The Newsletter for St. Joseph's
Prayer Apostolate of Mary Immaculate

May 2008

Dear Prayer Apostolates,

We will meet this Saturday, May 3rd for the 8:15 a.m. Mass and rosary. Following our celebration we will meet in the back of the church for refreshments and listen to a 40 minute CD entitled: The Seven Secrets of the Eucharist by Vinny Flynn. Vinny Flynn is the founder of Mercysong Ministries and is known to many as the man who sings the Divine Mercy Chaplet on EWTN. Along with his wife Donna, he has been serving the Church in active ministry for over thirty years through teaching, writing, retreats, speaking, counseling, and music. This CD is based on his new book from Ignatius Press, Seven Secrets of the Eucharist, and is the fruit of a lifetime of research and prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. Mr. Flynn bases a lot of his presentation on the Encyclical of Pope John Paul II, The Great, entitled: Eccesia de Eucharitia “On the Eucharist in its relationship to the Church” published on Holy Thursday (April 17) 2003. In this encyclical Pope John Paul II gave us a blue print/a plan for the next Millennium (2000-3000). It is: “To contemplate the face of Christ with Mary”.

The Seven “Secrets” of the Eucharist as presented by Vinny Flynn are:
1. Jesus is ALIVE – Today, Tomorrow and always!
2. Christ is NOT alone. – The Trinity is present.
3. There is only ONE Mass – One continuous Mass - Heaven on Earth
4. Not just one miracle – The essence of all the miracles combined.
5. We don’t just receive – We enter INTO communion – Give and take.
6. Every reception of communion is different
7. No limit to the number you can receive. – Sacramental and Spiritual Communion.

In Pope John Paul II’s encyclical on the Eucharist he devotes an entire chapter to Mary: At the School of Mary – Woman of the Eucharist. Quoting from this chapter of the encyclical Pope John Paul II wrote: “The Magnificat expresses Mary's spirituality, and there is nothing greater than this spirituality for helping us to experience the mystery of the Eucharist. The Eucharist has been given to us so that our life, like that of Mary, may become completely a Magnificat!”

Our hope is that by listening to this reflection by Vinny Flynn you will have a new personal “Emmaus” experience (an Ah Ha! moment) “We recognized HIM in the breaking of the bread.” (Luke 24:35).

On this first Saturday of May, let us remember those children who will be receiving their First Holy Communion at the 10 a.m. Mass. May they always remember that Jesus comes to us in a very personal way each time we receive the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Yours in Jesus, Mary and Joseph,,

Francine and Gary Bauchan

Pope Benedict XVI General Intention

“That Christians may use literature, art, and mass media to create a culture which defends and promotes the values of the human person”

            This month Pope Benedict XVI asks us to pray for those whose handiwork fills the media. We pray that artists of all kinds will create works that promote the dignity of the human person. The Pope urges artists and media executives to represent people as we are, creatures made in God’s image, In his 2008 Message for World Communications Day, he said,” Man thirsts for truth.” We know this is true because many works of art owe their success to the fact that they present the “truth, beauty, or greatness of the person, including the religious dimension.” Christian artists are called not to reject, but to redeem ungodly culture – as indeed they have been doing for twenty centuries. The history of western civilization is studded like the night sky with Christian works of art, greater and lesser stars by which we still steer. When the novelist Dostoevsky said “Beauty will save the world,” he meant that true beauty in nature or in art is a revelation of God that evokes the response of faith. Barbara Nicolosi, Hollywood writer and teacher, asks Christians to stop complaining about immorality in the media and get busy ourselves making programs that are both morally and artistically good. “Our efforts to make film and television in a ‘safe’ Christian envelope will not be blessed,” says Nicolosi. “We need to be in the middle of the industry, on the lots on the sets and in the network and studio offices, working side by side with those who do not share our worldview, so as to bring God where he is not” Whatever our circumstances, isn’t that the evangelization we are all called to? The beauty of God should so shine through us that people we encounter will know they are infinitely loveable, infinitely valuable. We can do this with arts and the media, we can do this with our service, and we can also do it through our prayers. Let us pray that the beauty of God goes out into the whole world through the arts and mass media, drawing many into close friendship with Jesus Christ.

Mission Intention

“That the Virgin Mary, Star of evangelization and Queen of the Apostles, may still guide missionaries with maternal affection, just as she accompanied the Apostles in the early stages of the Church.”

            Mary took part in the first novena. From the Ascension until Pentecost – nine days – Mary and the apostles prayed. It was natural for her to join the apostles as they waited in obedient prayer. She was like a mother to them. Jesus had already asked St. John to take her into his home as his own mother. She was there when the Holy Spirit fell on them. They received the power Jesus promised them to go out and proclaim salvation to the ends of the earth. Recognizing that Mary supported the apostles by her motherly love and prayers, Benedict XVI asks us to pray that she may still accompany missionaries. She remains a model of virtue, wisdom, and love. She also shows us the role of prayer in evangelization. People are not converted except by the Holy Spirit. So the best way to support missionaries is to pray that the Holy Spirit will convert people to believe in Jesus and come into the Church. Ideally, missionaries, indispensable to evangelization, become vehicles of the grace of God just like Mary. You and I are privileged to serve the world and the Church, to join with Mary, our Mother, and Mother of the Church.