FREEPORT—A morning Mass on Sunday, June 28 at St. Joseph Church was filled with prayer for family members and friends who were recommended to God and to the prayers of St. Monica.
St. Joseph pastor, Father Matthew McMorrow, explained the steps being taken during the “Return-centered” Mass. The idea for the special Mass came from a book study undertaken this past Lent by 12 parishioners who gathered regularly to read and discuss, “Return: How to Draw Your Child Back to the Church” by Brandon Vogt and published by Word on Fire.
“I fell in love with the book,” says parishioner Colleen Fenn who received it from Father McMorrow. Fenn invited parishioners to the sessions and led discussions. Reading the idea in the book, the enthusiastic dozen asked their pastor if they could organize such a Mass.
“He said, ‘Yes, definitely,’” Fenn reports.
As participants arrived for the 10 a.m. Mass, they were invited to take a card and write down the name(s) of their non-practicing loved ones. Before communion, each person/couple brought those cards with the names and placed them in a basket, which will be kept by the altar throughout the month of July. Each person/couple then lit a small candle to place on one of two tables before the sanctuary.
“We have a lot of people who are praying for loved ones,” Fenn says, noting they were coming together “in hope and unity. We’re all just praying for our loved ones to come back.”
She also said the Mass was held “so people remember (they) are not alone in this.”
She and the other organizers provided a laminated prayer to St. Monica that was given with the name cards as people entered. The St. Monica prayer was prayed by all after the candles were lit.
St. Monica became a saint through her own prayers centuries ago for her wayward son who became St. Augustine, an oft-quoted doctor of the Church. The motherly saint was asked “to add your prayers to those of all mothers and fathers who are worried over their children.”
Father McMorrow’s homily noted God’s love. He concluded: “And so, we pray today that He who is our way, truth and the life, He who is our savior … Through His power and His goodness, through the love we who have been first loved by Christ, that He will gather all … to the Father’s love.”
Cards with a gentle message of prayer and hope for a loved one’s return were passed out at church doors after the Mass for participants to send if they wish.
