Dear Parishioners and Friends,
This weekend marks our annual diocesan Catholic Charities Appeal. This year’s theme is Make Me a Channel of Your Peace. Your generous support will bring peace to the lives of others, to offer dignity, possibilities and companionship to those who are most vulnerable. Thank you for your kind pledge or offering!

We also take the opportunity this weekend to update parishioners on the progress of the Implementation Phase as we continue with our Collaboration initiative between St. Malachi and St. Patrick. A member of the Collaboration Steering Committee will speak at the end of each Mass today with a brief update and invitation to carefully review the bulletin insert. Please take a few moments so that you are up to date and to contact any of the nearly 40 parish leaders serving on these teams.

Finally, please join me in welcoming Charles Jude Haire who was received in the Catholic Church this past Monday. Due to his health situation it was decided that Charles – a catechumen in OCIA –should receive the sacraments at this time. Welcome Charles and may the dear Lord bless you with peace and hope!
Be sure to keep reading the parish bulletin, exploring the parish website, and please make sure that you’re on our weekly email updates.

Father Gurnick

Dear Friends and Parishioners,
Our prayer life consists of public and private moments but there really is no such thing as “private prayer.” Why is this important to
stress? The answer is simple: prayer always starts with God’s prompting as a graced invitation for us to participate and is always in communion with the Church. We don’t innovate prayer; as baptized members of Christ’s body, we’re always praying – publicly or personally –within the Tradition of the Church.

Liturgically, or publicly, this is clear most of the time. Liturgy is universal for Catholics everywhere. Vernacular languages and some cultural
customs may vary, but the outward form and expression of each liturgy is always recognizable. Personal prayer and devotion should also be recognizable, although more personalized and shaped by an individual’s preferences. Some of these may include methods for reading scripture, meditating in silence, prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, reciting the rosary, chanting a litany of the saints, Lectio Divina, Taizé, and a plethora of other spiritual exercises. Although these are personal preferences for prayer, each one has been approved because it is consistent with sacred tradition; that is, each of these forms of prayer clearly are rooted in the Tradition which is always grounded in the Most Holy Trinity.

And both forms – public and personal – are essential for our daily lives. Yet, sadly, many Catholics don’t have an understanding of this need to calibrate (balance) the two. If I’m not exercising during the week (personal prayer) but expect to “fill up my spiritual tank” on Sunday morning (public prayer), I will certainly find myself frustrated. The reason? Because I can’t offer to God what I have not accepted in my own life, for my own good. As with our bodies, our prayer life requires daily attention and a healthy diet with proper exercise. Here’s to your health!

In Christ Our Life,

Fr. Gurnick