The Peace of Christ

Sr. Connie Boulch

Peace be with you!

These days of isolation and quarantine give us the opportunity to focus our lives more intensely on the high holy days of our Christian life. These days leading up to the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus are filled with a tension that we have not experienced before.

Some are living in fear for their families and even their own lives. As Christians we must unite our anxiety and uncertainty about the future with that of Jesus, with His Apostles, with all His followers and even His Mother. All that they had placed their hopes in seemed to be disappearing before their eyes. It was a very stress-filled time. Their lives were turned upside down and they were going to have to change. Nothing would be the same without Jesus.

The followers of Jesus were right. Nothing would be the same without Jesus and for us it is the same. Nothing is the same without Jesus. There will be no parish Mass, no big family gatherings, no Easter egg hunts or civic events. So, we turn these days to Jesus Himself to set things right, to bring life into proper perspective and to bring peace to our troubled minds and hearts.

At Christmas we hear that Jesus is the Prince of Peace. The Angels sang, “Peace on earth to men of good will.” Jesus said, “I bring a ‘Peace’ the world cannot give.” Now is the time for that ‘Peace’ to become a reality. As Christians we know that death is not the end. It was not for Jesus and it will not be for us. Jesus rose from the dead on Easter and we will rise also with Him on the last day. He promised. Do you believe it? If you do you will find that ‘Peace’ He spoke of.

He offers us this rose which symbolizes His Passion, His Death and His undying Love for us. He has taken our burdens and our fears to transform them into new life. Watch for the “Son rise” on Easter. Life is not the same for...

He is risen! He is truly risen!

The Holy Infant of Good Health

In early sixties, the Sisters of St. Francis of the Holy Eucharist were given a statue of the Infant Jesus. We received him through our chaplain at the time, Fr. John Knoebber. Fr. John had two sisters who were Benedictines of Mount St. Scholastica in Atchison. They were working as missionaries in Mexico where a devotion to this statue was growing. He’s called the Holy Infant of Good Health, and he is known for working miracles of healing. The devotion to the Holy Infant of Good Health began when a woman in Morelia, Mexico prayed one night before this statue and in the morning found that it had grown in size. Then her sister got ill, and the woman prayed before the statue for healing for her sister. Again, overnight, the woman’s sister was healed. Eventually the family placed the statue in a front window, and their friends and neighbors began stopping by to pray for the intercession of the Infant. Soon it was well known in Morelia that if you needed healing, the Infant of Good Health could help you.

Eventually this devotion received ecclesiastical approval from the Archbishop of Morelia. Six replica statues were created. One was given to Pope St. John XXIII. One was placed in the same window of the family home because the original was moved to a church built in its honor. One ended up in the Diocese of Biloxi, in a town called Clermont Harbor. The Benedictines in Atchison also have one. And we received one, because of our Chaplain, Fr. John. We’ve cherished this little statue for a long time. It used to be the statue we carried in procession during our Christmas Novena. As we (and the Infant) have aged, we no longer feel comfortable processing with the Statue, but we still rely on his protection.

In January, we moved the Infant of Good Health Statue from the entry-way to the inside of Our Lady of the Angels Chapel. We had one sister facing a major procedure, another mid-way into a course of Chemo, and many others coping with the general aches and pains of aging. This turned out to be very providential. When the diocese announced that public gatherings of the faithful had to be cancelled, including public Masses, we placed a petition at the feet of the Holy Infant of Good Health asking him for protection from the Coronavirus and peace of mind. We are continuing to ask God through the intercession of the Holy Infant of Good Health for protection for everyone and for an end to the spread of the virus. We invite you to pray with us.

The Feast of the Infant of Good Health is one month away, on April 21. We will be praying a Novena to the Holy Infant leading up to the feast, and we will post the novena prayers here and on facebook so you can join with us, if you wish.

Prayer to the Holy Infant:

Little Infant Jesus of Good Health, God of love born to suffer for me! In You above all do I find the courage and strength I need in the trials and troubles that weigh so heavily upon me.

By the sorrows of Your Most Holy Mother, I implore You to lighten the burdens of my soul with Your holy consolations and to relieve my bodily infirmities with your Merciful Kindness, if it so pleases the will of our Father in Heaven. Amen

If you would like to learn more about the infant, you can check out the website for the shrine in Mississippi, which includes a tab with prayers to the Holy Infant, here: https://holyinfantofgoodhealthinmississippi.com/devotion/the-story/

(NOTE: the story about the statue's growth is something that has been "passed down" in our community. We cannot find any external confirmation for this detail...)

Coronavirus and Cabin Fever - Updated

Here are some resources for prayer while we all try to avoid Coronavirus and Cabin Fever:

You can find Diocesan Instructions for the Church in Kansas City-St. Joseph for the Coronavirus outbreak as well as links for recorded and live streamed Masses and devotional practices that can be used to observe Sunday as the Lord’s Day here:

https://kcsjcatholic.org/coronavirus-updates/

A devotional reflection on the Mass, written by Venerable Joseph Kentenich while he was in Dachau, can be found here:

http://schhw.net/en/chapter_03.htm

(In this devotional prayer there are four roles, and your family can sing favorite hymns in the appropriate places, read the readings for the day’s Mass at the places indicated, and make a spiritual Communion. It is a long prayer, but it offers beautiful reflections on the meaning of each of the parts of the Mass.)

Additionally, the Liturgy of the Hours - the prayer of the Church - is at this time a very suitable form of prayer. Because it is the Season of Lent, the whole of the Liturgy is focused on the Saving Power of God, and it can be a source of solace and strength both spiritually and emotionally. If you don't own a copy of the Liturgy of the Hours (or of Christian Prayer, a shortened version) you can find a simplified version of the Liturgy of the Hours in the online edition of the Magnificat here: https://us.magnificat.net/free

Or you can find a full version of the Liturgy of the Hours here: https://universalis.com/

The Stations of the Cross are a means of praying with Christ as he endures his passion and death. We are undergoing a trial at this time, and continuing to pray the Stations of the Cross – even on your own – is a valuable practice. Additionally, praying the stations at home means that you can move from location to location, which is not usually possible when we gather as a church community. You can designate different spots for different stations and then journey along the Way of the Cross as a family.

The USCCB has a version of the Stations here:

http://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/prayers-and-devotions/stations-of-the-cross/scriptural-stations-of-the-cross.cfm

And here’s St. Alphonsus Liguori’s Stations of the Cross:

https://mycatholic.life/catholic-prayers/stations-of-the-cross/

If you have little ones at home it might be fun to color (or even draw!) images for each of the stations to place throughout your home. You can find free printable images for the stations here:

http://www.thecatholickid.com/stations-of-the-cross-coloring-pages/

Finally, though we had to cancel our public Holy Hour for Priests, we wanted you to still be able to pray for priests with us from home.

HERE IS THE PROGRAM FOR THE HOLY HOUR FOR PRIESTS

To participate in the Holy Hour from home at 7 pm via live stream, go to www.facebook.com/osfholyeucharist

If we can't live stream our holy hour or if you don't have a facebook account, you could pray the holy hour from home with the live stream of Perpetual Adoration from Marytown : https://kolbeshrine.org/chapel-live-stream (this is also a great resource if you want to participate in adoration without leaving the house right now...)