Spiritual Development Communique #5
Terri Scott, Chairperson
January 26, 2010

Greetings and best wishes for a happy New Year which begins a new decade.

Process for Recording Deceased Members
In the organization communique #3, January 2009, the process for reporting deceased members for unclusion in the Book of Life was outlined. “The most recent Form for Reporting Deceased Members, dated 2008, requires that parish councils send only one copy; that copy is to be forwarded to national office. One staff member is responsible for inputting these forms into the database and then she will make two copies of each. When a number of forms have accumulated, copies will be sent to the appropriate provincial and diocesan chairpersons for their own Book of Life. Providing that parish councils are diligent in sending in these forms, this system should prove to be more accurate.”

Please review this policy with spiritual development chairpersons to clarify this process. All forms should be submitted as information is gathered and not held for submission at the end of the calendar year. It is also important to use the current version of the form (revised in 2008).

Lent
Lent commences on Ash Wednesday, February 17th. Christians are reminded that this is a time of repentance, change of heart and prayer. Please encourage special projects that will help members become Women of Peace and Hope.

Year for Priests
Here are some suggestions on how members can celebrate and encourage priests:

Send: “thinking of you” cards to active and retired clergy; certificates of appreciation; a letter to all spiritual advisors at special times of the year, such as Christmas, Easter, Valentine’s Day, etc; personal letters to spiritual advisors once a month just to thank them or to keep in touch; thank you cards to express appreciation for performing ceremonies such as baptisms, weddings, funerals, etc., in your families.

Take: a video or pictures of priests in action and make a nice album for them to recall fond memories of their vocation after they retire; opportunities to get to know them one on one;

Invite: them for dinner or a family day at your house; them for an evening of cards or board games, or rent a good movie they may have mentioned.

Make: a calendar with priests’ names on each day for prayer or a phone call; a priest appreciation dinner; a meal when you know they have a particularly busy time ahead of them such as funerals, church holidays, etc; promise cards, such as kids give their parents, e.g., “We’ll donate our time to help you when you need help.”; a batch of cookies, individually wrapped with a spiritual bouquet promise taped to each cookie; a decorated plant or small tree with spiritual bouquet promises hanging from the branches.

Thank: for an excellent homily; for a good deed you may have noticed them perform (helping/feeding the poor, affirming children, etc.); for excellent pastoral work.

Chat: with them after mass.

Give them a hand: with their baking, gardening, Christmas card list, cleaning house.

Pray: for seminarians, deacons and priests; a spiritual bouquet for a week in February designated to recognize priests; for each priest in your diocese by dedicating a date on a diocesan calendar with notices in church bulletins; at daily masses, if offered; at family hour of prayer, say a rosary or other prayers for priests.

Ask: for a homily giving the story of their “call”, their reaction, their family’s reaction, etc; for the sacrament of reconciliation; for their blessing; for special prayer times with them; for them to teach you.

Show them: signs of respect, such as kissing their ring, standing when they enter and addressing them by their proper title.

A Prayer for Priests
By John Joseph Cardinal Carberry, Archbishop of St. Louis, Missouri
O Jesus, our great High Priest, hear my humble prayers on behalf of your priests.
Give them a deep faith, a bright and firm hope, and a burning love which will ever increase in
the course of their priestly life.
In their loneliness, comfort them.
In their sorrows, strengthen them.
In their frustrations, point out to them that it is through suffering that the soul is purified and
show them that they are needed by the Church;
they are needed by souls;
they are needed for the work of redemption.
O lovely 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 defend the ideals of consecrated celibacy.

Day of Peace and Hope Mass – April 23rd
The National Catholic Broadcasting Council has dedicated a mass to honour the CWL Day of Peace and Hope on April 26th. The mass will be televised on Friday, April 23rd at 8:00 a.m. and 12 p.m. EST on Vision TV.

The taping will take place at St. Basil’s Church, 50 St. Joseph Street (off Bay, south of Bloor Street) in Toronto, Ontario, on Thursday, April 22nd at 5:10 p.m. Members living in the area are welcome to attend and fully participate.

God bless and may Our Lady of Good Counsel guide us and fill us with peace and hope.