As we enter the month of September, there are many concerns to remember in prayer. I have listed a few below.
Even though I no longer live in Louisiana, it is in my nature to intuit September as the height of the hurricane season. However, the height of the hurricane season now seems to be increasing throughout the totality of the six months from June through November. As my home state and my family are at risk during the months of hurricane season, I ask your prayers that all in Louisiana and everywhere be protected from loss of life and property during this ongoing hurricane season.
Let us also remember in prayer those who are still recovering from any natural disasters, especially those victims of past flooding or tornadoes here in Kentucky. God grant that they may receive the assistance they need as they continue to rebuild their lives and property.
Speaking of my family and home state, I wish to share that my brother recently sold our family home in New Roads, Louisiana. It indeed needed to be done as the house was empty. Hopefully, another family can live there and make memories as happy as those from my childhood in that house. Those memories are very precious to me now. However, with the sale of the home where I grew up, my roots are more and more here in Kentucky, and I rejoice in this! I am deeply grateful to each of you for your support and for making me feel more and more “at home” here in the Archdiocese of Louisville and in central Kentucky.
During September, we also celebrate Labor Day and thank God for the gift of human labor. The dignity of human work assists us in providing for ourselves and our families and experiencing and exercising that portion of our human nature that reflects the creativity and productivity of God, who created all things and placed us as caretakers over all creation.
Labor Day bids that we pause and thank God for the necessity and gift of human labor, which assists us in many ways. However, there can be a strong temptation to feel solely defined by and to see our value rooted only in what we do, in our employment, our jobs. While human work is an important part of our lives, it is not to be equated with the totality of who we are. We will always be much more than what we do for employment. We must be reminded of this reality continuously, especially in difficult economic times. Each one of us is of inestimable value before God and one another.
While recognizing the value, necessity, and dignity of human work, each one of us is so much more than what we do. We are children of a Father in heaven who loves us and draws close to us in times of challenge to assure us of his presence and fill us with his peace. Each of us has a human dignity before God and before all humanity that ultimately finds its origin and value not in what we do but in the gift of life that God himself has granted to every one of us.
On Sept. 9, we celebrate the feast of St. Peter Claver. This is the annual day when the Catholic bishops of the United States invite us to pray for an end to racism and for healing and reconciliation among people of different races, as well as to pray for peace in our communities. We will celebrate a Mass for these intentions at the Cathedral of the Assumption on Sunday, Sept. 8 at 5:30 p.m.
I invite you to prayerfully join us at this Mass as we come together to commit ourselves and to be strengthened by the Eucharist to love each person as Jesus loves us and to commit ourselves, following the good example of St. Peter Claver, to work toward greater understanding and harmony between people of different races and cultures.
September also falls at the beginning of a new school year. Let us pray for a peaceful school year for all schools and, in particular, for the success of our Catholic schools in educating our children spiritually and academically.
Comfort My People — The need for prayer
As we enter the month of September, there are many concerns to remember in prayer. I have listed a few below.
Even though I no longer live in Louisiana, it is in my nature to intuit September as the height of the hurricane season. However, the height of the hurricane season now seems to be increasing throughout the totality of the six months from June through November. As my home state and my family are at risk during the months of hurricane season, I ask your prayers that all in Louisiana and everywhere be protected from loss of life and property during this ongoing hurricane season.
Let us also remember in prayer those who are still recovering from any natural disasters, especially those victims of past flooding or tornadoes here in Kentucky. God grant that they may receive the assistance they need as they continue to rebuild their lives and property.
Speaking of my family and home state, I wish to share that my brother recently sold our family home in New Roads, Louisiana. It indeed needed to be done as the house was empty. Hopefully, another family can live there and make memories as happy as those from my childhood in that house. Those memories are very precious to me now. However, with the sale of the home where I grew up, my roots are more and more here in Kentucky, and I rejoice in this! I am deeply grateful to each of you for your support and for making me feel more and more “at home” here in the Archdiocese of Louisville and in central Kentucky.
During September, we also celebrate Labor Day and thank God for the gift of human labor. The dignity of human work assists us in providing for ourselves and our families and experiencing and exercising that portion of our human nature that reflects the creativity and productivity of God, who created all things and placed us as caretakers over all creation.
Labor Day bids that we pause and thank God for the necessity and gift of human labor, which assists us in many ways. However, there can be a strong temptation to feel solely defined by and to see our value rooted only in what we do, in our employment, our jobs. While human work is an important part of our lives, it is not to be equated with the totality of who we are. We will always be much more than what we do for employment. We must be reminded of this reality continuously, especially in difficult economic times. Each one of us is of inestimable value before God and one another.
While recognizing the value, necessity, and dignity of human work, each one of us is so much more than what we do. We are children of a Father in heaven who loves us and draws close to us in times of challenge to assure us of his presence and fill us with his peace. Each of us has a human dignity before God and before all humanity that ultimately finds its origin and value not in what we do but in the gift of life that God himself has granted to every one of us.
On Sept. 9, we celebrate the feast of St. Peter Claver. This is the annual day when the Catholic bishops of the United States invite us to pray for an end to racism and for healing and reconciliation among people of different races, as well as to pray for peace in our communities. We will celebrate a Mass for these intentions at the Cathedral of the Assumption on Sunday, Sept. 8 at 5:30 p.m.
I invite you to prayerfully join us at this Mass as we come together to commit ourselves and to be strengthened by the Eucharist to love each person as Jesus loves us and to commit ourselves, following the good example of St. Peter Claver, to work toward greater understanding and harmony between people of different races and cultures.
September also falls at the beginning of a new school year. Let us pray for a peaceful school year for all schools and, in particular, for the success of our Catholic schools in educating our children spiritually and academically.
Oils blessed and consecrated