From the Desk of Father Joseph Murphy
By Father Joseph Murphy | March 2, 2008
Dear Holy Spirit Community of Faith,
The gospel for this 4th week of Lent is about Jesus dealing with a man born blind. It is one of the most remarkable meetings recorded about Jesus. Not only does Jesus heal the blind man, but he helps him to be able to see life as a believer, i.e. with the eyes of faith. Jesus then gives him the most remarkable of gifts. He tells him that He is the Messiah and the blind man believes him – another gift.
During this past year I have had major eye trouble with my right eye. For the last 15 months I haven’t been able to see out of the right eye. I didn’t injure it, just one day it was clouded by blood. It doesn’t hurt, but the doctors determined I had a torn retina. I’ve had about 10 operations on this right eye. The surgery cleans out the blood and repairs the tear: silicon bubbles, buckles, laser – all have been tried. The first 8 operations were done at local hospitals outpatient, but the last two at the University of Chicago. On February 19th I had the most recent operation. Hopefully, in a few weeks I will be able to see a little, if it doesn’t tear again. The eye doesn’t hurt, it never has. My left eye is going great. I just get a little tired from reading. It is the only slowdown.
Like the gospel person who was blind, I too have met Jesus in the midst of all the surgeries. He, along with wonderful doctors and nurses and medical teams, have continued to give me hope. I see so much major sickness. Mine is very insignificant. Thank you all for your prayers and good wishes. I’ll be back on March 4th, ready to go.
One of the Lord’s Stewards,
Rev. Joseph V. Murphy
Topics: Uncategorized | No Comments »
Fellow Parishioners
By Father Joseph Murphy | February 24, 2008
Dear Fellow Parishioners,
Father Murphy is having yet another eye surgery this week (please keep him in your prayers) so he asked me to write the letter for him.
Those of us in our parish who are involved with our Faith Formation program, Generations of Faith, are beginning to understand the importance of prayer in our lives. We have learned that prayer is a conversation with God. There are many different kinds of prayer. There is formal prayer, a prayer that has a certain form, like the Our Father or Hail Mary. There is informal prayer that has no particular form, but a prayer in which we use our own words talking to God like a friend, and that like all conversations, we must not do all the talking, but take time to listen as well. There are prayers that have no words, a lifting of the mind and heart to God, as in meditation.
There are prayers of adoration, contrition, thanksgiving, and supplication (ACTS). We have come to realize that the greatest prayer in the Catholic Church is The Mass. When we participate in The Mass, we lift voice, mind, heart, body, and soul to God, indeed, we offer our very selves to God. In The Mass we adore and praise God (”Holy, holy, holy”), we confess our sins and ask for God’s forgiveness (”I confess to Almighty God, and to you my brothers and sisters that I have sinned..”), we thank God for all the blessings that He constantly gives us,(”It is right to give you thanks and praise.”) and during the Prayers of the Faithful, the petitions, we ask God for what we need for the Church, the world, for others and for ourselves. So, you can easily see why The Mass is our greatest prayer.
During Lent we focus on the three practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. As we spend time with God in prayer, we deepen our relationship with God. There’s nothing tricky about prayer. It is simply tuning in to God’s presence, and God is always present, not simply alongside us, bet within us at the deepest part of who we are. So, when we pray, not only do we get to know God better, we begin to learn about our true selves. As we pray we become more aware of who we truly are: sons and daughters of God, made in His image.
Prayer is so powerful. As Scripture says, “More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of.” When we pray, we not only strengthen our relationship with God and ourselves, we also begin to heal our relationships with others, for another aspect of prayer is that it allows us to cut through the barriers that separate us from one another.
This week let’s all spend some extra time in prayer. There are so many ways to pray. Use words if you wish, but you can just sit quietly with God. You can pray anywhere, anytime: driving to work, washing the dishes, waiting in line… simply turn your thoughts to the loving God who made you.
Remember the most important thing about prayer is that you PRACTICE! PRACTICE! PRACTICE!
Blessings,
Karen McMahon
Topics: Uncategorized | No Comments »
From the Desk of Father Murphy
By Father Joseph Murphy | January 11, 2008
Dear Holy Spirit Community of Faith,
People argue about why Jesus needed to be baptized since He didn’t sin. Here is my opinion of what was going on as Jesus went out to be baptized by John the Baptizer. Jesus was a realist. He knew that when you speak the truth often people will attack you – the more truthful, the more vicious the attack. Jesus needed a great deal of courage to begin His public ministry. Could it be that Jesus felt supported by John (His relative) and John’s followers? Jesus valued the support He received from John’s community. Jesus saw people changing their lives after they were baptized by John. Jesus needed support to walk a new path in His life – a public path. The event of Jesus’ baptism gave Him the strength He needed; because not only did he feel supported by John and his followers, but He was also affirmed by God the Father as He came up from the water. The Scripture writer describes it this way, “The heavens were opened for Him and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming upon Him. And a voice came from the heavens saying, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.’” He now had the courage to start His public life. He was immediately thrust into the desert to be tempted.
We, too, are asked to lead new paths in our lives. It takes great courage for us to walk a new way – the Way of Jesus. We, too, need the affirmation by God. But for most of us this affirmation comes through family and friends. We all need to be affirmed. If we don’t find we are affirmed by others, we find it almost impossible to go on.
As we begin this New Year with all its possibilities, please reach out to tell those close to you how beloved they are. It meant so much to Jesus; and it means so much to us.
Blessings for the New Year,
Rev. Joseph V. Murphy
Topics: message | No Comments »
New Blog
By Daniel Beatty | January 11, 2008
Sorry it has taken so long to redo the blog. I lost the last server and have changed over to this one. This blog will be used for weekly news, upcoming events and of course, Father Murphy’s weekly letter.
Topics: Uncategorized | No Comments »
