Saint Casimir Parish

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MINISTRY OF PRAISE
 

APRIL, 2017
 
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 young people may respond generously to their vocation and seriously consider offering themselves to God in the priesthood or consecrated life.                                                      (April Papal intention)

  • That the suffering and Death of Jesus Christ will strengthen the Church in holiness and give her new growth.
     

  • That these final days of preparation will be a time of transforming grace for those who are to be baptized and received into the Church at Easter Vigil.
     

  • That Christians everywhere will live Holy Week with special reverence, self-giving, and devotion.
     

  • That our Lenten discipline will continue to transfigure the way we live so as to bring forth ever deeper conformity to Christ.
     

  • 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, commitment to parish activities, sharing ideas, and most importantly prayer.
     

  • That the Lord will deliver those in need, especially the poor, the hungry, the homeless, the sick, the unemployed, or those suffering from addiction.
     

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

WHAT’S HAPPENING            AT ST. CASIMIR PARISH?

  • April 3rd        Collinwood Cluster Penance Service, 7:00pm, St. Mary Parish

  • April 7th        First Friday Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, 8:00 – 9:00am in Church 

  • April 16th      Easter

                        Final day to order flowers from Altar Society’s flower sale

     

                      
 SAINT FOR APRIL
 

SAINT FRANCIS OF PAOLA

Hermit
(1416 - 1507)

April 2nd

 

 Be peace-loving. Peace is a precious treasure to be sought with great zeal. Be converted with a sincere heart. Live your life that you may receive the blessing of the Lord.                                                                                 (from St. Francis of Paola’s writings).

     Francis of Paolo’s parents took him to a Franciscan friary when he was 13 years old. There he learned to read and write. He also began the penitential practices that continued for the rest of his life. A year later he joined his parents on a pilgrimage to Assisi and Rome. When he was 15 years old he began a solitary life in a cave near the sea. Five years later he was joined by two young men, and that was the beginning of the Hermits of St. Francis of Assisi. Later he changed the name to the Order of Minims, because he wanted them known as the least in the household of God.

     Francis and his companions lived the contemplative life of hermits, which was solitary and penitential. Penance, charity and humility formed the basis of their religious rule and practice.  Although Francis loved the contemplative life, there came a time when he found himself called by God  and the Pope to a more active life.

     Francis incurred the anger of King Ferdinand of Naples, because of Francis’ public criticisms of the wrongdoing of the king and his sons in regard to treatment of the poor and the oppressed. Francis became involved in national politics, when in 1482 Pope Sixtus IV asked Francis to travel to France to help Louis XI of France prepare for his death. While ministering to the king, Francis helped to restore peace between France and Britanny by advising a marriage between the ruling families, and between Francis and Spain by persuading Louis XI to return some disputed land. The life of Francis speaks to us today. He was a contemplative called to active ministry –a person who felt the tension between prayer and service.

Sources:  IN HIS LIKENESS,  by Rev. Charles E. Yost, SCJ, STL; SAINT OF THE DAY, Leonard Foley, O.F.M., Editor;
SAINTS AND FEAST DAYS, Loyola University Press.

 

THOUGHTS FROM THE CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

God has said everything in his Word

 

#65 “In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son.” Christ, the Son of God made man, is the Father’s one, perfect, and unsurpassable Word. In him he has said everything; there will be no other word than this one. St. John of the Cross, among others commented strikingly on Hebrews 1:1-2:

in giving us his Son, his only Word (for he possesses no other), he spoke everything to us at once in
this sole Word – and he has no more to say…because what he spoke before to the prophets in parts,
he has now spoken all at once by giving us the All Who is His Son. Any person questioning God or
desiring some vision or revelation would be guilty not only of foolish behavior but also of offending him,
by not fixing his eyes entirely upon Christ and by living with the desire for some other novelty.

REFLECTION

 

BELIEVING
IN THE ONE GOD SENT

 

Father Tadeusz Dajczer (d. 2009)
Polish priest, professor of theology in Warsaw,
and co-founder of the Families of Nazareth Movement.


 

     “Faith is participation in the divine life. It is experiencing God’s life within us which allows us to see ourselves and the reality surrounding us as if we were seeing through the eyes of God….In the face of human helplessness, faith becomes the continuous resort to the limitless mercy of God and the awaiting of everything from him.” (Gustave Thils)

     Every moment of our lives is permeated with the Presence that loves and bestows. To live in faith means to be able to see this loving and constantly bestowing Presence. Because of faith, Christ gradually becomes a light that shines through a person’s whole life and that shines through the world. He becomes a living, active presence in the life of his disciples. Every moment of our lives brings us his presence. Time is the Presence written with a capital “P.” It is the presence of Christ in our lives. It is the personal presence of God, revealing himself as the one who expects something from us. God reveals himself to us through his will. But what is his will?  It is always that which is best for us, because God is Love. Every moment of your life is a moment of meeting with the Presence that is loving you. Someone has said that time is a sacrament of the meeting between man and God. This means that every moment is an evangelical gift since it is the Presence that calls us to do something.  

 Father Tadeusz Dajczer

Source:  MAGNIFICAT, April 11, 2016, p.151http://www.rotarybaliubudsunset.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/filigree-divider_18_lg.gifhttp://www.rotarybaliubudsunset.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/filigree-divider_18_lg.gifhttp://www.rotarybaliubudsunset.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/filigree-divider_18_lg.gifhttp://www.rotarybaliubudsunset.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/filigree-divider_18_lg.gifhttp://www.rotarybaliubudsunset.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/filigree-divider_18_lg.gif