Novena to Our Lady of Perpetual Help & Benediction - Saturday 5 March, 2022 @ 6.00 P.M.

[Music] oh [Music] foreign [Music] my [Music] foreign [Music] most holy and immaculate virgin and our mother mary you are our mother of perpetual help our refuge and our hope we come to you today we thank god for all the graces you have obtained for us mother our perpetual help we love you to show your love we promise to serve you always and to do all in our power to lead others to jesus your son mother of perpetual help powerful with god through your intercession obtain for us these graces the strength through trying for temptation a perfect love for jesus christ and holy death so that we will live with you and your son for all eternity mother of perpetual help bravers prayer of the assembly lord jesus christ at a word from mary your mother you changed water into wine at cana of galilee listen now to the people of god gathered here to honor our mother of perpetual help grant our petitions and accept our sincere thanks oh mother all perpetual help we call upon your most powerful name you are the safeguard of the living and the intercessor for the dying your name will always be on our lips especially in time of temptation and at the hour of death your name is confidence and power blessed lady help us whenever we call on you we will not be satisfied with merely pronouncing your name our daily lives will proclaim that you are truly our mother of perpetual help prayer and temporal wants o mother of perpetual help with the greatest confidence we kneel before you we implore your help in the problems of our daily life trials and sorrows often depress us reverses of fortune and painful privations bring misery into our lives everywhere we meet the cross have pity honors compassionate mother take care of our knees pray that we might be free from our sufferings or if it be the will of god that we should suffer still longer grant that we may endure all with love and patience these graces we asked trusting not in our merits but in your love and powerful intercession oh mother of perpetual help dear friends we have received many petitions and also thanksgivings to marry your mother i would like to read the many petitions that have been sent to us petitions praying for protection of children during travel many for visas and for their travel documents for financial assistance to meet treatment expenses for healing and marriages and spouses to be able to forgive each other for speedy recovery from many health ailments from cancer from many other ailments for an end of war in ukraine and for peace especially places that is ripped apart due to war and violence for healing from knee pain and kidney damage cancer spine problem and skin ailments to be blessed with jobs and freedom from debts for removing hurdles so that their work may continue for children to come back to catholic faith for a happy work and environment and for removal of all divisive elements at workplace for education to finish a phd for suitable catholic partners for children and siblings and many other intentions personal and for community among the many thanksgivings i would like to read for you a few one of them reads are belated but heartfelt thanks to mother mary through those through whose intercession our earthly mother pulled through a sudden and serious heart condition while abroad she was so serious that she had almost flatlined at one point currently she is stable post the operation we were slapped with a huge bill and so no means of paying it as our mother had no medical insurance through the intercession of our blessed mother the hospital miraculously waived the entire amount this is a double miracle that will be told in our family for generations to come thank you your loving daughter another one reads my thanksgiving to the sacred heart of jesus and mother mary for helping us buy a new home we are a family pray to we as a family pray to mother mary to intercede for us and finally we had our home registered last week thank you mama mary another one reads dear lady of perpetual help with a grateful heart i thank you for all that you have obtained for us through your powerful intercession in the recent past and keeping us safe during the pandemic we beg of you to continue to intercede for us and to protect us as you have always done thank you for always being with our son in studying who's studying abroad please continue to protect him and guide him in all his decisions he makes just as i was getting anxious about my job and our family's future i received the good news that my company has decided to change the retirement policy which will allow me to continue working for another five years i completely believe that this was made possible through your intercession and an answer to our prayers we pray that you continue to guide me and give me the strength health and wisdom to continue working hard and sincerely and helping to contribute meaningfully to the organization once again i thank you mother mary for all the blessings and protection dear friends i'm sure the fact that we are here praying with mary and praying to our mother mary is because of the wonderful things that she has done to us so with those sentiments of thanksgivings and also for the many petitions that we have for ourselves and for the body the church let's surrender all of them now during this litany let us pray grant wisdom and prudence to our holy father the pope our bishops our priests and all the leaders of our nation and community here is lord through meria mother grant all men and women may live as brothers and sisters in social peace and religious unity here is lord romeria mother grant that the holy spirit guide the sons and daughters of our novena family in choosing their way of life here is lord romeria the people of our novena family retain their health and that the sick regain their health according to your holy will here is lord through meriah mother grant that all people may see the light of your truth and experience the warmth of your love here is lord ramirez mother grant that our consciences be stirred constantly to respond concretely with compassion to the needs of our wounded world heroes lord rumiry our mother grant that we may care for and protect god's creation here is lord rumiry our mother around that we may promote and defend the human dignity and the sanctity of life in all stages here is lord romeria mother grant guidance and aid in all the special intentions of this novena and all the needs of those present here is lord through mary our mother grant eternal rest to all the deceased nuvinites and to the souls of all the faithful departed heroes lord ramire mother let us silently present our personal petitions to our mother of perpetual help thanksgivings accept oh lord our thanks for the new life of grace you gave us we thank you lord through our mother accept our thanks for all the graces received from the sacramental life of the church we thank you lord through miriam mother accept our thanks for the spiritual and material blessings given to our novena family we thank you lord through meriah mother let us thank our mother of perpetual help for the favors we have received let us now join in the hem mary from thy sacred image [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] a reading from the book of prophet isaiah chapter 58 verses 6 to 9. is not this the fast that i chose to lose the bonds of wickedness to undo the straps of the yoke to let oppressed go free and to break every yoke it not to share your bread with a hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house when you see the naked to cover him and not to hide yourself from your own flesh then shall your light break forth like the dawn and your healing shall spring up speedily your righteousness shall go before you the glory of the lord shall be your rare god then you shall call and the lord will answer you shall cry and he will say here i am the word of the lord thanks be to god my brothers and sisters in jesus christ what do you think is god happy when you fast and abstain whatever you abstain from well the answer to that question is why it all depends why you fast and you abstain well if i stand in front of the mirror and think to myself i think i've put on too much weight it's good to give up some meals so that i get back into shape i don't know how much of that is going to make god happy there are a lot of other types of fasting like some people fast from carbs they don't eat rice or anything that adds to their carbs why because that's another way of dieting well when we talk about fasting and abstinence during lent i'm sure we're not talking about dieting but we do it as a spiritual activity as a spiritual exercise and therefore dear friends today for this novena i've chosen to reflect with you the meaning of the season of lent and its purpose and what does it mean for us to go through these 40 plus days of fasting penance and prayer before we celebrate the great feast of the resurrection of jesus the word lent comes from the old anglo-saxon word lengthen which means spring and truly the lent is a spring time with the cha in the church a time of rebirth a time of new life change not just externally but change that happens inside us in latin the word used is quadro jessima which means 40. of course it signifies the 40 days of the season of lent apart from the sundays for us we have 40 days of fasting and prayer obviously it signifies the 40 days that jesus spent in wilderness in prayer and fasting before he started his public ministry in other languages the lenten season is named after the activities that it involves like for example in czech or in german or arabic the word for lent is means fasting period or the great fast here in the local language we call in kannada we call it as tapasukala which means a time of penance whatever it is we have the season of lent the season of lent can mean different things to different people for the church in the liturgical calendar when it comes to the celebration it's a time when our celebrations is sober down we don't have flowers at the altar we don't sing alleluia or the gloria during this time the church doesn't encourage couples to get married no big celebrations and even if they do it's done very in a very simple manner why because the church wants to encourage a time of penance a time of reflection a time of of remorse for our sins for us redemptors it is a very special time most of us redemptives are engaged during this time of lent in missions we go on special lenten missions i'm sure many of you would have participated in them for the first week we go and visit all the families in the parish and in the following week we preach the word of god for the seven days and the purpose of the entire parish mission is the renewal of individuals and also as a parish as a christian community to come close to god and to one another so it's a very busy time for us it's a time of travel it's a time of preaching it's a time of meeting new people for a good number of us it's a joyful time for some others it's a time of a very special time for prayer for for the entire church we have special prayers like we have the stations of the cross on fridays and uh in in many other traditions there are special prayers during this season of lent where we reflect on the passion and the death of jesus and finally his resurrection for those who are for but as a church as a body of course the church recommends that we fast and pray on ash wednesday and on good friday two days of obligation for all adults to to fast and also on fridays of the land to abstain from meat this is as a body that we celebrate and also people take up special time of fasting some fast for all 40 days for all the time of the season of lent some only on fridays depends on individual choices sometimes for children it's a time when they give up abstain from chocolates abstain from video games or from watching television or use of mobile phones they personally customize their own abstinence for those who drink it's 40 days of dryness not from rain but from drink and of course the wives are very happy about it for some others it's it's time of abstaining from what they like like some don't watch movies some give up things that they love like like sweets or chocolates or many other things but what i want to do today for you is or along with you is to get to the heart of this season of lent what is the meaning of it all what is the purpose if this time is a journey if 40 days is a journey where are we getting to at the end of our journey what is our final destination we pray we fast we abstain we give in arms we do many other spiritual and charitable work what is the purpose of it all in the gospel of matthew chapter 6 we hear jesus talking to us about the meaning and the way the style of arms giving of prayer and fasting in all is explanation that we see in the gospel of matthew that we hear on ash wednesday that the gospel that we read on ash wednesday jesus is driving home the central message of all our lenten practices and what is that god is should be at the heart of it all the purpose of all that we do is to bring us close to god is to help us reconnect with god once again and that relationship that rebinding with god prompts us again to be bound together with one another in love and reconciliation let's begin with prayer what is prayer saint john damasin he would say prayer is raising of one's mind and heart to god or the requesting of good things from god it's all about that connection that we make about with god when the disciples came to jesus and asked and requested him master teacher teach us to pray and what did jesus do he taught them the lord's prayer as we call the our father there are seven petitions in the lord's prayer in each one of them help us to establish that relationship with god the seven petitions beautifully summarizes the meaning of prayer for us the first petition our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name we're not praying to someone who's far away or disconnected from us but we are praying to this creator who is our god there is a relationship your kingdom come what are we praying for that the best thing that can happen to us here on earth is that his heavenly kingdom would come and that's the purpose why jesus came here on earth to establish heaven on earth when god's will is fulfilled that's heaven for us your will be done on earth as it is in heaven that's the most important thing that's the most beautiful thing that can happen every time we make a petition we are praying for peace we are praying for justice we are praying for for for those who are hungry too for healing in each one of our petitions in our prayers if you look at it it's exactly what god wants us the fullness of life so when we say thy kingdom come all our petitions are in there give us this day our daily bread when we say god we need food and you are the provider it's not only to acknowledge that we are hungry that we are in need but we also say we are dependent on you all good things come from you and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us this relationship with god is not a one-way thing it has to connect us with one another both in loving and also in reconciling if we are at odd with one another we are at odd with god too so in order to be reconciled with god we need to reconcile with one another lead us not into temptation surely the journey is not easy the evil inclination in us is going to take us away from god but we are not alone our lord holds our hand and that's why finally we say deliver us from all evil even when we fail deliver us when i'm like that lost sheep come looking for me and deliver me dear friends this is the heart of our season of lent the lord's prayer beautifully summarized if at the end of our lenten season we are able to say yes god is my father i have worked for his will to be done in me and in the world that i acknowledge that all good things come from god that's why we fast that our dependence on god is established over there because that as jesus said it's not by bread alone but from every word that comes from my father that i live the prayer beautifully summarizes and that's why we pray be it our stations of the cross or the special mission or retreats that we attend and all these the purpose is to renew our relationship with god there cannot be practices in its isolation secondly we fast and abstain again this practice of fasting as saying basil of caesarea would put it gives the for he says let us fast an acceptable and very pleasing fast to the lord true fast is the estrangement from evil temperance of tongue abstinence from anger separation from desires slander falsehood and perjury privation of these is true fasting there are two purpose of fasting one we fast out of remorse like david fasted when when he recognized his sinfulness he went he put on sackcloth and and ashes and he went on fasting why it as an act of remorse acknowledging that i have sinned that's one of the primary reasons we fast we fast because we know we have sinned and we want to ask god i'm sorry about it and i expressed that remorse by giving up our food the second reason we fast is as an spiritual exercise training our mind body and spirit to put god first instead of ourselves instead of our own needs that's our human nature in everything to seek our own good but by fasting we are saying i know i need this food but by abstaining i'm training my body my mind and my spirit to do god's will that even in my pain i will choose to do the right thing even someone hurts me i will do the right thing by forgiving even when i'm in need when i don't have much i shall share and sacrifice from the little i have because god has asked me to that's the reason we fast that's right re purpose of our abstinence and finally my dear friends arms giving this again gives the the whole picture of our lenten practice practice of our lenten penances it's not in isolation it's as a community and as much as it brings us close to god it has to bring us one another you can abstain from anything but at the end of the day at the end of the season if your life has just remained the same in relationship if you're still not talking to your brother if you still have that bickering going on within family members if you're still angry and resentful about people or spouses then your lenten practices has no meaning if you still get angry and speak hateful words to people if your behavior has not changed then our lenten practices are just externals and therefore whatever we do needs to have an effect that's the reason the church recommends that whatever we say from our fasting it has to go to help a poor person to give in arms therefore my dear friends as we begin this season of lent given to us by the church we are not alone we are with the church there are certain practices we do as a body like the common practices of fasting on days of obligation and abstinence from feasts from meat is because we do it as a body of of the church as a corporal body and therefore along with mary a mother who's here to help us as an example and also as a mother holding our hand throughout this journey let us pray that our lives may truly be transformed as we go through this season of lent and at the end of it we may truly celebrate meaningfully and sincerely the great feast of the resurrection of our lord amen blessing of the sick let us pray oh lord look upon senator servants neighboring under bodily weakness cherishing revivers whom we have created so that purified by our sufferings we may soon find ourselves healed by your mercy through christ our lord amen may the lord jesus christ be with you that he may defend you within you that he may sustain you before you that he may lead you behind you that he may protect you and above you that he may bless you may almighty god bless you the father the son and the holy spirit amen the faith of the assembly oh my god perpetual help you are both and jealous you plead for all the gifts that god grants to us you are the mother of hope for all sinners come thank you for we turn to you in your hands is jesus our salvation foreign let us now unite with the christians of all ages in praising mary and in committing ourselves to her powerful protection hail mary full of grace the lord is with thee blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy whom jesus holy mary mother of god pray for us in us now under the heart of our death amen pray for us o holy mother of god that we may be made worthy of the promise of christ let us pray oh lord jesus christ who gave us your mother mary whose wondrous image we venerate as a mother ready at every moment to help us grant that we who call on her help may always enjoy the fruit of your redemption thus we ask through you who live and reign forever amen okay [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] of grace [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] salvation [Music] thou has given them bread from heaven containing itself all sweetness let us pray oh god who in this wonderful sacrament has left us a memorial of thy passion grant us we beseech thee so to venerate the sacred mysteries of thy body and blonde that we may ever experience within us the fruit of thy redemption livest and rainest world without end [Music] divine praises blessed blessed be god bless you bless peace holy name bless you jesus christ bless be the name of jesus blessed be his most sacred heart blessed be his most mary precious holy blessed be her holy and immaculate conception blessed be her glorious assumption blessed be the name of mary virgin and my father blessed be joseph spouse blessed be god and his angels [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] the angel of the lord declared unto mary and she conceived by the holy spirit hail mary full of grace the lord is with thee blessed art among women and blessed is the fruit of thy own jesus holy mary mother of god pray for us in us now under the hour of our daytime behold the handmaid of the lord be done unto me according to your word hail mary full of grace the lord is with thee blessed art among women and blessed is the fruit of thy um jesus holy mary mother of god pray for our sinners now when did they are of our death and the word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us hail mary full of grace the lord is with thee blessed art among women and blessed is the fruit of thy own jesus holy mary mother of god pray for us in us now under the hour of our daytime and pray for us the holy mother of god that we may be made worthy of the promise of christ let us pray for your lord your grace amen may the divine assistance always remain with us amen may the faithful departure through the mercy of god rest in peace amen amen the father and of the son and of the holy spirit amen dear friends thank you for joining us do join us tomorrow as we begin the lenten mission to the inauguration mass at 9 15 followed by the mission preaching and in the evening at 7 00 pm we have the rosary and brief adoration as well good night and god bless you [Music]

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Length: 40min 5sec (2405 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 05 2022