NOTE FROM FR. CEKADA: Our faithful usher for the 5:45 Mass, John Seyfried, offered a little poem and a short letter addressed to the parishioners who recently left us.
Prayer for the New Year
Bring your sheep back home,
Sweet Jesus, call them back to Thee,
Save them from wandering through
That fog of detraction, at the
Doorstep of calumny.
Give them the strength and sight to see
The way that will lead them home.
So that the road to nowhere, that they’ve
Mistakenly chosen, they’ll no
Longer want to roam.
And when they show up, at the gate,
To where love and charity abide.
They’ll be warmly welcomed and
Invited in, as our love for them
We can’t hide.
And please, Sweet Jesus, remove from us
both, any trace of pride.
— John Seyfried
Dear Friends,
How often have we heard the words; “Go in peace, your sins are forgiven you”? And how often have we heard those words repeated time and time again, for the same sins confessed over and over again?
More often then I’m willing to admit, I’m afraid.
And that’s why our priests are so thoroughly trained in forgiving and forgetting. And the longer they’re priests and the more time they spend in the trenches of the confessional, the more the forgive and forget thread becomes a part of the fabric of their very being.
St. Peter once asked our Lord, “How many times must I forgive my neighbor? Seven times? And our Lord said to Peter, “ Seventy times seven!” Forgiving and forgetting go hand in hand in this world if we have any hope in ever making it to the next.
Which reminds me of something I was once told by a friend at work, many years ago, as I was about to get married.
He said the key to a perfect marriage is to have a good sense of humor and a bad memory.
Come on people — life’s rules are really that simple.
John Seyfried
12-29-09