Saint Casimir Parish

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Lietuviškai

November

                

MINISTRY OF PRAISE
 

DECEMBER, 2014
 
St. Casimir Parish
 

Almighty God,
grant that with the help of St. Casimir’s intercession
we may serve you in holiness and justice.

 

PLEASE PRAY FOR THE FOLLOWING INTENTIONS

 

  • That the birth of the Redeemer may bring peace and hope to all people of good will.  (December Papal intention)

  • That all Christians will take advantage of this holy season of Advent to prepare themselves for the coming of Christ at Christmas.
     

  • That God, who has brought our parish community together in faith , will continue to guide it during this Advent.
     

  • That God bless Father Bacevice and the Pastoral and Finance Councils in their efforts to secure the future of St. Casimir Parish.

  • That all parishioners recognize their responsibility to St. Casimir Parish's future through financial support, fund-raising efforts, commitment to parish activities, sharing ideas and, most importantly, prayer.

  • That those charged with protecting society will build a world in which family life is revered, protected, and promoted.
     

  • That migrants throughout the world be welcomed with generosity and authentic love.   
           

  • That we welcome the presence of Jesus that comes to us through the motherhood of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
     

  • That our Ministers of Praise be validated in their belief in the power of prayer.

 

WHAT’S HAPPENING            AT ST. CASIMIR PARISH?

 

First Friday Holy Hour for Life:  Friday, Dec. 5th after 7:30am Mass and until 9:00am

Monthly Evening Devotion to the Blessed Sacrament:  Wednesday, Dec. 10th from 6:00-9:00pm

Giving Tree:  donations distributed

SAINT FOR OCTOBER
 

St. John Damascene

Priest, Doctor

(676?- 749)

December 4th 

   

“By the blessing of the Holy Spirit, you prepared my creation and my existence, not because man willed it or flesh desired it, but by your ineffable grace. The birth you prepared for me was such that it surpassed the laws of our nature. You sent me forth into the light by adopting me as your son and you enrolled me among the children of your holy and spotless Church.” 
                                                                                               (excerpt from St. John Damascene’s  STATEMENT OF FAITH)

     The last of the Greek Fathers, John was born in Damascus, Syria. Well educated in philosophy and theology, John, after some years as a revenue officer in the service of a Caliph, became a monk and later was ordained a priest.

     He is famous in three areas. First, he is known for his writings against the iconoclasts, who opposed the veneration of images. Second, he is famous for his Treatise, Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, a summary of the Greek Fathers. It is said that this book is to Eastern schools what the Summa of Aquinas became to the West. Thirdly, he is known as a poet, one of the two greatest of the Eastern Church, the other being Romanus the Melodist. His devotion to the Blessed Mother and his sermons on her feasts are well known.

     For all his efforts to defend the faith, John was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1890 by Pope Leo XIII.

     In a homily about Mary, John wrote: “We had closed Paradise; you opened again the entry way to the tree of life. We turned joys into sorrow; you turned sorrow back into the greatest of joys for us.  And how would you, the Immaculate, taste of death? You are the bridge to life, you are the staircase to heaven; and [for you] death will be but a passageway to immortality. O Most Blessed, truly blessed art thou!”

Sources:  IN HIS LIKENESS by Rev. Charles E. Yost, SCJ, STL; and SAINT OF THE DAY, Leonard Foley, O.F.M., editor ;  and THE FAITH OF THE EARLY FATHERS, Vol. 3, William A Jurgens

 

THOUGHTS FROM THE CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

Immaculate Conception

 

#490  To become the mother of the Savior, Mary “was enriched by God with gifts appropriate to such a role.”  The angel Gabriel at the moment of the annunciation salutes her as “full of grace.” In fact, in order for Mary to be able to give the free assent of her faith to the announcement of her vocation, it was necessary that she be wholly borne by God’s grace.

#492  The “splendor of an entirely unique holiness” by which Mary is “enriched from the first instant of her conception” comes wholly from Christ: she is “redeemed, in a more exalted fashion, by reason of the merits of her Son.” The Father blessed Mary more than any other created person” in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” and chose her “in Christ before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless before him in love.

by Pope Francis “Evangelii Gaudium”,  #191 and #192