Pastor's Message
25th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 18-19 Sep 2021
HS
JMJ
My Dear Fellow Saints-in-the-Making,
Greetings with joy in Christ.
As we celebrate the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time this weekend, we also celebrate our catechists, who will begin religious education of our young parishioners this weekend. Our catechists’ deeply-lived faith is lived anew each time they impart their love of our Lord and the rich tradition of the Catholic Church with our youth. They truly fulfill Jesus’ reminder to His disciples in this weekend’s Gospel: “Whoever receives one child such as this in My Name, receives Me; and whoever receives Me, receives not Me but the One Who sent Me.” May God bless our catechists and our youth for this year of religious education.
To delve further into the Gospel, before Jesus says the words above, the disciples had been arguing about who amongst them is the greatest. Jesus calmly reminds them that “if anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.” Thus, he shows that the child is the example of how to serve. All too often in today’s world, we focus on being the greatest as opposed to being the least, that is, the humblest. To help us all grow in the virtue of humility, I share with you a prayer I pray daily, both out of need and out of hope to grow as a humble servant of you, my beloved parishioners. May it bear much spiritual fruit in you.
O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed, Deliver me, Jesus. From the desire of being loved, Deliver me, Jesus. From the desire of being extolled, Deliver me, Jesus. From the desire of being honored, Deliver me, Jesus. From the desire of being praised, Deliver me, Jesus. From the desire of being preferred to others. Deliver me, Jesus. From the desire of being consulted, Deliver me, Jesus. From the desire of being approved, Deliver me, Jesus. From the fear of being humiliated, Deliver me, Jesus. From the fear of being despised, Deliver me, Jesus. From the fear of suffering rebukes, Deliver me, Jesus. From the fear of being calumniated, Deliver me, Jesus. From the fear of being forgotten, Deliver me, Jesus. From the fear of being ridiculed, Deliver me, Jesus. From the fear of being wronged, Deliver me, Jesus. From the fear of being suspected, Deliver me, Jesus. That others may be loved more than I, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it. That others may be esteemed more than I, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it. That, in the opinion of the world, others may increase and I may decrease, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it. That others may be chosen and I set aside, , Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it. That others may be praised and I unnoticed, , Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it. That others may be preferred to me in everything, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it. That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it. Amen.
To grow in humility during this Year of St. Joseph, a man of deep humility, why not select one of the films from the Augustine Institute’s Formed program, available free through our parish by signing up as directed on page 7 of the bulletin, to watch individually or as a family? Humble St. Joseph will lead us to the most humble Child he received in God’s Most Holy Name.
God love you! I do.
Fr. Lewis