Offered by Dcn. George Kelly

 

                                           Lent Just a few weeks to go!

 

 

 

 

 

Pope Francis said, “Lent is about discerning where our hearts are directed. Let us ask: Where is my life’s navigation system taking me – towards God or towards myself?  He, also, taught us “Prayer is the breath of the soul.”  

 

Take a few minutes today and pray these sections of Psalm 107, a Psalm of Thanksgiving for Deliverance

Then they cried to the Lord in their need *
and he rescued them from their distress
and he led them along the right way *
to reach a city they could dwell in.

Let them thank the Lord for his love, *
for the wonders he does for people.
For he satisfies the thirsty soul; *
he fills the hungry with good things.

Then they cried to the Lord in their need *
and he rescued them from their distress.
He led them forth from darkness and gloom *
and broke their chains [ the chains of COVID 19] to pieces.

Then they cried to the Lord in their need *
and he rescued them from their distress.

He stilled the storm to a whisper: *
all the waves of the sea were hushed.
They rejoiced because of the calm *
and he led them to the haven they desired.

The more faithful we are to prayer in our daily lives, the more our soul will breathe, breath the breath of life.

 

Saint Joseph, pray for us.

Saint Andre Bessette intercede for us.

May God Be Praised!

 

 

 

 

Top O' the Mornin'

 

Happy St. Patrick’s Day

“May the leprechauns be near you, To spread luck along your way.  And may all the Irish angels, Smile upon you St. Patrick's Day.

 

May the joys of today Be those of tomorrow.  The goblets of life Hold no dregs of sorrow.

 

May the saddest day of your future be no worse Than the happiest day of your past.

Health and a long life to you.  Land without rent to you.  A child every year to you.  And if you can't go to heaven, May you at least die in Ireland. 

May you have: No frost on your spuds, No worms on your cabbage.  May your goat give plenty of milk.  And if you inherit a donkey, May she be in foal.

Today as we wear our green let us each pray the prayer attributed to St. Patrick: 

May the Strength of God pilot us.

May the Power of God preserve us. 

May the Wisdom of God instruct us.

May the Hand of God protect us. 

May the Way of God direct us.

May the Shield of God defend us. 

May the Host of God guard us

Against the snares of the evil ones,

Against temptations of the world. 

May Christ be with us!

May Christ be before us! 

May Christ be in us,

Christ be over all,

May Thy Salvation, Lord, 

Always be ours,

This day, O Lord, and evermore." Amen.

 

Saint Patrick pray for us, today we are all Irish.

Saint Joseph, pray for us.

Saint Andre Bessette intercede for us.

May God Be Praised!

 

Offered by Dcn. George Kelly

                                                    How to live each Day?

 

Live each day, as a gift to our Heavenly Father, TRUSTING in God’s Providence for us and for our world.  What kind of TRUST does God ask from us?  In a traditional flying trapeze act, flyers mount a narrow board and take off on the fly bar.  The flyer must wait for a call from the catcher to make sure they leave at the correct time.  If leave too early or too late, the catcher will not be close enough to the flyer to make the catch.  The flyer must have complete trust in the catcher.  The flyer is often perceived as the star of the show, but the real star is the catcher.

 

 

The flyer must do nothing and allow the catcher to do everything.  To be a successful disciple of Jesus requires us to completely trust our catcher, our Heavenly Father, with all our heart.  We are not supposed to catch God but allow God to catch us.  Simply stretching out our arms and hands – without fear – and out hearts - trusting …. (The Flyer and Catcher by Kaizen on December 19, 2013)  We are flyers asked by God to TRUST and PREPARE!  TRUST & PREPARATION are hard work, but they pay HEAVENLY REWARDS!  Take a few minutes, in silence, reflect on your TRUST and your PREPARATION to meet your maker!

 

Let me share with you a portion of Matthew’s Gospel: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.  Which one of you would hand his son a stone when he asks for a loaf of bread, or a snake when he asks for a fish?  If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask him.”

 

Matthew poses interesting? s for us! “Which one of you (of us) would hand our son or daughter a stone when they asked for a loaf of bread?”  “Which one of you would hand your child a snake when they asked for a fish?”  Parents want the best for their children.  The more difficult question to grapple with and to answer is – what is best!  Are we talking about school, clothes, food, cell phone, computer, etc?  Those things are important BUT they are not the MOST important thing we can give our children.

 

Randy Pausch gained fame with his Last Lecture.  Professors are sometimes asked to consider their death and to share what matters most to them.  Take some time to think about what God’s wants them to learn from you and the way you live.  As you reflect on that, you can skip the obvious – providing for them financially.  What life lessons would you want to give them?  Look at the cartoon and reflect on your use of your cell phone and all electronics you use.

 

 

 

 

Saint Joseph, pray for us.

Saint Andre Bessette intercede for us.

May God Be Praised!

 

 

Offered by Dcn. George Kelly

 

Bishop Barron shared this reflection on Mark’s Gospel [2:23-28], “Jesus acknowledges that he is ‘lord even of the sabbath.’  And the claim of the first Christians was Iesous Kyrios—Jesus is Lord. This was bound to annoy both Jews and Gentiles. The Jews would be massively put off by the use of the term Kyrios in describing an ordinary human being. Moreover, the implication that this man was the Messiah of Israel—when he had died at the hands of Israel’s enemies—was simply blasphemous.

 

And for the Greeks, this claim was subversive, for a watchword of the time was Kaiser Kyrios—the emperor is lord. A new system of allegiance was being proposed, a new type of ordering and lordship—and this was indeed a threat to the regnant system.

 

We Christians are not announcing a private or personal spirituality, but rather declaring a new King. Every aspect of life—business, family life, the arts, sexuality, and entertainment—must come properly under his headship.”

 

 

In Lent as we reflect on the King of Kings, Jesus Christ, let us allow the cosmic dimensions of our belief to guide our minds and fill our hearts.  The Messiah revealed the eternal plan of salvation to us, “Come let us adore Him.”

 

Saint Joseph, pray for us.

Saint Andre Bessette intercede for us.

May God Be Praised!

 

 

 

 

 

Offered by Dcn. George Kelly

 

                                                The Sacrament of Confirmation

 

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states, “Preparation for Confirmation should aim at leading the Christian toward a more intimate union with Christ and a livelier familiarity with the Holy Spirit—his actions, his gifts, and his biddings—in order to be more capable of assuming the apostolic responsibilities of Christian life” (no.1309).

 

Confirmation showers God’s GRACE upon those who receive it; Confirmation is: “An outward sign, Instituted by Christ, To give grace.”  Jesus told us in the Gospel, “Do not be afraid!”  Confirmation gives us the Grace to live unafraid, because the Holy Spirit is guiding us to God.

 

Jesus wants us to TRUST Him, to TRUST The Holy Spirit and to TRUST The Heavenly Father.  TRUST is fundamental to loving God, loving others and loving ourselves.  Confirmation gives us the grace to “…be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”

 

Maybe this story can illuminate this preparation, “Linda Taylor was putting her three [little children] to bed.  Suddenly Peggy who had just begun kindergarten, said “Mommy, if the world came to an end, right now …”

 

Linda gulped and said a quick prayer for guidance; “Yes, dear,” … “go on.”  Peggy said, “Would I have to take my library book back, or would it be okay to leave it at home?”  Peggy’s innocent question and Jesus’ sobering words invite us to reflect on how ready we are to meet our maker right now?

(Action, Cycle C, Sunday, ordinary Time, Week 19, p.300) 

 

Today reflect on how you are preparing for the end of the world, or the end of your life.  Are you living by preparing for the end, by the way you live your life?  

Lent reminds us to reform our lives, so we live each day, as a gift to our Heavenly Father, TRUSTING in God’s Providence for us and for our world.

 

Saint Joseph, pray for us.

Saint Andre Bessette intercede for us.

May God Be Praised!

 

 

 

Offered by Dcn. George Kelly

 

                                Homily Cycle I OLPH School Mass [3/12/2021]

 

In our Collect [Opening Prayer] Msgr. Sacks prayed: “Pour out your grace into our hearts O Lord … and [we will] obey by Your own gift the heavenly teaching You gave us ….”  In our first reading from Hosea, we were told return to the Lord doesn’t mean we have left Him, but we need to put Him first.

 

St. Mark in his Gospel relates the Scribes asking Jesus “What commandment is first?”  They then commend Him for His deep and insightful answer.  Israelites had 613 commandments/laws Jesus synthesizes them into two: Love God [Deuteronomy 6:5] & Love of neighbor [Leviticus 19:18]

 

Thomas Merton offers us an important distinction between liking/loving.

Liking is an emotional thing.  Loving is an act of the will.  Merton said Jesus doesn’t ask the impossible we are not called to like everybody, but to love everybody.  Really if we love God withour whole heart, soul, mind and all our strength, we will love our neighbor.

 

Pope John Paul I told the story about Michelangelo, one day he was in his studio standing next to a big amorphous piece of marble with his hammer and chisel getting ready to create a masterpiece.  Just then a friend of his walked through his studio and commented that how talented Michelangelo was to be able to carve a statue from that big chuck of marble. 

 

Michelangelo said, “No, it isn’t that at all, the statue is already in the marble all I do is draw it out.”  Pope John Paul I said that was the perfect analogy for Christians, each person we meet has good in them, put there by God, and it is our job to draw that good out.  That is what we are called to do, find the good in each person we meet.

 

Our entrance hymn all during Lent has been “Change our hearts this time, Your Word says it can be ….”  That is what Lent is all about reviewing our priorities, what we do and why we do those things.  We are in the middle of Lent what can we do:

1.    “pray” the Sign of the Cross

2.    say an Our Father who has no one to pray for them

 

Some day in heaven you will meet them and they will thank you for your prayers.  If you do those two things your Lent will help you become a better person.

 

Saint Joseph, pray for us.

Saint Andre Bessette intercede for us.

May God Be Praised!

 

 

 

 

 

                                    Lent is a time to look at our lives

 

 

 

 

St. Francis de Sales said, “Never look at what the world offers without considering what it hides.”  [Gentle Gifts: Sts. Francis de Sales and Jane de Chantal]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

St. Jane de Chantal offers us this advice, “Your life obliges you to sail on the stormy sea of this world, but try never to swallow its water, but drink only from the serenity of Divine grace.”  [Ibid.]

 

 

 

 

 

In the book of Exodus we read, “You have seen for yourselves how I bore you up on eagle wings and brought you here to myself. Therefore, if you hearken to my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my special possession, dearer to me than all other people, though all the earth is mine. You shall be to me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation.”  [19:4-6a]

 

God of mercy, you gave us new life through Baptism, may Your grace fill us with Your likeness, and may we walk in Your ways, and reveal Your image by our actions.

 

Saint Joseph, pray for us.

Saint Andre Bessette intercede for us.

May God Be Praised!