Keeping up with your Catholic faith can be difficult, but it doesn’t have to be!

We all have busy schedules. Between work, school, responsibilities and social lives, where can we squeeze in the time to focus on developing a deeper relationship with Our Heavenly Father? That’s why Sacred Heart Parish has brought you the one spot where you can pray, learn and reflect!

Everything you need to Keep Up Catholic!

 

Prayer of the Day

  • Prayer for Travelers: Prayer of the Day for Thursday, May 09, 2024 - O Almighty and merciful God, who hast commissioned Thy angels to guide and protect us, command them to be our assiduous companions from our setting out until our return; to clothe us with their invisible protection; to keep from us all danger of collision, of fire, of explosion, of fall and bruises, and finally, having preserved us from all evil, and especially from sin, to guide us to our heavenly home. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. Continue Reading...
  • St. Augustine’s Prayer to the Holy Spirit: Prayer of the Day for Wednesday, May 08, 2024 - Breathe in me, O Holy Spirit, that my thoughts may all be holy. Act in me, O Holy Spirit, that my work, too, may be holy. Draw my heart, O Holy Spirit, that I love but what is holy. Strengthen me, O Holy Spirit, to defend all that is holy. Guard me, then, O Holy Spirit, that I always may be holy. Amen. Continue Reading...
  • Blessing of a New House: Prayer of the Day for Tuesday, May 07, 2024 - O heavenly Father, Almighty God, we humbly beseech Thee to bless and sanctify this house and all who dwell therein and everything else in it, and do Thou vouchsafe to fill it with all good things; grant to them, O Lord, the abundance of heavenly blessings and from the richness of the earth every substance necessary for life, and finally direct their desires to the fruits of Thy mercy. At our entrance, therefore, deign to bless and sanctify this house as Thou didst deign to bless the house of ... Continue Reading...
  • Nurse’s Prayer: Prayer of the Day for Monday, May 06, 2024 - Dear Lord, please give me strength, To face the day ahead. Dear Lord, please give me courage, As I approach each hurting bed. Dear Lord, please give me wisdom With every word I speak. Dear Lord, please give me patience, As I comfort the sick and weak. Dear Lord, Please give me assurance, As the day slips into night. That I have done the best I can, That I have done what's right. Continue Reading...
  • Padre Nuestro – Our Father (Lord’s Prayer): Prayer of the Day for Sunday, May 05, 2024 - Padre nuestro, que estás en el cielo. Santificado sea tu nombre. Venga tu reino. Hágase tu voluntad en la tierra como en el cielo. Danos hoy nuestro pan de cada dĂ­a. Perdona nuestras ofensas, como tambiĂ©n nosotros perdonamos a los que nos ofenden. No nos dejes caer en tentaciĂłn y lĂ­branos del mal. AmĂ©n. Continue Reading...

 

Saint of the Day

  • St. Pachomius: Saint of the Day for Thursday, May 09, 2024 - St. Pachomius was born about 292 in the Upeer Thebaid in Egypt and was inducted into the Emperor's army as a twenty-year-old. The great kindness of Christians at Thebes toward the soldiers became embedded in his mind and led to his conversion after his discharge. After being baptized, he became a disciple of an anchorite, Palemon, and took the habit. The two of them led a life of extreme austerity and total dedication to God; they combined manual labor with unceasing prayer both day and night. ... Continue Reading...
  • St. Peter of Tarantaise: Saint of the Day for Wednesday, May 08, 2024 - Cistercian archbishop. Peter was born near Vienne, in Dauphine, France, and joined the Cistercian Order at Bonneveaux at the age of twenty with his two brothers and father. Known for his piety, at age thirty he was sent to serve as the first abbot of Tamie, in the Tarantaise Mountains, between Geneva and Savoy. There he built a hospice for travelers. In 1142, he was named the archbishop of Tarantaise against his wishes, and he devoted much energy to reforming the diocese, purging the clergy of ... Continue Reading...
  • St. Rose Venerini: Saint of the Day for Tuesday, May 07, 2024 - Blessed Rose was born at Viterbo in 1656, the daughter of Godfrey Venerini, a physician. Upon the death of a young man who had been paying court to her, she entered a convent, but after a few months had to return home to look after her widowed mother. Rose use to gather the women and girls of the neighborhood to say the rosary together in the evenings, and when she found how ignorant many of them were of their religion, she began to instruct them. She was directed by Father Ignatius Martinelli, ... Continue Reading...
  • St. Dominic Savio: Saint of the Day for Monday, May 06, 2024 - Dominic Savio was born on April 2, 1842 in the village of Riva in northern Italy. His father was a blacksmith and his mother a seamstress. He had nine brothers and sisters. His family was poor but hardworking. They were devout and pious Catholics. When he was just two years old, Dominic's family returned to their native village of Castlenuovo d'Asti, (Today, Castlenuovo Don Bosco) near the birthplace of John Bosco. Bosco would himself later be canonized as a Saint by the Church and became a ... Continue Reading...
  • St. Hilary of Arles: Saint of the Day for Sunday, May 05, 2024 - Bishop of Arles, France, and friend and relative of St. Honoratus. He was born to a noble family in Lorraine and was successful, although he gave up his secular career to join St. Honoratus at Lerins Abbey. When Honoratus died after being named the bishop of Arles, Hilary was chosen as his successor in 429. He was known for his austerities, his aid to the poor, and for ransoming captives. On two occasions Hilary became embroiled in controversies with Pope St. Leo I the Great, but they were ... Continue Reading...

There’s an App for That!

In addition to having everything you need on our website, we now have an app that allows you to have everything at your fingertips.

 

 

Daily Reading

  • Thursday of the Sixth Week of Easter – Ascension - Readings for the Thursday of the Sixth Week of EasterReadings for the Solemnity of the Ascension of the LordThursday of the Sixth Week of Easter Solemnity of the Ascension - - -Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, Copyright © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; Psalm refrain © 1968, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved. Neither this work nor any part of it may be reproduced, distributed, performed or displayed in any medium, including electronic or digital, without permission in writing from the copyright owner. Continue Reading...

Daily Reflection

  • Those Who Believe / Aquellos Que Creen - Click here for daily reading Today is the Solemnity of the Ascension in many dioceses. Others transfer it to this coming Sunday, but I will focus on the readings for the Solemnity in this reflection. Jesus’ Ascension gives us hope that we can also rise with Him. In the second reading, Saint Paul speaks of “the hope that belongs to his call, what are the riches of glory in his inheritance among the holy ones, and what is the surpassing greatness of his power for us who believe, in accord with the exercise of his great might, which he worked in Christ . . . seating him at his right hand in the heavens” (Eph. 1:18–20). What does this mean? Breaking this passage apart phrase by phrase, we can take “the hope that belongs to his call,” to mean the hope that we have as Christians called by the Father. And what we hope for are the “riches of glory in his inheritance among the holy ones,” which means the great glory that awaits us in heaven with the saints. “[T]he surpassing greatness of his power for us who believe,” can be described as the power of God at work in the faithful. This heavenly glory and power is “in accord with the exercise of his great might, which he worked in Christ.” In other words, as Christians, we await glory and power similar to the heavenly glory and power that Christ Himself received when He was raised to the right hand of the Father in the heavens. Taking this into consideration, it should be of no surprise to us that Jesus says in the Gospel that those who believe “will drive out demons . . . speak new languages . . . pick up serpents with their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover” (Mark 16:17–18). This may seem like a stretch for us, but the first followers of Jesus did exactly these things. Saint John drank poisoned wine and survived. Saint Peter performed healings. Those present on Pentecost spoke new languages. Exorcists continue to drive out demons today. When Christ ascended, He did not do so to give us a spectacle. Otherwise, the angels would not have asked the onlookers why they were still staring at the sky. He showed us that we can also rise with Him. He rose as a divine Person with a divine nature and a human nature, a human body and a human soul, and proved that those who believe will ascend after him, receiving their bodies and souls in glory at the end of time and dwelling in the glory of God with the angels and saints. Although we should probably not go looking for opportunities to drink poisoned wine, the truth of the Ascension should cause us to reflect on our own Christian commitment. The first disciples boldly practiced the Faith in a hostile… Continue Reading...