Spirituality and Healing
For January and February Spirituality and Healing passages, click here.
For March to May Spirituality and Healing, click here.
For June 2025, click here.
For July 2025, click here.
For August 2025, click here.
For September 2025, click here.
From Our Spirituality and Healing Ministries,
Join our Catholic Family of Cheektowaga for a special day of prayer and remembrance at Maria Hilf Chapel of Our Lady Help of Christians beginning with Holy Mass at 8:30 am, Exposition and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament from 9:00 am until 6:00 pm, Liturgy of the Hours Vespers (Evening Prayer)+ beginning at 6:00 pm and concluding the day of prayer with the Rosary. This special Day of Remembrance held on October 6th as a Vigil to the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary and a period of remembrance of the tragic day (10-7-24) that included the killing of the innocent in unspeakable violence leading to the current war in the Holy Land. Join us to pray at times of convenient to your schedule for Healing and Peace! For more information, contact Fr. John Adams at [email protected] and 716-276-9288.
+ The Liturgy of the Hours is a liturgy, a formal rite for public worship that is prayed at certain hours of a twenty-four day throughout the world. The Liturgy of the Hours contains psalms and readings that were said by Jesus in the Temple and the saints throughout history. These prayers help us to connect to and be in communion with all who pray them throughout the world including our Holy Father, Pope Leo, and to Our Lord. In the future, for those that want to pray this special liturgy in our Catholic Family of Cheektowaga will have informational sharing, practice experiences and training and prayer materials to do so. This is a unique opportunity to come and see and to pray the Hours in its Vespers and Evening Prayer format.
Join our Cheektowaga Family’s Our Lady Queen of Peace Center for Life as we host and pray the Living Rosary on the Feast Commemorating the Miracle of the sun and the Final Apparition of Our Lady of Fatima at St. Josaphat’s Grotto of Our Lady+ on Tuesday, October 13th at 6:00 pm. For more information or to participate as a living bead, contact Fr. John Adams at [email protected] and 716-276-9288.
Join our Catholic Family of Cheektowaga for a special day of prayer and remembrance at Maria Hilf Chapel of Our Lady Help of Christians beginning with Holy Mass at 8:30 am, Exposition and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament from 9:00 am until 6:00 pm, Liturgy of the Hours Vespers (Evening Prayer)+ beginning at 6:00 pm and concluding the day of prayer with the Rosary. This special Day of Remembrance held on October 6th as a Vigil to the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary and a period of remembrance of the tragic day (10-7-24) that included the killing of the innocent in unspeakable violence leading to the current war in the Holy Land. Join us to pray at times of convenient to your schedule for Healing and Peace! For more information, contact Fr. John Adams at [email protected] and 716-276-9288.
+ The Liturgy of the Hours is a liturgy, a formal rite for public worship that is prayed at certain hours of a twenty-four day throughout the world. The Liturgy of the Hours contains psalms and readings that were said by Jesus in the Temple and the saints throughout history. These prayers help us to connect to and be in communion with all who pray them throughout the world including our Holy Father, Pope Leo, and to Our Lord. In the future, for those that want to pray this special liturgy in our Catholic Family of Cheektowaga will have informational sharing, practice experiences and training and prayer materials to do so. This is a unique opportunity to come and see and to pray the Hours in its Vespers and Evening Prayer format.
Join our Cheektowaga Family’s Our Lady Queen of Peace Center for Life as we host and pray the Living Rosary on the Feast Commemorating the Miracle of the sun and the Final Apparition of Our Lady of Fatima at St. Josaphat’s Grotto of Our Lady+ on Tuesday, October 13th at 6:00 pm. For more information or to participate as a living bead, contact Fr. John Adams at [email protected] and 716-276-9288.
Join our Cheektowaga Family’s Our Lady Queen of Peace Center as St. Josaphat’s Parish hosts and prays the Living Rosary on the Feast Commemorating the 108th Anniversary of the Miracle of the Sun and the Final Apparition of Our Lady of Fatima on Monday, October 13th. We will gather at St. Josaphat Church’s Outside Grotto of Our Lady (20 Peoria Ave, Cheektowaga, NY 14206). The Living Rosary will highlight prayers and petitions for Healing, Hope and Peace. We will begin our prayers at 6:00 pm.
Please sign up to be a living bead at the entrances of all of our parish family churches. Or, for more information or to find out how to participate as a living bead, contact Fr. John Adams at [email protected] and 716-276-9288.
Please sign up to be a living bead at the entrances of all of our parish family churches. Or, for more information or to find out how to participate as a living bead, contact Fr. John Adams at [email protected] and 716-276-9288.
Listening to the Lord’s Voice . . .
Hone your skills in listening to God each day by learning to become more open to hearing the Lord’s voice and His response. Enhancing your listening to the Lord’s voice will enable you to work on understanding and awareness of your own strengths and limitations in the paying attention to the needs of others -- Know God – Know Thyself – Know Others.
When we read Sacred Scripture, we encounter the Living Word and all its power; we open ourselves to the indwelling of Spirit, as God abides in us. Abiding in the Lord as He abides in us is an excellent description of how reading scripture, hearing the Lord’s voice helps us to live in His ways.
We can examine Sacred Scripture and discover the characteristics of God’s enduring love revealed and helping us to embrace the process of becoming what God has create us to be.
Join the Queen of Martyrs’ Bible Study Group — Let us enter into the mystery of the Word and enter into our own mystery of being and becoming . . . When: Tuesday, October 21st, from 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm in Church
Also, Coming Soon . . . Lectio Divina — We can use specific praying of Scripture to deepen our experience with hearing God’s voice with a directed and intense method of biblical reading.
During the Advent Season, we will learn to deeply hear and listen to the Word of the Lord as we learn how to Call Down God’s Presence; Hearing His Voice in Divine Reading. Lectio Divina is a holy reading, a monastic practice, done on one’s own or within a group. This reading of sacred scripture complements common prayer. This ancient practice is seen as setting the heart on God through a disciplined listening to the voice of the Lord speaking through our simple reading aloud and silently the sacred passages of scripture. Lectio puts a reflective dimension into our daily rhythm of life as we breathe in the very life of God. You will be invited to come and enter a beautiful meditative/contemplative practice of a conversation with Our Living and Loving God.
Hone your skills in listening to God each day by learning to become more open to hearing the Lord’s voice and His response. Enhancing your listening to the Lord’s voice will enable you to work on understanding and awareness of your own strengths and limitations in the paying attention to the needs of others -- Know God – Know Thyself – Know Others.
When we read Sacred Scripture, we encounter the Living Word and all its power; we open ourselves to the indwelling of Spirit, as God abides in us. Abiding in the Lord as He abides in us is an excellent description of how reading scripture, hearing the Lord’s voice helps us to live in His ways.
We can examine Sacred Scripture and discover the characteristics of God’s enduring love revealed and helping us to embrace the process of becoming what God has create us to be.
Join the Queen of Martyrs’ Bible Study Group — Let us enter into the mystery of the Word and enter into our own mystery of being and becoming . . . When: Tuesday, October 21st, from 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm in Church
Also, Coming Soon . . . Lectio Divina — We can use specific praying of Scripture to deepen our experience with hearing God’s voice with a directed and intense method of biblical reading.
During the Advent Season, we will learn to deeply hear and listen to the Word of the Lord as we learn how to Call Down God’s Presence; Hearing His Voice in Divine Reading. Lectio Divina is a holy reading, a monastic practice, done on one’s own or within a group. This reading of sacred scripture complements common prayer. This ancient practice is seen as setting the heart on God through a disciplined listening to the voice of the Lord speaking through our simple reading aloud and silently the sacred passages of scripture. Lectio puts a reflective dimension into our daily rhythm of life as we breathe in the very life of God. You will be invited to come and enter a beautiful meditative/contemplative practice of a conversation with Our Living and Loving God.
In response to the Words of Jesus to the universal Church in Sacred Scripture this past Weekend: “. . . pray always without becoming weary“ -- Luke 18:1
Mark Your Calendars – The Liturgy of the Hours is Coming to Our Catholic Family of Cheektowaga in November in Preparation for Advent 2025!
You are invited to a end an information/practice session on Wednesday, November 19, at 4 pm in the Lower Parish Hall at Our Lady Help of Christians Church. The Session will include all materials needed and light refreshments.
The Liturgy of the hours
The Liturgy of the Hours is a liturgy, a formal rite for public worship that is prayed at certain hours of a twenty four-hour day. The Liturgy of the Hours contains psalms and readings that were said by Jesus in the Temple and the saints throughout history. These prayers help us to connect to and be in communion with all who pray them throughout the world including our Holy Father, Pope Leo, and to Our Lord.
It is good to begin understanding the Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office) by looking at the Bible. Review Mark 15:25-34 and pay attention to the different hours that are described. You will notice that Jesus was crucified at the third hour and that darkness fell over the land from the sixth to the ninth hour. Today, these hours correspond to 9:00 am (third hour) and darkness covered the land from noon to 3 pm (sixth to the ninth hour). In biblical times, people told me using “hours” instead of “o’clock”. The Liturgy of the Hours is a liturgy, a formal rite for public worship that is prayed at certain hours of the day.
To pray the Liturgy of the Hours (LOH), certain prayers were composed to pray “around the clock”. These formal prayers are called Offices. The official offices written by the Church are called the Divine Office. The Divine Office contains seven daily sets of prayers that correspond to seven specific timeframes of prayer in the Liturgy of the Hours. Therefore, the Liturgy of the Hours and the Divine Office are used synonymously when referring to this prayer tradition. The names for these traditional sets of prayer are: Office of Readings, Morning Prayer, Midmorning Prayer, Midday Prayer, Midafternoon Prayer, Evening Prayer, and Night Prayer. In earlier times, religious men and women in monasteries and in religious communities prayed the Divine Office seven times a day, in modern times, clergy, consecrated religious and members of our parish pray several of these offices throughout the differing times of the day. More often, many pray the LOH Hours two or three times a day (i.e., Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer).
Interested parishioners of our linked communities of faith who wish to participate in the LOH beginning in Advent as we anticipate and prepare to celebrate the Lord’s birth, is given opportunities to pray Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer where possible. These prayers usually take between 10 to 15 minutes of our me to pray. Again, materials will be provided!
COME and SEE . . .
Mark Your Calendars – The Liturgy of the Hours is Coming to Our Catholic Family of Cheektowaga in November in Preparation for Advent 2025!
You are invited to a end an information/practice session on Wednesday, November 19, at 4 pm in the Lower Parish Hall at Our Lady Help of Christians Church. The Session will include all materials needed and light refreshments.
The Liturgy of the hours
The Liturgy of the Hours is a liturgy, a formal rite for public worship that is prayed at certain hours of a twenty four-hour day. The Liturgy of the Hours contains psalms and readings that were said by Jesus in the Temple and the saints throughout history. These prayers help us to connect to and be in communion with all who pray them throughout the world including our Holy Father, Pope Leo, and to Our Lord.
It is good to begin understanding the Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office) by looking at the Bible. Review Mark 15:25-34 and pay attention to the different hours that are described. You will notice that Jesus was crucified at the third hour and that darkness fell over the land from the sixth to the ninth hour. Today, these hours correspond to 9:00 am (third hour) and darkness covered the land from noon to 3 pm (sixth to the ninth hour). In biblical times, people told me using “hours” instead of “o’clock”. The Liturgy of the Hours is a liturgy, a formal rite for public worship that is prayed at certain hours of the day.
To pray the Liturgy of the Hours (LOH), certain prayers were composed to pray “around the clock”. These formal prayers are called Offices. The official offices written by the Church are called the Divine Office. The Divine Office contains seven daily sets of prayers that correspond to seven specific timeframes of prayer in the Liturgy of the Hours. Therefore, the Liturgy of the Hours and the Divine Office are used synonymously when referring to this prayer tradition. The names for these traditional sets of prayer are: Office of Readings, Morning Prayer, Midmorning Prayer, Midday Prayer, Midafternoon Prayer, Evening Prayer, and Night Prayer. In earlier times, religious men and women in monasteries and in religious communities prayed the Divine Office seven times a day, in modern times, clergy, consecrated religious and members of our parish pray several of these offices throughout the differing times of the day. More often, many pray the LOH Hours two or three times a day (i.e., Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer).
Interested parishioners of our linked communities of faith who wish to participate in the LOH beginning in Advent as we anticipate and prepare to celebrate the Lord’s birth, is given opportunities to pray Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer where possible. These prayers usually take between 10 to 15 minutes of our me to pray. Again, materials will be provided!
COME and SEE . . .