven.”  [St. Brendan the Navigator]

 

May God Be Praised your day be Blessed.

 

Blog Post – 10/22/2021

 

Homily Cycle I - OLPH School Mass

 

Our Gospel calls us to Commitment & Trust -  Jesus talks with Peter about Commitment & Trust.  About Commitment & Trust based on loving Jesus and accepting Jesus’ Love.   

Athletes, Artists, etc. to develop their talent must be Committed.

Today we celebrate and we remember St. John Paul II who gave us, the Church, a wonderful gift “The Catechism of the Catholic Church.”  And he urged us to “Become who you are.”  [J.P.II]

 

St. Francis de Sales offered us this spiritual insight into the same idea, “Let us be who we are & be that well, in order to bring honor to the Master craftsman whose handiwork we are.”  [Oeurves, XII. Letter 289 10 June 1607]
 

Last Friday we celebrated St. Teresa of Avila’s feast day, and this morning she reminds us:

 

St. John Paul II, Pope said, “I plead with you--never, ever give up on hope, never doubt, never tire, and never become discouraged. Be not afraid.” And he reminded us “… that you are never alone, Christ is with you on your journey every day of your lives ….

[12th World Youth Day in Paris, France - August 1997]

 

The Gentleman Saint Francis de Sales offered us this advice in the 17^th century and it is still valuable, “Today give your worries and your concerns to God, He is waiting for them.”  If you do that than as Isaiah says, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings glad tidings, Announcing peace, bearing good news ….”  You will help the Good News be known.

 

I pray that your goal in life is to be the best person you can be, if you do that the light of Christ will shine brightly upon our world, and our world needs that light.  I close my morning prayers and my blog each day with these requests:

 

Our Lady of Perpetual Help, pray for us.

St. Joseph, pray for us.

St. Francis de Sales, pray for us.

Saint Andre Bessette, intercede for us.

And May God Be Praised and you be blessed.

 

Blog Post 10/21/2021

                                                                     The Angelus*

 

V. The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary.

R. And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.

 

            Hail Mary ….

 

V. Behold the handmaid of the Lord.

R. Be it done unto me according to thy word.

   

            Hail Mary ….

 

V. And the Word was made Flesh.

R. And dwelt among us.

   

Hail Mary ….

 

V. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God.

R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

 

Let Us Pray

Pour forth, we beseech You, O Lord, Send Your grace into our hearts, that we to whom the Incarnation of Christ Your Son was made known by the message of an angel, may by His Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection. Through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen.

*The Angelus began with three Hail Mary’s following an evening bell around the 12th century it developed into its present form (with morning and midday recitations) during the 16th century. 

Our Lady of Perpetual Help, pray for us.

St. Joseph, pray for us.

St. Andre Bessette, intercede for us. 

St. Francis de Sales, pray for us.

“Tune my spirit to the music of heaven.”  [St. Brendan the Navigator]

 

May God Be Praised your day be Blessed.

Blog Post 10/20/2021

 

                                                             Litany of Mary [adapted from Prayer Seeds by Joyce Rupp]

Mary of the Annunciation, 

teach us how to respond with faith to divine mystery.

Mary at Elizabeth’s door,

teach us to be generous.

Mary giving birth to Jesus,

teach us to look for your Son in all situations of life. 

Mary fleeing into the strange land of Egypt,

teach us to welcome strangers and refugees.

Mary in the Temple where young Jesus preached,

teach us to search diligently for the Lord.

Mary at home in Nazareth with your family,

teach us to value the gift of our relationships.

Mary at the tomb of Jesus,

teach us to grieve and to comfort others who grieve.

Mary in the Upper Room with the disciples,

teach us reverence and awe for The Eucharist.

 

Our Lady of Perpetual Help, pray for us.

St. Joseph, pray for us.

St. Andre Bessette, intercede for us. 

St. Francis de Sales, pray for us.

“Tune my spirit to the music of heaven.”  [St. Brendan the Navigator]

 May God Be Praised your day be Blessed.

 

Artwork by Bro. Mickey McGrath, OSFS

Blog Post 10/19/2021

 

                                                                     Day 10

Our ten-day retreat with St. Francis de Sales is ending today, and since today is our last day let’s reflect with the Gentleman Saint on God’s Word.

“Cultivate a special devotion to God’s Word, whether studied privately or in public; always listen to it with attention and reverence, strive to profit from it, and do not let it fall to the ground, but receive it within your heart as a precious balm.” 

 

“The Word of God is pure, and it will make those pure who study it.”  [McClernon, p.169]

 

The most important Words Jesus gave us are: “Do this in memory of Me … This is my body, this is my blood.”  Remember the pure of heart will see God, blessed are those who believe and receive Jesus, the Son of god, in the Most Holy Eucharist.

Thank you for taking time for a mini retreat, may it be of benefit to one and to all.

 

Our Lady of Perpetual Help, pray for us.

St. Joseph, pray for us.

St. Andre Bessette, intercede for us. 

St. Francis de Sales, pray for us.

“Tune my spirit to the music of heaven.”  [St. Brendan the Navigator]

 

May God Be Praised your day be Blessed.

Painting above of the Good Shepherd was done by Brother Mickey McGrath O.S.F.S.