Police - Maintaining Order

The 'Police Hat' Strikes Again

Please Pray And Sacrifice for Priests

That they may have the Grace
To embrace the Cross
United with Christ
Living the Mass
Ready and Willing
To Serve
To Suffer
For the Redemption of Souls

It IS OUR DUTY!

Let the children come to me...

John was rummaging through some old hats from Grandpa, and look at the treasure he found:

"Awesome, a police hat just like Father _." Followed by a happy dance. "I'm wearin' this one! Oh yeah, just like Father _. But mine is blue and his is black, right Mom?"

Please say a prayer for our priests!

We NEED them

therefor

They need our prayers.

The year for Priests cont.

Pope Benedict in his letter to priests states: The Cure (St. John Vianney) would always remind his faithful that "after giving us all he could, Jesus Christ wishes in addition to bequeath us his most precious possession, his Blessed Mother." To the most Holy Virgin I entrust this Year for Priests.

This letter is a good read for everyone. I particularly liked Pope Benedict's 3rd paragraph, highlighting the words of St. John Vianney when talking about priests, "If he realized what he is, he would die...God obeys him: he utters a few words and the Lord decends from heaven at his voice to be contained within a small host...after God, the priest is everything!...The priest holds the key to the treasures of Heaven.

Also in his letter, the pope reminds us of the message of Lourdes: prayer and penance. On this feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I think of Fatima, where God wanted to establish devotion to Mary's Immaculate Heart. Our Blessed Mother asks for prayer, namely, praying for the conversion of sinners, "Pray very much. Make sacrifices for sinners. Many souls go to hell, because no one is willing to help them with sacrifice." We are asked to make sacrifices for sinners and say often, "O Jesus, this is for the love of You, the conversion of sinners and in reparation for offenses committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary."

We can simply say, "God, this isn't going the way I want, I offer it to you for ___. If we can be disciplined to do this instead of complaining or getting angry with the selfish poor me's, we will learn to love until it hurts - until there is no more hurt but more love (Mother Teresa). But like anything, it takes practice to grow, conscious discipline to perfect, and God's graces to apply. Each step is made easier by the sacraments given to us by Christ through our priests: most especially the sacraments of Eucharist and Reconciliation.

Our Heavenly Mother's Heart is committed to compassion. If she sees a need (look at the Wedding Feast at Cana), and it is in line with the will of our Father, She will bring it more beautifully to her Son who will obey! With this in mind, let us pray to our Blessed Mother for our priests that they may have the courage and the strength to carry out Christ's mission of love and mercy!

The Year for Priests

Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make our hearts like unto yours.

Pope Benedict XVI has declared June 19, 2009 - June 19, 2010 to be dedicated to the Year for Priests.

How fitting that it begins on the Feast of the:

Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus!

I was thinking earlier, what exactly does a heart do? This is what I learned:

The heart is one of the most important organs in the body, but it is simply a pump - it pumps the blood, which carries all the vital materials that help our bodies function and removes the waste that we do not need. It is an "All or nothing" organ. It either pumps with all its might or it shuts down. If it shuts down, the body will die. Christ gave all He had- most especially His earthly life, so that we may have eternal life with Him.

Let us pray for holy priests - that they may always be faithful to their sacred calling by giving all they have to pump forth the Love and Mercy of Christ and rid us of our impurities. Without the Priesthood, which according to St. John Marie Vianney, "is the Love of the Heart of Jesus" we will surly die. He then reminds us, "When you see a priest, think of our Lord Jesus Christ." And I add, "Pray that the priest may truly be one with Christ." Priests need our prayers to gain graces that they would not otherwise obtain. We all need the fervent help of each other!

I will add this prayer to the side bar later:

Prayer for Priests:

O Jesus, our great High Priest, hear my humble prayers on behalf of your priest, Father [N]. Give him a deep faith, a bright and firm hope and a burning love which will ever increase in the course of his priestly life.

In his loneliness, comfort him. In his sorrows, strengthen him. In his frustrations, point out to him that it is through suffering that the soul is purified, and show him that he is needed by the Church, he is needed by souls, he is needed for the work of redemption.

O loving Mother Mary, Mother of Priests, take to your heart your son who is close to you because of his priestly ordination, and because of the power which he has received to carry on the work of Christ in a world which needs him so much.

Be his comfort, be his joy, be his strength, and especially help him to live and to defend the ideals of consecrated celibacy. Amen

-John Joseph, Cardinal Carberry (+1998) Archbishop of St. Louis 1968-1979