Most Reverend Jerome E. Listecki
Archbishop of Milwaukee
 

Last Sunday, I had the privilege of celebrating the Mass for the Asian Unity Day celebration. In our Synod, one of the issues raised and discerned was cultural diversity within our Church. Certainly, we had the ability to put a face on our diverse Church during this beautiful liturgy. We began with a procession with representatives from our various communities carrying a patronal image of the Blessed Mother, as she would be depicted in their homeland. It was obvious to me that gathered together were Mary’s children; all of us joined as one family to worship.

The importance of prayer is obvious to any believer. In prayer, we express our dependency on God. In prayer, we seek God’s assistance and in prayer, we give thanks for our blessings. We have much to be thankful for in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee but we have a need to ask of God’s assistance to us as we face our challenges.

In the last decade, there has been an increase in the devotional practices in the archdiocese. This is a positive sign of spiritual growth. This past Sunday the prophet Isaiah counseled us to “Seek the Lord where He may be found.”

I want to invite you during the next two months to pray with me and seize this opportunity for us to pray together for peace and the family, to pray for human life, to pray for marriage and for religious freedom. For 54 days, we will join a national rosary novena, from Sept. 29 through Nov. 21. I ask that during that period, you pray the rosary every day. This powerful personal prayer can be said privately or as a family or in community. It can be prayed at home, in transit or in the parish. The first 27 days we will make our petitions and the final 27 days we will offer our thanksgiving. Imagine the power of our collective prayer. Our prayer gives us strength and comfort, especially when we place ourselves in the care of Mary our mother.

October is the month of the rosary and Oct. 5 thru Oct. 7 at Christ King Parish in Wauwatosa, each evening from 7 to 8:30 p.m., Hearts United 2014 will present Scripture, prayer and national speakers. These three evenings are sponsored by the Rosary Evangelization Apostolate, Men of Christ and Women of Christ, working in cooperation with the Nazareth Project of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. To learn more about the event, please check out http://heartsunited2014.org/.

At the holy sacrifice of the Mass on Oct. 7 at 7:30 p.m., I will be entrusting the Archdiocese of Milwaukee to the care of Our Lady of the Rosary, confident that our Mother will be our advocate before her Son. A Mother always listens to the pleas of her children and assists them all in following her Son to LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

Note: This blog originally appeared as the September 23, 2014 "Love One Another" email sent to Catholics throughout the Archdiocese of Milwaukee by Archbishop Jerome E. Listecki. If you are interested in signing up for these email messages, please click here.