Who or What is your Cross?

PSALM 85:2-4, 5-6, 7-8 R. (8a) Lord, show us your mercy and love. You have favored, O LORD, your land; you have brought back the captives of Jacob. You have forgiven the guilt of your people; you have covered all their sins. You have withdrawn all your wrath; you have revoked your burning anger. R. Lord, show us your mercy and love. Restore us, O God our savior, and abandon your displeasure against us. Will you be ever angry with us, prolonging your anger to all generations? R. Lord, show us your mercy and love. Will you not instead give us life; and shall not your people rejoice in you? Show us, O LORD, your kindness, and grant us your salvation. R. Lord, show us your mercy and love.

REFLECTION

LORD , SHOW US YOUR MERCY AND LOVE.

I learned something valuable during our Annual PAPA Retreat this weekend. The theme of our Retreat was the Cross in the Family.

What is your Cross? Maximilian Kolbe said, "The Cross is the school of love."

There are many kinds of Crosses. Everyone's Cross is different. Loneliness, a person, a job or no job, poverty, sickness are some of the crosses people must bare.

A silent movie , "The Kid," is about the cross of a man, a mother's cross, and the cross of a child living during the Great Depression. The man's cross was how to care for an abandoned child. Regret was the cross of the mother who left her child because she had no hope. The child's cross was how to help and care for his foster father during hard times.

For Christians the sign of the Cross is a blessing from God, for you and others. These three characters in the movie found that their cross was a blessing. How?

They found out that their love; the father for the child, the mother’s love for the child, and the love of the child for both his foster father and estranged mother was a blessing from God. What made their cross light and less burdensome was the foundation of family.

F - A - M - I - L - Y is the PAPA acronym for Forgiveness Always Means I Love You. There are times we may cause pain to one another by our actions, words, or assumptions that lead to misunderstandings. Forgive one another is how we can truly love one another.

PAPA is a Family of kindred souls. We pray for each other during our members' crosses. Let us continue to pray for all of our PAPA Priests and members.

Go to our website and join us in praying for those who have requested our prayers, PAPA Prayer Intentions for the month of July.