Bless, O Lord, these new fruits of the vine which Thou hast brought to maturity by the dew of heaven, by plentiful rains, and by tranquil and favorable weather. Thou hast given us this fruit for our use that we may receive it with thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit, world without end. Amen.
Category: Parish News & Events
Take Comfort
It’s St. Brigid’s feast day in Ireland and the first day of spring, too. I’m a third generation immigrant. This means I have two U.S.-born parents but at least one foreign-born grandparent, I think. My Dad was adopted when he was 5 days old. The woman I knew as grandma was born in Ireland. I’ve many fond memories and a shared love of tea from Grandma B which gives me great comfort.
Praying with and reflecting on the readings today have taken me on a challenging path. I get so caught up in the noise and distraction of this world and the many situations which seem to continue to develop and fester without clear direction or resolution. This seems to mirror what is written about in the First Reading. The last two lines stand out, “Yet all these, though approved because of their faith, did not receive what had been promised. God had foreseen something better for us, so that without us they should not be made perfect.”
Ok, God’s got something better in mind. That’s comforting, yet, frustrating in the moment, especially since the time that it takes for a resolution to present itself is in God’s time not mine. The Responsorial Psalm reminds me to take comfort, all who hope in the Lord. I have to remember to offer the situations to God, and to focus on how I can bring his healing presence into the world through my actions and prayers.
The chains and shackles do not restrain or help the man in which ‘Legion’ lives in the Gospel scene. Could the man represent our world and the social situations which continue to challenge and injure humanity? I believe so. I believe that Jesus can heal our world and social situations as He healed the man in this scripture passage.
Below I’ve compiled some resources that gave me some comfort in realizing I’m not alone in feeling out of sorts about the world right now. Say this prayer to St Brigid, to bring comfort today.
Brigid, you were a woman of peace. You brought harmony where there was conflict. You brought light to the darkness. You brought hope to the downcast. May the mantle of your peace cover those who are troubled and anxious, and may peace be firmly rooted in my heart and in the world. Inspire me to act justly and to reverence all God has made. You were a voice for the wounded and the weary. Strengthen what is weak within me. Calm me into a quietness that heals and listens. May I grow each day into greater wholeness in mind, body and spirit. Amen.
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Beth Price is part of the customer care team at Diocesan. She brings a unique depth of experience to the group due to her time spent in education, parish ministries, sales and the service industry over the last 25 yrs. She is a practicing spiritual director as well as a Secular Franciscan (OFS). Beth is quick to offer a laugh, a prayer or smile to all she comes in contact with. Reach her here bprice@diocesan.com.
Feature Image Credit: Kovah, https://unsplash.com/photos/yUv9_l1s3aM
St. Brigid of Ireland: Saint of the Day for Monday, February 01, 2021
Saint Brigid was born Brigit, and shares a name with a Celtic goddess from whom many legends and folk customs are associated.
There is much debate over her birthparents, but it is widely believed her mother was Brocca, a Christian baptized by Saint Patrick, and her father was Dubthach, a Leinster chieftain. Brocca was a slave, therefore Brigid was born into slavery.
When Dubthach’s wife discovered Brocca was pregnant, she was sold to a Druid landowner. It is not clear if Brocca was unable to …
Prayer for a Sick Person: Prayer of the Day for Monday, February 01, 2021
Almighty and Eternal God,
You are the everlasting health of those who believe in You.
Hear us for Your sick servant (N…)
for whom we implore the aid of Your tender mercy,
that being restored to bodily health,
he (she) may give thanks to You in Your Church.
Through Christ our Lord.
Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Reading I Dt 18:15-20
Moses spoke to all the people, saying:
“A prophet like me will the LORD, your God, raise up for you
from among your own kin;
to him you shall listen.
This is exactly what you requested of the LORD, your God, at Horeb
on the day of the assembly, when you said,
‘Let us not again hear the voice of the LORD, our God,
nor see this great fire any more, lest we die.’
And the LORD said to me, ‘This was well said.
I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their kin,
and will put my words into his mouth;
he shall tell them all that I command him.
Whoever will not listen to my words which he speaks in my name,
I myself will make him answer for it.
But if a prophet presumes to speak in my name
an oracle that I have not commanded him to speak,
or speaks in the name of other gods, he shall die.’”
Responsorial Psalm Ps 95:1-2, 6-7, 7-9
R. (8) If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD;
let us acclaim the rock of our salvation.
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us joyfully sing psalms to him.
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Come, let us bow down in worship;
let us kneel before the LORD who made us.
For he is our God,
and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides.
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Oh, that today you would hear his voice:
“Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
as in the day of Massah in the desert,
Where your fathers tempted me;
they tested me though they had seen my works.”
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Reading II 1 Cor 7:32-35
Brothers and sisters:
I should like you to be free of anxieties.
An unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord,
how he may please the Lord.
But a married man is anxious about the things of the world,
how he may please his wife, and he is divided.
An unmarried woman or a virgin is anxious about the things of the Lord,
so that she may be holy in both body and spirit.
A married woman, on the other hand,
is anxious about the things of the world,
how she may please her husband.
I am telling you this for your own benefit,
not to impose a restraint upon you,
but for the sake of propriety
and adherence to the Lord without distraction.
Alleluia Mt 4:16
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The people who sit in darkness have seen a great light;
on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death,
light has arisen.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel Mk 1:21-28
Then they came to Capernaum,
and on the sabbath Jesus entered the synagogue and taught.
The people were astonished at his teaching,
for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes.
In their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit;
he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?
Have you come to destroy us?
I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”
Jesus rebuked him and said,
“Quiet! Come out of him!”
The unclean spirit convulsed him and with a loud cry came out of him.
All were amazed and asked one another,
“What is this?
A new teaching with authority.
He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him.”
His fame spread everywhere throughout the whole region of Galilee.
– – –
Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, Copyright © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; Psalm refrain © 1968, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved. Neither this work nor any part of it may be reproduced, distributed, performed or displayed in any medium, including electronic or digital, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
Take Care—No, Really
I live on Cape Cod, where many of the old ships’ captain’s houses have been converted into inns. A couple of years ago a friend of mine, who owned one of them, told me in some distress that things were getting out of hand and guests were noticing it. What things? I asked her. “Bad things,” she said, and outlined the problem: rooms where the temperature inexplicably dropped dramatically, a sense guests had of someone following just behind them in the corridors, objects moved around or disappearing, voices in the night. “I think it’s haunted,” Melissa said.
I went to my parish priest and asked what could be done. “Use the strongest prayer we have,” he answered. I waited, expecting some complicated esoteric blessing known only to the clergy. He saw my bafflement and said, gently, “the Our Father.”
The strongest prayer in Christendom—and one of the simplest. Given directly by Jesus. Who knew a thing or two about evil spirits.
In fact, the exorcism of an “unclean spirit” was Jesus’s first act of public ministry, as we see in today’s Gospel reading, the first chapter of St. Mark’s account of Christ’s life and times, showing that straight from the beginning of his ministry Jesus is on a collision course with evil.
First-century culture had limitations in its understanding, and many believed the screaming of people who were ill were the screams of devils. We have a different approach and language now; still, the presence of evil remains strong. Evil has different ways of expressing itself, but it can enter people now just as it did then, manifested when a person falls prey to greed and violence. The abuse of children, the violence in a home, any exploitation of the innocent—aren’t they the effect of something bigger than just an individual’s weakness or sin? We can’t dismiss Scriptural exorcisms as cultural artifacts: they are one way of visualizing and understanding the presence of evil in the world… and of making it clear God is stronger.
Evil knew that Jesus came to destroy it. The unclean spirit recognized Jesus’ authority on this day in the synagogue even when the scribes didn’t, even when his own followers didn’t yet. Evil knew.
I don’t think we should pray the Our Father lightly. I don’t think we should underestimate the power of evil in our world. I think we need to take care. Because evil is seductive; we don’t always see it coming. In The Screwtape Letters, the imagining of a correspondence between a senior devil and his young trainee in the art of corruption, C.S. Lewis points out that anger, lust, gluttony and other sins come neatly disguised. And it’s true: anger can be triggered when we don’t get what we want, or when someone “gets in our way.” Lust gets kicked into gear for other reasons like loneliness or hurt. Gluttony isn’t just about overeating; it’s demanding more and more and more—money, property, accolades, possessions. Evil encourages sin in many different ways. We should take care. We should take care all the time.
I don’t know how Melissa’s story ended. She and I duly visited each room at the inn and prayed the Our Father together, asking especially to be delivered from evil. Shortly after that, she went to manage a place on Nantucket and sold the inn on the Cape. It’s changed hands twice since then, and I often drive by its newest incarnation and wonder what is happening there, whether guests are still feeling a presence looking over their shoulder.
I pray the Our Father that they’re not.
Jeannette de Beauvoir is a writer and editor with the digital department of Pauline Books & Media, working on projects as disparate as newsletters, book clubs, ebooks, and retreats that support the apostolate of the Daughters of St. Paul at http://www.pauline.org.
Feature Image Credit: Vanesa Guerrero, rpm, https://www.cathopic.com/photo/12109-con-brazos-abiertos-te-espero
St. John Bosco: Saint of the Day for Sunday, January 31, 2021
John Bosco, also known as Giovanni Melchiorre Bosco and Don Bosco, was born in Becchi, Italy, on August 16, 1815. His birth came just after the end of the Napoleonic Wars which ravaged the area. Compounding the problems on his birthday, there was also a drought and a famine at the time of his birth.
At the age of two, John lost his father, leaving him and his two older brothers to be raised by his mother, Margherita. His “Mama Margherita Occhiena” would herself be declared venerable by the …
Prayer to Saint John Bosco: Prayer of the Day for Sunday, January 31, 2021
O glorious Saint John Bosco, who in order to lead young people to the feet of the divine Master and to mould them in the light of faith and Christian morality didst heroically sacrifice thyself to the very end of thy life and didst set up a proper religious Institute destined to endure and to bring to the farthest boundaries of the earth thy glorious work, obtain also for us from Our Lord a holy love for young people who are exposed to so many seductions in order that we may generously spend …
He Cares
“Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”
When we read these words in the Gospel it’s easy to think that the apostles are acting ridiculous. “Of course he cares!” We say “Shame to think that he wouldn’t!” But, the irony here is that we, whether we realize it or not, often ask the same thing: “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”
Now, it may not be literally perishing, but this is the sentence of doubt. “Do you not care?” We ask it so much!
Think of all of the hard days you have. You finish a long day of zoom calls and are exhausted, but have to go and help the neighbor shovel his car out of a snowbank. You argue with your spouse, you are behind on the laundry, and dinner is a blackened pile of ash in the bottom of the oven.
“Do you not care?”
It’s easy to get frustrated and to not believe that he cares. After all, why would such a kind and loving God let unpleasant and even terrible things happen to his followers? “Do you not care?”
Yes, he does, in fact, care. He cares more than you think. More than you comprehend.
You see, the reason he allows such frustrating things to happen is because they are not merely annoying (or even terrible) events, but opportunities.
An opportunity to do a kind and helpful deed.
An opportunity to be patient with your spouse.
An opportunity to laugh at the mistake.
An opportunity to offer the little inconveniences to God.
This is how you store up treasure in heaven. Everything is an opportunity to add to that store.
What matters is how you respond; how you use that opportunity.
So, asking if he does not care is the wrong kind of question. Of course he cares! He cares so much to send you numerous opportunities to grow in faith, hope, and love!
He cares.
The apostles were given an opportunity to trust. Though they woke up Jesus in terror, he did not scold them. I see him gently asking them “Do you not yet have faith? Why aren’t you using this opportunity?”
Notice that he says “Do you not yet have faith” and not “You have no faith.” He knows that they will have many opportunities in the future to grow in their faith, and they will. We know from history that they did.
So, “Teacher, do you not care?” is the wrong kind of question. The right kind of question is “Teacher, how do you want me to use this opportunity?” And he will tell you. He always does.
May the Lord help us to cast out all doubt and use every opportunity to glorify him.
Perpetua Phelps is a high school student residing in West Michigan and is the second of four children. Apart from homeschooling, Perpetua enjoys volunteering at her church, attending retreats, studying Latin and French, and reading classics such as Beowulf, The Lord of the Rings, C.S. Lewis’ Space Trilogy, and Mark Twain’s Joan of Arc. She also spends much time writing novels, essays, and poetry for fun and competition. A passionate Tolkien fan, Perpetua is a founding member of a Tolkien podcast.
Feature Image Credit: dimitrisvetsikas1969, https://pixabay.com/photos/overcast-sky-clouds-cumulus-nature-3712351/
St. Aldegunais: Saint of the Day for Saturday, January 30, 2021
Virgin and abess, also known as Adelgundis, Aldegonde, or Orgonne. She was a member of the royal family of the Merovingians and was raised by two saints: St. Walbert and St. Bertila, her parents. The family resided in the Hainault region of Flanders, a region of the Low Countries. Aldegundis reflused offers of marriage from other nobles and received the veil from St. Amandius, the bishop of Maastricht. She followed this ceremony of acceptance into the religious life with the foundation of a …