A Priest’s Litany of Thanksgiving

A Priest’s Litany of Thanksgiving

 With the institution of the Priesthood on Holy Thursday just a week away I saw this Litany and found it to hit the core of the vocation. I know it is for a Priest to say but read it and think and pray on what the vocation means and what can lose if we do not have more vocations. 

A Priest’s Litany of Thanksgiving

R./ Lord, you know that I love you.

For instituting the holy priesthood, R./

For setting me apart to work for the Kingdom of God, R./

For the privilege of serving your holy Church, R./

For the grace of preaching, R./

For the honor of pasturing your people, R./

For the capacity to teach the faith, R./

For the power to baptize, R./

For the honor of being able to witness marriages, R./

For the joy of bringing healing to the sick and consolation to the dying, R./

For the miracle of being able to say, “This is my Body,” R./

For the wonder of the words, “I absolve you from your sins,” R./

For all the ways I act in persona Christi, R./

For making me a man of prayer, R./

For consecrating my hands for sacrifice, R./

For priestly paternity, R./

For proposing me, despite my unworthiness, as an example of holiness, R./

For making me capable of offering pastoral counseling, R./

For priestly fraternity, R./

For the strength you provide in times of trial and distress, R./

For the desire to reach out to the poor and the alienated, R./

For priestly compassion, tenderness, and generosity, R./

For transforming me in my weakness and sins, R./

For helping me to live in unfailing dependence upon you, R./

For making me ardent in self-sacrificing love, R./

For the presence of Jesus that radiates from my fatherhood, R./

For the grace to be able to generate others, R./

For the ability to feed your sheep, R./

For making me an instrument of grace, R./

For every host that I have distributed in Holy Communion, R./

For the gift of holy celibacy, R./

For my love of Mary, Mother of priests, R./

For creating the priesthood to be the love of the heart of Jesus, R./

For the divine commission to sanctify others, R./

For the inestimable grace of being an alter Christus, R./

For the countless graces with which you bless my life, R./

Until tomorrow, God Bless, and Thank You to all Priests. 

Friday of the Fifth Week of Lent

Lectionary: 255

Reading 1

JER 20:10-13

I hear the whisperings of many:

“Terror on every side!

Denounce! let us denounce him!”

All those who were my friends

are on the watch for any misstep of mine.

“Perhaps he will be trapped; then we can prevail,

and take our vengeance on him.”

But the LORD is with me, like a mighty champion:

my persecutors will stumble, they will not triumph.

In their failure they will be put to utter shame,

to lasting, unforgettable confusion.

O LORD of hosts, you who test the just,

who probe mind and heart,

Let me witness the vengeance you take on them,

for to you I have entrusted my cause.

Sing to the LORD,

praise the LORD,

For he has rescued the life of the poor

from the power of the wicked!

Responsorial Psalm

PS 18:2-3A, 3BC-4, 5-6, 7

R. (see 7) In my distress I called upon the Lord, and he heard my voice.

I love you, O LORD, my strength,

O LORD, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer.

R. In my distress I called upon the Lord, and he heard my voice.

My God, my rock of refuge,

my shield, the horn of my salvation, my stronghold!

Praised be the LORD, I exclaim,

and I am safe from my enemies.

R. In my distress I called upon the Lord, and he heard my voice.

The breakers of death surged round about me,

the destroying floods overwhelmed me;

The cords of the nether world enmeshed me,

the snares of death overtook me.

R. In my distress I called upon the Lord, and he heard my voice.

In my distress I called upon the LORD

and cried out to my God;

From his temple he heard my voice,

and my cry to him reached his ears. 

R. In my distress I called upon the Lord, and he heard my voice.

Verse Before The Gospel

SEE JN 6:63C, 68C

Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life;

you have the words of everlasting life.

Gospel

JN 10:31-42

The Jews picked up rocks to stone Jesus.

Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from my Father.

For which of these are you trying to stone me?”

The Jews answered him,

“We are not stoning you for a good work but for blasphemy.

You, a man, are making yourself God.”

Jesus answered them,

“Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, ‘You are gods”‘? 

If it calls them gods to whom the word of God came,

and Scripture cannot be set aside,

can you say that the one

whom the Father has consecrated and sent into the world

blasphemes because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? 

If I do not perform my Father’s works, do not believe me;

but if I perform them, even if you do not believe me,

believe the works, so that you may realize and understand

that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.”

Then they tried again to arrest him;

but he escaped from their power.

He went back across the Jordan

to the place where John first baptized, and there he remained. 

Many came to him and said,

“John performed no sign,

but everything John said about this man was true.”

And many there began to believe in him.

Prayers Needed

Prayers Needed

    I am asking for prayers tonight for a good friend of mine and his family at this time. They have suffered an unspeakable tragedy that cost the lives of three children, Laci, age 7, Phillip age 6 and Christopher 5 months. This is a very hard time for them and due to the events surrounding their deaths the family is in the center of media and are not able to greave in peace. 

   Please pray for peace, love, forgiveness, healing, and that they are able to grieve in peace. Thank You for all your prayers. 

Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord Lectionary: 545

Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord

Lectionary: 545

Reading 1

IS 7:10-14; 8:10

The LORD spoke to Ahaz, saying:

Ask for a sign from the LORD, your God;

let it be deep as the nether world, or high as the sky!

But Ahaz answered,

“I will not ask! I will not tempt the LORD!”

Then Isaiah said: 

Listen, O house of David!

Is it not enough for you to weary people,

must you also weary my God?

Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign:

the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son,

and shall name him Emmanuel,

which means “God is with us!” 

Responsorial Psalm

PS 40:7-8A, 8B-9, 10, 11

R. (8a and 9a) Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.

Sacrifice or oblation you wished not,

but ears open to obedience you gave me.

Holocausts or sin-offerings you sought not;

then said I, “Behold I come.”

R. Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.

“In the written scroll it is prescribed for me,

To do your will, O my God, is my delight,

and your law is within my heart!”

R. Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.

I announced your justice in the vast assembly;

I did not restrain my lips, as you, O LORD, know.

R. Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.

Your justice I kept not hid within my heart;

your faithfulness and your salvation I have spoken of;

I have made no secret of your kindness and your truth

in the vast assembly.

R. Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.

Reading 2

HEB 10:4-10

Brothers and sisters:

It is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats 

take away sins.

For this reason, when Christ came into the world, he said:

“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,

but a body you prepared for me;

in holocausts and sin offerings you took no delight.

Then I said, ‘As is written of me in the scroll,

behold, I come to do your will, O God.’”

First he says, “Sacrifices and offerings,

holocausts and sin offerings,

you neither desired nor delighted in.”

These are offered according to the law.

Then he says, “Behold, I come to do your will.”

He takes away the first to establish the second.

By this “will,” we have been consecrated

through the offering of the Body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Verse Before The Gospel

JN 1:14AB

The Word of God became flesh and made his dwelling among us;

and we saw his glory.

Gospel

LK 1:26-38

The angel Gabriel was sent from God

to a town of Galilee called Nazareth,

to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph,

of the house of David,

and the virgin’s name was Mary.

And coming to her, he said,

“Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.”

But she was greatly troubled at what was said

and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.

Then the angel said to her,

“Do not be afraid, Mary,

for you have found favor with God.

Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,

and you shall name him Jesus.

He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,

and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,

and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever,

and of his Kingdom there will be no end.”

But Mary said to the angel,

“How can this be,

since I have no relations with a man?”

And the angel said to her in reply,

“The Holy Spirit will come upon you,

and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.

Therefore the child to be born

will be called holy, the Son of God.

And behold, Elizabeth, your relative,

has also conceived a son in her old age,

and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren;

for nothing will be impossible for God.”

Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.

May it be done to me according to your word.”

Then the angel departed from her.

"Looks Like a Duck, Sounds Like a Duck, but is it a Duck?"

"Looks Like a Duck, Sounds Like a Duck, but is it a Duck?"

   This blog tonight comes on the heals of the blog I posted on Friday, Message from My Bishop. In that message from the Bishop, He mentions about a “church” that calls themselves catholic but uses the terminology, prayers and practices of the Roman Catholic Faith, but is not associated or in line with the Roman Rite or Pope. So, some may say “What’s the big deal since they do say they are not inline or part of the Roman Catholic Faith?” Well, let me explain the danger and misleading practice of this. 

      There is a saying I would use all the time and I bet you have heard of it before. “ If it looks like a duck, sounds like a duck, then it must be a duck.” Well, never again will I use that saying and that is because of this “church”. They copy what the Roman Catholic Faith has, yet does not share the same doctrine and values as the Roman Catholic Church. As I did say they do state in a line in their description that they are not part of the RC church but it is a line and one must go looking for it. They state that only after paragraphs of putting down the RC church. You would need to see this on their website, this disclaimer does not appear on the doors that enter into their church. Nor does a disclaimer appear under the “alter” as they perform their version of the mass. That is what scares me. It is the fact that they are preying on the person who may have some issue with the true Roman Catholic church and gives them a distorted version of the faith and practices. It is a false practice.

     When I first heard of this church I was shocked that I have not heard of the them before. I tend to be on top of such things that go directly against the Roman Catholic Church and this one slipped by. It is our duty as Roman Catholics to stand up against those who try and slander the church and also those who come off as a twisted version of the truth. They say “ Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery” but in this case it is the sincerest form of deception. I pray that people see past this smoke screen of acceptance and falsehood and sees the wolves in sheep’s clothing waiting for them. 

     I understand that the Roman Catholic Church has had issues and some in the church are not welcoming and I apologize to anyone who have felt the church has not been there for them or are not welcoming. I ask if that was the case for you to come again. Speak to the Priests and see really who we are. Do not settle for imitations, come back to the true Catholic Faith. We are not imitation and we will satisfy your spiritual needs and you will never leave feeling that something is missing. 

     Please join me in prayers for anyone who is being deceived and those who are deceiving others. As it says in Matthew 18: 6 :

“Whoever causes one of these little ones^* who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.”

This states that we are responsible for others by our actions and what we cause them to do. Pray that those who are leading people astray that they see the truth and turn themselves back to the right path and bring those who they deceived back to the true church. 

Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Lent

Lectionary: 252

Reading 1

NM 21:4-9

From Mount Hor the children of Israel set out on the Red Sea road,

to bypass the land of Edom.

But with their patience worn out by the journey,

the people complained against God and Moses,

“Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in this desert,

where there is no food or water?

We are disgusted with this wretched food!”

In punishment the LORD sent among the people saraph serpents,

which bit the people so that many of them died.

Then the people came to Moses and said,

“We have sinned in complaining against the LORD and you.

Pray the LORD to take the serpents away from us.”

So Moses prayed for the people, and the LORD said to Moses,

“Make a saraph and mount it on a pole,

and whoever looks at it after being bitten will live.”

Moses accordingly made a bronze serpent and mounted it on a pole,

and whenever anyone who had been bitten by a serpent 

looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.

Responsorial Psalm

PS 102:2-3, 16-18, 19-21

R. (2) O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you.

O LORD, hear my prayer,

and let my cry come to you.

Hide not your face from me

in the day of my distress.

Incline your ear to me; 

in the day when I call, answer me speedily.

R. O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you.

The nations shall revere your name, O LORD,

and all the kings of the earth your glory,

When the LORD has rebuilt Zion

and appeared in his glory;

When he has regarded the prayer of the destitute,

and not despised their prayer.

R. O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you.

Let this be written for the generation to come,

and let his future creatures praise the LORD:

“The LORD looked down from his holy height,

from heaven he beheld the earth,

To hear the groaning of the prisoners,

to release those doomed to die.”

R. O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you.

Verse Before The Gospel

The seed is the word of God, Christ is the sower;

all who come to him will live for ever.

Gospel

JN 8:21-30

Jesus said to the Pharisees:

“I am going away and you will look for me,

but you will die in your sin.

Where I am going you cannot come.”

So the Jews said,

“He is not going to kill himself, is he,

because he said, ‘Where I am going you cannot come’?”

He said to them, “You belong to what is below,

I belong to what is above.

You belong to this world,

but I do not belong to this world.

That is why I told you that you will die in your sins.

For if you do not believe that I AM,

you will die in your sins.”

So they said to him, “Who are you?”

Jesus said to them, “What I told you from the beginning.

I have much to say about you in condemnation.

But the one who sent me is true,

and what I heard from him I tell the world.”

They did not realize that he was speaking to them of the Father.

So Jesus said to them,

“When you lift up the Son of Man,

then you will realize that I AM,

and that I do nothing on my own,

but I say only what the Father taught me.

The one who sent me is with me. 

He has not left me alone,

because I always do what is pleasing to him.”

Because he spoke this way, many came to believe in him.

      

Fifth Sunday of Lent Lectionary: 35

Fifth Sunday of Lent

Lectionary: 35

Reading 1

JER 31:31-34

The days are coming, says the LORD, 

when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel 

and the house of Judah.

It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers

the day I took them by the hand 

to lead them forth from the land of Egypt; 

for they broke my covenant, 

and I had to show myself their master, says the LORD.

But this is the covenant that I will make 

with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD.

I will place my law within them and write it upon their hearts; 

I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

No longer will they have need to teach their friends and relatives

how to know the LORD.

All, from least to greatest, shall know me, says the LORD, 

for I will forgive their evildoing and remember their sin no more.

Responsorial Psalm

PS 51:3-4, 12-13, 14-15

R. (12a) Create a clean heart in me, O God.

Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;

in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.

Thoroughly wash me from my guilt

and of my sin cleanse me.

R. Create a clean heart in me, O God.

A clean heart create for me, O God,

and a steadfast spirit renew within me.

Cast me not out from your presence,

and your Holy Spirit take not from me.

R. Create a clean heart in me, O God.

Give me back the joy of your salvation,

and a willing spirit sustain in me.

I will teach transgressors your ways,

and sinners shall return to you.

R. Create a clean heart in me, O God.

Reading 2

HEB 5:7-9

In the days when Christ Jesus was in the flesh, 

he offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears 

to the one who was able to save him from death, 

and he was heard because of his reverence.

Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered; 

and when he was made perfect, 

he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.

Verse Before The Gospel

JN 12:26

Whoever serves me must follow me, says the Lord;

and where I am, there will my servant be.

Gospel

JN 12:20-33

Some Greeks who had come to worship at the Passover Feast

came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, 

and asked him, “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.”

Philip went and told Andrew; 

then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.

Jesus answered them, 

“The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

Amen, amen, I say to you, 

unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, 

it remains just a grain of wheat; 

but if it dies, it produces much fruit.

Whoever loves his life loses it,

and whoever hates his life in this world

will preserve it for eternal life.

Whoever serves me must follow me, 

and where I am, there also will my servant be.

The Father will honor whoever serves me.

“I am troubled now. Yet what should I say?

‘Father, save me from this hour’?

But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour.

Father, glorify your name.”

Then a voice came from heaven, 

“I have glorified it and will glorify it again.”

The crowd there heard it and said it was thunder; 

but others said, “An angel has spoken to him.”

Jesus answered and said, 

“This voice did not come for my sake but for yours.

Now is the time of judgment on this world; 

now the ruler of this world will be driven out.

And when I am lifted up from the earth, 

I will draw everyone to myself.”

He said this indicating the kind of death he would die.

Message from My Bishop

Message from My Bishop

  Bishop  David M. O'Connell, C.M is the Bishop of the Dioceses of Trenton. In a bulletin He addressed an issue that has grown in our Dioceses, a "church" that popped up claiming to be catholic in name and in reality it is in name only. Below is the letter that was published in a bulletin this weekend. I will comment on this on Sunday but wanted to share the letter tonight.

IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM THE BISHOP:

“Splinter groups of Christians, with roots in the Roman Catholic Church, have continued to arise offering a competing doctrine contrary to our own. Recently one of those groups, using the word “Catholic” in its title, has established itself within the Diocese of Trenton. This is not the first time something like this has happened here. Thankfully, this group has honestly identi- fied itself as “independent of the Roman Catholic Church.” Its members, especially its clergy, continue to use Roman Catholic vocabulary, symbols, liturgical prayers and sacraments but profess to be more “inclusive” than the Roman Catholic Church differing from it “on several major points, such as married clergy, female priests, divorce and re-marriage, same-sex marriage, and lay leadership.” Again, this description is an honest one but retaining the “appearance” of Roman Catholi- cism has caused confusion among the faithful which, in turn, has caused great concern among Roman Catholic pastors and priests. Some of its clergy, in fact, are former or laicized Roman Catholic priests who have left the Roman Catholic priesthood and Church. They are reaching out to Roman Catholics whom they identify as “especially ‘the alienated and disenfranchised, as well as strayed and hurt Roman Catholics who want to continue their Catholic faith’ but can’t subscribe to the Roman Church’s rules, regulations, and stigmas.”

As the Roman Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Trenton, I simply want to alert the Roman Catholic faithful to the establish- ment of such splinter groups since they are offering sacraments, weddings, funerals, counseling and so forth. Before seeking to meet those pastoral and sacramental needs, Roman Catholics should inquire if those who approach them or whom they ap- proach are, indeed, authentic and legitimate Roman Catholic pastors and priests offering ministry sanctioned and approved by the Roman Catholic Church. I cannot prevent them from

offering such services within the four counties of the Diocese. I can only alert the Roman Catholic faithful to this situation that does not further Jesus’ own prayer “that they, that we may be one.” Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M.

An important notice regarding Sacraments in the Diocese of Trenton The following advisory was issued by the Archdio- cese of Newark regarding the laicization of Anthony Russell Lipari. “Anthony Russell Lipari, a former priest of the Archdio- cese of Newark, abandoned ministry as a Roman Catholic priest in 2003, and had not been permitted to function as a Roman Catholic priest since that time.” Moreover, “The Archdi- ocese has become aware that Anthony Lipari has affiliated himself with a group calling itself The American National Catholic Church, or ANCC. In spite of confusion created by the group’s name, the ANCC is not in communion with the Bishop of Rome, Pope Francis, or the Roman Catholic Church. The Church does not recognize as licit any ministerial activities in which Lipari may have engaged since he abandoned the Roman Catholic Church in 2003.

Any Roman Catholic with doubts about Sacraments received from Lipari after 2003 should consult immediately with a local Roman Catholic priest to determine their validity under the canons of the Roman Catholic Church.

Until tomorrow, God Bless, and may we unite as the true church. 

Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Lent Lectionary: 246

Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Lent

Lectionary: 246

Reading 1

IS 49:8-15

Thus says the LORD:

In a time of favor I answer you,

on the day of salvation I help you;

and I have kept you and given you as a covenant to the people,

To restore the land

and allot the desolate heritages,

Saying to the prisoners: Come out!

To those in darkness: Show yourselves!

Along the ways they shall find pasture,

on every bare height shall their pastures be.

They shall not hunger or thirst,

nor shall the scorching wind or the sun strike them;

For he who pities them leads them

and guides them beside springs of water.

I will cut a road through all my mountains,

and make my highways level.

See, some shall come from afar,

others from the north and the west,

and some from the land of Syene.

Sing out, O heavens, and rejoice, O earth,

break forth into song, you mountains.

For the LORD comforts his people

and shows mercy to his afflicted.

But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me;

my Lord has forgotten me.”

Can a mother forget her infant,

be without tenderness for the child of her womb?

Even should she forget,

I will never forget you.

Responsorial Psalm

PS 145:8-9, 13CD-14, 17-18

R. (8a) The Lord is gracious and merciful.

The LORD is gracious and merciful,

slow to anger and of great kindness.

The LORD is good to all

and compassionate toward all his works.

R. The Lord is gracious and merciful.

The LORD is faithful in all his words

and holy in all his works.

The LORD lifts up all who are falling

and raises up all who are bowed down.

R. The Lord is gracious and merciful.

The LORD is just in all his ways

and holy in all his works.

The LORD is near to all who call upon him,

to all who call upon him in truth.

R. The Lord is gracious and merciful.

Verse Before The Gospel

JN 11:25A, 26

I am the resurrection and the life, says the Lord;

whoever believes in me will never die.

Gospel

JN 5:17-30

Jesus answered the Jews: 

“My Father is at work until now, so I am at work.”

For this reason they tried all the more to kill him,

because he not only broke the sabbath

but he also called God his own father, making himself equal to God.

Jesus answered and said to them,

“Amen, amen, I say to you, the Son cannot do anything on his own,

but only what he sees the Father doing;

for what he does, the Son will do also.

For the Father loves the Son

and shows him everything that he himself does,

and he will show him greater works than these,

so that you may be amazed.

For just as the Father raises the dead and gives life,

so also does the Son give life to whomever he wishes.

Nor does the Father judge anyone,

but he has given all judgment to the Son,

so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father.

Whoever does not honor the Son

does not honor the Father who sent him.

Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever hears my word

and believes in the one who sent me

has eternal life and will not come to condemnation,

but has passed from death to life.

Amen, amen, I say to you, the hour is coming and is now here

when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God,

and those who hear will live.

For just as the Father has life in himself,

so also he gave to the Son the possession of life in himself.

And he gave him power to exercise judgment,

because he is the Son of Man.

Do not be amazed at this,

because the hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs

will hear his voice and will come out,

those who have done good deeds

to the resurrection of life,

but those who have done wicked deeds

to the resurrection of condemnation.

“I cannot do anything on my own;

I judge as I hear, and my judgment is just,

because I do not seek my own will

but the will of the one who sent me.”