Because he knows how difficult it was to minister to a mourning faith community during a major disaster, he told us that he wrote a letter to the pastor at St. Rose of Lima Parish in Newtown, Connecticut, letting him know that our parish community in Norman, Oklahoma, would be remembering in prayer and petition the people in Newton, CT, on this Gaudete Sunday.
Throughout the celebration of our Sunday Mass, prayers and offerings reminded the congregation at St. Mark the Evangelist parish about the parents, children and community at Sandy Hook Elementary School and the community in Newton, CT.
As the Gaudete Sunday readings were proclaimed, I could not help but imagine what it would feel like to be in Newton listening to these readings as a member of the St. Rose of Lima community:
the LORD, is in your midst,you have no further misfortune to fear.
[Zep 3]
Cry out with joy and gladness: for among you is the great and Holy One of Israel.
[Isaiah 12]
The Lord is near.Have no anxiety at all, but in everything,by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,make your requests known to God.
[Phil 4]
May the peace of God that surpasses all understanding guard their hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Thanks Maria. It is amazing, to me, how applicable so many of the readings are during such times. We can receive such comfort from Scripture. It is God reaching down to us, smoothing our hurts and hearts, reminding us that even in times of perplexity, we are NOT alone; not by a long shot.
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