General Intercessions Sunday, July 29 &/or Sunday August 5, 2012 Our response will be: Lord, hear our prayer. For our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, and for Archbishop Carlson, and for Bishop Casey, that they may lead the Church with wisdom and courage, we pray to the Lord: For our Missionary Priests of the Archdiocese of Saint Louis who serve in Bolivia, that they may be strengthened in bringing God’s love and peace to all the people they serve, we pray to the Lord: For an increase in vocations to the Priesthood, in our own Archdiocese, and in areas such as Bolivia that suffer from a severe shortage of native Priests, we pray to the Lord: For the sick, the suffering, the poor, and the dying, that they might receive comfort, especially through our prayers and financial support that we share with our Missionaries in Latin America, we pray to the Lord: For each of us, that in spite of our own difficulties, we may be generous in sharing our prayers and our material resources to support our Latin America Apostolate, we pray to the Lord:

BULLETIN ANNOUNCEMENT FOR JULY 29 AND AUGUST 5, 2012 On Sunday, August 5th, the collection will be taken for the support of the Latin America Apostolate of the Archdiocese of Saint Louis. This collection supports the presence of our 5 Saint Louis Priest Missionaries in Bolivia. Bolivia continues to suffer from a severe shortage of native Priests. In St. Louis we have roughly 1 Priest for each 2,000 Catholics. In Bolivia, the ratio is 1 Priest for each 25,000 Catholics. Our Priest Missionaries are helping to train native Priests in Bolivia. In addition, they proclaim the Gospel, celebrate the sacraments, and offer pastoral care to their parishioners. Due to great poverty in Bolivia, many people are living in conditions we can barely imagine – without access to clean water or sanitation or food. Our Missionaries can only do what we make possible through our prayers and sacrifices. Please be generous in the collection for the Latin America Apostolate of the Archdiocese of Saint Louis on Sunday, August 5, 2012.

Homily Notes: Comments on the Scripture readings & their application to the Latin America Apostolate for the Appeal Weekend: July 29, 2012 – 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle B First Reading: 2 Kgs 4:42-44. Elisha commands a man to share 20 barley loaves with 100 people. The man objects because he thinks that this amount of bread cannot satisfy such a large crowd. Despite this man’s objections, Elisha prophesies: “Thus says the Lord: ‘They shall eat and there shall be some left over.’ Contrary to the man’s expectations, Elisha’s prophecy is fulfilled. Responsorial Psalm: Ps 145: 10-11, 15-16, 17-18. “The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.” This is a perfect response to the way the Lord satisfied the hunger of the crowd in a seemingly impossible situation. It serves as a fitting link to the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes that Jesus works in the Gospel passage from the sixth chapter of St. John’s Gospel, verses 1 to 15. We may consider the needs of our brothers and sisters in Bolivia to be completely beyond our ability to meet. What can our small offering possibly do to help in the face of such vast pastoral needs? Nonetheless, if we give what we can, the Lord will do His part, and our brothers and sisters in Latin America will be helped. Second Reading: Ephesians 4: 1-6 St. Paul urges us to bear with one another through love and to strive to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace. He reminds us of what we share in common: “one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all & through all and in all.” When we are tempted to close our hearts to the wider needs of the Church: including our brothers and sisters in Latin America, it is the work of the Holy Spirit to expand our hearts and our minds, to help us share with those less fortunate than ourselves. Many in Bolivia lack the basic necessities of life for survival: food, access to clean water, medicine and medical care. Our St. Louis Priest Missionaries proclaim the Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ. They preach the Gospel; celebrate the sacraments, and provide pastoral care. The lack of native Priests makes the presence and ministry of our St. Louis Priest Missionaries all the more important for the growth of the Church in Bolivia. In addition to nourishing God’s people in Bolivia through the proclamation of the Gospel, our donations to the Latin America Apostolate enable our Missionaries to provide food, medicine, and medical care to our suffering brothers and sisters in Christ. Gospel Reading: Jn 6:1-15. The Gospel of St. John does not contain the words of the institution of the Eucharist by Our Lord at the Last Supper. Instead, chapter six is St. John’s account of the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes. This miracle foreshadows Jesus’ gift of Himself in the holy Eucharist. A young lad shares five loaves and two fishes. Andrew sees this and says: “What good are these for so many?” Our Lord shows Andrew and us that He can work miracles if only we do our part.

Are we willing to do our part again this year, so that the amazing work of our Saint Louis Priest Missionaries may continue in Bolivia? Over 56 years ago, the first 3 St. Louis Priest Missionaries journeyed from Saint Louis to La Paz, Bolivia. Today, our St. Louis Missionaries include: Bishop Morgan Casey, Father Pat Hayden, Father Jim Michler, Father Bob Menner and Fr. Tim Noelker. Most of them are veteran Missionaries. Father Menner will return to St. Louis in October. Fr. Noelker is studying Spanish and learning about Bolivian history, life and culture from July until December when he will begin to work at Maria Reina Parish in La Paz. Our St. Louis Priest Missionaries do amazing things in caring for vast numbers of our brothers and sisters in Bolivia. Although we all face daunting challenges due to our economy, we ask the Holy Spirit to continue to expand our hearts and minds to support the work of St. Louis Priest Missionaries in Bolivia. If we do our part, we can be confident with the psalmist: “The hand of the Lord feeds us; He answers all our needs.”

Stories from our St. Louis Priest Missionaries in Bolivia Father Patrick Hayden wrote: In March this year, on a Sunday morning, after having just celebrated the annual blessing for one of our neighborhoods whose feast is St. Joseph Day (also Fathers’ Day in Bolivia); I was standing on the corner, needing to get to the hospital to visit a young man with tuberculosis. I was debating whether to take a taxi or a bus, when suddenly, a bus slowed down and the driver called out: ‘Father, where are you going? I told him that I was going to the General Hospital, so he said that he could get me close enough to be able to get another bus. So, away I went: I knew the driver from all of the times I had celebrated his group’s anniversary blessings in the past…and he wouldn’t let me pay now, either! When I was arriving to the plaza where I needed to catch my next bus, I thanked him, offered him a copy of the Hoja Dominical (nationally published sheet with the Sunday readings for use at Sunday Masses and celebrations) and wished him a good Sunday. As I waited to catch my next bus, suddenly a taxi driver is calling out from his car: “Buenos dias, Padre Patricio!” I turned around, and it was one of our parishioners…!!! He asked me where I was going and I said to the General Hospital and he said, “Well, let’s go!” In five more minutes, I was at the hospital…and he insisted that he let this be his way of assisting me in my mission to visit the sick, refusing to let me pay. So, I offered him, too, the Hoja Dominical, thanked him profusely, and got out to make my way into the hospital. There, I finally found the young man, Wilfredo, who was so sick (the tuberculosis was advanced to more than an initial stage, making it rather serious and that much more frightening for this 23-yearold – he was still spitting up blood from his lungs, since the treatments had only just begun). We prayed, celebrated the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, with the young man’s father, Eduardo, present. I then encouraged him as best I could, letting him know that I would be praying for him while I visited the communities of St. James of Calamarca Parish that week…He was deeply grateful and moved to tears, since he was unnerved by his sudden illness and his own silence about what were increasingly worrying signs of something serious during the previous weeks.…He is an only son, and did not want to worry his parents. Thanks be to God for the Holy Spirit, working to restore health in all of us, moving others to assist these parents in caring for their son and getting me to the hospital by way of the spontaneous, Spirit-inspired generosity of the bus and taxi drivers.

Father James Michler wrote: A year ago I visited a 16 year old girl who had surgery for a brain tumor. At the request of her grandmother I gave the young girl Holy Communion for the first time. I did not celebrate a Mass, but a Liturgy of the Word with Holy Communion for the sick young lady in the chapel of the hospital. She seemed to recover and was doing well until recently. The grandmother came and asked me to visit the girl in the hospital. When I arrived there were some family members who were joined shortly after my arrival by a staff of doctors and nurses. The number of medical personnel indicated to me that the situation was serious. The doctors talked to the family and told them that the girl, who was unconscious and convulsing a bit, would be taken to intensive care. The Mother started sobbing and held on to her daughter and told her how much she loved her. The Mother was clinging to her so much that it became difficult to celebrate the Anointing of the Sick. I did it the best I could and tried to console the family members by assuring them of my prayers. What made the whole affair even more difficult was that it was the girl’s birthday. On the eve of the birthday the family wanted to celebrate with her, but she could not eat or drink anything. Within a short time she was taken to the hospital and her condition became worse. The serious illness of a young person is always so hard to accept and in this case the family sensed the gravity of the situation and reacted with great sorrow, anticipating the worst. As a priest I can only hope that my presence communicated to them that God is with us, even in moments of great trial. Bishop Morgan Casey wrote about two recent pastoral experiences: Two weeks ago I celebrated Mass and a blessing of a new chapel in a community called La Cruz, about 40 families attended. I had given them about $1,000 from a chapel fund that we have. They used this to buy the tin roof. They put up the lumber which they cut from their forest and they built it. It was all painted and really nice. But what was great was that the chapel was filled with people of all ages. I heard confessions for an hour before with another priest who accompanied me. What was so neat was that everyone prayed and sang together. This is a sure sign that the lay religious leader is celebrating with his community every Sunday. After the mass and the blessing they furnished a meal of chicken and rice for the whole community. We all ate together. It was a great day!

Bishop Morgan Casey-continuedToday I returned from Guayaramerin. We had a three day meeting of 80 catechists with their coordinators. They work in our parishes in programs of First Holy Communion preparation and Confirmation preparation for youth. First Holy Communion is taught by parents for younger children and Adults who seek Baptism, Communion and Confirmation. What is marvelous is that they all are volunteers, except for two lay coordinators, a Christian Brother, and 4 Religious Sisters who are coordinators. They studied methodology for teaching and lectio divina for beginning our classes. The objective of the programs is to help the children and youth to have a personal encounter with Jesus and feel His love. We focus on the use of the bible so as to try to help our youth to love and pray with the Bible. All of this is quite different from traditional catechetics. It was amazing how they all participated! It was hard to keep to the schedule of the meeting because of so much participation. Father Bob Menner wrote about his work in St. James Parish in Calamarca: I truly enjoy when it is my turn to spend a week in Calamarca. Calamarca is a small town about 45 miles outside La Paz. It has a population of about 3,000 people, many of whom now work in La Paz and only return to town on weekends. We used to have a full-time presence there but now only return once a month for a week to accompany Deacon Francisco Zuleta and his wife. They have 4 children who are now University graduates, but all the time they were growing up we were part of that family.

Besides the main town of Calamarca there are also some 29 small farming communities that extend over 150 square miles. Ordinarily we leave in the morning and go to visit one of the communities and celebrate the Eucharist and if there are other sacraments that are needed to celebrate with the community. At times we might have 10 to 15 baptisms or we could celebrate a wedding or two. The most I have had of weddings in one ceremony was for 12 couples. You cannot imagine how easy it is to mix up the names of the happy couples! There are times when those who have died during the previous months since our last visit are remembered during Mass. That means after Mass going to the cemetery to bless the graves. We go with buckets to get that job finished. Of course if one is going to bless one grave, that means bless them all! Cemeteries are nothing like ours. They are mounds of dirt, some covered in cement, sometimes they are broken and you can see the bones lying there. The celebrations are usually very good. The Lord is duly praised and you can see progress coming to the campo (countryside). Right in the middle of the consecration the cell will go off and the Indian lady will go running out to answer it. It has only been in the last couple of years that there is electricity in the campo and running water usually comes from the local creek from which they carry their water home. The Gospel comes alive for me when I am in the campo. Jesus talks so often of the things of nature. I love it when he speaks of the sheep and the shepherds. When we go to the campo we see many flocks of sheep and with every flock there is a shepherd who may be a little girl or boy, a young teenager, a young woman and sometimes the elderly man or woman take care of the sheep. They sit all day long keeping them united because they tend to stray. Sheep come in a variety of colors. Sheep are curious animals and sometimes get themselves in trouble and they need that shepherd to keep them protected as we also need our shepherd, Jesus, to walk among us and settle us down and calm us down. Sheep are beautiful animals, very gentle. The gospel comes alive as I walk through the fields of Bolivia. Concluding observations: Our Missionaries, Father Hayden, Fr. Michler, Father Menner and Bishop Casey, shared some of their stories of their missionary work. It is easy to sense their closeness to the people they serve, the faith and the generosity of the people. In spite of great poverty and challenges of sickness, the people show their love for Our Lord through faith-filled reception of the sacraments and through their responses to our St. Louis Missionaries who help make Christ, the Good Shepherd, present among his people. Besides these veteran Missionaries we now have our newest Missionary, Fr. Tim Noelker. Our Lord invites us, just as He invited the boy who had only five barley loaves and a couple of fish, to give what we have. Like the boy, each of us, whether here in St. Louis, or our Missionaries and the people they serve, each of us is asked to give what we can and let Our Lord do the rest. Thank you for your generous support of the Latin America Apostolate in the special collection on Sunday, August 5, 2012.