Remember your Parents and Loved Ones, Living andDeceased with a gift of prayer

April 2009

Greetings in the peace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ!

In Sacred Scripture we read, “With all your heart honor your father, and do not forget the birth pangs of your mother. Remember that through your parents you were born; what can you give back to them that equals their gift to you?” (Sirach 7:27-28).

Though Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are not religious holidays, they remind us of the gift of life given to us through our parents by God the Father. Above all others, we as Catholics should honor our parents, because by their generosity in giving us life, God ultimately brought us to the font of Baptism, the Source of Eternal Life. The greatest way we can show gratitude for our parents is by praying for them through the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

Father Edmund Sylvia, C.S.C. Chaplain of Living His Life Abundantly® International, Inc. and Women of Grace® and my co-host on EWTN and Women of Grace Live, will celebrate a Novena of Masses between Mother’s Day and Father’s Day for all parents. In the months of May and June, dedicated to Our Blessed Mother and the Sacred Heart of Jesus, we pray you will join your prayers to ours as we place our parents in their Sacred Hearts.

I invite you to use the link below to send me the names of your parents, grandparents, godparents, or other loved ones who have nurtured you throughout your life so that we may offer this Novena of Masses for their spiritual or temporal needs. In this way, we can truly honor those who have gifted us with life whether biological or spiritual.

May this Novena of Masses yield abundant spiritual fruit for our loved ones. Please join us for this very special prayer opportunity to honor those who cooperated with God to give us life.

In His Service,

Johnnette S. Benkovic