Peace be with you all! 100 Days of Prayer Our prayer today is part of a joint effort of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious called “100 Days of Prayer, Fasting and Advocacy.”    It started on Ash Wednesday and ends on the Feast of Corpus Christi.  Every Congregation is asked to choose a day during that period that they commit to pray, fast and advocate in response to the situation of our Country and our World. Song:  Peace be not anxious by Lori True https://youtu.be

Black History Month Introduction February is the month that was declared Black History Month in 1976 by President Gerald Ford.  For 50 years we’ve had the opportunity to honor the too often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.   Song:    For All the World –by Jan Novotka https://youtu.be/G1hxGL-0-FE?si=p6SsgnRVDvEwDbwo For all the world we gather here! For all the world we come, We gather now as one, one in love.   Loo

Light in our Darkness Introduction Ash Wednesday is the beginning of Lent, a time of lengthening days, when each day we experience increasing light in the midst of darkness.  Today as ashes are placed on our foreheads in the shape of a cross, we are reminded of    our humanness, its limitations as well as its promise in Jesus.  Let us pray for one another as we enter this Lenten journey, an opportunity for spiritual renewal leading to the celebration of New Life and Jesus’ Re

Heal Our World Introduction   Violence – in all its vicious forms we have experienced and that has been inflicted upon us -  is one of the hardest realities we have to live with, to forgive, and to somehow absorb.  We only need to look at our own contemporary histories to find this violence in endless experiences: wars, occupations, random mass killings, school shootings, hating others and seeking to exterminate their enemies whom they see as different from them, slow starvat

SISTER Alma Bill, OLVM, age 104, a resident of Heritage Pointe of Warren, died on the afternoon of Friday, January 30, 2026. Sister Alma entered the Congregation of Our Lady of Victory Missionary Sisters on October 30, 1947, and made first vows on August 5, 1950. She served in the missions in California, Florida, Missouri, Arizona, and Indiana. Sister returned to Victory Noll in June of 2010 to volunteer in various ways. Sister Alma was born in Arcadia, Wisconsin on March 24,

Celebrating St. Josephine Bakhita of Sudan, patroness of human trafficking survivors   Introduction :  Bakhita was born in southern Sudan in 1869. As a young girl, she was kidnapped and sold into slavery. Sold and resold in the markets of El Obeid and Karthoum, she was treated brutally by her captors. In 1883, she was bought by an Italian diplomat who sent her to Italy to work as a maid for the daughter of a friend studying with the Canossian Daughters of Charity. It was ther

Choosing Nonviolence as Gospel Witness Introduction We pray in earnest today that there will be a resolution to the violence and injustice that is occurring across our country especially in Minneapolis.  And we pray for ourselves, that we may each experience a greater peace in our own hearts. Song:  Lord, I Want to Be a Chrisitan by Lori True https://youtu.be/dGC5juqHH7Y?si=jxv9JkDOTcp6eZ6C   In my heart, in my heart, Lord, I want to be a Christian in my heart. Lord, I want t

There is One Body and One Spirit Introduction Every year, Christians around the world come together to observe the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.  During this week, which runs from January 18 through January 25, they celebrate the truth that “What unites us is much greater than what divides us”  (Pope John Paul II, Ut Unum Sint, 20) The theme this year comes from St Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians:  “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hop

Christ Our Light Introduction As we draw to the close of the Christmas Season with the Feast of the Epiphany and the Baptism of Jesus, the following words of Jim Wallis are especially timely and meaningful: As many have done before, it is time again to trust the light of Christ, join the light of Christ, and take the light of Jesus into the world—believing that the darkness, in the end, cannot overcome the light. Christ in Crisis:  Why We Need to Reclaim Jesus In the words of

Message of Pope Leo XIV for the 59 th  World Day of Peace   January 1, 2026 INTRODUCTION From the words of Pope Leo XIV,… “Peace be with you all:  Towards and ‘unarmed and disarming’ peace.  Peace be with you.  This ancient greeting, still in use today in many cultures, was infused with new life on the evening of Easter on the lips of the risen Jesus.  “Peace by with you” is his Word that does not merely desire peace, but truly brings about a lasting transformation in those w

Caring for the Immigrant Introduction Scripture scholars remind us that caring for the stranger (variously named as the alien, the foreigner, the immigrant, the refugee, the pilgrim), is one of the most often repeated commandments in the Hebrew Scriptures, second only to the law to worship only the one God. Jesus also challenges us to care for the stranger because whatever we do for the most vulnerable among us, He counts as done to Him. Mantra :  Monica Brown, Quiet My Soul:

Empowering Others Introduction Monday of this week we celebrated the feast of Our Blessed Mother on December 8, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.   We remember how Mary was “full of God’s Grace, God’s love” and we continue to turn to Mary for her intercession today, as we experience the needs in our world. Song: Holy Mother https://youtu.be/x9uYu4R2nk8?si=u_9jCch7Z-dZhbG0   Holy Mother, where are you? Tonight, I feel broken in two I've seen the stars fall from the sky H

A Call to Non-Violence Introduction:  Today as we begin this Season of Advent, we reflect on nonviolence as a way of living.  We are each called to follow the nonviolent Jesus on the road to peace. As Pope Benedict the XVI observed: “For Christians, nonviolence is not merely tactical behavior but a person’s way of being, the attitude of one who is so convinced of God’s love and power that he or she is not afraid to tackle evil with the weapons of love and truth alone.” Mantra

Thanksgiving Introduction Our Prayer for the World this week will focus on Thanksgiving.  As we celebrate our National Holiday tomorrow, it is fitting to offer prayers of gratitude and petition. We will begin with a song of “grateful praise!” Song:  For the Beauty of the Earth, Mormon Tabernacle Choir https://youtu.be/6BPq3sJa-FA?si=yxjfIG86yq2fkWmn     For the Beauty of the earth, for the beauty of the skies, For the love which from our birth, over and around us lies: (Refra

Ecological Crisis, a Threat to Peace Introduction The UN climate conference in Belém, Brazil, COP30 (Conference of Parties), is taking place from  November 10-21, 2025 .  More than 50,000 people have registered to attend this year’s COP in Belem, including journalists, climate scientists, Indigenous leaders and representatives from 195 countries.  The Conference will have no representation from Washington.  President Trump cited the economic burden of climate initiatives on

Veterans Day and True Patriotism   Introduction Since yesterday was Veterans Day, that is the focus of our prayer today.  Veterans Day originated as Armistice Day on November 11, 1919.    It commemorated the end of World War I and the signing of the armistice in 1918, a step toward negotiating a peace treaty.   In 1954, at the urging of veterans and others, Congress changed it to Veterans Day in gratitude to all Veterans for their sacrifice and service to the Country.  While

Culture of Exclusion Introduction In the present situation of our world, we are becoming more acutely aware of our oneness, our connectedness.  What happens in one part of the world in terms of war, use of Earth’s resources, etc. affects us all.  However, too often folks are excluded instead of included when decisions or laws affecting them are made.  Today we will pray for those who are unfairly excluded from the economic, political or cultural life of society, thr rights an

Respect for All Life Introduction October is Respect Life Month .  The basis for all Catholic social teaching is the belief that all life is sacred and that the dignity of the human person is the foundation of a moral vision for society.   The U.S. Catholic Bishops have highlighted 7 key themes that are at the heart of our Catholic social tradition.  In our prayer today we will focus on three of these themes.  We will also call to mind the Corporate Statement  we made as a Co

Faith and Love for the Poor   Introduction The focus of our prayer today will be Pope Leo XIV’s first major papal document, “Dilexi Te.”  In this apostolic exhortation, Leo admonishes many Christians who may have forgotten, to re-read the Gospels to discover that faith and love for the poor go hand in hand. Song: What Have We Done For These Poor Ones by Lori True https://youtu.be/m9_dAiMfJfs?si=4L9ObIUU90P7AjzN   What have we done for the poor ones, the cold ones The ones who

Praise of God Through Creation Introduction We are nearing the end of this year’s Season of Creation which culminates on October 4, the...