+In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit +

Eternal God,
Let our prayers of praise and gratitude rise up to You! Please hear
our prayers and send Your Holy Spirit to fill our hearts, minds, and
souls with Your love and peace.

Lord and Savior,
Please hasten to relieve us from this time of discontent, confusion,
and distraction in our fractured culture.
Heal us. Forgive us. Love us.
Unite us as a faith community in service to You. Unite us as Your
family as we partake of Your gift of Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity
in this most Holy Eucharist.
In the mighty name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.

+In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit +

Our Changing World 

A while back I read an article about a speech Germany's Gerhard Cardinal Mueller gave and it brought to light a concern about what the Church is facing today. 

He said that there is a crisis facing the Church today to align with the culture of the world and abandon the teaching of the faith. We see this particularly with what is happening relating to the lack of respect for human life, sexuality, drugs and in the reception of the Eucharist. 

These are his words: 

"The poison paralyzing the Church is the opinion that we should...adapt to the spirit of the age, and not the spirit of God, that we should develop special relation- ships with God and His Commandments and reinter- pret the doctrine of the revealed faith." 

These are hard words to say the least, and they come from a leader of the Church and the former prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the faith. 

We must be a people of hope; a people who love God and his neighbor...because that is where we find true happiness and not from the secular world....and we will be truly happy and free only when we choose to embrace the spirit of love to which God personally calls us, namely, the power- ful teachings of Christ, the Ten Commandments and the virtues of chastity, poverty and obedience, all of which are the states which are necessary for all who desire to be perfect. 

We have now embarked upon a new year, 2023, and on our part we must be a voice of gratitude for God having sent Christ into the world as Savior, for the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Holy Catholic Church, the gift of family and all the other bless- ings that the secular world has taken for granted. God is eternal and cannot be changed at the whims of society! 

We must pray for the wounds the secular world is inflicting on the Church to be healed, as well as praying for those who are drifting away from Church Teaching. 

In the words of Psalm 33: 

May your love be upon us, O Lord, 

As we place all our hope in you. 

A copy of this week's bulletin can also be found on our parish website on the home page.

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