Sacred Heart Girl’s vocation Club

Today July 31,2015 Fr. Murray embarks on his new adventure with our prayers, our blessings and our gratitude for his many years of service and ministry at Sacred Heart and St. Gerard. The Redemptorists  have reassigned him to Our Lady of the Hills Catholic Church in Columbia SC .  Fr. Murray has been the pastor of Sacred Heart and St. Gerard for four years.  Travel Safe our friend, you will truly be missed!!!

It is now time to say goodbye to our Pastor, Father John F. Murray C.Ss.R. Unfortunately Fr. Murray will be leaving the communities of Sacred Heart and St Gerard at the end of July. The Redemptorists  have reassigned him to a parish in Columbia, SC. Fr. Murray has been the pastor of Sacred Heart and St. Gerard for four years. Fr. Murray embarks on the new adventure with our prayers, our blessings and our gratitude for his many years of service and ministry at Sacred Heart. You are invited to join Fr. Murray and the other parishioners for a farewell Mass on Saturday, July 25th at 4pm. A reception will follow in the Social Hall.

VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL  

More than 100 participants attended this years Vacation Bible School theme ‘SonSpark Labs’ Discovering God’s Plan 4 U = Jesus.

Thanks so much!!!! To all our wonderful volunteers, for all their help and hard work in making this years Vacation Bible School a great Success!!!

June 27th, 2015 the Redemptorists  celebrated the 150th anniversary of the handing over of the image of the Our Lady of Perpetual Help, by Pope Pius IX to the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptorists) in 1866 to “Make Her known and loved throughout the world”. The theme of this anniversary is “Our Lady of Perpetual Help Icon of Love” and it will conclude on June 27^th,  2016.

This feast has been celebrated by the Redemptorists on the third Sunday of July since 1749.

“Rightly therefore does the Second Vatican Council teach: “The truth is that only in the mystery of the Incarnate Word does the mystery of man take on light. For Adam, the first man, was a type of him who was to come (Rom 5:14), Christ the Lord. Christ the new Adam, in the very revelation of the mystery of the Father and of his love, fully reveals man to himself and brings to light his most high calling.” And the Council continues: “He who is the ‘image of the invisible God’ (Col 1:15), is himself the perfect man who has restored in the children of Adam that likeness to God which had been disfigured ever since the first sin. Human nature, by the very fact that it was assumed, not absorbed, in him, has been raised in us also to a dignity beyond compare. For, by his Incarnation, he, the son of God, in a certain way united himself with each man. He worked with human hands, he thought with a human mind. He acted with a human will, and with a human heart he loved. Born of the Virgin Mary, he has truly been made one of us, like to us in all things except sin,” he, the Redeemer of man.”

— Redemptor hominis, The Redeemer of Man, Blessed John Paul II, 1979

St. Alphonsus founded the Redemptorist congregation in 1732. It was an association of priests and brothers living a common life, dedicated to the imitation of Christ, and working mainly in popular missions for peasants in rural areas.

St. Alphonsus is known for his moral theology, which went through 60 editions in the century following him, it concentrated on the practical and concrete problems of pastors and confessors.

Alphonsus was known for his moderation and gentleness when it came to moral theology.

St. Alphonsus was known above all as a practical man who dealt in the concrete rather than the abstract. His life is indeed a “practical” model for the everyday Christian who has difficulty recognizing the dignity of Christian life amid the swirl of problems, pain, misunderstanding and failure. Alphonsus suffered all these things. He is a saint because he was able to maintain an intimate sense of the presence of the suffering Christ through it all.

Quote: Someone once remarked, after a sermon by Alphonsus, “It is a pleasure to listen to your sermons; you forget yourself and preach Jesus Christ.”

O.L.P.H. Junior Legion of Mary

• To teach the gospel message revealed by Jesus and proclaimed by the Church.
• To build a community where Christian values are modeled and developed.
• To pray and worship together in order to foster a deep, personal relationship with Jesus.
• To practice the Christian call to service by meeting the direct needs of the global community and by promoting principles of peace and justice.

We are grateful to two Sisters of Saint Joseph of St. Augustine, Sr. Kathleen Power and Sr. Josephine Marie Melican, who have accepted our invitation to speak at all Masses for the weekend to explain the lay Associates of the SSJ ; who we are, what we do, who can join and what is the process.

Sister Kathleen will present a basic understanding of the call to religious life in the light of Pope Francis’ dedication of this year to the Consecrated Life.

She will issue an invitation to prayerfully consider becoming a lay associate of the Sisters’ of St. Joseph to all men and women of our parish.

And, finally, she will invite all parishioners to gather with them after Mass in our social hall for questions/answers and discussion.

These two Sisters are very near and dear to us at Sacred Heart as they facilitate our Girls Vocation Club monthly.

We hope that everyone will consider joining the Sisters after each Mass to gain knowledge of the Associate program and visit with Sr. Kathleen and Sr. Josephine Marie.