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NOVENA OF TRUST - Day Nineteen "That You are with me in my suffering. Jesus, I trust in You." Yesterday on the news they were showing the results of a poll done around people's stress levels heading into Election Day. It showed that 61% of millennials (those born between 1981-1994/96) said they were stressed, compared to only 32% of baby boomers (those born between 1946-1964). It left me wondering, is the stress level of the millennials a result of the fact that 4 in 10 will say that they are "religiously unaffiliated"? - Pew Research Center / 2019 No God, No Peace Know God, Know Peace I can say that my heart is heavy today - we are a nation suffering. As always, the Lord sends along Scripture that helps calm the storm and renew the peace. Here is the Prophet Isaiah from today's Morning Prayer - Prayer of the Day: "Open up the gates to let in a nation that is just, one that keeps faith. A nation of firm purpose you keep in peace; in peace, for its trust in you. Trust in the Lord forever! For the Lord is an eternal Rock." We are a country suffering, on many levels. May we pray today to be peace in our little part of the country and may that peace spread to all corners! Lord, for the United States of America, we pray! Sacred Heart of Jesus, pray for us. Jesus, I trust in You. Photo by NASA on Unsplash 
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NOVENA OF TRUST - Days Seventeen and Eighteen I apologize to all who have been praying with us! It seems the Novena of Trust did not post correctly yesterday, for some strange reason. Let us double up and get back on track... Day Seventeen: "That Your loves goes deeper than my sins and failings, and transforms me. Jesus, I trust in you." Day Eighteen: "That not knowing what tomorrow brings is an invitation to lean on You. Jesus, I trust in you." As we celebrate in the Church the Feast of All Saints (yesterday) and the Feast of All Souls (today), we can turn to the Saints for the "proof positive" that total trust in God is possible and is rewarded. The Saints were not perfect people, they were people with faults and failings. People who struggled to understand what God wanted of them and, people who struggled to let God in. They are our models and examples because they struggled, because they persevered. When we persevere, when we allow God in, His work is beautiful and transformative. How appropriate is Day Eighteen! Today might find us on edge about Election Day tomorrow, the rise in case numbers of the COVID Virus, and simply the state of the world around us. A friend of mine used to use this saying: No God, No peace Know God, Know peace There is no better day to tap into the beauty of this Novena and pray with all our hearts, "...not knowing what tomorrow brings is an invitation to lean on You. Jesus, I trust in you." Holy Saints of God, pray for us. Sacred Heart of Jesus, pray for us.  NOVENA OF TRUST - Day Seventeen "That Your love goes deeper than my sins and failings, and transforms me. Jesus, I trust in you." Today in the Church we celebrate the Feast of All Saints - a perfect day to pray this offering! If we want true examples of how God forgives our sins and failings, putting them behind Him, and how deeply He can transform us, we only need to look to the Saints. Pick a Saint today, read about their life and allow their example to strength you. Holy Saints of God, pray for us. Sacred Heart of Jesus, pray for us. Jesus, I trust in you.  NOVENA OF TRUST - Day Sixteen "That You are continually holding me, sustaining me, loving me Jesus, I trust in you. " Jesus, I trust in you.... How many times have I prayed "Jesus, I trust in you", and then questioned if I truly meant it? Many years ago I learned that our intention is the important thing to focus on. Do I want to trust Jesus? Yes, completely and totally. Do I find it hard? Yes, completely and totally! But, when I pray, do I desire to trust? YES, YES and YES As we transition into this Heart Knowledge of who God should be in our lives, let us open ourselves up to God's Voice and let us be honest with Him. If our prayer is, "Jesus, I want to trust you" - that is ok. We have to open the door to our Lord and our desire to trust is an invitation for Him to enter. Sacred Heart of Jesus, pray for us. NOVENA OF TRUST - Day Fifteen "From discouragement. Deliver me, Jesus." Have you ever tried to lose weight, pay down personal debt or overcome some struggle in your life? It is HARD and it is WORK! It often strikes me how easy it is to get ourselves "in over our heads" as they say, and how much patience and trust it takes to get ourselves out. Like I said, it is HARD and it is painful - but, Philippians 4:13! (I am not going to give you this one, you have to look it up!) We are officially half way through our Novena. Today we end our focus on petitioning Jesus, "Deliver me, Jesus" and tomorrow we switch our focus to our offering, "Jesus, I trust in you." How fitting it is to finish by petitioning Jesus to deliver us from discouragement. I say this because often to overcome discouragement in our lives we have to fall to our knees and pray, "Jesus, I trust in You." Sacred Heart of Jesus, pray for us. Photo by Ben White on Unsplash  NOVENA OF TRUST - Day Fourteen "From the fear of what love demands. Deliver me, Jesus." Whew - a hard petition to pray this morning! "From the fear of what love demands..." What does love demand of us? At different points in our lives love can demand very different things. Living in a world that focuses more on, "Whatever I demand and want", can cause us (if we are not careful) to keep our eyes focused on ourselves and not on what true love is demanding of us. There is a lesson I learned from a Priest friend that I lean on often. You see I can tend to be a self-centered person, I fight against it, but I fall into it often. This friend one day, as I was moaning and groaning about something, simply directed my attention to Jesus on the Cross and said, "Here is the only thing that matters." What does love demand of us? Truth and honesty, courage, self-sacrifice, responsibility, empathy, acceptance.... The list goes on and on.... What is love demanding of you today? Sacred Heart of Jesus, pray for us. Photo by Robert Karp on Unsplash  NOVENA OF TRUST - Day Thirteen "From the belief that my life has no meaning or worth. Deliver me, Jesus." The population that I think about most when I pray this petition is the elderly population. Having a Father and Stepmother who are both 90 years old, I have experienced the days where they feel like more of a burden than a blessing to our family. We do everything we can to reassure them and to demonstrate our love, but the temptation is still there for them to only see the struggle. God puts us on this earth for a purpose and He leaves us here for a purpose. Our job is to pray and to open ourselves up to His desires and His Will. When my Dad is feeling down that he can no longer remember our birthdays or give us gifts, he can no longer support OUR daily needs, I like to remind him that prayer is a gift that he can still give his family, friends and the world - a gift he can give in abundance! And the beauty is, his prayer is worth more and of more benefit to me than a book or a sweater. His prayer offered, can be my daily strength to care for them and to care for them well! I like to believe that the elderly, like little children, have a special place in the Heart of Jesus. They are the Prayer Warriors for the world today and they are important to all of us! "Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows." Luke 12: 6-7 Sacred Heart of Jesus, pray for us. Photo by Daniele Levis Pelusi on Unsplash  NOVENA OF TRUST - Day Twelve "From the fear of being asked to give more than I have. Deliver me, Jesus." As we pray with this petition today we can certainly see that this fear runs rampant in today's world. Even in our own lives. What I am unwilling, or scared to give up to follow my Lord? What keeps my eyes from focusing on God and what He wants in my life? In what areas am I unwilling to forget myself and put others first? Jesus' encounter with the Rich Young Man, that we hear in Scripture,, came to mind this morning. This lesson was so important that Matthew, Mark and Luke include this encounter in their Gospels. As I read all three at prayer I realized that Mark's telling was my favorite. It is my favorite because Mark includes one line that the other two do not. Mark 10: 17-22 ""Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?...You know the commandments....all these I have observed from my youth... You lack one thing; go, sell what you have..." Now this is my favorite part! Just before Jesus tells the Rich Young Man to go and sell what he has Mark's Gospel tells us that, "...Jesus looking upon him loved him..." Jesus looking upon him loved him..... Our Lord knows that what He asks in our lives is not always easy, but He offers us His strength. He would not ask it if we were incapable of answering. What "one thing" (or many) do we lack to follow our Lord? What do we need to give up to keep our eyes on Him? Will we follow Jesus or, will we walk away like the Rich Young Man - believing that God is asking too much? Our Lord will never ask for more than we are capable of, but He will ask for all that keeps us from Him. Sacred Heart of Jesus, pray for us. Photo by Max Ilienerwise on Unsplash  NOVENA OF TRUST - Day Eleven "From disbelief in Your love and presence. Deliver me, Jesus." In the hardest moments of our lives we can be tempted to believe that our Lord is not there with us, that He doesn't care. The truth is He is always there with us, always there sharing our grief, our struggles, our joys. My mother comes to mind this morning! On the morning of my brothers death at 16 years of age, I remember arriving home from the hospital and lying on the bed with Mom. The memory is so real I can almost smell the pillows - the lesson she taught me that morning, is also very real and cherished. On the most devastating morning of my mother's life she wanted nothing but to remain on her bed and pray the Rosary together; she was seeking out the only One who could give her strength - her Lord and her Love! We are human though and we must remember that. For the remaining years my mother lived she had days where she was so angry with God yet, the very next day, or even hours later she would be seeking Him out and leaning on Him once again. Saint Martha gives us an example of this very human side of us, "Lord, if you had been here...." But then within moments she professes, "Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ..." John 10: 21,27 In the words of a song by JJ Heller, "When my heart is broken, I never leave [Y]our hands..." May we profess with Saint Martha today (and my mother) Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ. Saint Martha, pray for us. Sacred Heart of Jesus, pray for us. Photo by Om Prakash Sethia on Unsplash  NOVENA OF TRUST - Day Ten "From restless self-seeking in the present moment. Deliver me, Jesus." Matthew's Gospel tells us, "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." - Matthew 6:21 What or who is the "treasure" in our lives? Are we constantly trying to find happiness in new things, never feeling quite settled? Until God is the "treasure" in our life and the place where our heart is found, restless self-seeking will always draw our attention from one thing to another. Lasting happiness will never be found in the "things" of the world. Our lasting happiness will only come when we open our hearts and invite the ONE into our lives! "Be still, and know that I am God." - Psalm 46:10 Sacred Heart of Jesus, pray for us.  |
Director -Deacon Dennis Moore
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