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Posted By Kate Kleinert, on April 6th, 2020
Posted By Kate Kleinert, on April 6th, 2020
WASHINGTON — Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of Los Angeles, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, has invited U.S. Catholics to join him on Good Friday, April 10, to pray the Litany of the Sacred Heart at noon (EDT).
“Praying together as a nation, the archbishop asks that we seek healing for all who are unwell, wisdom for those whose work is halting the spread of coronavirus, and strength for all God’s children,” said a USCCB news release issued late April 2.
A livestream of the Litany of the Sacred Heart with Gomez will be available on the Archdiocese of Los Angeles’ website: www.lacatholics.org and on the USCCB Facebook page: www.facebook.com/usccb. The text of Litany of the Sacred Heart can be found in English and Spanish on the Los Angeles archdiocesan website.
Additionally, with special permission received from the Apostolic Penitentiary of the Holy See, a plenary indulgence is available for those who join Gomez in praying the Litany of the Sacred Heart on Good Friday.
A plenary indulgence removes all of the temporal punishment due to sins and may be applied to oneself or to the souls of the deceased (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 1471).
To receive this indulgence, the faithful would need to: pray the Litany of the Sacred Heart on Good Friday; be truly repentant of any sins they have committed and receive the sacrament of reconciliation (at the earliest opportunity); and pray for Pope Francis’ intentions.
“Good Friday is a day when Christians around the world solemnly commemorate the day when Jesus suffered and died on the cross. Catholics traditionally mark the day with fasting, penance and reflection on Jesus’ loving sacrifice,” the USCCB release said.
“This opportunity to pray together during the coronavirus pandemic offers a special moment of unity for the faithful during a time when communities throughout the United States and worldwide are physically unable to congregate for Holy Week and Easter because of COVID-19,” it added.
Posted By Kate Kleinert, on April 6th, 2020 Streaming Events from St. John the Evangelist (stjohnsphilly.org)
Holy Thursday 6:00 p m Mass
Good Friday Service noon
Easter Vigil (Saturday) 9:00 p m
Easter Sunday Mass 11:00 a m
Posted By Kate Kleinert, on April 5th, 2020 faceboo.com/piocenter
Join us Holy Saturday night at 8:00 p.m. for the Easter Vigil live and Easter Sunday for Mass at 10AM live from the Padre Pio Friary!
Posted By Kate Kleinert, on April 5th, 2020 From our sister, Carolyn Murray, OFS, Minister of St. Padre Pio fraternity:
I would invite you to visit stjohnsphilly.org while being home, where our very own Brother Rigo, OFS Cap reads and reflects on daily scripture. Rigo and Father John Paul Kuzma OFS Cap, Vicar at St. John’s, are also preparing to live stream Holy Week services. They need 1,000 supporters to subscribe to make this happen. For additional information, please visit the site and have our Brothers explain how we can help.
Posted By Kate Kleinert, on April 5th, 2020 You may be aware of this, but in any event, think about tuning in on April 6-8 at 4-5 pm to attend a streamed mission given by Friar Jude Winkler, OFM Conv. Details below.
Posted By Kate Kleinert, on April 5th, 2020 They are free to watch, but only for one day, a sort of Holy Week special. Presented by Bishop Baron’s Word on Fire series.
Today’s film is on St. Benedict (Sunday April 5). Tomorrow’s will be St. Francis (Monday, April 6), and then Bishop Sheen, (Tuesday, April 7) and finally Flannery O’Connor. (Wednesday April 8)
https://pivotalplayers.com/holyweekscreeningwatchpage
Posted By Kate Kleinert, on April 1st, 2020 April 2020
Our Father most holy: Our Creator, Redeemer, Consoler, and Savior
You, Lord, are Supreme Good, the eternal Good, from Whom all good comes
Holy be your Name…That You may rule in us through Your grace…
Your will be done that we may love You with our whole heart, soul, and mind
Give us this day Your own beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
Forgive us through Your ineffable mercy and make us, Lord, forgive completely.
And lead us not into temptation. But deliver us from evil.
Amen
(Prayer Inspired by the Our Father – abbreviated)
Following are daily excerpts taken from various Franciscan writings
1
Once there was a great war between the citizens of Perugia and Assisi. Francis was captured … and …endured the squalor of prison. His fellow captives were overcome with sadness … but Francis rejoiced in the Lord. (2Celano,bk.1,chpt.1) – Anyone can stand up to an opponent: give me someone who can stand up to a friend.
2
Though staying in a pit and in darkness, he was imbued with an indescribable happiness never before experienced. (1 Celano,bk.1,chpt.5) – I may have all the faith needed to move mountains, but if I have no love, I am nothing.
3
He rose therefore swift, energetic and joyful, carrying the shield of faith for the Lord, and strengthened with the armor of great confidence, he set out for the city. (1Celano,bk.1,chpt.5) – We get no deeper into Christ than we allow him to get in us.
4
Though delighting for the most part (in his dream), he silently wondered to himself about its meaning…With a happy spirit he awoke the next morning…Considering his vision a prediction of great success… (1Celano,bk.1,chpt.2) – The Gospels do not explain Easter; Easter explains the Gospels.
5
When morning came, then, he returned in haste to Assisi, free of care and filled with joy, and, already made an exemplar of obedience, he awaited the Lord’s will. (Major Legend,chpt.1,#3) – The lives of Jesus’ followers changed the course of human history. No reasonable explanation has ever been given for their transformed lives except their own: they had seen Jesus alive.
6
Saint Francis with his brothers rejoiced greatly at the task and the favor given by so great a father and lord. They gave thanks to Almighty God, who places the lowly on high and raises up mourners to health. (1Celano,bk.1,chpt.14) – That which you cannot let go of, you do not possess. It possesses you.
7
They had great joy, because they saw nothing and had nothing that could give them empty or carnal delight…Only divine consolation delighted them, having put aside all their cares about earthly things. (1Celano,bk.1,chpt.14) – One does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore.
8
This holy man insisted that spiritual joy was an infallible remedy against a thousand snares and tricks of the enemy. He used to say: ’The devil is most delighted when he can steal the joy of spirit from a servant of God’. (2Celano,bk.2,chpt.88) – We can live forty days without food, eight minutes without air, but about one second without hope.
9
‘But if spiritual joy fills the heart, the serpent casts its poison in vain. The devils cannot harm a servant of Christ when they see him, filled with holy cheerfulness.’ (2Celano,bk.2,chpt.88) – Our job is not to do something for the Church, but to do something with it.
10
The saint therefore always strove to keep a joyful heart, to preserve the anointing of the spirit and the oil of gladness. He avoided very carefully the dangerous disease of melancholy, so that when he felt even a little of it slipping into his heart, he quickly rushed to prayer. (2Celano,bk.2,chpt.88) – No one ever made more trouble than the Gentle Jesus, meek and mild.
11
O martyr, laughing and rejoicing, who endured so gladly what was bitter and painful for others to see! (1Celano,bk.2,chpt.7) – Sorrow looks back, worry looks around, faith looks up.
12
I see that (the devils) cannot harm me through myself. Indeed whenever I feel tempted and depressed and I look at the joy of my companion, because of that joy I immediately turn away from temptation and melancholy toward inner and outer joy. (Mirror Perfection, #96) –The person who isn’t busy being born is busy dying.
13
By a joyful face he understood the fervor and solicitude, the disposition and readiness of a mind and body to willingly undertake every good work; because through this kind of fervor and disposition others are motivated than through the good deed itself. (Mirror Perfection, #96) – We can’t understand the Holy Spirit, but we can understand the Spirit’s impact on our lives.
14
He did not want to see a gloomy face, which more often shows laziness, a closed mind, and a body listless for every good work. (Mirror of Perfection,#96) – I cannot change the whole world, but I can change a small part if it…myself.
15
It is not right for a servant of God to show himself to others sad and upset, but always pleasant. Deal with your offenses in your room, and weep and moan before your God. (2Celano,bk.2,chpt.91) – God is already in our lives. Our business is to recognize this.
16
Wherever the brothers may be and in whatever place they meet they should respect spiritually and attentively one another, and honor one another without complaining. Let them be careful not to appear outwardly as sad and gloomy but show themselves joyful, cheerful and consistently gracious in the Lord. (Earlier Rule,#7) – Blessed are they who place themselves in the hands of Jesus. He will place himself in their hands.
17
They (the brothers) walked with joy wherever they went, speaking among themselves about the words of the Lord, and saying nothing among themselves which did not serve the glory and praise of God, and the good of the soul. (Three Companions,chpt.12) – What we usually pray to God is not that his will be done, but that he approve ours.
18
When they laughed, they were filled with happiness and spiritual joy, so that they no longer remembered the adversities they experienced. (Anonymous of Perugia,chpt.6) – How else but through a broken heart may the Lord Christ enter in?
19
Whether ill or in good health they (the brothers) were always joyful and patient. (Anonymous of Perugia,chpt.6) – Only when we learn to see the invisible, will we learn to do the impossible.
20
They were always joyful in the Lord, having nothing within them or among them that could in some way bring them sadness. (Three Companions,chpt.11) – The effect of our sharing in the body and blood of Christ is to change us into what we receive.
21
Blessed is that religious who has no pleasure and joy except in the most holy words and deeds of the Lord and, with these, leads people to the love of God with gladness and joy. (Admonitions,#20) – Nature does not know extinction. All it knows is transformation.
22
He himself felt great joy in the Lord when he heard the words of Sacred Scripture. (Legend of Perugia,#38) – Often the ‘god’ that people reject is not the true God, but a mistaken notion of God that exists only in their minds.
23
If a servant of God always strives to have and preserve internally and externally the spiritual joy that proceeds from purity of heart and is acquired through the devotion of prayer, the evils could do him no harm. (Mirror of Perfection,#95) – Lord, help us to deal with ugly situations in a beautiful way.
24
Because spiritual joy springs from integrity of heart and the purity of constant prayer, it must be your primary concern to acquire and preserve these two virtues, to possess internal, as well as external joy. (Mirror of Perfection,#95) – To be ignorant of the scriptures is to be ignorant of Christ.
25
Whenever he used to say your name, O holy Lord, he was moved in a way beyond human understanding. He was so wholly taken up in joy, filled with pure delight, that he truly seemed a new person of another age. (1Celano,chpt.29) – Jesus came not to eradicate suffering, but to fill it with his presence.
26
Sometimes he used to do this: a sweet melody of the spirit bubbling up inside him would become a French tune on the outside; the thread of a divine whisper which his ears heard secretly would break out in French song of joy. (2Celano,bk.2,chpt.89) – The old law about ‘an eye for an eye’ leaves everybody blind.
27
(The thieves) beat him and threw him into a ditch filled with snow, saying, ’Lie there, you stupid herald of God!’… He jumped out of the ditch, and exhilarated with a great joy, he began in an even louder voice to make the woods resound with praises to the Creator of all. (Major Legend,.chpt.2) – The living Christ still has two hands, one to point the way, and the other held out to help us along the way.
28
Where there is poverty with joy, there is neither greed nor avarice. (Admonitions,#27) – If Christ were standing before me now, what would I feel, not about him, but about myself?
29
(Saint Francis dying, said to Brother Elias) ’Allow me to rejoice in the Lord, Brother, and to sing His praises in my infirmities, because, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, I am so closely united and joined with my Lord, that, through His mercy, I can well rejoice in the Most High Himself.’ (Mirror of Perfection,#121) – The goal of religion is not to get us into heaven, but to get heaven into us.
30
(As Saint Francis lay dying the guardian) took the tunic with a cord and underwear, and offered them to the little poor man of Christ, saying: ’I am lending these to you as to a poor man, and you are to keep them with the command of holy obedience. At this the holy man rejoiced and was delighted in the gladness of his heart, because he saw that he had kept faith until the end with Lady Poverty. (Major Legend,chpt.14) – You cannot have God for your Father, if you don’t have the Church for your mother.
Posted By Kate Kleinert, on April 1st, 2020 St. Katherine Drexel Regional Fraternity
Regional Spiritual Assistant
St. Francis of Assisi Friary
1901 Prior Road
Wilmington, Delaware 19809
tel: (302) 798-1454 fax: (302) 798-3360 website: skdsfo email: pppgusa@gmail.com
April 2020
Dear Sisters and Brothers in St. Francis,
The Lord give you His peace and lead you through the mystery of His Passion and Death
to the joy of His Resurrection and our renewed Life in Jesus!
The ’Way of the Cross’ cannot end on Calvary; it must go beyond. It goes beyond into the garden that received the dead body of Christ and, on the morning following the Sabbath, saw the mysterious and joyful encounter between Mary Magdalene and the Lord Jesus, risen and alive. The ’way’ is precisely the road that leads, the journey that conveys, the direction to follow. The tragic and triumphant ’way’ of the Paschal Mystery takes us to a new life in, with, and through Jesus. The ’way’ is a must for all who call Jesus ’Lord’ and ’Savior’. Our Seraphic Father not only loved the Crucified Jesus but was privileged to become a living image of the Crucified Savior and Redeemer. The ’way’ was imprinted on his mortal flesh as an indication of what lay ahead for him who so lovingly sought to feel as far as possible in my soul and body, that pain which You, sweet Lord, endured in the hour of Your most bitter Passion … that I may feel in my heart as much as possible of that excess of love by which You, O Son of God, were inflamed to suffer so cruel a Passion for us sinners. (Fioretti: 3rd Consideration of the Sacred Stigmata) To accept, and even seek, pain for love’s sake is not masochistic or insane, it is the total surrender a person offers to become one with the beloved.
Our Father St. Francis knew well that the Cross was the sign of the sublime humility and love of God for all creation. He was well aware that the stigmata he bore indicated the future glory pledged to all who accept the standard of Christ and follow His Way, Who is the Truth, as He leads to the fullness of Life, through His Resurrection. The ’Way of the Cross’ finds its total significance, value, and effectiveness in the Resurrection. If Jesus had not risen, in vain would have been our faith, and we would remain in our sins, says St. Paul to the Christians at Corinth (1 Corinthians 15). If Jesus had not risen, His death would have been nothing more than the tragic defeat of just another deluded ’messiah’, and His memory would bear no other fruit than that of the nostalgic remembrance of a good person who helped others, was misunderstood, and was ultimately executed for political and religious subversion. Jesus Himself, the ’wonder-working rabbi’ would thus be nothing else than a good teacher overcome by history and conquered by evil forces that forever remain superior and invincible to what is good.
In fact, there is no greater ’subversive’, no greater ’revolutionary’ than Jesus. His life, words, actions, and the witness of His Passion and Death hit at the very core of the human heart. He aimed at challenging His hearers to change from the very depths of their hearts and to come back to what they were constituted to be when God took the initiative with Abraham promising that He would be the Father of many nations. The ’subversive’ attempts to reach and affect the very foundation, the core of the matter, and the ’revolutionary’ attempts to turn people back to the Father’s Will, are at the heart of the Gospel Message. Thus, true gospel subversive and revolutionary tactics are those that lead us into the depths of our hearts to regain our original ’childlike innocence’ through God’s mercy. Is that not what is expected of us as Franciscans?! The Gospel life, if lived personally and preached well by example, is an effective witness and ’tool’ in changing the face of the earth. What happened?! Have we forgotten the power of the Gospel and the strength our fraternal life gifts us within each other to forge forward as sisters and brothers distinct yet one?! Perhaps we have stopped at the tomb, or remain closed in the Upper Room, as the disciples did immediately following the execution of Jesus. Each was closed in his own fears and doubts. We comfortably remain closed on and with ourselves, often for fear of being challenged to live what we profess. Yet, that is where the significance, value and effectiveness of our professed lives as Franciscans is fulfilled. When they saw the risen Lord, touched His wounds, and recognized their own brokenness, they became an encouragement and support for one another.
The Way of the Cross cannot stop at the tomb, even if within that tomb there seems to be life. Life hidden behind the stone sealed and guarded speaks nothing to the world. We must walk the entire road that Jesus traveled. It is the road that knows the pause and silence of that Sabbath after the excruciating sadness of Friday, but that explodes the next day into His glory. The glory of His Resurrection in our lives does not blind by its brilliance but brightens the darkness of difficulty and doubt. The glory of the Resurrection does not traumatize with fear and foreboding, but liberates the soul from doubt, the heart from anguish, and the mind from uncertainty. The glory of the Resurrection does not condemn the sinner with no place to turn, but rekindles hope and trust in the Father’s mercy and forgiveness. The glory of the Resurrection does not sentence to death, but makes all who accept the mystery sharers in the Life of God Himself! It enables them to be a life-giving presence for others.
Jesus rose as He had promised, nevertheless His own could not believe. Even the women, who loved Him so dearly, were on their ’way’ to the tomb to anoint the body, not to encounter the Lord alive. What response was given Him by His closest friends? None of the first followers expected to see Him alive again, notwithstanding His promises and assurances, and not even when some had seen and Jesus gave them the ’appointment’ to meet Him in Galilee.
– Thomas…one of the Twelve…said to (the Apostles), ’Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nail marks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe’ (John 21:24-25)… Pessimism and Disbelief
– The two disciples, speaking with Jesus whom they did not recognize as they journeyed on the road back to Emmaus from Jerusalem, said: We were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel … Some women from our group … reported that indeed they had seen a vision of angels … but him they did not see (Luke 24: 13-25)… Disillusionment and Discouragement
– When Mary of Magdala told the disciples she had seen the Risen Lord and that he was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe (Mark 16:11)… Cynicism and Skepticism
– Even when the disciples followed the command to go to Galilee where they would see Him before He ascended to the Father, When they saw Him, they worshiped, but they doubted (Matthew 28:16-17)… Hesitancy and Doubt
Thomas, Cleophas and his traveling companion, the Apostles after hearing Mary Magdalene, and many of the followers who saw Jesus on the Mount in Galilee at the Ascension, all had difficulties and even understandable doubts concerning the ’impossibility’ of a person rising from the dead … on his own power! What a motley crew! Are we really any different? The power of the Holy Spirit had to shake the disciples free of fear, doubt, complacency, so they could see and believe. They loved and believed Jesus, but it took an eternal power and a ’real presence’ to lead them into the light of a new Life, rooted in a Person Who overcame execution on a cross and was alive. The death of Jesus sealed the Covenant God made with humanity; and humanity, in Christ, consummated the covenant, fulfilled the prophecies, and set free all who accepted the Gospel Message: God so loved the world that He sent His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might … have eternal life. For God did not send his Son to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him (John 3: 16-17).
The Resurrection was and still is hard for many to accept, among these are also those who call themselves Christian! The condemnation and death sentence of Jesus inflicted a mortal wound on the hearts of His followers, as well as on those who still seek to understand and believe today. Their hearts and minds cannot as yet make the ’quantum leap’ of faith into the certitude of the ways of God. Jesus sought to prepare the disciples for this momentous experience, and they still doubted. The material world, the ’here and now’, becomes the only security and ’certitude’ some know; it is a world so obviously frail and prone to ruin either through natural causes or self destruction. The death of Jesus is a fact for some with seemingly no hope, no way out; these persons admire, revere and love Jesus, but they remain standing before the stone that seals the tomb and cannot go beyond the coldness of death. Their minds cannot understand, so their hearts refuse to believe, thus their lives wander through life without real direction and hope. How sad!
Suffering and pain are real! They cannot be rationalized away. We experience them often in life. Consider what the greater part of the world is experiencing with the present pandemic, and the millions of lives in one way or another affected, and the thousands who have died as a result of the virus. The virus arouses a sense of uncertainty and fear in many. There are also those suffer from other infirmities, who live in constant pain and continual suffering, whether spiritual, physical, psychological. Unless faith takes over and hope is kindled within their hearts, the love of God that conquers all things is the deepest desire of their heart but the furthest sensation they feel. Serenity and inner peace become just pious words and deep desires. They may hear words of encouragement, but they are overwhelmed by their own broken body and tired spirit. Even our Seraphic Father St. Francis of Assisi went through moments like this, but he could pray Blessed are You Lord my God. His feet were well-planted in the realities of life and his own physical and spiritual burdens, but his heart was one with His Lord alive and well. The human condition is common to all the children of God, saint and sinner alike. How we deal with the circumstances of life, how we allow the Paschal Mystery to affect our life, will determine the ’way’ we will follow.
The Passion and Death of Jesus speaks to us of the extravagant and limitless love of God for all humanity. The Resurrection of Jesus gives meaning and encouragement to life. The Eucharist is the Real Presence of the Glorified and Risen Lord Who journeys with us at every moment. It re-presents the whole Paschal Mystery and offers us the opportunity to be with the Risen Lord, Whose Sacrifice we enter, celebrate, and with Whom we seek to become one in Holy Communion. The presence of Jesus transforms lives. His bodily presence on earth centuries ago gave Him the opportunity to raise people from the dead, to heal the sick, to give hope to the downtrodden and outcast, to reassure the marginalized, to care for the various needs of those whom He encountered. His sacramental presence raises and heals souls dead and/or weak through sin, speaks to the depths of the heart of those who listen for/to Him in the silence of their hearts, and strengthens us with the grace of His Body and Blood to accept the demands of life. Faith in the living Lord helps us to realize we are not alone, but live and move and have our being with the Giver of all good gifts Who walks and works with and within us. His ’Presence’ is truly ’Real’. His is a ’tangible presence’ that makes Himself felt according to our willingness to see with the eyes of the heart and not the head alone. The living presence of the Lord in the Eucharist urges us to see and believe as John and Peter, to touch and acknowledge as Thomas, to go and proclaim that Jesus is Lord as the disciples who had gathered on the Mount of Olives.
Without the ’Way of the Cross’ we can never arrive at the Resurrection. Until we open our eyes and our hearts to see the brilliance and power of Jesus and hear and listen to the depth of His words, there is no way for us to enter the marvelous and mysterious reality of Christ Who lives today with us. Ultimately, if Christ is risen and lives today for me and with me, He is here in my personal life and in that of the whole world, just as He promised. How then can we hesitate to cooperate and collaborate with Christ who calls us to follow Him where we will see Him? Follow Him to encounter Him in His word, in His Sacrament, and in His sisters and brothers who have seen the Lord on ’the way’. As we meet Jesus on the way in the Word, the Church and Her sacramental life, in our sisters and brothers, even more intensely in the poor, marginalized, alienated, and also especially our sisters and brothers in our Franciscan Family, may we be able to say with the disciples on the road to Emmaus: Were not our hearts burning within us while He spoke to us on the way? Thus, filled with the Easter grace and joy of the One Who was dead and now lives, we can recount to others what has taken place on ’the way’ we traveled, and deepen our unity and love for all in the breaking of the bread. (cfr. Luke 24: 32-35) in the midst of present virus devastating the world with sickness and death, the Risen Jesus tells us don’t be afraid, believe. (Mark 5: 36), I have conquered the world. (John 16: 33) I am the way, the truth, and the life. (John 14: 6)
May the light of Christ’s Resurrection shine in us that we might have life, and have it in abundance. (John 10: 10) May the Risen Lord Jesus shower the whole world with an end to this global pandemic, gift eternal rest to those who have succumbed to the virus, health to those still affected by it, strength, protection and blessings on the medical personnel and caregivers, blessings of trust and serenity of faith and hope in God’s love on the families and all affected by this terrible sickness. May Mary, Mother of the Redeemer and Health of the Sick, intercede for all Her children so much in need of Our Mother’s loving protection. And may our Seraphic Father St. Francis of Assisi, who experienced severe infirmities in his own “converted” life, intercede for all of us, his Spiritual Children, with loving care.
With a promise to kep all of you affectionately in my Easter Masses and Liturgies, I wish you and your dear ones a very Blessed Easter in the light of the Resurrection. The darkness of the night we are experiencing , will eventually give way to the light of the dawn of the Son, Who rises to promise a new day for us all. You cannot hold back the dawn! John Dawd) Christ is our Dawn and New Light! (cfr. Luke 1:78, 2 Peter 1:19, and others)
Christ is Risen! He is truly risen! Alleluia!
Peace and Blessings
Fr. Francis A. Sariego, O.F.M. Cap.
Regional Spiritual Assistant
Posted By Kate Kleinert, on March 11th, 2020 Dear Father, Almighty Healer and Physician, we bring our fears, anxiety and petitions to you during this outbreak of coronavirus. Please restore our inner peace so that we can be a shining light to those stuck in the darkness.
And let us pray for
+ All those who have the virus and fear the outcome, may they find their peace in you.
+ All the medical staff who cannot work from home but need to be in the ‘trenches’ taking care of the sick, may they have the stamina and good health to continue to serve.
+ For all the working parents who are suddenly faced with their childrens’ schools being closed. Help them to find a solution that does not impact their earnings too greatly.
+ For all those who are worried, please grant them the peace to get through this time.
+ For all those working extra hours to provide more test kits, masks and sanitizer, shower them with the ability to keep up their difficult schedule.
+ And for all the rest of us, please help us make good decisions about where we go and when to stay home, what supplies we buy and how much/many, and most especially keep us calm and filled with Your grace so that we are able to reach out to others in need.
We ask these things through the Sacred Heart of Your Son, Jesus. May we be open to Your Ministering to us so that we are equipped to minister to others. Amen
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