Daily Thoughts: As our novena to St. Ann
begins today here on the west side of Scranton I couldn’t help but think how
well this morning’s Gospel fit. In the Gospel (Matt 11:28-30), Jesus reminds
all of us that we should always come to him, come to God, when we are troubled
and find life burdensome and difficult. He reminds us that he will give us
comfort and rest. With Jesus, the struggles, difficulties and burdens of life
can be eased. They can be shared and carried together.
What a wonderful image for the beginning
of a novena. I have been coming to this novena off and on since the year before
I was ordained. I have always enjoyed my time here. This is the 90th
year of the novena and over the 90 years people have come with heavy burdens.
They have come with the struggles of life, of family, of work, of health and of
uncertainty. They have come with personal and inner struggles. For them this
time of novena has given them the opportunity to share those burdens and
struggles, with God, with Jesus, with the Holy Spirit. It has helped them to
share their lives with God through the intersession of St. Ann.
I believe that over the 90 years that
people have walked away from this novena with the strength to keep going even
in the midst of heavy burdens and struggles because they come to know that they
are not alone. Throughout the novena they come to know that they walk with many
others and most importantly they walk with God and this share of the burdens
and struggles of life makes the going just a bit easier. This sharing helps
them to walk through life with a strong faith in their relationship with Jesus,
with God and at times that makes all the difference.
So my friends in the midst of all that
the world throws at us, whether we are here in Scranton making the novena or
not let us continue to walk by faith by trusting in our friendship with God!
Let’s us trust and that relationship and be always willing to share our burdens
and struggles with God and one another.
Have a great Thursday everyone and don’t
forget to make a joyful noise with your life today!
Daily Prayer: Take, Lord, and receive
all our liberty, our memory, our understanding, and our entire will, all we
have and call our own. You have given all to us. To you, Lord, we return it.
Everything is yours; do with it what you will. Give us only your love and your
grace that is enough for us. (Adapted from St. Ignatius of Loyola’s Prayer)
A Runner’s Thoughts: We need to always
remember that there are different forms of prayer, of communication with God
and that they are possible in everything we do, even when we run. So as I have
often said, let us allow our run today to be a prayer – a prayer of
thanksgiving, a prayer of petition or intercession, a prayer of praise, a
prayer of struggle, or a prayer seeking help or perhaps just a prayer that says
hello God how are you today?
Daily Blessing: Happy Thursday everyone
and greetings from cool and very comfortable Scranton, Pa!
We are off to a good start here at the
St. Ann’s Novena in Scranton, Pa. For those of you who don’t know what a novena
is, it is ten days of prayer usually taking place to honor a saint of the
Catholic Church. This novena is in honor of St. Ann the mother of Mary, our
Blessed Mother. There are nine days of prayer before the feast day of the saint
then the tenth day is the feast day. Thus we began today and we will end with
the feast of St. Ann and St. Joachim on July 26th. Now you might ask why would
we have a novena to St. Ann and why do we leave out St. Joachim, her husband,
until the feast day? Well that would be a very good question and my answer
would be too long to put in these lines. Let’s just say that there is a long
tradition of praying to God through the intercession of St. Ann here in Central
Pennsylvania which dates back to the days of the coal mines.
As I said yesterday you are in my
prayers in a special way during these ten days and if you have any special
intentions please let me know. I have already received a few I am keeping Trisha
and Sal in my prayers. All of your prayers, needs, struggles and challenges are
in my prayers these days so let me know how my prayers might be of help!
Remember we are carrying our burdens and struggles together!
Keep you petitions and prayer requests
coming. I am writing them all down and bringing them with me as a wander
through each day of the novena. If I haven’t responded back hang in there I
will get to your comment or email. The novena is going well, the weather is
cool and clear, crowds are good so far and the spirit is great!
Once again I add a special prayer of
blessing today upon Sarah and Theresa as they continue their journey toward
motherhood. As I mentioned yesterday Sarah’s due date is tomorrow, July 18th
so a very special prayer of blessing upon her today! Theresa is due the first
week of August. Today we ask God’s blessing, through the intercession of St.
Ann upon Sarah and Theresa that they will be blessed with Mary and Elizabeth’s
spirit of joy and excitement as they prepare to bring the gift of new life into
the world. May they have the faith, the hope and the strength to make it
through these days. We also offer a special prayer of blessing through the
intercession of St. Joachim upon Dominick and Jason the waiting fathers, may
they have the strength and grace of Joseph and Zechariah.
As for all of you may God bless your day
with the richness of His presence wherever you go and in whatever you do. May
you find the gift of joy within you and may it energize your living of life
today. And may you know the strength, the joy and in the hope of God’s love as
you live this day!
Well, friends stay well and have a great
day! Please know as always you are in my prayers and may you always know that
you are truly a gift. Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul
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