Bulletin for the Week of July 20, 2008

MANY THANKS!!
Thanks for your generous contribution last weekend of $1713 towards the costs of fuel for this coming Winter season

MISSIONARY PROJECTS OF THE DIOCESE OF OGDENSBURG:
Each year in July the special collection for the Missionary Projects of the Diocese of Ogdensburg takes place. It is an opportunity for you to support the missionary endeavors of this Diocese. This collection will be taken up on the weekend of July 26-27. Sr. Cindy Sullivan, BVM will be our guest missionary this year. Sr.Cindy is a native of Massena, New York. Sr.Cindy was an accomplished golfer and had moved to California to try her hand at becoming a professional golfer. After she decided that she did not want to "work" at playing golf. Sr. Cindy left California to join the Peace Corps. Sister thought that she would be heading to Africa but God lead her to Quito, Ecuador where she worked with a Jesuit and a Sister of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary for four and a half years. She joined the Sisters of Charity while still in Quito in 1978. Sr.Cindy has been in Quito, Ecuador, as a volunteer or a Director, for more than 33 years of a very unique program of development for the entire family of working children known as The Working Boy’s Center- A Family of Family . The Center serves over 2000 members of their 400 families six days a week. It is very unique in it’s insistence that the families need to become agents of change through the many educational and social programs offered them. There is not a member so poor that he or she cannot do something for someone else. The second collection next weekend will be your special gift to help this mission in Quito, Ecuador.

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time: In today's Gospel reading from Matthew, Jesus offers us three parables-the sowing of weeds among the wheat, the mustard seed, and the leavened bread. How do these parables affect our lives today? In our secular world, we receive words of "weeds" along with the word of God. Like yeast in bread, it is up to us to allow which ones to grow within us. But like even the tiniest mustard seed, if we nurture God's word in our hearts, it will grow greater than we could imagine. Remember the master's admonition to wait until the time was right to gather the weeds separately from the wheat. So, too, does the Church in practicing penance and renewal with her members. It is not yet the time for our harvest, but we know that if we stand strong to the weeds around us through our faith, we will finally be gathered separately and welcomed into the kingdom of heaven.

THE YEAR OF SAINT PAUL:
The Lord keeps in our minds the wonderful things He has done. He is compassion and love; He always provides for his faithful. St. Paul reminds us that the Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes…. Christ is Our Hope and He will search your heart. Let your heart be filled with good intentions and desires and the Spirit will fulfil them. The Spirit will always intercede for you if it is according to God’s will. Lord, may we always remember your only Son Jesus who died for us on the Cross so that we may experience forgiveness and be brought to eternal life. St. Paul, Apostle of the Gentiles, pray for us.

BASIC WAYS OF PRAYING:
Our communication with others take many forms. Sometimes we make small talk. Other times, we discuss business. Still other times, we share intenses personal issues Our communication with God -- our prayer -- also includes a variety of forms. The Church identifies the following forms of prayer:

Adoration--acknowledgiing God’s greatness
Petition--asking God to address our personal needs
Intercession--praying on behalf of the needs of others
Thanksgiving--thanking God for all good gifts
Praising--joyfully acknowledging that God is God.