27 February 2025 - prayers of the faithful - Thursday of the 7th week in Ordinary Time

Lord Jesus - you guide us along the right paths. 

Christ Jesus - you show us the way to the banquet of eternal life. 

Lord Jesus - you show us love and compassion. 

Priest: With joy in our hearts, let us humbly present our prayers to our heavenly Father for our needs and the needs of our brothers and sisters: 

1. That we in the Church may be tenacious in extending God’s invitation to all we encounter, reaching out to those in our parish and throughout our community. 

2. For our elected leaders, that they may work to help those on the margins of society, treating them with dignity and respect. 

3. For those in our own country and around the world who are malnourished and who go hungry, that we may work together to eliminate hunger. 

4. That we may go forth from the Eucharistic banquet today nourished and inspired to share the richness of our faith with others. 

5. For our deceased family members and loved ones, for their entry into eternal life.  

6. For healing for all who are sick.  For healing for all of us in body, mind, and spirit.  We pray for those who are struggling with addictions, mental illness, and depression.

7. For the Jubilee Year, that all of us may be pilgrims of hope. 

8. For all the prayers we hold in the silence of our hearts, for all our prayer intentions spoken and unspoken.  

Priest: God of plenty, you invite us to your feast. Inspire us to extend that hospitality and generosity to all those we encounter. We present our prayers through your son Jesus Christ, our Lord forever and ever.  AMEN. 

26 February 2025 - prayers of the faithful - Wednesday of the 7th week of Ordinary Time

Priest - Penitential rite:

Lord Jesus - you call us to follow God’s law. 

Christ Jesus - you teach us the ways of truth.

Lord Jesus - you show us the way to God's kingdom.

Priest: Heavenly Father, you fill our days with blessings in answer to our prayers. Let us now turn to you in our needs:

1. That the Church may embody the word of God and help all believers to know the saving power of Christ. We pray to the Lord.

2. That as individuals and as a community we be good stewards of the earth’s resources and all of God’s creation. We pray to the Lord.

3. That past injustices amongst the peoples of the earth may give way to justice and peace. We pray to the Lord.

4. That we may allow God’s word to penetrate our hearts, making his word living and effective in what we say and what we do. We pray to the Lord.

5. That in the midst of our diversity and our differences, we may celebrate our oneness in Christ. We pray to the Lord.

6. For healing for the sick and afflicted in body, mind, and spirit. We pray to the Lord. 

7. For all who are dealing with addictions, mental health issues, anxiety, and depression. For healing and wholeness. We pray to the Lord.

8. For the prayers we hold in the silence of our hearts. We pray to the Lord.

Priest: As the abundance of your grace inspires us to bring our prayers to you, we make our prayers through your son Jesus Christ, our Lord forever and ever. AMEN. 

28 February 2025 - Friday of the 7th week in ordinary time - Sirach 6:5-17

The great Dominican theologian Thomas Aquinas from the 13th century stated: “There is nothing on this earth more prized than true friendship.”  Our first reading today from Sirach addresses friendship. The book of Sirach was written in Alexandria, Egypt by a Jewish scribe about two centuries before Christ’s birth in the tradition of Jewish wisdom literature.   Sirach tells us that while we will have a lot of acquaintances in life, a true friend or a true confidant will be one in a thousand. Father James Martin has said, in order for us to be a true friend of Jesus, in order to be his true disciple, we cannot put Jesus in a box. We need to understand Jesus as truly human and truly divine, as God who invites us into a friendship and a relationship with him. 

Being an active member of a parish and being a disciples of Christ is more than just coming to mass. Making friendships and relationships and being a true part of the Catholic community are a part of our calling as practicing Catholics. If we claim to be Catholic and ignore the community and friendship aspect of our faith, then we are missing a big part of what it means to be Catholic. We use the word “friend” so often in our modern world, that the true sense of friendship has lost its meaning. To have a friend, we need to be a friend, to reach out to others. Like the word “love” that has so many different worldly connotations when compared to love in the context of our faith, the sense of friendship has an entirely different meaning from our perspective of faith. True friendship is based on genuine love. As we come to mass today to celebrate around the Lord’s table as a community, let us thank God for the true friends we have in our lives, those friends who are there for us no matter what.

27 February 2025 - homily for Thursday of the 7th week in ordinary time - Sirach 5:1-8

For two weeks, we heard first readings at daily mass from the Book of Genesis. This week, the first readings come from the Book of Sirach.  This book of wisdom teachings was written by a Jewish scribe in Jerusalem about two centuries before the birth of Christ. This book was translated from the original Hebrew into Greek by the scribe’s grandson, who was living in Alexandria Egypt at the time. The grandson added a prologue to the book. In today’s reading, Sirach advises us about the dangers of allowing money to control our lives and allowing our money and power to manipulate others. Sirach advises against giving ourselves over to the pleasures of the heart, forsaking our faith and God’s law in the process. I find it so interesting how teachings from the Early Church and before the time of Christ still speak a truth that seem so relevant and timely in our modern world, like they were written by some of our Church leaders today. Yes, I guess that even though the world changes, human nature does not change very much, does it? 

Today, the saint we celebrate is Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows. He was born in 1838 in Italy to a large family. His mother died when he was four years old. He was educated by the Jesuits and was very sickly as a child. He applied to join the Jesuits, but was rejected because he was only 17 years old. He later was accepted to the Passionist Father where he became well-known for his love for the poor, for his devout prayer life, and for his kindness toward others. After four years of studies, he contracted tuberculosis. He patiently and quietly accepted his sufferings, dying in 1862 at the age of 24. He was canonized in 1920 by Pope Benedict XV.  He is a patron saint of Catholic youth and of students studying for the priesthood. In 1959, Pope John XXIII declared him to be patron saint of the Abruzzi region of Italy, where he spent the last two years of his life. 

26 February 2025 - Wednesday of the 7th week in Ordinary Time - Sirach 4:11-19

Wisdom is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. We might ask ourselves how, in our own words, we would describe wisdom. I see wisdom as the ability to discern what is right and good.  Wisdom could also be seen as the ability to see the world through the eyes of God, the creator of all that is good.  

Sirach illustrates the role of wisdom in the lives of those who seek her.  According to Sirach, wisdom is to be received and acted upon in those who love her.  Wisdom is seen as practical and down to earth.  

As Christians, we are called to pray for wisdom, both as individuals and as a Christian community. Prejudice, malice, rash judgment, gossip, arrogance, and sarcasm go against wisdom. In praying for wisdom, we could pray for patience, tolerance, transparency, and fortitude.  In wisdom, we are called to listen and dialogue with others, not just to speak our own minds. We need to be with Christ, or else we are against him.  

Let us pray to the Holy Spirit today for the gift of wisdom.  We are called to pray for wisdom each day. It is a constant process.  Wisdom, ultimately a gift from God. A gift of his grace. An extraordinary gift.  

8 February 2025 - Saturday of the 4th week in ordinary time - Psalm 23 - Mark 6:30-34

It amazes me to see the different patron saints that we have in the Catholic Church.  St Fiacre, a 7th century hermit who lived in France, is the patron saint of gardeners, herbalists, and Parisian taxi cab drivers. St Abigail, an abbess and woman of great charity from Ireland in the 6th century, is the patron saint of honey bees and bee keepers. That brings us to the saint we celebrate today, St Jerome Emiliani, born in Italy in the late 15th century.  As a young man, he was a military commander in Venice in charge of a large fortress and a large battalion of soldiers. However, the fortress was captured by their enemies, putting Jerome in prison. At that time, God was not a part of his life. With his own personal strength and the strength of his soldiers and his weapons, God did not fit into his life and his value system. However, finding himself as a prisoner in a dungeon, he let go of his worldly values and found God. After his escape from prison, he studied for the priesthood. Soon after, Venice was hit with plague and famine.  In the midst of this suffering, he had a special place in heart for the children and youth who were abandoned and orphaned. After he contracted the plague himself, he devoted his efforts to caring for the poor and abandoned, establishing hospitals, orphanages, and a shelter for prostitutes. His group of priests became a religious order named the Clerks Regular of Somasca. Jerome Emiliani died at the age of 56 after contracting an illness from the sick patients under his care. He was canonized in 1767 by Pope Clement XIII.  He is the patron saint of orphans and abandoned children and youth. 

In the 23rd psalm today, we hear the psalm talk about the role of the Good Shepherd in his life, how the shepherd accompanies him on the ups and downs of life, leading and guiding him along the right paths, giving him strength and courage on his journey. This idea of the good shepherd is reflected in the Gospel today, how Jesus seems the crowds directionless without a shepherd to lead them and guiding them.  We all need to ask ourselves how Jesus the Good Shepherd leads us and guides us in life. 

25 February 2025 - prayers of the faithful - Tuesday of the 7th week of Ordinary Time

Lord Jesus - you hear the cry of the poor. 

Christ Jesus - you are the lamb of God. 

Lord Jesus - you are our savior and redeemer. 

Priest: As we ask God to continue to lead us and guide us on our journey, we now present our prayers to our heavenly Father: 

1. That we in the Church may recognize our identity as members of the Body of Christ and manifest the Good News in our lives, our families, and our workplaces.

2. That we may nurture and develop the gifts that the Spirit has given us and use them to build up the Body of Christ and in service to others. 

3. That Church leaders and every member of the Christian community will listen for God’s invitations and further the mission of Jesus. 

4. That God will inspire our catechists and our preachers with words that will renew the faith of those who hear them and encourage them to greater trust in God’s providence. 

5. That we may allow God’s Word to enter our deepest selves, enlighten our hearts, and free us to live as daughters and sons of God. 

6. For the faithful departed, for their entry into eternal life. For the souls in purgatory. 

7. For the prayers we hold in the silence of our hearts. 

Priest: Out of our humility, we present these prayers through your son Jesus Christ, our Lord forever and ever. AMEN.