FROM BISHOP BRENDAN CAHILL
This October we will be participating in the Eucharistic Rosary Congress once again – from Sunday, Oct. 6, through Sunday, Oct. 13. More information on the national movement can be found on the website: https://rosarycongressusa.org.  

As in the previous years, each parish and deanery will commit to hours of Eucharistic Adoration, in which some parishioners or parish groups will be praying the rosary on the hour for specific intentions. The goal is that somewhere in the diocese during that week someone will be praying the rosary on the hour during Eucharistic Adoration for these intentions. I offer permission for parishes to celebrate a special votive Mass in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Sunday, Oct.13. 

The intentions I’m asking us to pray for this year are:

• In reparation for the sins of bishops and priests, that they may be freed from any fear or attachment to power and wealth and live a deeper communion of love with one another and the Church.
• In reparation for sins against the Eucharist, that we may be led to a deeper appreciation of the real presence of the body and blood, soul and divinity of Jesus in our Church and grow a deeper faith in the promises of the Sacred Heart and a deeper trust in Divine Mercy.
• For the gift of peace in our world, especially in the Holy Land, Ukraine, and South Sudan, that people may be open to the power of the Holy Spirit to bring healing and hope to seemingly impossible situations.
• For an increase of vocations to the diocesan priesthood and consecrated life from our families, that we may be open to lives of poverty, chastity and obedience united to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Immaculate Heart of Mary.  

Preparing for this year’s Eucharistic Rosary Congress I want to invite you and your families to pray a prayer from our Year of Mercy:

       I open my heart to you this day, o merciful Father – send forth your Holy Spirit into the depths of my being so that from head to toe I may be an instrument of Your healing and mercy.  In one body and one spirit with my sisters and brothers in the diocese of Victoria, I pray to listen before speaking, understand before judging, love before acting. Trusting in the faithful intercession of Mary, My Mother, I pray in the name of Your Son, Jesus Christ, Who I profess as Lord, living and reigning with You and the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever. Amen
May God bless you with peace and hope. Let’s keep each other in prayer.             +Brendan