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23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

One of the most touching YouTube videos I’ve ever seen is one in which a deaf woman receives new technology to heal her hearing. She hears her husband’s voice for the first time — and her own, too — and bursts into tears of overwhelming joy. It must have been like an immovable wall between her and her loved ones came tumbling down. We are all like this woman, to some degree. We believe in the presence of God’s love, but we can’t hear Him. We can’t speak well about Him. The deaf man who can’t speak properly in the Gospel today is an image of what God wants us to experience again and again. Jesus takes the man aside to a private place away from the crowd, touches his ears and tongue, and says, “Ephphata!” The man’s ears are opened, and he speaks clearly. Contact with Christ has this effect on us. This experience happens to us in our baptism, almost exactly. It happens to us in the liturgy. It happens in our private prayer. It happens when we hear the voice of God in our conscience. The more we engage these privileged channels of Jesus’ healing, the more we are empowered to hear and speak of the presence of God’s perfect love. — Father John Muir

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My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

I share with you another story I was sent: The Window From Which We Look

A young couple moves into a new neighborhood. The next morning while they are eating breakfast, the young woman sees her neighbor hanging the wash outside. “That laundry is not very clean”, she said. “She doesn’t know how to wash correctly. Perhaps she needs better laundry soap.” Her husband looked on but remained silent. Every time her neighbor would hang her wash to dry, the young woman would make the same comments. About one month later, the woman was surprised to see a nice clean wash on the line and said to her husband: “Look, she has learned how to wash correctly. I wonder who taught her this.” The husband said, “I got up early this morning and cleaned our windows.” And so, it is with life. What we see when watching others depends on the purity of the window through which we look!

God Bless you and have a wonderful week, Fr. Michael

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 SCRIPTURAL REFLECTIONS ON STEWARDSHIP

“Did not God choose those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that He promised to those who love Him?”

What is more important – being rich in faith or rich in possessions? Society tells us that possessions are most important. God teaches a different lesson. When we are rich in faith, we keep God first and experience true joy and peace. When we put possessions first, we soon realize we can never have enough and happiness is fleeting. When we put faith over possessions we truly realize it is better to give than receive.

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PRAYER REQUESTS

That God will relieve their suffering and restore them to health. Please pray for Please pray for:

Kellie Salata, Kelly Chinchar, Jessica, Daniel Breslin, Stanley, Helen Traina, Joseph Marrone, Bill Marshall, Anthony, Michael, Joseph, Jessica Esopo, William, Steve, Audra, Bernadette, James Weiss, Baby Ford, Rosemary Malangone, Elizabeth Malangone, Sue West, Danny, Colleen Emery, Richard, Joan Russo, Christina Martin, Mornia Evans, Valerie Valverde, Diana McGuckin, Pat Peterson, Jim Wylie, Manny Scarangella.

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The gift of Bread & Wine for the first two weeks of September has been given in memory of Louise & John Hansen by Mr. & Mrs. Raymond DeRiso.

The Sanctuary Lamp for the month of September has been given in memory of Cecelia Jashembowski by Linda J. Sylvestri

Please consider sponsoring our Bread & Wine, Altar Flowers, and the oil for the Sanctuary Lamp.

Opportunities for Parish Support

There are several ways you can help support our parish and honor loved ones at the same time. As you may have noticed on the first Sunday of every month in our bulletin, we thank the donors of our Altar Gifts. You can donate the Bread & Wine, Altar Flowers, or the Sanctuary Lamp in a two-week block for $50 in someone’s memory. We have blocks open for this year. We also need to purchase a new Easter candle each year (the tall candle on the altar) for $300-$400 which can also be donated in someone’s memory. You do not have to fund the entire amount, anything you wish to donate towards the purchase of our Easter candle is appreciated. We also have masses available for your intentions. If you wish to honor someone in any of these ways, please call the rectory.

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Prayer for our Nation

God our Father, giver of life, we entrust the United States of America to your loving care. You are the rock on which this nation was founded. You alone are the true source of our cherished rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Reclaim this land for your glory and dwell among your people. Send your Spirit to touch the hearts of our nation’s leaders. Open their minds to the great worth of human life and the responsibilities that accompany human freedom. Remind your people that true happiness is rooted in seeking and doing your will. Through the intercession of Mary Immaculate, patroness of our land, grant us the courage to reject the “culture of death.” Lead us into a new millennium of life. We ask this through Christ Our Lord. Amen.

Praying the ROSARY

The Rosary is a meditation, a time to recall and think about the life of Jesus as seen and experienced by Mary. As the model of faith, Mary’s life sets a pattern that we strive to follow: saying ‘yes’ to God’s will in our lives and sharing His love and message with others. The Mysteries of the Rosary form a mini lesson of faith, using the highlights and significant moments of the life of Jesus. Like paging through a family scrapbook, we see in brief the events of salvation history that are the core of our belief and the hope of our eternal life.

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We would like to thank all the advertisers who have supported us throughout the past year. Our parish benefits greatly from the ads you see in the bulletin. The revenue pays for the printing which is an important means of communication for the parish. If we do not have enough advertisers, the cost of our bulletin goes up. We thank the local businesses that advertise with us especially in these tough economic times. We have some spaces on the back of our bulletin that need filling so if you would like to advertise your business as well as benefit your church, please contact John Patrick Publishing at 1-800-333-3166.

Please support our advertisers at the back cover of bulletin.