STR Staff Newsletter

🙏 Prayers and Spiritual Guidance For Peace in Anxiety during the Coronavirus Pandemic Loving God, we come to you full of anxiety about what may happen in the coming days and weeks. Shower us with the peace Jesus promised to his disciples, and make us into steady pillars for those around us. In this time of uncertainty and epidemic, wake us up to the reminder that we are not alone. Even as we are asked to keep our distance from others, help us to find ways to reach out to those who need our support. We pray especially for those whose incomes and livelihoods are threatened. For the children who will miss meals due to school closures. For those already isolated, lonely and scared. Loving God, give them your peace, and through our hands ensure they have what they need.  Sustain, strengthen and protect all caregivers. Bless them as they offer compassionate care and show selfless courage in the face of risk.   Remind us, each time we wash our hands, that in our bapt...

🙏 Prayers and Spiritual Guidance Divine Mercy Sunday Reflection: "Blessed are those who have not  seen and yet have come to believe. " (John 20.29) I hope everyone has had a blessed weekend.  This past Sunday, April 19, was Divine Mercy Sunday.  In Sunday's gospel (John 20.19-31), Jesus reveals himself to the disciples by showing them the wounds in his hands and side.  He greets the disciples with a traditional greeting of peace, saying, "Peace be with you."  Along with peace, Jesus offers his followers the life-giving and ever-present Holy Spirit.  Empowered by the Spirit, the disciples are able to continue Jesus' mission to spread the Good News, to offer forgiveness, and to serve the world, no longer fearful behind locked doors. Then Jesus appears to Thomas who doesn't believe the disciples when they tell him that Jesus has risen from the dead.  Thomas says that he must be able to see and touch Jesus' wounds in order to believe. ...