"St. Vincent de Paul Church."
While I stayed in New York in my dear family reunion, my folks took me to a Sunday Mass at St. Vincent de Paul Church in Nassau County. I enjoyed going to Sunday Holy Mass with my dear daughter and grandchildren. I especially liked a sermon that a priest had spoken on a beautiful Sunday morning in the late September.
The Pastor spoke about generosity, an unselfish heart and a true brotherhood among Christians.
He said that we all live in a material and selfish world nowadays, and we should focus our hearts in helping others in need, not just caring only for ourselves. A helpful, loving and caring heart is the mission in this world for every true Christian believer.
The priest also talked about the unselfish work that pastors do during their lifetime, for they commit their entire lives to God, to our dear Lord Jesus Christ. He offered the people´s generose donations for the retired priests.
The pastor announced that received donations on that day would be a special collection for the retired priests of their Diocese. He also mentioned that there are 116 retired priests in their Diocese, a group of whom requires assistance with daily living. They have a new facility which offers wheelchairs accessibility, nutrition counseling, transportation into town, and computarized emergency call systems. In addition to these necessities, it allows their retired priests to live together in community, in a setting that fosters their spiritual lives, nurtures their physical and mental well being, and guarantees that they can continue to live their older years with dignity.
Received donations will be applied to the Priests´Sickness, Disability and Retirement Fund, with the aim of controlling the premiums on priests´pension plans. Thank you for your generosity!!
PRAYER FOR PRIESTS.
Dear Almighty God,
Look upon the face of Jesus who is the eternal High Priest, and have compassion on Your priests in today´s world. They are but weak and frail human beings. Stir up in them the grace of their vocation. Keep them close to You so the enemy may not prevail against them, so that they many never do anything in the slightest degree unworthy of their sublime vocation.
Oh Jesus, I pray for Your faithful and fervent priests; for those laboring at home and abroad in distant mission fields; for those who are lonely and desolate; for those who are young; for those who are sick and dying.
I pray devoutly for all the priests to whom I am indebted to in any other way. Oh Jesus, keep them close to Your heart and bless them abundantly in time and in eternity.
In Jesus most Holy Name, I pray. AMEN.
