St. Patrick Church of Merna

Reminder!!!
Registration is now open for the Monsignor Gregory K. Ketcham Memorial Golf Outing.

This year’s event will be held at Ironwood Golf Course in Normal on Friday, August 23rd.

The event is a 4-person scramble that will begin with a shotgun start at 1:00pm. Lunch, post event appetizers, and prizes are all a part of this special day that serves as the Knights of Columbus Council #15175’s largest yearly fund-raiser.

Grab some friends and become a part of the action and support the Knights! Register by visiting www.kofc15175.org.

You can spend time with Jesus in Adoration tomorrow from 7:30am-7:30pm. From 7:30pm-8:30pm, join us for Encounter Night!

Reminder: Sign up for GriefShare!
The next 13 week GriefShare program at St. Patrick Church of Merna will begin on Thursday, August 15th at 6:30pm in Room 6. Each participant receives a personal workbook and access to 13 great grief healing videos. There is no cost to participate! Visit griefshare.org to signup and/or to get more information about this excellent grief healing non-profit organization.

Ladies… looking for a deeper relationship with Our Lady? Check out this wonderful opportunity, which begins next week on the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary!

Make plans to join us this week!

A great message!

Think: The people saw that Jesus and his disciples had left. Then they got into the boats and went to Capernaum to look for Jesus. They found him on the west side of the lake and asked, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” Jesus answered, “I tell you for certain that you are not looking for me because you saw the miracles, but because you ate all the food you wanted. Don’t work for food that spoils. Work for food that gives eternal life. The Son of Man will give you this food, because God the Father has given him the right to do so.” “What exactly does God want us to do?” the people asked. Jesus answered, “God wants you to have faith in the one he sent.”

Challenge: At the beginning of the Gospel story, the people saw that Jesus had left with his disciples, so they followed after him. How powerful of an impression Jesus must have made upon the people that they would have gone looking for him! It could be, as Jesus suggests in the Gospel, that they realized he could give them nourishment. But we don’t live just on food and water, do we? We also need to nourish our souls. We need the food that gives eternal life. Today, we can find this kind of nourishment at Mass when we receive the Eucharist. Receiving Jesus Christ in Holy Communion is certainly something we hunger for; but if we receive the Eucharist and don’t do anything to show others how that nourishment has made an impression upon us, how will people know we are growing in faith? According to this Gospel, the key to receiving Jesus Christ is to then show everyone that you believe he is the one sent by God. He is our Savior, we have faith in his teachings, and we will act in this manner as his disciples. Lord, God of all Creation, we give thanks and praise to you. Open our eyes to your presence. We ask that you help all the people in our world who are hungry - both physically and spiritually. Help us to be generous by sharing what we have with others. Amen.

This is a Holy Day of Obligation!

The August newsletter has hit inboxes! You can also read it here: https://conta.cc/3WMPrUE

The month of August is devoted to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. In 1983, Pope Saint John Paul II consecrated the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. He explained, “Consecrating ourselves to Mary means accepting her help to offer ourselves and the whole of mankind to him who is holy, infinitely holy; it means accepting her help—by having recourse to her motherly heart, which beneath the cross was opened to love for every human being, for the whole world—in order to offer the world, the individual human being, mankind as a whole, and all the nations to him who is infinitely holy.” Please pray this excerpt from the consecration with us:

In entrusting to you, O Mother, the world, all individuals and peoples, we also entrust to you this very consecration of the world, placing it in your motherly Heart.

Immaculate Heart! Help us to conquer the menace of evil, which so easily takes root in the hearts of the people of today, and whose immeasurable effects already weigh down upon our modern world and seem to block the paths toward the future!

From famine and war, deliver us.
From nuclear war, from incalculable self-destruction, from every kind of war, deliver us.
From sins against the life of man from its very beginning, deliver us.
From hatred and from the demeaning of the dignity of the children of God, deliver us.
From every kind of injustice in the life of society, both national and international, deliver us.
From readiness to trample on the commandments of God, deliver us.
From attempts to stifle in human hearts the very truth of God, deliver us.
From the loss of awareness of good and evil, deliver us.
From sins against the Holy Spirit, deliver us, deliver us.

Accept, O Mother of Christ, this cry laden with the sufferings of all individual human beings, laden with the sufferings of whole societies. Help us with the power of the Holy Spirit to conquer all sin: individual sin and the "sin of the world", sin in all its manifestations.

Let there be revealed, once more, in the history of the world the infinite saving power of the Redemption: the power of merciful love! May it put a stop to evil! May it transform consciences! May your Immaculate Heart reveal for all the light of hope! Amen.

Last chance to sign up! Deadline is tomorrow!

Faith at Home Presents: Sundaes are for Family! Come join us on Sunday, August 4th from 2pm-3pm at St. Patrick Church of Merna for a special family event!

Children’s guided Adoration; Music; Special blessing for families; Family consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus; and ice cream sundaes to follow!

Please register by August 1st at stpatrickmerna.org/sundaes

Don't forget to RSVP!

Come walk with Jesus! Join us for a Eucharistic Procession through Downs on Saturday, August 17th, following the 5:30pm Mass at St. Mary Church in Downs. We will process a few blocks, concluding at Dooley Park, with refreshments provided by the Knights of Columbus and Ladies Auxiliary.

Please RSVP by August 12th to help us plan by visiting stpatrickmerna.org/procession. In case of inclement weather, we will pray a Holy Hour in the Church, followed by refreshments.

Think: Jesus crossed the Sea of Galilee, and seeing that a large crowd had followed him along the shore, he turned to Philip and asked, “Where can we buy some bread to feed these people?” Philip answered, “Master, it would cost a fortune to give each person even a small piece of bread!” Then a small boy, with five loaves and two fish, was brought to Jesus. “This is all the food we have!” the disciples said. “Tell the people to sit down,” Jesus said, and taking the bread and fish, he gave thanks to God. Then he gave the food out to as many as five thousand people, and there was plenty for everyone. When they had finished eating, they filled twelve baskets with the scraps that were left. These people saw and believed that Jesus was indeed the Son of God.

Challenge: Last week we talked about Jesus, the Good Shepherd, who takes care of the needs of his flock. What did the people on the hillside need that day? They had walked many miles to be with Jesus, and they were tired and hungry. It was miles to the nearest town, and even then, Jesus and his disciples did not have enough money to buy food for so many. The Gospel tells us that as many as five thousand people needed to be fed that day. The exact number does not really matter, because normally five loaves and two fish could not possibly feed them all. Imagine how the disciples felt when Jesus decided that they should feed this huge crowd of people! In the Gospel of John, Jesus says, “I am the bread of life. If you eat this bread, I will live in you and you in me.” (John 6:35, 37) At the Eucharistic meal, Jesus shares himself with us in a very special way, so we can grow in God’s love and be filled with joy and goodness. Lord Jesus, you fed the hungry crowds that day, and you feed us with the bread of life. Through the gift of yourself, help us to become more like you. Amen.

Registration is now open for the Monsignor Gregory K. Ketcham Memorial Golf Outing.

This year’s event will be held at Ironwood Golf Course in Normal on Friday, August 23rd.

The event is a 4-person scramble that will begin with a shotgun start at 1:00pm. Lunch, post event appetizers, and prizes are all a part of this special day that serves as the Knights of Columbus Council #15175’s largest yearly fund-raiser.

Grab some friends and become a part of the action and support the Knights! Register by visiting www.kofc15175.org.

The next 13 week GriefShare program at St. Patrick Church of Merna will begin on Thursday, August 15th at 6:30pm in Room 6. Each participant receives a personal workbook and access to 13 great grief healing videos. There is no cost to participate! Visit griefshare.org to signup and/or to get more information about this excellent grief healing non-profit organization.

For more information or to sign up, click here: https://forms.gle/nxA6KjihzhrmuUe79