17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Dear Parishioners, 

    The pandemic is continuing to expand.  I feel like we should make Friday a special day of prayer and penance in our parish.  I would suggest we make a novena (nine days of prayer).  This would be a novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.  The next nine Fridays we could treat like we were observing Lent.

    Novenas are part of the tradition of the church.  The idea comes from the tradition that for nine days the Apostles prayed in the upper room before the Feast of Pentecost.  I would suggest that younger people could fast from sun-up to sundown as a reparation for social sin.  If that is impossible, I would suggest abstaining from meat, not eating between meals, or some other act of self-denial.

I would suggest that parishioners spend 15 minutes in prayer and meditation on Fridays.  At the end of that time the following prayer could be said,

“Holy Heart of Jesus, Sweet Sanctuary of rest,

Bring peace to my soul and settle my spirit,

especially in this Coronavirus Crisis

I vow to place all my worries and fears

into the wound of your Sacred Heart,

there to be tended to in accordance with your perfect will,

which desires only the best and highest good.

Your love alone is enough, and I surrender to it;

clinging to the hope of a swift resolution

and trusting with confidence in all your promises.

Amen.

We are living through a most difficult time.  I invite you all to participate in this special prayer.

May Our Lady and All the Angels and Saints Watch over you.

Fr. Mark