We are entrusted to one another. Paul
writes to Timothy: “First of all, then, I ask that supplications, prayers,
petitions, and thanksgivings be offered for everyone.” (1 Timothy 2:1) If all
of us pray for everyone in the parish, then we are certain that we always have
intercessors praying for us.
This happens in many
ways. Each Sunday and Holy Day of
Obligation, there is a Mass pro populo, that is, for the People
of the Parish. The Pastor is obliged to
offer or see that there is offered a Mass intention for the benefit of the
members of the parish.
The Prayer of the Faithful,
also called the General Intercessions or Petitions are about all the needs of
the parish, the Church and the world. We
bring to that moment of the Mass all that has been entrusted to us.
The power of prayer for
the living and the dead is deep in the Church’s awareness of her duty to God on
behalf of the world.
I want to suggest that
your involvement in the current project of creating a new Parish Pictorial
Directory is an important way in which you can personally respond to this
shared responsibility. Whenever I look
through our past directories, I am reminded to pray for all of you. When I go on a pilgrimage, I often take a
copy of the directory with me. The
number of those who have died since our last directory is striking. I look at their pictures and continue to remember
them in my prayers.
Some are hesitant to
have their picture in the directory. I
would suggest that if you have such a hesitation, you should push past it. Get your picture taken with your brothers and
sisters. Don’t let your vanity get in
the way of your being remembered in the prayers of your fellow
parishioners. Do you look older and more
care worn? So what?! Let it be an
invitation to all who see that to pray for you more. Whenever I get my hair cut, I notice that
there are more gray hairs than I remember.
It gives me the chance to acknowledge that I can give the name of the
person who gave me each gray hair!
The goal of the
committee is that all of us participate.
The good new is that July and August settings are already full. Please don’t miss your chance to be in the
directory this round. I promise you that
I will take one with me when I am called to a new parish and will keep you in
my prayers.
Thank you to all the
members of the Directory Committee. I am
grateful to you for your dedication.
Thanks too to all who have had their pictures take and to those who have
scheduled an appointment. To all the
rest, please get on board and know that you will be remembered in prayer.
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