Perpetual Novena for Healing Prayers

The Perpetual Novena for Healing, prayed to Our Lady of Lourdes for those in need of physical healing, St. Maxilmilian Kolbe for those in need of healing from addictions, and St. Dymphna for those in need of healing for depression, mental illness, neurological disorders & Alzheimer's disease, began on September 14, 2012. It is prayed every Friday after the 830AM Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Monroe, NC. Petitions may be sent to NovenaforHealing@ollmonroe.org

Prayers of the Perpetual Novena for Healing

Our Lady of Lourdes

O ever Immaculate Virgin, Mother of mercy, health of the sick, refuge of sinners, comforter of the afflicted, you know my wants, my troubles, my sufferings: look with mercy on me.                                                       
By appearing in the Grotto of Lourdes, you were pleased to make it a privileged sanctuary, whence you dispense your favors: and already many sufferers have obtained the cure for their infirmities, both spiritual and corporal. We come, therefore, with complete confidence to implore your maternal intercession.  We pray, in particular, for all those who are in need of physical healing.                                                        

(Silently remember all who are in need of physical healing, and those who have entrusted themselves to this novena)                                                         

Intercede, O Mother Most Holy, for all who await and hope for the healing of their bodies.  Intercede, O Mother of Consolation, for all who are to receive the healing of acceptance and the grace of the final journey.  Intercede, O Mother of Hope, for all who await the healing promised in the Lord’s resurrection.

St. Maximillian Kolbe

O St. Maximilian Kolbe, faithful follower of St. Francis, inflamed by the love of God you dedicated your life to the practice of virtue and to works of the apostolate. Look down with favor upon us who devoutly confide in your intercession. Having consecrated yourself to the Immaculate Virgin Mary, you inspired countless souls to a holy life and various forms of the apostolate in order to do good to others and to spread the kingdom of God. Obtain for us the grace by our lives and labors to draw many souls to Christ. In your close conformity to our Divine Savior you reached such an intense degree of love that you offered your life to save a fellow prisoner. Implore God that we, inflamed by such ardent charity, may through our living faith and our apostolic works witness Christ to others, and thus merit to join you in the blessed vision of God.             

Saint Maximilian Maria Kolbe, your life of love and labor for souls was sacrificed amid the horrors of a concentration camp and hastened to its end by an injection of a deadly drug.  Look with compassion upon all those who are now entrapped in addictions to drugs, alcohol, and other harmful behaviors and whom we now recommend to your powerful intercession:                          

(Silently remember all who are in need of healing from addictions, and those who have entrusted themselves to this novena)                                      

Dear St. Maximilian, Priest of God, intercede with Christ for mercy for all who are trapped in the bonds of any addiction.  Devout servant of the Immaculate Mother of God, beg Her to crush with her heel the demons of addiction that afflicts our brothers and sisters. Obtain for us the grace never to withhold our love and understanding, nor to fail in persevering prayer that the enslaving bonds of addiction may be broken and that full health and freedom may be restored to all for whom we pray.

St. Dymphna

Good Saint Dymphna, great wonder-worker in every affliction of mind and body, we humbly implore your powerful intercession with Jesus through Mary, the Health of the Sick.  O dear martyr of purity, patroness of those who suffer with nervous and mental afflictions, beloved child of Jesus and Mary, intercede for all who suffer from depression, mental illness, neurological disorders, and Alzheimer’s disease, especially those whom we entrust to your intercession:                             

(Silently remember all who are in need of healing from these afflictions, and those who have entrusted themselves to this novena)                           

We turn to you, dear virgin and martyr, confident of your power with God and of your willingness to take our cause into your hands.  We firmly hope that through your kind intercession He will restore lost serenity and peace of mind. May He speak to our hearts and reassure us: "My peace I give you. Let not your heart be troubled nor let it be afraid." Pray for us, dear St. Dymphna, that all those suffering emotional turmoil may again know serenity and personal peace.                                          

Our Lady of Lourdes pray for us!
St. Maximilian Maria Kolbe pray for us!
St. Dymphna pray for us!

Homily for November 8, 2015 (32nd Sunday B)

Last night Father Mariani and I were reading through the beautiful cards that our Faith Formation students, and many of you, had made for us for Priest Appreciation Sunday a few weeks ago. The cards are simple and beautiful. Some have drawings. Some even have stickers, and most of them have a brief message written in them. My favorite of the messages goes like this: “Father Benjamin, I rarely feel the urge to fall asleep when you are preaching.” I appreciate the honesty of this child; but more than that I appreciate the simple gift of those simple cards because they represent something much greater.

It seems to be that way for many of us: we treasure those very simple gifts which mean so very much. These are the cards we keep in a box that we pull out and read when it’s a rainy day outside, or more often a rainy day inside. These are the phone messages we keep and listen to again, the emails we do not delete, the invitations for events long past that we do not throw away. These are the pictures so precious that we actually print them out. These are the simple gifts that mean so very much. These are the simple gifts whose meaning might go unnoticed by someone else, but are treasures in our sight.

Like a cup of water and a simple crust of bread, these would go unnoticed at the tables in the banquets of the city officials in Zarepheth. The simple meal would have gone unnoticed. But to the prophet Elijah, this was the food of life. This was the gift of the widow who had no more than a cup of water and a small batch of flour and a little bit of oil. This was all she had for herself and for her son. These were the only ingredients of the last meal that they would ever eat. And she gave them to Elijah. She gave them to the one who spoke the Word of the Lord and promised his promise for the future. This simple meal that would go unnoticed by others is a treasure in the eyes of the prophet of the Lord.  

Like two small coins in the treasury of the Temple: these would go unnoticed by the dedicated volunteers who gathered each week to count the collection. These two small coins would have been unnoticed. But Jesus noticed. The Lord Jesus saw the two small coins placed from the frail hand of the poor widow into the temple treasury. The Lord Jesus noticed. He knew how much those two small coins meant in the life of the widow. He knew that she was giving everything from a generosity that comes only from faith in the Lord and hope in his promise. The Lord Jesus noticed the offering that would be overlooked by everyone else but is a treasure in his sight.

Like my words and yours, like my time and yours, like my life and yours, what might very well go unnoticed by the rich and the powerful of the world is a treasure in the eyes of the Lord Jesus. Amen.

Preached at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, Monroe, NC

Homily for November 1, 2015 (All Saints Day)

On Wednesday of this past week, Bishop Jugis was here to celebrate the Sacrament of Confirmation. Seventy-four of our young people, after years of preparation, received the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. And as the seventy-four processed up the main aisle to receive the anointing from the Bishop, I could hear the names of the patron saints that they had chosen as the Bishop addressed them by name: Guadalupe, Juan Diego, Cecilia and Lucy, Francis and Dymphna, and there was even a Benjamin. There was a living litany of the saints in procession down the aisle of the Church.

Sixteen years ago last Friday I took the name Patrick on the day of my confirmation. It was also the day of my first confession and first Communion. After a long period of preparation in RCIA and a longer period of wrestling with the mystery of the call of the Lord God, I made the profession of Catholic Faith. I chose Patrick to be my patron saint for confirmation.

I chose Patrick because I had looked back through the history of the Church. I had looked back to the example of the Holy Ones of every time and place who had lived through the time of trial. I had looked back to see those witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus Christ who have now received the abundant rewards of heaven. I chose Patrick because I saw in this missionary a bold preacher, a poet, and shepherd of the flock of God. Patrick inspires me and his life encourages me.  

God gives us his saints to inspire us, and to encourage us. But sometimes, these saints given to us to inspire and encourage us seem a little far away. So many of their stories and so many of their lives, are just so very different from our lives. Some of these saints sound like they were practically perfect in every way even from childhood. They were always obedient. They were always humble. They were always prayerful. They were always faithful. These saints were always, and I, and perhaps you, are sometimes. Sometimes we are obedient and sometimes humble. Sometimes we’re not. Sometimes we are merciful and hungering for righteousness, and sometimes we’re not. Sometimes we feel so far away from the saints.

But maybe, they are closer to us than we think. Maybe the heavenly Jerusalem is just the next town over. We hear the final version of the stories of the saints. We hear the stories not of their faults, their sins, and their mistakes. We hear the story of the triumph of God’s grace. We hear the stories of those who were named by Christ and claimed by his mercy. The saints are closer to us than we think because they stood where we stand. They experienced struggle and persecution, doubt and anxiety. They experienced temptation and exhaustion. The saints lived their lives of faith and virtue here on earth, but as pilgrims advancing by faith toward their home in the city of the Living God.

I asked many of those seventy-four confirmation candidates about the saints that they chose. Many of them had looked back through the holy history. They looked back and saw examples of people of faith that inspired them and encouraged them. But more than a few of the confirmation candidates told me that they chose their saint because they had seen them in the windows of the Church. They had looked at the twenty-four saints in the windows that surround this room, just like the twenty-four elders who surround the throne of God, and these students saw images of people of faith who inspire them and encourage them. They looked around and saw the saints of God.

And I do too. I look around and I see the saints of God. I look around and I see the mother who stays up late into the night caring for a sick child even as she prepares for work the next day. I see the father who prays for the wisdom of Solomon and the justice and humility of Joseph. I look around and I see single persons living as salt and light in the midst of a broken world bringing the joy of the Gospel with every footstep. I see young people and students who want to be peacemakers in their schools as we hope they will one day be peacemakers in the rest of world. I look around and I see those witnesses of the faith who have lived unto many years in joy and in sorrow and in suffering. I see those who mourn and those who live in the hope of eternal life. I look around and I remember those children who received the life of Christ in baptism who entered into eternal life in Christ too soon after. I look around and I see the saints of God on their pilgrimage to our true homeland.

In only a few moments the procession of the living litany of the saints will form again in the aisles of the Church. Christ our High Priest, the Lamb once slain who lives forever, calls us to himself to feed us, to inspire us, and to encourage us. And then he sends us out, to look around. Amen.

Preached at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, Monroe, NC

Homily for October 11, 2015 (28th Sunday B)

There are signs in many stores and many commercials on television that display three bold letters. D-I-Y. There is even a channel devoted to D-I-Y. It means do it yourself. The idea that these signs and those advertisements and this channel promote is that with the right instructions and the right materials even I could fix something in my house that was broken or make something of value. I could do it myself. You could do it yourself. With the right instructions and the right materials, you could do it yourself.

The rich man in the gospel was a man who could do it himself. He was a man of virtue who had kept all of the commandments from his youth. He was probably successful in business and he was faithful in his religious observance. This man was probably one of the top ten donors in his local synagogue and the rabbis probably knew his name. If the rich man in the gospel were to come to our parish, we would probably invite him to teach faith formation. We might invite him to work with the youth group or join the choir if he could sing. I might even ask him to join the parish finance council, because he is a man who can accomplish things. With the right instructions and the right materials he can do it himself. He is a do it yourself kind of guy.

But then this man met the Lord Jesus. Well, he didn’t just meet him. He ran up to him, knelt down before him, and said, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “What must I do?” This do it yourself kind of guy was looking for the right instructions and the right materials so that he could build a little retirement home near the river in the city of God. The first instructions were pretty simple: Keep the commandments. Step two was a little more difficult, especially for this rich man: Go, sell what you have, and give it to the poor. Then come follow me. Step two was pretty expensive, and we don’t really know if the rich man kept working on this project. We only know that the man who had run up to Jesus now walked away sad, because he had many possessions. This was one do it yourself project that just might have been too difficult. It might require more than the right instructions and the right materials.

Or, it might not be a do it yourself project. It might be something different. It might just be that building the retirement home near the river in the city of the living God requires more that the right instructions and the right materials and an amateur carpenter with shiny new tools. It might just require a carpenter from Galilee.

The retirement home near the river in the city of God is not a do it yourself project. We need more that the right instructions and the right materials. We need Jesus. We need Jesus because salvation is impossible for us but all things are possible for God. The Lord Jesus is the one who does the work. Jesus is the one who builds the kingdom. He not only gives the right instructions and provides the right materials. Jesus does the work of building our eternal home with him.

But this is not a do it yourself project. Jesus invites us to be part of the building crew. He asks us to join the team that makes the world holy and brings the world to the Father. We don’t have shirts with the company logo, but we do have a mark on our souls from the waters of baptism. Jesus called us and he claimed us, and he marked us and he gave us a place on his team. And the team is pretty big. The team is pretty big, and we have hundreds upon thousands of brothers and sisters, mothers and children throughout the world. We have a home in every Church with the lighted lamp of the tabernacle. Jesus looked upon us with love and picked us for his team.

Salvation is not a do it yourself project. It’s the work of Jesus and his building crew. Through him and with him and in him we build up our little section of the work of the kingdom. And now, at the table of the Eucharist, Jesus himself gathers his building crew and feeds us for the work ahead. Amen.

Preached at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, Monroe, NC