Current Parish News

Learn: Please take a moment and read the literature about Shepherd's House. Will help you understand who your bag helps. If you created a blessing bag, there is a basket in the Narthex to place these.

Pray: Gratitude is prayer. Begin every day this week by thanking God for the good things in your life, and the opportunity for yet another day.

Act: Fill a Blessing Bag (large, sealable plastic bag) with socks, toothbrush/toothpaste, gloves, and other  small toiletries for those at Shepherd's House (Portage County Homeless Shelter). Keep an extra in your car should you see a person in need. 

Pray: Reflection is prayer. Since the Jubilee prayer is about hope, spend a few minutes in silence and think about the things that give you hope in our future, or in the world.

Learn: What is the Jubilee Year and what's it all about? Take a look at www.jubilaeum2025.va

Act: Share Gratitude - Call, text, or write to  someone who is or has been an important part of your life, and let them know how valuable they are to you. Think across your lifetime, not just today.

Note: Don't forget to hang a colored heart on the Justice "Tree" after Mass for any challenge you complete.

Learn: Learn about your patron saint; who he or she is, why praised as a saint. Plan to celebrate your patron saint's feast day this year.

Pray: One of Mother Teresa's most famous quotes is. "We all can't do great things, but we all can do small things with great love." Lord, let me show great love in everything I do today, and to every person I encounter, in your name, AMEN.

Act: Father Mike Schmitz is a priest and speaker whose down-to-earth approach to our faith is beautiful. Look through Father Mike's archive and choose a video that speaks to you!

https://media.ascensionpress.com/category/ascension-presents/fr-mike-schmitz

Learn:  Learn what a "Holy Moment" is (simple Christian principles that can change the world). Get a free copy by Matthew Kelly at www.holymomentsbook.com

Pray: A conversation with the Lord is prayer. Here is an example inspired by the life of St. Maximilian Kolbe: "We all lay down our lives for something. Help me to lay down my life in a truly worthwhile way. So often I forget that you took my place and what that means. Help me to remember how much you love me and fill me with that love so I can shared it with as many people as possible in my one short life." Amen

Act: Small Acts of Kindness Week

Every day find an opportunity to do a small act of kindness - return a shopping cart to corral for a stranger, offer to load groceries for an elderly person, hold a door open, bring up your neighbor's garbage cans, or get the mail.

Learn: Caring for God's planet is an important tenet of biblical justice. Learn what items can be recycled and the recycling rules in your city.

"He has made everything beautiful in its time" - Ecclesiastes 3:11

Pray: Walking in nature is prayer. Leave your cell phone and companions behind. Walk slowly, listen for sounds you never observed, look up at the sky, think about the miracle of the nature that's around you.

Act: Bible Flipping - Choose any faith text, a daily reflections book, book of Saints, or one of the Gospels and randomly flip to any page and read. This was a practice of St Francis of Assisi. He simply asked, "God, what are you trying to tell me? How can this apply to my life right now?"