Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church Prayers
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- Medjugorje (Our Lady appears here each month and gives us a message.)
- Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas
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Daily Scripture Readings
Saints
Today, as it has for almost two thousand years, our universal Church honors the memory of our older ‘brothers’ and ‘sisters’ in the faith who have gone before us and who now serve us as role models -- most especially in times of spiritual, personal, and natural disaster -- of what it means to remain constant in our faith by “fighting the good fight” so that one day we too, like them, might receive from our heavenly Father our own laurels of victory. It is noteworthy that, in a world that decries the absence of wholesome role models for our youth, there are still plenty of people who disparage the Catholic practice of honoring the saints – the only role models (other than Christ Himself) who really count – and of praying “through” them to God, asking those closest to the heavenly throne to add their own prayers to our please. If we think nothing of asking our earthly ‘brothers’ and ‘sisters’ to pray on our behalf for a successful outcome for our own prayer petition to God, how much more successful might our prayer be if we also invite heavenly court to intercede on our behalf? Through the grace of God, the saints, who are more ‘alive’ than each one of us, are able to hear our pleas and intercede, on our behalf, to our infinitely loving and merciful Father.
“With longing, I gaze at the footprints of the saints, who crossed this wilderness on their way to the Fatherland” (Saint Faustina Kowalska).
“I tell you solemnly: unless a grain of wheat falls on the ground and dies it remains a single grain; but if it dies, it yields a rich harvest” (John 12: 24-25).
Saints are not born with halos around their head, nor can they be dismissed as irrelevant to the challenges of modern life simply because they were ‘holy’ people. Rather, they are ‘human’ people who typically, in little and simple ways, expressed extraordinary love for God and for His people. Each saint whom the Church honors responded to God’s invitation to use his or her unique God-given gifts for His greater honor and glory. Similarly, He calls each one of us, no matter what our vocation or avocation, to a life of faithfulness and holiness, in short, to be a modern day saint. “Holiness is not a luxury, but a simple duty for you and me” (Blessed [Mother] Teresa of Calcutta).
Do not be afraid to be saints!” (Pope John Paul II, Fourth World Youth Day Mass Homily, August 20, 1989)