may continue to bless, to heal, work, feel, comfort, and love. Forgive me for using them for things against your will. Lord, take my mouth. I give it to you so you may continue to speak, preach, build up, comfort and love. Forgive me for all the times I have hurt you and your people with my mouth. Lord, take my nose and my senses. I give them to you so you may continue to sense good from evil, and smell the fragrance of your love in all people. Forgive me for distorting this for my own will. Lord, take my eyes. I give them to you so you may continue to see the good in all men, the Spirit of your Father, the Spirit of your love. Forgive the times I have seen only the evil and then judged. Lord, take my ears. I give them to you so you may continue to listen and hear the cry of the lonely. Forgive me for all the times I have closed them, closed them to your Truth. Lord, take my feet. I give them to you so you may continue to lead myself and others in the path of your love. Forgive me for using them to follow a path of selfishness. Lord, take my body. I give it to you so you may continue to suffer so as to carry on my dying to myself. Forgive me for want- ing to use it for the desires of the flesh. Lord, take my heart. I give it to you so you may continue to love and understand. Forgive me for all the times I have let my heart be hardened. Lord, take my life. I give it to you so you may continue to live through me. Forgive me for wanting to only live for myself. Lord, I give you my very self. Everything. All that I am. Just as I am. I give myself to you so that your will and not mine may be always done in me. Amen. Fr. Larry Richards
St. Philip Benizi Church Mission Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam
Celebrant: Fr. Eugene Florea Parish Manager: Deacon Les Stokes OUR GOAL: FULL, ACTIVE CONSCIOUS PARTICIPATION ST. VINCENT DE PAUL PANTRY Call: (623) 695-3672 Pantry is open on Thursday 2:30 to 4:00 pm MINISTRY of CARE visit the sick and bring Holy Communion. Call the church office to schedule visits. July 27, 2014 MASS SCHEDULE Saturday (no Mass during summer months) Sunday 9:00 a.m. (Confessions 30 minutes before Mass) CATHOLIC MATTERS By Fr. Kevin OSullivan, O.F.M.
Todays reflection is from the 2 nd reading St. Pauls letter to the Romans. St. Augustine says, "God created us without our consent or cooperation but he will not (and cannot) save us without our cooperation." This is clear from what St. Paul tells us today. God has done, and continues to do, every- thing that is necessary to bring us to heaven when we die. However, unless we cooperate and do our part, heaven will not be our future abode.
This should make each one of us stop and think! Are we on the right road? Are we truly followers of Christ? Do we love God? Are our prevailing ambitions worldly or other-worldly? We have to take an interest in the affairs of this world but do all our interests end there? Do the ten commandments of God always govern and direct our conduct, or are they often trampled on in our mad rush for some temporal pleasure or gain?
These are questions every Christian should put to himself and honestly answer. We are living in an era which is daily growing more worldly and more anti-God and anti-Christian. On all sides of us we have bad example, a strong-rushing current of worldliness and immorality, a current difficult to avoid or swim against. But avoid it we must if we really have our real and eternal welfare at heart. What is more, if we love our fellowman as our Christian faith obliges us to do, we must do all in our power to lead them out of that fatal current and bring them to safety with us. We must be life-guards.
There is a future life, revelation tells us, and our reasoning demands it. That future life will be one of eternal happiness for those who strive to love God in this life, and eternal un- happiness for those who refuse to do this. Ask yourself this question: "If I were to die tonight, to which class would I like to belong?" Tonight may not be the night of our departure from this life, but that departure is nearer to us than any of us LAST WEEKS COLLECTIONS 2014 2013 Sunday Plate Income $ 871.00 555.00 Coffee Donation $ 22.15 22.73 Spare Change Jar $ 00.00 MINISTRY SCHEDULE 8/3/14 EOMS LECTOR GREETER
Sunday 9:00 Jay K., ? Sally B. Phyllis PRAYERS FOR THE SICK In the church vestibule we have a Book of Intentions for use by our parishioners. Please feel free to write your prayer petitions in this book and during our Masses the congregation will be reminded to pray for all who are listed. think, and the state of our conscience at the moment of our death may depend on the resolutions we make today.
Nobody, not even God himself, can give us eternal life with- out our cooperation. We must accept it for ourselves. Our Christian faith tells us how. DEACONS DESK St. Philip Benizi The prayer on the back page was published in a book called Surrenderthe Life-Changing Power of Doing Gods Will, by Fr. Larry Richards. I though it fit well with todays reflection on how we are asked to cooperate with God in His work of salvation. It also struck me as an excellent way to make an examination of conscience, either before going to bed at night or in preparation for making a good confession. Check it out...