The Church as a field hospital, is a popular image for what the local parish is to be. When he first became the Holy Father, Pope Francis, used this image of the Church to communicate to the world the Gospel message. Here at Sts. Joseph and Paul, it is obvious that this is part of the vision. For the last two months, I have been in awe with the outreach the parish has internationally and within the local community. The Block Party, St. Vincent De Paul, The Knights of Columbus, visits to the home bound, the hospital, nursing homes and the mission trips to Haiti are just a small example of what is happening in this parish. The parish is a field hospital.
As Catholics, we do these things not because it is the good thing to do, not because someone else is Catholic or a baptized Christian. We do these things because we are Catholic. Our Catholic faith teaches us that loving God and loving our neighbor are two inseparable realities. With the long tradition here of outreach, Father Kalombo and I would like to emphasize an additional image of the parish church. We both see the parish as a field hospital, and a parish family. We want to introduce a third image of the local parish. The third image is that the parish is a school of prayer. The family is where we learn about God. It is from our family that we learn to pray.
At Sts. Joseph and Paul, we are intentional in our discipleship. We are very intentional in the outreach that we do; likewise, we are going to be intentional in how we pray. Every Thursday evening and Friday we have adoration in the parish. We are going to add another hour of adoration to our prayer schedule, and on Sundays we will have adoration at 3pm. The Sunday prayer we are calling the Cenacle prayer. Cenacle is the word used for the gathering of the apostles in the upper room when the Lord appeared to them. It is the place of powerful intercessory prayer. The hour of prayer, then is a time for silent prayer, intercessory prayer and a time to receive from the Lord. Both Father Kalombo and I will be present for this time of prayer. The last fifteen minutes both of us will be available to pray with you in the back of the Church.
If you find life too busy, your schedule too hectic, or you need a time to rest with the Lord, please consider joining us in praying for the parish and one another.
