St. Mary's Catholic Parish: From the Pastor Fr. Paul E. Demarais, Pastor - St. Mary's Parish

August 26 , 2007 - Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time

We are continuing to meet every other Monday in preparation for our Perpetual Adoration Chapel at St. James Chapel. I ask for your continued prayers and support. Please pray this prayer daily for the success of this important ministry. Fr. Victor Warkulwiz will be speaking to the parish on the weekend of Sept. 15-16. He is a Missionary of the Blessed Sacrament and will speak to us about Perpetual Adoration (as shown below).

August 19 , 2007 - Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Please let me begin by offering my apologies to anyone who may have been offended or hurt by anything I said in last weeks sermon concerning the Arab or Muslim community.

We are continuing to meet every other Monday in preparation for our Perpetual Adoration Chapel at St. James Chapel. I ask for your continued prayers and support. Please pray this prayer daily for the success of this important ministry. Fr. Victor Warkulwiz will be speaking to the parish on the weekend of Sept. 15-16. He is a Missionary of the Blessed Sacrament and will speak to us about Perpetual Adoration.

Novena to the Holy Spirit in Preparation for Beginning Perpetual Adoration
O Holy Spirit, you who dwell in the depths of our spirit with the Father and the Son, we adore you profoundly. O Spirit of Truth, you have not left us orphans, but, continue to form the image of Jesus in us, and to this end you have inspired us to establish Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration for all the faithful of St. Mary’s Parish. Help us to worship Jesus continually in His Eucharistic Presence with lively faith and pure hearts. Inspire many to commit themselves to a regular weekly hour of adoration. Bless the leaders of this work with steadfast hearts, and protect all who enter and leave the adoration chapel.
Through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and in union with Our Lady, we ask you, O Spirit of life, for what we already know you will give us: that we may successfully begin Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration, that it will deepen our relationship with Christ, strengthen our bonds of unity in Faith, Hope and Love, and foster vocations to the priesthood and religious life until the end of time, Amen.

August 12 , 2007 - Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

There are many things in life we can plan for, and then there are those things we cannot prepare for. We plan for college, for a certain career, a nice home, a new car. Life also throws us curve balls; an unexpected sickness, an accident, an unexpected death, getting laid off from work. These and other things we cannot plan for. Faith often times is the only thing that can carry us through the unexpected. Faith gives us strength in times of trial or tragedy. I hear many people say they don’t know how they would get through a trial in life if they didn’t have their faith. Hope, courage, fortitude, patience, kindness even a sense of humor are what our faith can give to us in the most difficult times in our life. Jesus tells us to be vigilant in life but he also tells us he will be there to help us. He told Peter when he was walking on water and began to sink. “It is I—Take courage—Be not afraid.”

August 5 , 2007 - Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

The Gospel today asks us to reflect on the question of how much gratitude and thanks we give to God for all our blessings. A rich man believes he is set for life until he realizes his wealth was a gift to him from God. He had forgotten to thank God for his blessings. All of us are called to give thanks to God for all we have. One of the purposes for establishing a perpetual chapel is so we can give time to God to thank him for our blessings. Work continues in establishing the chapel. We are presently working with the people who will help to set up and run the chapel.

We will also have Fr. Victor Warkulwiz from the apostolate for Perpetual Adoration come and speak to us on the weekend of September 15-16 on the importance of the Eucharist in our lives. He has spoken about Eucharistic Adoration to some 400 parishes. Fr. Victor holds a B.S. in electronic physics from LaSalle College and a PH.D. in physics from Temple University. He worked for several aerospace firms and the U.S. Government as a physicist and intelligence officer. He was ordained to the priesthood on October 15, 1991 and he was named National Director of the Apostolate for Perpetual Eucharist Adoration in October of 1998. We should all look forward to the words and inspiration he can share with us in September.

July 29, 2007 - Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

The Our Father seems to call us to do the impossible “Thy kingdom come – Thy will be done” – we forgive those who sin against us. How hard it is for us to do all these things. How hard it is to always do the will of God when feelings and emotions sometimes tell us to do otherwise. Thy will be done: probably the four hardest words to pray. Then we have to forgive those who sin against us. We pray that God gives us the daily bread we need to do the will of God and forgive people who hurt us. The Eucharist becomes our strength and food to do the will of God. It’s so hard on our own to do it; we need God’s help, prayer and strength (the Eucharist) to do it. Jesus tells us to be persistent in prayer to rely more and more on God’s power to answer our prayer. Don’t be discouraged but be persistent enough to keep asking. Our Lord is always drawing us closer to him and he will always give us the means and the way in our life to face all of life’s challenges.

July 22, 2007 - Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Have you ever visited a friend or gone to dinner at a friends house and you do not have a chance to talk to them a lot because of all the work they are doing? In all the preparations for a nice dinner there is little chance of talking to each other. There is so much to do and so little time to do it all. The only person who might not get all frazzled by the experience is Martha Stewart!

Jesus gently reminds Martha (not Stewart) that the importance of her company is what really matters to him. While he appreciated all she is doing; her being with him is what really matters. The gospel is a gentle reminder to us that Jesus wants to spend time with you and I each day. We let many things get in the way of our friendship with our Lord. Too many things to do, too many errands to run. So Jesus just patiently waits for us to slow down and spend time with him. Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament can give us the time we need to be a peace with our Lord, it gives us the quiet we need to hear his voice speak to us. St. Mary’s Church and St. James Chapel are open so that you can come in and spend a few moments or an hour in prayer with our Lord. You will be surprised at the difference it will make in your life!

July 15, 2007 - Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

We all have heard the story of the Good Samaritan many times; we know it by heart, but do we take it to hart. We know how the Samaritan took care of the man who was beaten and left for dead. We know nothing about that man. The Samaritan reaches out in mercy, compassion, and goodness to help this stranger. He was under no obligation to do so. The story asks us the question who is the stranger or person in my life in need of my help, love, and compassion? Who can I reach out to in my own family to help? Who is in need of me and my gifts? That person may live right in our own house. It may be a grandparent, aunt, uncle or mother and father, son or daughter in need of mercy.

Jesus asks us the question. Who is my neighbor? How do we answer that question? The Samaritan reminds us we are to be people of goodness and compassion for everyone. Today someone is in need of our love.

July 8, 2007 - Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

When Jesus sends out his disciples on their mission to witness to others about Jesus Christ: the first thing they are called to do is trust. Jesus says to trust in him for what they need. He tells them do not be afraid. Jesus wants them and you and me to have faith in him to give us what we need. Jesus so often uses you and me to minister to each others needs. We pray for those who are in need in prayer. We feed people who are hungry. We care for people who are sick; we listen to those who share with us the problems they face.

Jesus empowered his disciples; he gives to you and me that same power. All we need to do is ask and it is amazing what he will give to us in return. St. Paul learned that in his own weakness God would make him strong. He will do that also for each and every one of us no matter how unworthy we feel.

July 1, 2007 - Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

All of us want to get closer to God and Jesus. We all want a better relationship with Him. So many things however get in the way of the relationship. We have too many things that distract us from our relationship with God. Too many tasks and jobs and we don’t think much about prayer. It is easy to forget that Jesus is the foundation of our good fortune and all that we do. Jesus calls us to pray regularly. It can be simply praying the rosary every day or the Divine Mercy Chaplet every day. It can be a simple conversation with Him in the car on the way to work. Many times we only turn to God in times of need, and then we are unable to recognize his voice because we never took the time to hear him speak to us.

June 24, 2007 - Nativity of St. John the Baptist

We might not think of John the Baptist as a really humble man. The first thing we might think of is his outspokenness. He was a man who would tell it like it is. In reality John’s message was what had been given to him by the Holy Spirit. He did not preach his own word but God’s word. The same is true when he said that he must step back and let Jesus step forward to begin his ministry. His humility comes from his desire to do God’s work and not his own. He wants to do only what is pleasing to God.

When we are in a close relationship with Jesus we want only do to his will. We want to do only that which will make him happy. Jesus himself comes into the world only to do the work of the Father.
As we honor John The Baptist this weekend, our only wish should be to do God’s work in our life and do whatever we can to bring his love to others.

June 17, 2007 - Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

On the weekend of June 23-24, we will be making available to the parish CD’S from Catholic Resource
Media. The CD’S will be talks and reflections on different topics and aspects of our faith. There will be
nine topics to choose from, ranging on the sacraments, the Eucharist, scripture, family, life, why do bad things happen to good people. How to be a Christian parent in today’s world and many more topics.
Every three months there will be nine new topics available. The CD’S are for free but we will accept a
donation of 3 dollars if you want to make a contribution. Take them home, listen to them in the car
or any time you want to. When you finish listening to them, pass them on to someone in the family or a
friend. It costs you nothing to listen to them and deepen one’s life of faith on many different levels. The
speakers are some of the best Catholic teachers and authors today. You can pick them up in back of the church and chapel anytime. I hope you find them inspiring and helpful for you.

A description of what each CD is about is at each of the CD stands for those who are interested on what topics will be discussed on each CD. In the gospel today we hear how the divine mercy of Jesus is greater than the sinfulness of our lives. Jesus love cuts through the despair and sadness of a woman
to show her the greatness of forgiveness. Do we feel God could never forgive us if we were alcoholics or
drug users? Have we omitted any sin we are ashamed of and have stayed away from the church and the sacraments because of it? Today we are reminded of the depth of god’s great love and divine mercy for us.

June 10, 2007 - The Body and Blood of Christ

“Whoever eats my body and drinks my blood has life in me.” Today we celebrate “Corpus Christi”, The Body of Christ. We are very conscious today of taking care of our physical bodies. We exercise, we eat the right foods, and we do what we can to assure the health of our physical bodies. When we are sick there are all kinds of doctors to see and medications to take to get better.
What about our spiritual health and well being? At baptism we proclaim that Jesus is within us. His life is in our life. He has promised us the food we need to grow in our spiritual life. He has given us the power of His body and blood to keep our relationship with Him alive. By receiving His body and blood; we receive the love of God himself.

When we stay away or not receive Him what God has given us and what God can do for us cannot grow. The second most powerful way to grow in His love is to spend time with him in prayer. How often do we pray? How long do we pray? There are many ways we can pray. We can talk to God in our own words. We can use more formal ways to pray such as the rosary. We may say that we are too busy or too hectic to pray; I have too much to do! Imagine if God ever said that to us. “Sorry I can’t here your prayer today. I’m too busy.”

Our church and chapel are unlocked during the day so someone can come into church to pray. In September we ill begin Adoration every day in what is now the Mary Chapel. Also in September on the second Sunday of the month we will have a Healing Mass each month. The date for September is the 9th at 2 pm. These are all ways we receive the body of Christ. This is the way we receive His body and blood. His love for us!

June 3, 2007 - The Holy Trinity

This weekend we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Trinity. To help people better understand the Holy Trinity a Greek painter painted a picture of three men sitting around a table about to break bread together. A Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. What made these three men united to each other was their complete love for each other. The love of the Father and the Son creates the 3rd person the Holy Spirit. The love they have for each other is also meant to be shared with others. “God so loved the world that He gave us His only Son our Lord Jesus Christ”.

The love of God and Jesus for us, will save us, will free us from sin. That love will heal us and cure us. The Holy Spirit will give us the gifts we need in our life to live our lives the way God call us. To celebrate the feast of the Holy Trinity this weekend is to celebrate the power of love and to let that love rule our lives.

May 27, 2007 - Pentecost

Back to Parish Bulletin