Jesus:  Our Exemplar in Prayer

The Apostles spent a great amount of time in the presence of Jesus. Jesus was their leader; the apostles looked to him in all things.  He was their Lord; he was their model.  In time, they tried to imitate him.  On many occasions, they witnessed Jesus praying, and wanting to be like him, they finally asked him, “Lord, teach us to pray”.  He gave us the essential prayer, the “Our Father”.  Their request of him clearly indicates that they accepted him as their exemplar in everything, prayer included.

The apostles had ample opportunities to observe the prayer life of their Master.  They noted that he often withdrew from the crowds, oftentimes even from them, in order to pray. They must have seen that Jesus was refreshed and ready for another teaching mission after having spent time in prayer.  They also knew that Jesus prayed before important acts and decisions. They saw that prayer was a constant background in Jesus’ life.

Jesus showed his followers that prayer can be drawn from the great treasury of Scriptural prayer, or can be simple prayers in our own words. Hanging on the cross, he used the Psalms to express his anguish of spirit ~ “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” ~ and his trust in his Father ~ “into your hands I commend my spirit”.  He offered prayer in simple language, using “Abba” to address his Father and to conform his human will to his Father’s will:  “take this cup away from me; still, not my will, but yours, be done”.

Jesus’ closest followers could not have failed to realize that his prayer and his whole life were centered on his Father.  His communion with his Father at one point prompted them to ask him to “show us the Father”. So many times, in the hearing of his apostles, Jesus prayed to and in praise of his Father.  Jesus’ love for his Father, his glory, his will, his every desire was the core of his life.

His prayer to the Father, in their presence, was intended also to instruct them: to emphasize for them that what was paramount in his life on earth should be the most important aspect of their own lives as his disciples. The lesson he wanted them, and us, to grasp was the central importance of his Father:  that the Father was the Alpha and Omega, the end-all and be-all of his life and, as our exemplar, of our lives as well. This Father-centeredness is unmistakably evident when Jesus’ followers asked him to teach them to pray.  It is Jesus’ Father, now our Father too, who is the heart of the matter of life as well as our heart’s desire at the moment of death.

During his life on earth, Jesus also emphasized the importance of faith in prayer.  Again and again, the apostles heard that faith is the condition for answers to our prayers.  Faith can move mountains, Jesus tells us, if that faith is even as small as a mustard seed.  But it must be actively present if we expect prayer to have results. “All things are possible,” says Jesus on one occasion, “to him who believes”.  “And whatever you ask in prayer; you will receive, if you have faith”, he says on another.

In reading the Gospels, we become aware of Jesus’ requirement of faith in those who requested favors of him, even miracles.  He was pleased with those who had faith, and rewarded it:  the Roman centurion, the woman with the hemorrhage, the pagan Canaanite woman who drew from Jesus the joyful exclamation, “O woman, great is your faith!”. He was dismayed by evidence of lack of faith.  The Evangelist Mark tells us that “he could do no mighty work there” and “he marveled because of their unbelief”.  And he rebuked the apostles when, fearing they would die, they awakened him while he slept in their boat through a storm on the Sea of Galilee:  “Why are you afraid, O men of little faith?”

In showing us the importance of prayer and its necessity in daily life, Jesus taught and practiced two essential things.  First, prayer and our whole life are centered on God the Father and the accomplishment of his will.  Second, the essential means of attaining an answer to our prayers is faith.

St. Mary Parish

Next Weekend ~ July 12, 2009

Lector                                     Ron Fortier

Eucharistic Ministers            Sue Huff

                                                Doris Dionne

Server                                     Logan Hill

                                                Jordan Fjeld

                                                Celina Hill

Greeters                                 David Charpentier

Seacoast Deanery Respect Life Holy Hour

The next Seacoast Deanery  Sunday, July 12, 2009 at 2:00 PM St. Joseph Church, 150 Central Avenue, Dover, NH.

Altar Server Schedule for St. Ignatius can be picked up in the sacristy this weekend after Mass.

The Eucharistic schedule for St. Ignatius at St. Martin Church is ready, you may pick it up in the sacristy after Mass.

ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

Bishop John McCormack invites to a Special Anniversary Mass, all couples who are celebrating their 25^th, 30^th, 35^th, 40^th, 45^th, 50^th or beyond, Wedding Anniversary, anytime during the current year 2009.  This celebration will be held on October 11, 2009 at 2:00 p.m., at Saint Anselm Abby Church, Manchester.  If you are celebrating your 25^th, 30^th, 35^th, 40^th, 45^th, or 50^th anniversary, as well as any couple beyond their 50^th, or if you know of anyone who is, please call or mail to the rectory by August 14 the name and address of the anniversary couple.   Please indicate their special anniversary.

Snickers and Giggles

A little boy was looking through the old family Bible when something fell out. He picked it up and examined it closely. It was a leaf that had been pressed between the pages.

“Mommy, look what I found,” he said.

“What do you have there, dear?’ his mother asked.

“I think it’s Adam’s suit!” he replied with astonishment.

What do you call a sleepwalking nun?

A Roamin’ Catholic.

Somersworth – Berwick – Rollinsford Food Pantry

We are nearing the midyear already. Anyone who is in a financial bind finds the year goes by fast but the first of each month comes way to soon.  They struggle with meeting monthly rents or mortgage payments.  This can mean a scarce or skipped grocery shopping for a week or two. Until they find some employment or better paying employment they need our help.

We ask you to contribute protein items the weekend of July 11 - 12.  Any canned or dried meats, beans, peanut butter and other high protein items are greatly appreciated.

The Community Food Pantry appreciates all the contributions no matter how small.  The people who benefit from these donations are forever grateful for the help in their time of need.

Vitamin D: are you getting enough?

One billion people worldwide are vitamin D deficient. Vitamin D is metabolized in the body by either sun exposure (UV light) or diet (fortified milk, fatty fish, fortified cereals). Once metabolized into calcitriol, it acts as a hormone and is important in the normal functioning of intestines, bone and kidney, resulting in the maintenance of calcium, phosphorus and magnesium.

In northern latitudes, such as in New England, upwards to fifty percent of children and adolescents have been found to be vitamin D deficient due to inadequate sun exposure. The most common causes of vitamin D deficiency in adults are insufficient sun exposure and inadequate dietary intake of Vitamin D.

Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house.” So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there, apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them. - Mk 6:4-5

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time

When children are very young, say around two or three years of age, their entire world exists within the walls of their home. And all that they are, all they believe, comes from their parents. In fact, in those young eyes, their parents are perfect; they believe everything Mom and Dad tell them is the truth, and they will do anything they ask (usually!). But as they grow older, and the world outside of those walls grows louder, the perfections of Mom and Dad seem to begin to falter. They are looked at through doubtful eyes, their wisdom challenged at nearly every turn. Often it is not until years later that we realize they were the same wise parents all along.

When Jesus entered Jerusalem for the last time before his crucifixion, he cried. Not for his fate, but because those around him did not realize of their impending salvation. In today's Gospel, Jesus has returned to Nazareth to teach in the synagogue, yet his own people doubt his truth, remembering him as a boy and as the son of a carpenter. He remarks that prophets such as him are always scorned by those who know them best, the people of their hometown.

As children, our innocent faith and belief in God is unwavering. As we grow older, we sometimes question our beliefs and put aside our faith, rather than grow even closer to Christ. This is because "Faith seeks understanding" (CCC 158). Everything else in this world is explained visually through tangible facts; only faith can come from our hearts. Perhaps Jesus cried not only for those who saw his miracles yet did not believe, but also for us who did not see. Our challenge is to be as children in our faith, unwavering, open and believing with all our hearts.

A friend told me there are special Mass prayers for our president. Why?

As we celebrate Independence Day, questions about the relationship between church and state always abound. What is the proper relationship of the church to the state? With a new administration in Washington, this question is as significant as ever.

Gaudium et Spes, the Vatican II Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, # 76, is an excellent guide for examining the issue. It states that the church, "by reason of her role and competence, is not identified in any way with the political community nor bound to any political system....The Church and the political community in their own fields are autonomous and independent from each other." However since both church and state work for the betterment of the common good, it would benefit all humanity if "both foster sounder cooperation between themselves?"

Gaudium et Spes, while counseling "better cooperation" between church and state, claims that there can never be a full union nor should there be a total separation. Both in their own spheres have much to contribute to the common good. Prudence, wisdom, a well-formed conscience and following Jesus are necessary components for any Christian who desires to impact the common good. At the same time we pray that our elected leaders share these qualities. Pray for us and our country's leaders that together we may always cooperate in promoting what is good.

Celebrating Life

Life is a gift from God. “Man's life,” Pope John Paul II wrote, “comes from God; it is his gift, his image and imprint, a sharing in his breath of life. God therefore is the sole Lord of this life: man cannot do with it as he wills” (The Gospel of Life, n. 39). This is the one truth about human life that serves as the well-spring for every dimension of life. This truth should influence everything about life from having children, to how we care for life at its end, to how we live in society, to how we govern ourselves, to how we love, to the meaning of marriage and family, to education and health care, to seeking those means by which we sustain ourselves and flourish.

We, the recipients of God’s precious gift of life are called to be good stewards of it in all of its facets. “In giving life to man,” John Paul II tells us, “God demands that he love, respect and promote life. The gift thus becomes a commandment, and the commandment is itself a gift” (The Gospel of Life, 52). To have life carries the commandment of stewardship, and to be a steward of God’s own gift is itself an extraordinary blessing.

There are as many tasks as there are needs to meet in celebrating and respecting life, yet none of us can be all things to all situations. We must first care for our own lives and those for whom we are responsible. Do we make a conscientious effort to maintain our own health? Are we open to new life within marriage? Do we favor decisions that support the lives of both mother and child in the tragic circumstances of high-risk pregnancy? Do we care for, support, and affirm the lives of family members who are dying?

In celebrating and respecting life we are also called to support and protect the lives and dignity of others in our community, such as: the unborn, the dying, the poor, the hungry, the sick, the elderly, the immigrant, and those facing the death penalty. When it comes to celebrating life within the community, each must choose where to focus effort, but we must do so together, in unity, for we are all workers in the same vineyard of the Lord.

The Catholic Church is blessed with a rich and robust teaching on the celebration of life and similarly with many resources for fulfilling the call to celebrate and respect human life. Here are some helpful resources:

HOW TO MAKE A REPORT OF SEXUAL ABUSE

Child sexual abuse is a crime in the State of New Hampshire and the Church.  New Hampshire law requires that anyone who has reason to suspect that a child is being or has been abused or neglected must make a report to the Division for Children, Youth & Families (“DCYF”) of the State of New Hampshire, 1-800-894-5533.  Any person who suspects or alleges child abuse on the part of a priest, deacon, employee, or volunteer of a parish, school, or institution of the diocese of Manchester is also encouraged to make a report to the Office for Ministerial Conduct, 603-669-3100.

Church personnel – clergy, paid employees, and volunteers – have additional reporting requirements if they believe that Church personnel have sexually abused a child.  To learn more about the reporting requirements, see Cindy Hill, the safe environment coordinator for our parish, or the diocesan website under Child Safety: www.catholicnh.org.