Prayer For Priests

O Jesus, I pray for Your faithful and fervent priests, for Your unfaithful and tepid priests; for Your priests laboring at home or abroad in distant mission fields; for Your tempted priests; for Your lonely and desolate priests; for Your young priests; for Your dying priests; for the souls of Your priests in purgatory.

But above all I recommend to You the priests dearest to me: the priest who baptized me; the priest who absolved me from my sins; the priest at whose Masses I assisted and who gave me Your Body and Blood in Holy Communion; the priests who taught and instructed me; all the priests to whom I am indebted in any other way.  Jesus, keep them all close to Your heart, and bless them abundantly in time and in eternity.  Amen.

MRI results

On May 11, I had an MRI which showed that my brain tumor has shrunk "slightly" from the radiation therapy which ended in April. The tumor is about the same size, but is not as dense. It is good news that the radiation did some good, but I still have a long road ahead.

For the next 18 months I will be on a high dose of chemotherapy in an attempt to slow the growth of the tumor, so I ask for your continued prayers.

Please be assured of my prayers for all of you!

Archbishop Burke Comments on the Notre Dame Scandal

On May 8th, 2009, Archbishop Raymond Burke, Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, commented on the University of Notre Dame's decision to honor President Obama at its upcoming commencement. Despite President Obama's support for abortion and other anti-life positions, he will be presented with an honorary Doctor of Law degree at the University on May 17th.

At the 2009 Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C., the Archbishop stated: “The profound granting of an honorary doctorate” by Notre Dame to President Obama is “a source of the gravest scandal." "Catholic institutions cannot offer any platform to, let alone honor, those who teach and act publicly against the moral law. He continued: “If we as individuals are not willing to accept the burdens and the suffering” of the Catholic witness to the right to life, “we are not worthy of the name Catholic.”

Source: http://www.ncregister.com/daily/archbishop_burke_is_notre_dame_catholic/

Parish Assignment - Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Dunn, NC

For my first parish assignment, the bishop has assigned me to Sacred Heart Catholic Church in the small town of Dunn, NC.  The current pastor is Fr. Paul Parkerson.  While I have been living here on the weekends since February 2009, I began the full assignment in early May.

This parish has a very interesting history, and dates back to the earliest days of Catholicism in North Carolina.  Later posts will summarize the founding of the parish.

Father Parkerson's recent renovations have restored the parish to its original beauty.  A statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus adorns the front lawn:

Next to the church steps, a shrine in remembrance of the victims of abortion: "In mourning for all the unborn known only to God, who had the gift of life taken from them by man's selfishness."

The front of the parish.  On the left is the originally rectory, built in 1916.  It is currently used as the parish office:

The parish at dusk:

The magnificent crucifix in the sacristy:

The interior of the church:

The original altar from the founding of the parish in the early 1900's:

The wonderful crucifix over the altar:

Saint Louis IX:

Saint Michael:

St. Therese of Lisieux:

The chapel in the current rectory:

More to come on the very interesting history of the parish.....

A Wonderful New Blog

The Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer have started a new blog: The Alphonsianum.  

As they report: 

"The purpose of this new blog is to give us a place to publish some of the works of our Holy Father St. Alphonsus.  The title 'Alphonsianum' is the name given to the section in monastery libraries that is consecrated to St. Alphonsus.  Now we will have some inspired words from the Most Zealous Doctor close at hand.  Eventually, we will also publish images of the great Doctor and articles about him.  

We have started with the right little work: Short, practical, and useful for every situation of life from living peacefully with the weather to accepting the heaviest crosses: Perhaps this is the first time it has been published on the Internet, perhaps not, but here it is: the little work called 'Conformity to the Will of God.'

This has been called the 'heavenly' little work of St. Alphonsus.

This is a document to print out and read many times.

In this little work St. Alphonsus teaches about true holiness. It is edifying that having written it, he used it repeatedly himself and, when enfeebled by old age, he often asked for it to be read to him. If this great ascetic, monk, bishop, Saint and Doctor of the Church used this little document so frequently and fruitfully himself, surely we would all profit from being familiar with it."

Be sure to donate to these monks, who intercede for us before the Throne of the Most High.  Also, be sure to look into their Purgation Archconfraternity.