Good and gracious God, bless our teachers who lovingly guide our children through this time of uncertainty. Fortify them as they face new challenges in a changing world. Strengthen them as they continue to care and nuture our children.

Continue to give them open hearts to love each child as Your special gift; Open eyes to see the unique gifts each child brings to their classes; Open mouths to praise and lift our children as they accomplish their lessons; Open ears to hear each child's voice as they combine to build a community.

We thank you, loving God, for the gift of our teachers. May You protect and stregthen them in the days ahead. May we show them our deepest appreciation for their devotion to our children.

In Your name we pray, Amen.

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Heavenly Father, we ask that You bless our nurses, especially those serving on the front lines of the current pandemic. Be with them and strengthen them, Lord, as they provide care and compassion to the sick and the lonely.

Your light shines beautifully through them, As they care for the sick with the expertise of their field, A kind word, soft smile, gentle touch or patient ear. We ask You to keep them healthy, strong, and safe.

Protect all nurses and their familes as they care for others. We ask You grant them peace, patience and grace, as they serve You by serving others. Hold them close, Lord, and fill them with Your grace and mercy.

Amen

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Click here for a prayer for those who have contracted coronavirus.

Taken from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Are you tired of all the reading you've been doing on your computer screen? We encourage you to check out some of these beautiful and inspiring video reflections to foster your faith and prayer life:

• Daily Video Reflections with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
• Daily Faith Sharing with Fr. James Martin, SJ
• Messages of Hope Video Series by Holy Family Passionist Retreat Center

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• to provide an opportunity to share our feelings, thoughts and fears
• to support one another and discuss what works for stress reduction and managing anxiety
• to pray as a group and stay connected to our faith and our Lord
• to breathe deep, relax, and meditate knowing that others are by our side, if not physically, but emotionally and spiritually

As we gather together as a faith community to celebrate the beginning of the month of May, we thought you might enjoy bringing the celebration of the May crowning to your home so you can celebrate our Blessed Mother in a special way. Joe Paprocki of Loyola Press has an excellent video of how to do an"At Home" May Crowning, complete with prayers, reflections and even songs to sing to honor our Blessed Mother.

To see how CRS is responding to the world wide pandemic follow the links bellow.

CRS continues our work around the world in the most vulnerable places, especially communities that lack infrastructure to handle a healthcare crisis. Given our past experience in responding to global health crises, CRS is responding immediately and efficiently to the coronavirus. Our advocacy work is as important as ever to ensure adequate funding to respond to the COVID-19 crisis around the globe. 

Please be sure to send your Rice Bowl collections, by check, to St. John Fisher Church or donate on-line HERE

The second gift of the Holy Spirit is understanding.  If wisdom gives us the ability to think deeply and desire to view the world as God views the world, then understanding allows this information to permeate our very being causing a conversion of heart, mind and soul.  Through understanding we are transformed.  When we are less about ourselves and more about God, we become the person God created us to be.  We are reminded in Philippians 2:6 that Jesus “who though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped.” While understanding does not equate us with God, nor will it help us solve all the mysteries of our faith, it does allow us to grow closer to God by having a heightened sense insight. Understanding absolutely requires us to empty ourselves a little more so we can more fully see Christ working in and among us.  Through the exploration of scripture, a deeper connection to one another and an appreciation for our church traditions our hearts, minds, eyes and ears become more sharply attuned to our faith through the gift of understanding. 

All-powerful God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
by water and the Holy Spirit
you freed your sons and daughters from sin
and gave them new life.
Send your Holy Spirit upon them
to be their helper and guide.
Give them the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of right judgment and courage,
the spirit of knowledge and reverence.
Fill them with the spirit of wonder and awe in your presence.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.¹¹³

                                                                        ^{Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1299}

Our earth seems to be taking a collective sigh as we spend less time in our cars and more time outside, with greater sense of appreciation for our common home. Over the past few weeks we have been reminded of the beauty of God’s gift of creation as we have been forced to change our daily routines and slow down. We are more mindful that we are stewards of this great planet and of each other. Let us take this Earth Day and give thanks and praise to God for His generous gift and re-affirm our commitment to renew our relationship with one another, creation and our loving Father.

Five years ago, Pope Francis shared with the world his encyclical Laduato Si on the care of our common home. In this encyclical, Pope Francis reminded us we are all connected and responsible for our planet. He invited us to join the “conversation which includes everyone, since the environmental challenge we are undergoing, and its human roots, concern and affect us all. All of us can cooperate as instruments of God for the care of creation, each according to his or her own culture, experience, involvements and talents.” (Laudato Si, 13) We invite you to take a moment today, give thanks and reflect upon the magnitude of the world God created for us. Read Genesis 1:1-31, then take time to appreciate the darkness and light, the moon and stars, the creatures of the air, sea and ground, the plants and trees and perhaps most importantly, our fellow man. Look around with the eyes of God and acknowledge that what “God saw was good, and God blessed them.” (Gen. 1:21-22a).

The St. John Fisher Men's Prayer Group gathering this morning (4/18/2020) via ZOOM conferencing.  This is the second time we've done this, trying to keep our normal monthly - 1st Thursday evening and 3rd Saturday morning - gatherings going in the face of this necessary isolation.