Pastoral Messages from Fr. Rick – 9-11-21
Pastoral Messages from Fr. Rick September 12, 2021
How we get back to normal – Pfizer Covid 19 Vaccine is FDA Approved!!
Every Utahn who is able to should choose to get vaccinated for COVID-19. If as many people as possible get vaccinated and we continue to follow health recommendations, we will win this fight against this virus. Pase la palabra. https://coronavirus.utah.gov/vaccine/
Bishop’s Annual Appeal: Please make a donation to the Diocesan Development Drive. So far only about one third of our community have made a donation…. We are part of a Diocese and a global mission in which we play a very important role. Donating is EASY AND FUN!!
Help Haiti from Catholic Relief Services: Many are suffering once again from Haiti’s most recent series of catastrophes For more information and to make a donation go to crs.org .
Afghan Refugees Catholic Community Services of Utah is helping to resettle the many refugees from Afghanistan as they begin to arrive at various places around the country. For ideas on how to help, see: https://www.ccsutah.org/news/item/262-how-y
OH NO, YOU MISSIED IT?!! Priests’ Retirement Fund – This week is the annual collection for the Priests of the Salt Lake Diocese Retirement Fund. If you forgot your checkbook, you can still bring your special envelope back next week. All the priests I know who have served here speak fondly of this community. THANK YOU FOR YOUR USUAL GENEROSITY!
Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament Thursdays from 4 to 5 PM.
Care for Pregnant Women – Join our Diocese and Take Action
The Diocese of Salt Lake City has long advocated for legislative solutions to abortion that would do more than just tell women to find another option. Legislation that would truly make a difference in the numbers of abortion, while also recognizing the dignity and sanctity of a women’s life, has finally arrived in Congress.
‘Care for Her’ (H.R. 5163) is the type of legislation that focuses on the root causes of abortion. Care for Her will facilitate support and services to women who find themselves with an unexpected pregnancy, and seeks to meet the emotional, physical, social, financial, and other needs that a woman encounters during pregnancy, childbirth, and childrearing. Go to: https://kanabcatholicchurch.org/ for easy access and response.
This Psalm came up in this morning’s Divine Office; I thought it especially fitting on the anniversary of 9-11. A prayer of grief and ultimate triumph.
Psalm 107
“Give thanks to the LORD for he is good, his mercy endures forever!”
Let that be the prayer of the LORD’s redeemed,
those redeemed from the hand of the foe,
Those gathered from foreign lands, from east and west, from north and south.
Some had lost their way in a barren desert; found no path toward a city to live in.
They were hungry and thirsty; their life was ebbing away.
In their distress they cried to the LORD, who rescued them in their peril,
Guided them by a direct path so they reached a city to live in.
Let them thank the LORD for his mercy, such wondrous deeds for the children of Adam.
For he satisfied the thirsty, filled the hungry with good things.
Some lived in darkness and gloom, imprisoned in misery and chains.
Because they rebelled against God’s word,
and scorned the counsel of the Most High,
He humbled their hearts through hardship; they stumbled with no one to help.
In their distress they cried to the LORD, who saved them in their peril;
He brought them forth from darkness and the shadow of death and broke their chains asunder.
Let them thank the LORD for his mercy, such wondrous deeds for the children of Adam.
For he broke down the gates of bronze and snapped the bars of iron…..