Saint Alphonsus Liguori was born near Naples, Italy September 27, 1696.   He was a hard-working student and received his degree in law at age 16. Shortly after, he became a famous lawyer. In 1723, he lost a case and, in spite of parental opposition, he decided to become a priest.

He preached with zeal and in 1732 God called him to found the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (the Redemptorists). Alphonsus wrote numerous books, worked relentlessly through missions and offered spiritual direction and peace to people through the sacrament of Reconciliation.  Although he was sickly for much of his life, Alphonsus’ final years were marked by very serious and debilitating physical ailments; especially arthritis, which caused him great pain, left him permanently bent forward, and confined him to a wheelchair.

He died August 1, 1787, was canonized in 1839, and was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church in 1871.

This Sunday the Redemptorist order across America, will be offering the first-ever national ‘Blessing for Arthritics’ after each and every Mass at their parishes and retreat centers across the country.

The blessings will be held on this particular Sunday because August 1 is the feast day of our founder, and Patron of our parish.  In addition to being a doctor of the Church, St Alphonsus is also the patron saint of those who suffer from rheumatoid arthritis since he, himself, suffered from severe arthritis for the last forty years of his life!

“This is the first blessing of its kind, as far as we know, on a national scale, for people who suffer the chronic and debilitating agonies of arthritis, fibromyalgia and other serious physical conditions,” said the Very Reverend Thomas D Picton, CSsR, provincial superior of the Denver Province. “We hope this is the beginning of an annual tradition that brings people to our churches to ask for the blessing and intercession of our great saint on his feast day and to beseech Our Father in Heaven to grant these suffering souls deliverance from their pains.”

Fr. Bernie Carlin, C.Ss.R.

Dear Parishioners,

Some four weeks ago, after returning from New Orleans, I drove to Chicago to see my surgeon because there was something just not right about my leg.  Go figure!  When I saw him he asked when I wanted to be operated on because the retinaculum was torn again and he was going to have to repair it.  I was waiting for a date out about a week and he gave me three hours and an appointment in his OR.

Later that day, while speaking on the phone with a friend I needed to adjust my position and asked for a pause in our conversation.  As I tried to move I could not because there was something wrong with my leg.  Much to my surprise (aka shock), there was a very large cast on my leg that ran from my big toe to my hip. I then realized the cast and I were going to be friends for three weeks, no matter what.  Fortunately, they modified the cast so I could walk with it.

Learning to walk with a cast on your leg is not easy and puts a hitch in one’s giddy-up.  I learned to walk with a distinct hitch as I pulled the weight of the cast forward with my leg.  Wednesday, July 7^th, the cast was cut off of my leg to the great joy of my friend and surgeon.  My leg had not atrophied as expected and the surgical site looked great.  Henry looked at me and said: “I think we have finally come to a point, Denis, where our professional relationship may be at an end.  Thank goodness.”

Dr. Henry Finn is a world class surgeon, meticulous to a fault, and greatly frustrated by the set of circumstances that has kept our professional relationship alive from January 5^th until now.  Our friendship and love for each other has grown deeply through all of this.  Leaving Weiss Memorial the other day was like leaving behind a family of wonderful friends and caretakers just like all of you.

The cast was replaced with a Velcro brace.  The amazing thing about this brace is that it doesn’t weigh anything near what the cast weighs, but there is still a hitch in my giddy-up.  I have learned how to walk with the cast on and now I have to learn how to walk with the brace.  A whole new set of muscles and a whole new set of motions, there is much to laugh about and many great lessons to learn.  Just like in life, we learn in every direction we turn.

It is strange, because through all of this I have experienced a wonderful peace.  I am not a great patient, nor do I like being taken care of, but I have had to surrender to a process that would bring me to wellness and it was rather DIFFICULT.  Never once was I alone through all of this: from Henry and his team of physicians and nurse anesthetists, to the floor nurses and therapists who cared for me as if I was one of their children, to a team of doctors here in Grand Rapids who literally saved my leg from amputation, to all of you who lifted up my spirits and held me in your hearts.  Just like in the poem Footsteps, “…you carried me when I felt most alone.”

By the way, the new knee works just fine and I have realized I have a lot to be grateful for, God is good!  Here’s to a summer of gratitude and hopefully some golf.

Blessings and prayers, Fr. Denis

Dear Parishioners,

As July continues to fade, I think of how good God is and how He provides not only what is necessary, but lots of goodies that are extras, wrapped in beauty along with doses of nourishment.  Just look around you and see all that is in bloom, even an ugly beet; a vegetable that nourishes.  I quote a wise person, “Stop and smell the roses.” Do we? In our rush of daily activities we can plod along day after day seeing only what touches us instead of reaching out and touching.  When we reach out and connect, we become more alive. It shows in our smile and our steps are a little lighter.  Why?  We take what is otherwise just out there and add the flavor of ourselves.  Let’s not chase the seasons.  We wait for summer, and then rush through it looking to what the next season might bring. But, if we pause, we then open ourselves to the gifts that are free for the taking. It becomes the energy to get us through the rough and tumble parts of life. If we don’t accept the extras that God provides, we often sing the song, “Is that all there is?”   No, it is not all there is. Live this summer, begin enjoying the extras God is providing. When we do that we get a small but important insight into how generous and loving God is.  Let us accept his gifts and then we can give the perfect gift, our gratefulness and sharing this love with neighbors and friends.

Peace be with you. Now go enjoy, but don’t forget to share.

Brother Andy

Dear Parishioners,

In our Gospel this morning we hear the story of the Good Samaritan. Jesus uses this story to help us understand who our neighbors are and how we relate with them in the course of our lives. Hopefully, we approach and treat all people with respect, understanding and care. Hopefully, we deal with all people the way we wish to be dealt with by others. Hopefully, we are the good Samaritans of today.

To help our reflection on this theme, permit me to go back quite a few years to my neighborhood at the time of my growing up. I lived on a normal suburban street with houses on either side of my parents. Looking at our house from the front, the house on the left hand side was home to what became life long friends of our family. The family in the house on our right side, we hardly knew and rarely interacted with them. Both were neighbors, but they really weren’t. With one family we did things and got to know them. With the other we didn’t. We didn’t dislike them; we just didn’t do anything with them. We never knew them.

I think that most of us could have similar stories to tell. We associate with people all the time. We become friends with some and some we never know. So what does the gospel story for today really tell us? Who are our neighbors? Do we have to like all equally, be friends to all? Go out of our way to be there for all we come into contact with? I think Jesus is saying that we do. And boy is that ever so difficult. Is God expecting too much from us? Can he be serious? Isn’t there some way to modify or explain what he really means? No, I think not. Jesus, I think, wants us to do it, with him, and to do it the very best that we can. Being good Samaritans isn’t easy but it’s not impossible.

Let’s go with God and with Jesus be good to all. Let’s help each other out the best we can along the way. See you later, neighbor.
 
Fr. Andy

Dear Parishioners,

The other night as I was trying to fall asleep the sound of fireworks kept exploding outside my window. It reminded me of fireworks on the beach each Fourth of July as I was growing up in Rockaway. My childhood was steeped in patriotic American traditions that filled New York City as we celebrated our Independence as a Nation from England, each Fourth of July.

Another prominent memory that is prompted by the Independence Holiday is when I was an American GI serving our country in the late sixties, early seventies. Viet Nam was not a popular war and American servicemen were not always graciously accepted for who they were: Young Americans defending our Country’s rights and liberties.

Today is a greatly different story as American Corporations honoring our men and women who serve and protect this country and its rights with advertisements honoring our troops. My favorite is the Anheuser Busch add showing our troops parading through an airport to great applause. In my eyes, this is how it should be. Our G.I.’s should be applauded everywhere they go. THANK YOU should be the words that easily roll off our lips for what they are giving up, to undertake and to protect.

On this Fourth, while the hot dog eating record is being contested on the streets of Coney Island, to the Boston Pops playing John Phillip Sousa on the banks of the Charles River, to the National concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, to fireworks exploding over Lady Liberty in the New York Harbor, let us, a grateful nation take great pride in our men and women.

So celebrate this Fourth of July in a special way. If you see a G.I. thank them for what they are doing and risking. Begin your Fourth by saying a prayer for their safety, and in gratitude for the gift they give to each of us, our national freedoms protected by these American Men and Women: they are our children or just maybe, the kid next store.

May God watch over and protect them and bring them home safely to us.

God Bless America, Happy Fourth of July

Fr. Denis, C.Ss.R, USAF