March 9, 2008
Sunday Bulletin
St. Patrick’s Church

 

CRUSHING SIN, FIGHTING FOR OUR LIFE!

 

 

Jesus Christ is the "one who will step into the breach of death, crushing sin, gloom and despair; a leader to whom we can make totalitarian sacrifice without losing, but gaining freedom, and whom we can love even unto death. We need a Christ today who will make cords and drive the buyers and the sellers from our new temples; who will blast the unfruitful fig tree; who will talk of crosses and sacrifices and whose voice will be like the voice of the raging sea. But He will not allow us to pick and choose among His words, discarding the hard ones, and accepting the ones that please our fancy. We need a Christ who will restore moral indignation, who will make us hate evil with a passionate intensity, and love    goodness to a point where we can drink death like water"

                       (Fulton J. Sheen from The Life of Christ).

 

 

SEEK HIS HEALING LOVE & GRACE IN RECONCILIATION!

 

            BELIEVE & BE RAISED UP!

Jesus said, “I am the Resurrection and the Life: whoever believes in Me, though he should die, will come to life; and whoever is alive and believes in Me will never die." —John 11:25-26

 

Everything we do in our day to day living, in our prayer, worship, sacrifices, almsgiving,     fasting, works of mercy, good deeds, feasts, liturgies et al, is an expression of faith in the   promise that ‘Believers will be raised up and share forever in the joys of eternal life in heaven.

 

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On March 14-15  we celebrate the Feast of St. Patrick

Butler’s Lives of Saints records that “apparently the secret of Patrick’s inexhaustible courage and determination to bring people to God came from his deep love for God. The saint describes this passionate love and faith in these words, ‘constantly I used to pray in the daytime, . . . so that in a single day I said as many as a hundred prayers and at night nearly as many, . . . nor was there any tepidity in me.’  In his writing called ‘Confessions’, he writes, ‘I have cast myself into the hands of Almighty God, for He rules everything, . . . and He Himself will sustain thee.’ ”

 

Saint Patrick’s Mission is our Parish Mission.

 

·      We are called to be first and foremost a people on fire with the love of God.

·      We are called to add a radical Catholic-Christian impact in the lives and values of the community that we called home.

·      We are called to stop worship of false ‘idols’ (money, outdoors, laziness, …) & only worship the one, true God.

·      We are called to cast ourselves, - family, parish and community, into the hands of Almighty God that He guide us and sustain us in all our works and ministries.

·      May we dare to encourage and to hope that some of our sons and daughters will generously respond to God’s invitation to be priests and religious. 

Let us pray the Prayer of St. Patrick and through his intercession ask God’s blessings on each of us:

 

“Christ be with me, Christ be within me,

Christ be behind me, Christ before me,

Christ beside me, Christ to win me,

Christ to comfort me, Christ above me,

Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,

Christ in hearts of all that love me,

Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.”

                                                              SAINT PATRICK

 

Festivities include our Saturday morning Fun-Run starting at St. Mary’s Grade School Gym; Mulligan Stew at St. Mary’s High school gym from 11 am to 2 pm; afternoon ‘Float in the Parade’;  hoops at O’Neill High School Gym and a Bonfire with light refreshments for youth and families at the Ascherl’s  (49389 on 868th Road, from after hoops till     conclusion)

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HEADS UP!! MARK YOUR CALENDARS!   Beginning with the evening mass at 6 pm on Saturday, 15th March we will celebrate PASSION/PALM SUNDAY and enter into HOLY WEEK. In order to worthily celebrate the sacred and solemn liturgies of Holy Week, please use the opportunities for LENTEN RECONCILIATION on Saturday 15 March  at 4:30 pm or Monday through Wednesday of Holy Week at 7 pm at Saint Patrick’s O’Neill and on Monday 10th March at 7 pm in Saint Joseph’s Amelia.  On Tuesday, March 18th St. Mary’s sixth grade students, under Mrs. Nancy Berg, will present a PASSION PLAY at 8:15 pm.  On March 20th we enter the GREAT PASCHAL TRIDUUM: Holy Thursday, Good      Friday (day of fasting and abstinence from meat), Holy Saturday-EASTER Sunday.  You are all encouraged to attend the liturgies of the Paschal Triduum.

                                     Fr. Francis Nigli