We will once again offer The Chosen Bible Study which will begin with Season Three on May 6. All are invited to meet in the Parish Hall each Monday at 6:30 p.m., beginning May 6 for the eight-week study.
Watch the first episode of Season 3 which can be found on Amazon Prime, The apps, “Angel Studios” or “The Chosen” on your TV or mobile device before the meeting. Contact Dcn. John Brannen with questions.
We are in need of Eucharistic Ministers for all Masses. Please contact Dcn. Ed Parsons if you are confirmed in the Catholic Faith and feel called to become involved in this important Liturgical Ministry. He will be happy to share more information with you or help you schedule training for this Ministry at your convenience. tparsons@cdlex.org or 502-382-0145
Prayer for Serenity
O God, grant me serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
courage to change the things I can and wisdom to know the difference;
living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time;
accepting hardships as a pathway to peace;
taking, as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it;
trusting that You will make all things right if I surrender to Your will;
so that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with You forever in the next.
– Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971)
For Courage to Do Justice
O Lord, open my eyes that I may see the needs of others
Open my ears that I may hear their cries;
Open my heart so that they need not be without succor;
Let me not be afraid to defend the weak because of the anger of the strong,
Nor afraid to defend the poor because of the anger of the rich.
Show me where love and hope and faith are needed,
And use me to bring them to those places.
And so open my eyes and my ears
That I may this coming day be able to do some work of peace for thee.
– Alan Paton, South Africa, United Methodist Hymnal #456
Peace Prayer of Saint Francis
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.
Merton’s Prayer
My Lord God,
I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
nor do I really know myself,
and the fact that I think I am following your will
does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you
does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road,
though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always though
I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for you are ever with me,
and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. Thomas Merton
https://www.xavier.edu/jesuitresource/online-resources/prayer-index/calmness-prayers
Men’s Bible Study meets on Thursdays at 7 p.m. in the Parish Hall, Room 6. We are studying the Letter of St. Paul to the Galatians & Ephesians. This Bible study will conclude on June 20. We will then break for the summer and start again on September 5 with the Gospel of St. Matthew. All men of the parish are welcome! Those interested may contact Deacon Ed for the study guide, or if you have questions about the study. 502-382-0145 or email him at tparsons@cdlex.org
Our small reading group continues to tackle the challenges of this document. It can be discouraging reading, but it also urges us on to understand the current situation and look for solutions.
Chapter 4 has the ambiguous title “Integral Ecology”. But what the chapter describes is that the various crises the planet and its people face are all inter-related.
“We are faced not with two separate crisis, one environmental and the other social, but rather with one complex crisis that is both social and environmental. Strategies for a solution demand integrated approach to combat poverty, restore dignity to the excluded, and at the same time, protect nature.” Para. 139
What we do to one another effects the environment; and what we do to nature effects people, especially the poor and powerless, in many different ways.
The pope proposes a simple but challenging question. “What kind of world do we want to leave to those who come after us, to children who are now growing up?” But if we take this question seriously, it leads to other questions. “What is the purpose of our life in this world? […] What is the goal of our work and all our efforts?” and finally, “What need does the earth have of us?” These are hard questions but they are worth our attention and reflection.
Finally, our group keeps going back to our concern for the young adults we each know, and for young people as a whole. We see and admire your ideals. We all sense that, given current trends, you might be despairing that anything can be done. We look for your energy and want to try to affirm you in hope for our shared future.
Reading Group Update
We would like to continue to share our insights from reading this papal letter. Chapter 3 is titled “The Human Roots of the Ecological Crisis”. “Ecology” refers to the way that environment, culture, societies and history are an “interconnected” whole. As suggested by the title, the chapter recognizes the responsibility of all humanity for the situation with the world’s ecology –. The chapter’s language and lengthiness continued to present challenges to the reading. As noted below, we found the chapter to be rather sobering. Here are some key points:
· Humanity has entered a technology-dominant era which has reverberated through human lives across the globe. Technology and its uses affect individuals, families, communities, and countries.
· Science and technology have delivered positive applications and improved many areas of life.
· The possession of this knowledge and the desire to obtain and/or control needed resources to sustain and propagate technology leads to power and domination, especially over those with a limited capacity to have their voices heard and the effects of technology on their lives noted.
· The technological shift has led toward confrontation and away from cultural and/or community interpersonal engagement.
· Advancement and its uses for gain are not in and of themselves accompanied by a recognition of responsibility for issues beyond self and profit.
· The technological cannot be separate from the ethical and cultural. The dignity of all human life must remain part of the overall consideration of our human direction.
Our discussion also included points of promise in alternative technologies currently being developed and on the ability as individuals and communities to make choices in our actions.
“The earth herself, burdened and laid waste, is among the mostabandoned and maltreated of our poor.”
A small group has started reading and discussing the 2015 Encyclical of Pope Francis entitled Laudato Si’: On Care For Our Common Home in which he asks all people of the world to consider humanity’s impact on the Earth and all sentient beings. We have finished reading a few chapters and would like to share some of Pope Francis’ insights.
The first chapter was hard for us to read because it describes the many facets of the crisis we face.
The stability of our climate impacts every living species, particularly the poorest among us. “The climate is a common good, belonging to all and meant for all.” (p.20)
Water pollution and scarcity are daily realities for the poor. “Our world has a grave social debt towards the poor who lack access to drinking water, because they are denied the right to a life consistent with their inalienable dignity.” (p.25)
The deterioration of our quality of life is directly proportional to the deterioration of the environment. “We were not meant to be inundated by cement, asphalt, glass and metal, and deprived of physical contact with nature.” (p.32) Pollution, waste, and “throwaway culture” are destroying the natural world. “In many parts of the planet, the elderly lament that once beautiful landscapes are now covered with rubbish.”
Environmental degradation is widening the gap between the rich and the poor. “The impact of present imbalances is…seen in the premature death of many of the poor, in conflicts sparked by the shortage of resources, and in any number of other problems which are insufficiently represented on global agendas.” (p.34)
The response to the environmental crisis has been weak. “There are too many special interests, and economic interests easily end up trumping the common good and manipulating information so that their own plans will not be affected.” (p.39)
While the reality of the environmental crisis is grim, there is still hope.
We meet on Wednesdays at 11 a.m. in the Church Office Conference Room. You are invited to join us for this very important discussion.
We are all well aware that something seems to be happening with the weather; more frequent and more severe storms, more flooding, more people suffering and in need. In the midst of these threats, I am hoping that more people will be open to seeing that there is a moral and even religious aspect to be considered when we talk about the environment.
Laudato Si
Perhaps this is a good time to revisit Pope Francis’ groundbreaking document. It is not a political statement. Rather, Francis makes an appeal to every person living on earth to join the conversation about how to care for our common home. To do so, he uses the theological method favored by Pope LeoXIII in Rerum Novarum. He considers the situation through the lenses of Scripture and Tradition. Finally, he recommends actions that can be taken that respect “our unique place as human beings in this world and our relationship to our surroundings.
I am very interested in leading a group to read and study the document. I don’t expect it to be a large group, even the issues are very large indeed. But I think that even if a small group can develop some direction and understand, we could be of benefit to the whole parish.
Since I am expecting a small group, I won’t set a day or time to begin. Please contact me through the office if you are interested. Perhaps we could settle on a day and time together. I look forwards to digging into this for the wisdom we can reach and share.
Fr Pat