The Ministry of Praise and Mercy is dedicated to helping the elderly, sick and handicapped to grow in personal holiness and by their prayers, joys, and sufferings offered to God, to enable the Church to grow in holiness. In response to the declaration of Pope John Paul II that the third millennium will be very Eucharistic, the members are encouraged to assist at Mass as often as possible, as well as offer spiritual communions each day.

“Praised be Jesus Christ. Praised be Jesus Christ who invites us to share in his life through our baptism. Praised be Jesus Christ who calls us to unite our sufferings to His so that we may be one with Him in Giving glory to the Father in Heaven.

“Today I greet you in the name of Jesus.”

Because I have suffered

“It is precisely because I have experienced suffering that I am able to affirm with ever greater conviction what St. Paul says:  ‘Neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor heights, nor depths, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus the Lord.’”

Nothing can block out God

 “Dear friends, there is no force or power that can block God’s love for you. Sickness and suffering seem to contradict all that is worthy, all that is desired by man. And yet no disease, no injury, no infirmity can ever deprive you of your dignity as children of God, as brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ.”

“My dear brothers and sisters, as you live the passion of Christ; you strengthen the Church by the witness of your faith. You proclaim by your patience, your endurance, and your joy the mystery of Christ’s redeeming power. You will find the crucified Lord in the midst of your sickness and suffering.”

“The sick, the elderly, the handicapped, and the dying teach us that weakness is a creative part of human living, and that suffering can be embraced with no loss of dignity.”

Awareness

 “Let us keep (all) the sick at the center of our lives. Let us treasure them and recognize with gratitude the debt we owe them. We begin by imagining that we are giving to them; we end by realizing that they have enriched us.”

Bless and Comfort

 “May God bless and comfort all who are sick, and may Jesus Christ the Savior of the world and Healer of the sick, make His light shine through human weakness as a beacon for us and for all mankind.”

All quotes are excerpts taken from statements made by Pope John Paul II on May 28, 1982 at a communal celebration of the anointing of the sick, St. George’s Cathedral in Southwark, London England.

Belonging

Joining the Ministry of Praise and Mercy at St. Marcelline is simple. What is expected of you is that you commit to being a prayerful person.  Agree to set some time aside each day for prayer. How much time? That is up to you and God.

August 2008

Click on the picture for the current Ministry of Praise Newsletter

Contact our Minister of Christian Formation, Mary (mkramer@stmarcelline.com) at the Parish Administration Center and ask to join to the Ministry of Praise and Mercy.  

All the rest will be taken care of for you, including sending you some

helpful tools and a monthly pamphlet.  All you have to do is pray.