Pray For The Priests Of Newtown

[Lil Red]

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/deaconsbench/2012/12/pray-for-this-priest/

 

Father Luke has an impossible task before him. His diocese is without a bishop right now…. Monsignor … is personally devastated by the losses. The parish is very large…. The rectory has received serious threats, and as my brother gave the homily Sunday at the noon mass, the church had to be evacuated by SWAT teams. After experiencing identity theft and online hacking incidents, he had to erase all of his internet accounts. After a weekend of endless media requests, notifications and vigils with heartbroken families, and little sleep, he now has two wakes and two funerals every day, until the fourth Sunday of Advent. Father Luke has not even been ordained two years.

 

...

 

I have been wracking my brain, trying to think of a way that our beautiful, loving community could tangibly reach out to Father Luke, Monsignor Weiss, and the St. Rose parish, to support them in this most awful of times. I have sent many prayer requests, and I am asking for more prayers again. But I also want to ask everyone to search their hearts, and if the Holy Spirit moves you, please consider sending one of your family’s Christmas cards to the rectory, with a few words of love and encouragement. Here is his address:

Father Luke Suarez
46 Church Hill Road
Newtown, CT 06470

 

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O loving Mother Mary, Mother of Priests, take to your heart your sons who are close to you because of their priestly ordination and because of the power which they have received to carry on the work of Christ in a world which needs them so much.  Be their comfort, be their joy, be their strength, and especially help them to live and to defend the ideals of consecrated celibacy.

 

Lord Jesus, we your people pray to You for our priests. You have given them to us for OUR needs. We pray for them in THEIR needs.

We know that You have made them priests in the likeness of your own priesthood. You have consecrated them, set them aside, anointed them, filled them with the Holy Spirit, appointed them to teach, to preach, to minister, to console, to forgive, and to feed us with Your Body and Blood.

 

Yet we know, too, that they are one with us and share our human weaknesses. We know too that they are tempted to sin and discouragement as are we, needing to be ministered to, as do we, to be consoled and forgiven, as do we. Indeed, we thank You for choosing them from among us, so that they understand us as we understand them, suffer with us and rejoice with us, worry with us and trust with us, share our beings, our lives, our faith.

 

We ask that You give them this day the gift You gave Your chosen ones on the way to Emmaus: Your presence in their hearts, Your holiness in their souls, Your joy in their spirits. And let them see You face to face in the breaking of the Eucharistic bread.

We pray to You, O Lord, through Mary the mother of all priests, for Your priests and for ours.

Amen.

[CatherineM]

Last christmas our parish did a dozen funerals in six weeks. I thought our two priests were going to collapse. What this young priest is going through right now will haunt him.

[KnightofChrist]

O Jesus, eternal Priest, keep your priests within the shelter of Your Sacred Heart, where none may touch them.

Keep unstained their anointed hands, which daily touch Your Sacred Body.

Keep unsullied their lips, daily purpled with your Precious Blood.

Keep pure and unearthly their hearts, sealed with the sublime mark of the priesthood.

Let Your holy love surround them and shield them from the world's contagion.

Bless their labors with abundant fruit and may the souls to whom they minister be their joy and consolation here and in heaven their beautiful and everlasting crown. Amen.

[Selah]

Lord, have mercy. 

[To Jesus Through Mary]

:pray: heartbreaking. May our Lady mantle give him strength and fortitude.

[ApologeticMom]

I wish we could send someone to help him...

Why is his rectory receiving threats?  So sad.  We will pray for him in Arkansas.

 

[CatherineM]

I wonder if westboro is going to the funerals.

[Jesus_lol]

Westboro said they would be attending.

[Ed Normile]

I assume many of the innocents murdered were catholic, I did not know that. Not that its any worse, its as bad as it can be right now its just that it makes it seem to hit even closer to home. Of course I will pray and a card will be on the way.

 

ed

[BigJon16]

I am writing Fr. Luke a nice letter. Also have some cards made by some of the kids from our Middle School youth group. 

[tinytherese]

St. John Vianney, patron saint of parish priests, please pray for them all.

[Selah]

Beneath your compassion,

We take refuge, O Mother of God:

do not despise our petitions in time of trouble:

but rescue us from dangers,

only pure, only blessed one.

[eagle_eye222001]

Prayers

[mysisterisalittlesister]

I personally know Fr. Luke. He is my best friend's brother. Not only has Fr Luke an enormous task before him as Lil'Red said, but people have also hacked his bank account and social media. He needs SO many prayers right now, Pham.