I hope everyone survived the cold. I had to write this Bulletin earlier in the week, hoping the printer would be open again by Friday.
We are blessing throats today in honor of St. Blaise. This is a very old tradition in the Church.
Next Sunday, February 10, Michael S. Belzowski will be received into the Church with the Sacraments of Initiation at the 10:30 AM Mass. Mike and Nora have been coming for quite a while and we welcome Mike with great joy. Because we will have a celebration in honor of Mike, we will not have a Parochial Council Meeting next Sunday.
Today’s Gospel is a continuation of what we read last week. After Jesus announced that he was fulfilling the Scriptures, all in his home town synagogue spoke highly of him but doubt set in. How can he be the Messiah, they asked? “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?” Jesus then told them that he had come for everyone, not just the Jews. They became furious and wanted to kill him. “But Jesus passed through the midst of them and went away.” “Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place.”
In our first reading, the Prophet Jeremiah tells us that God knows us before we are formed in our mother’s womb. God has a vocation for each of us. It is not always easy to follow God’s plan for us. Jeremiah was opposed just as Jesus was in today’s Gospel. But God tells us “for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord.
In our second reading, Saint Paul tells the Corinthians and us how to love. “Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, it is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.”
On Tuesday the Church celebrates St. Agatha, Virgin and Martyr.
On Wednesday the Church celebrates St. Paul Miki and Companions, who were martyred in Japan in 1597.
Let us continue to pray for peace in the world. Let us also pray for vocations to the church. Let us pray for the sick of the parish. Let us pray that all will come to respect life. Let us pray for one another and for the canonization of Father Tolton. Let us also pray for those who are victims of sexual abuse and mass shootings.
A Father Tolton Prayer:Father in Heaven, Father Tolton’s suffering service sheds light upon our sorrows; we see them through the prism of your Son’s passion and death. If it be your Will, O God, glorify your servant Father Tolton, by granting the favor I now request through his intercession (mention your request) so that all may know the goodness of this priest whose memory looms large in the Church he loved. Complete what you have begun in us that we might work for the fulfillment of your kingdom. Not to us the glory, but glory to you O God, through Jesus Christ, your Son and our Lord; Father, Son and Holy Spirit, you are our God, living and reigning forever and ever. Amen.