Lighting of the Advent wreath - 4th Sunday of Advent - December 18, 2016

Lord, our time of preparation is almost at an end 

as we light all the candles on our Advent wreath today. 

Soon we will celebrate the birth of your son. 

Help us to know the great gift that you give us 

in the incarnate Lord Jesus Christ. 

As you share your son with us, 

help us to share your son with everyone we meet. 

Let Jesus become incarnate in us.  AMEN.  

Lighting of the Advent wreath - 3rd Sunday of Advent December 11, 2016

Gracious God, you give us the season of joy in preparation 

for the celebration of your Son’s birth in Bethlehem. 

Our hearts are filled with joy and anticipation as Christmas draws near. 

Help us to bring Christmas hope into every place we go. 

Even as we are busy with our Christmas preparations, 

as we light our candles on this 3rd Sunday of Advent, 

help us to take time to remember you 

and to remember what we truly celebrate this season. AMEN.  

Catholic prayer for Labor Day - September 5, 2016

Prayer for Labor Day

On this weekend, when we rest from our usual labors, loving Father, we pray for all who shoulder the tasks of human labor—in the marketplace, in factories and offices, in the professions, and in family living. 

We thank you, Lord, for the gift and opportunity of work; may our efforts always be pure of heart, for the good of others and the glory of your name. 

We lift up to you all who long for just employment and those who work to defend the rights and needs of workers everywhere. 

May those of us who are now retired always remember that we still make a valuable contribution to our Church and our world by our prayers and deeds of charity. 

May our working and our resting all give praise to you until the day we share together in eternal rest with all our departed in your Kingdom as you live and reign Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Today we celebrated a Labor Day mass at St James Catholic Church in Tupelo, MS.  I thank everyone who celebrated Labor Day with us today.   We prayed the above prayer at the end of mass. I found this prayer on the website from the Archdiocese of Detroit. I also find such great resources from that Archdiocese.  I thought I would share it will all my blog readers.  Have a blessed Labor Day everyone!

Readings for the mass of word day for prayer for the care of creation - September 1, 2016

A reading from the book of Genesis 

In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth,

God said: “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.

Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, 

the birds of the air, and the cattle, 

and over all the wild animals 

and all the creatures that crawl on the ground.”

God created man in his image;

in the image of God he created him;

male and female he created them.

God blessed them, saying: 

“Be fertile and multiply;

fill the earth and subdue it.

Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, 

and all the living things that move on the earth.”

God also said: 

“See, I give you every seed-bearing plant all over the earth 

and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit on it to be your food; 

and to all the animals of the land, all the birds of the air, 

and all the living creatures that crawl on the ground, 

I give all the green plants for food.”

And so it happened.

God looked at everything he had made, and found it very good.

The Word of the Lord

R. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.

Upright is the word of the LORD, 

    and all his works are trustworthy. 

He loves justice and right; 

    of the kindness of the LORD the earth is full.

R. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.

By the word of the LORD the heavens were made; 

    by the breath of his mouth all their host. 

He gathers the waters of the sea as in a flask; 

    in cellars he confines the deep.

R. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.

Blessed the nation whose God is the LORD, 

    the people he has chosen for his own inheritance. 

From heaven the LORD looks down; 

    he sees all mankind.

R. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.

Our soul waits for the LORD, 

    who is our help and our shield. 

May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us 

    who have put our hope in you.

R. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John:

In the beginning was the Word,

and the Word was with God,

and the Word was God.

He was in the beginning with God. 

All things came to be through him,

and without him nothing came to be.

What came to be through him was life,

and this life was the light of the human race;

the light shines in the darkness,

and the darkness has not overcome it.

The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.

He was in the world,

and the world came to be through him,

but the world did not know him.

He came to what was his own,

but his own people did not accept him.

But to those who did accept him

he gave power to become children of God, 

to those who believe in his name, 

who were born not by natural generation 

nor by human choice nor by a man’s decision but of God.

And the Word became flesh

and made his dwelling among us,

and we saw his glory,

the glory as of the Father’s only Son,

full of grace and truth.

The Gospel of the Lord

Mass for the world day of prayer for the care of Creation - September 1, 2016

(St Fiacre - patron saint of gardeners)

       At St James Catholic Church in Tupelo, Mississippi we will celebrate a mass for the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation at 8:00 am.  

       Last Sunday, Pope Francis called attention to the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, to be celebrated this coming Thursday, September 1st. A major global ecumenical stewardship initiative, the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation began in 1989 under the leadership of the Orthodox Church.

Pope Francis established the Day for the Catholic Church by a letter dated August 6th, 2015.  

        Pope Francis says, “The annual World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation will offer individual believers and communities a fitting opportunity to reaffirm their personal vocation to be stewards of creation, to thank God for the wonderful handiwork which he has entrusted to our care, and to implore his help for the protection of creation as well as his pardon for the sins committed against the world in which we live.”

5/8/2016 – the Solemnity of the Ascension of our Lord – Acts 1:1-11

      Every year, 40 days after Easter Sunday, we celebration the solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord.  There is perhaps a bit of confusion amongst the faithful about when exactly we celebrate the Ascension.  This solemnity falls on a Thursday each year, but in our Diocese and in many other dioceses in the United States, it is transferred to the following Sunday in our liturgical calendar, so that more of the faithful can be present for this important solemnity during the Easter season.  As we celebrate the Ascension today, think about how every Sunday during the profession of the Nicene Creed, we the faithful state our belief that Jesus “ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.”

     Even thought the Ascension is central to our Christian beliefs, even though we profess our belief in the Ascension every Sunday during mass, perhaps the Ascension has lost its meaning in the lived experiences of too many Catholics today.  During Lent and the Easter season, we understand the meaning of Jesus’ 40 days in the desert, of his death and resurrection as a part of our salvation, of his sending of the Holy Spirit to accompany us on our journey.  But how does the Ascension of Jesus affect our lives in the here and now?

      I think of the words of the great 5^th century theologian St Augustine of Hippo in North Africa that he preached in a homily celebrating the Ascension: “Today our Lord Jesus ascended into heaven; let our hearts ascend with him…. If you have risen with Christ, set your hearts on the things that are above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God; seek the things that are above, not the things that are on earth (below).”  Augustine goes on to explain that just as a part of Jesus remains with us even after his Ascension into heaven, so already a part of us is in heaven with him, even though what has been promised us in life eternal has not yet been fulfilled.  In baptism, we became members of the Body of Christ.  Since Jesus is the head and we are the body, we are one in Christ, a reality that goes back to the teachings of the Early Church.  So, if Jesus ascended in heaven, we as a part of his body, reflect that reality as well.  We cannot be separated from him completely. 

      The Ascension, in other words, does not indicate Christ’s complete absence.   Rather, the Church teaches that the Ascension is a new reality for us.  Christ now lives with us in a new way.  He is now longer in a particular place as a particular human being like he was when he lived in Ancient Israel. Jesus is now in the Lordship of God, being present in every time and space, close to each one of us always as we live as his disciples.  Jesus is always with us.  We are never alone.  Even with his Ascension into heaven. 

      I love the imagery in our first reading from the very beginning of the Acts of the Apostles.   When the disciples ask what Jesus is going to do, if he was going to restore the might of the kingdom of Israel now that he has been resurrected from the dead.  We see that the disciples are still caught up in these old concepts about what the Messiah is all about.  Instead, presents them a challenge.   He calls them to action, telling them that they are going to receive the power of the Holy Spirit, that they will be called to be witnesses on his Good News in the world.  While they are still looking at Jesus ascending into heaven as he leaves them below on the earth, two men dressed in white garments approach the disciples, asking, “Why are you standing there looking?”  As Christ's disciples we are called to action just as those first disciples were: called to action.  We are called to evangelize others.  We are called to bring healing into the world.  We are called to have the Holy Spirit to lead us and guide us, to not do this completely on our own.   We are called to be a part of a Christian community, to be members of the Body of Christ here on earth.  Yes, Christ has ascended into heaven where he sit at the right hand of the Father to intercede for us and to advocate for us.  We are never, ever alone. 

Intercessions for mass for peace

PRAYERS OF THE FAITHFUL - MASS FOR PEACE - FRIDAY, MARCH 4, 2016

As we pray for peace today in our community and throughout the world, let us present our prayers to God.  

The response is: Lord, grant us peace.

• That those who suffer homelessness as a result of turmoil throughout the world may know the comfort of the Holy Spirit in their suffering, we pray… 

• That the leaders of the nations experiencing war or violence or economic crisis may follow the leadership of Pope Francis and value the process toward peace, we pray… 

• For those who encourage conflict and have turned away from the Gospel values, and for those who disregard the teaching of Jesus, we pray…

• For our brothers and sisters throughout the world who are raising families amid war and political conflict, we pray… 

• For peace that heals all wounds, for peace that guarantees safety, for peace that lives in our hearts and homes, we pray…

That all who are persecuted for their religious beliefs will be comforted in their struggles, and that Christians who know adversity because of their faith will be blessed with hope.  We pray that all Christians may work toward Christian unity.  We pray… 

• For those who are treated unjustly and without compassion, that the conflict and aggression they experience will have a quick and peaceful resolution, we pray…

• For peace both internationally and in our own country, that all people will value the absence of conflict and the presence of God who provides hope, we pray…

As we celebrate the Jubilee Year of Mercy, we pray for a true and lasting peace in our community, our nation, and our world.  We present these prayers through your son Jesus Christ, our Lord for ever and ever.  AMEN.