Saint John Bosco, pray for us – O healing God, cast out the unclean spirits that destroy us. Raise us from the tombs in which we bury ourselves. Help us to realize the possibilities for resurrection in our everyday lives; may your grace enable us to break the chains and shackles of despair, fear and …
Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Times– The people of Nazareth drove from their midst their best hope for an improved life. Whom do we exclude from our understanding of Christianity? There is no less narrow-mindedness in our present-day society. How many ideas, theories, recommendations, suggestions, are we closed off to? Let us pray to that one …
Who can this be that the wind and the sea obey him? He is the calm amid a storm. He is that reassuring whisper that all will be well. He is that cool breeze that soothes our troubled conscience. He is that deep inner stillness that restores our hope and gives us reassuring peace. Jesus …
Saint Thomas Aquinas, pray for us – May we dare to always hope, O Lord, in our ability to plant seeds of compassion and reconciliation even in the coldest winters and in the rockiest, harshest soil. Let our smallest, most hidden kindnesses, and acts of charity result in your harvest of justice and peace, the …
Saint Angela Merici, pray for us – We carry within us the light of Christ. How often do we deprive others of that light? That light of Christ within us will shine through a smile, a kind gesture, a pat on the back, a nod of recognition, a word of support and affirmation. There are …
Saints Timothy and Titus, pray for us – Paul’s words to Timothy in our first reading inspire each of us to recognize the gifts that God has given us, to value them and to put them to use in the Church to which we belong. The Gospel reading from Luke about seventy-two unnamed disciples reminds …
The Conversion of Saint Paul the Apostle – Jesus changes persecutors into proclaimers and doubters into disciples. This is how God works throughout the Scriptures. God takes the nothingness of darkness and chaos and creates a world. God begins re-creation of that same world though the emptiness of a virgin’s womb. In the same way, …
Saint Francis de Sales, pray for us – Gracious Father may your compassion and wisdom be the source of humanity’s unity and peace. In taking on the work of reconciliation that your Son has entrusted to us, may we rediscover our need for one another and begin to bring healing and justice to those issues …
Third Sunday in Ordinary Time – As followers of Jesus, we have received the power of the Spirit. We have been anointed to carry the message of evangelizing healing and freeing, bearing a message of hope to the world. We are the body of Jesus visible today. Do we have enough faith in ourselves to …
Jesus is always speaking of peace; a peace comes from trust and faith in God. In his moments of trial Jesus always seemed to have the strength that was needed, a strength that flowed from his time spent with his Father in prayer. His life was a prayer. And the same is true for us. …
