Deacon Ward's Message of the Day 5/4/2020

~Mater Dei Parish~

St. Mary Star of the Sea / St. Edward the Confessor   
St. James the Greater   

St. Benedict Labre

J *  M  *  J

Jesus, Mary and Joseph,

I give you my heart, I give you my life.

<<<<<<>>>>>>>>

Deacon Ward's Almost Daily Message

Monday, May 4, 2020

Happy Easter, my brothers and sisters in Christ!

Alleluia!  Alleluia!

There is nothing new to report today.

We continue our journey, still in the throes of this pandemic; it has been difficult, to say the least. 

We anxiously await to hear from our Bishop, the go-ahead to resume normal Masses and other Church events. 

There will be a gradual turning on of the "spigot" as our governor likes to say.

There may be some movement on this in the next few day; check with our website for the latest...materdeivermont.com 

The reality is that returning to "normal", as we know it, may take longer than we think.

Regardless, we must remember the Church is not a building, the Church is you and I.  And as a Church...as the Body of Christ, we must persevere in all the things we can do outside the Church "building."

Certainly we can continue to be who Christ wants us to be during this difficult period...a person of love. We are a people of love by how we love, and how we live our lives. 

Good Shepherd Sunday, this last Sunday, teaches us that Christ is the Good Shepherd...who leads us on our way to salvation. 

We are summoned by the love of Christ to follow him...we recognize his voice which enters the temple of our hearts.
Christ is love, we are love!

Let us  continue to pray often. How? Daily morning prayer, daily evening prayer. We can pray the rosary, or the Divine Mercy Chaplet. We can sit in solitude in front of a crucifix. We can simply place Jesus in our mind.

♰♰♰♰♰♰♰


In this space going forward, I am going to offer reflections and prayers that I hope will give one pause to contemplate. I offer nothing heavy...no heavy theology...just something maybe to sooth the soul...maybe to teach. 

Today I offer an excerpt from the book, "The Day is Now Far Spent", by Robert Cardinal Sarah:

PRAYER

"Without union with God, every attempt to strengthen the Church and the faith will be in vain. Without prayer, we will be clanging cymbals. We will sink to the level of media hipsters who make a lot of noise and produce nothing but wind. Prayer must become our innermost respiration. It brings us face to face with God. Do we have some other purpose?
 The one who prays is saved, the one who does not pray is damned, St. Alphonse said. I want to insist on this point, because a church that does not have prayer as its most precious treasure is headed for ruin. If we do not rediscover the meaning of long, patient vigils with the Lord, we will betray him.
This is not a matter of multiplying our devotions. It is a matter of being silent and adoring. It is a matter of getting on our knees. It is a matter of entering into the liturgy with fear and respect.
It is God's work. It is not theater.
Unless we place our head on the heart of Christ, like St. John, we will not have the strength to follow him to the Cross.
If we do not take the time to listen to the heartbeat of our God, we will abandon him, we will betray him as the apostles did."

Let us pray:

Look upon your flock, kind Shepherd,

and be pleased to settle in eternal pastures the sheep

you have redeemed by the Precious Blood of your Son.
Who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.

Until next time...
In His peace.
Deacon Ward