Prayer for Protection against the Coronavirus
Pope Francis’ Prayer to the Virgin Mary for Protection

O Mary,
you always shine on our path as a sign of salvation and of hope.
We entrust ourselves to you, Health of the Sick,
who at the cross took part in Jesus' pain, keeping your faith firm.
You, Salvation of the Roman People, know what we need,
and we are sure you will provide so that, as in Cana of Galilee,
we may return to joy and to feasting after this time of trial.
Help us, Mother of Divine Love,
to conform to the will of the Father and to do as we are told by Jesus,
who has taken upon himself our sufferings and carried our sorrows
to lead us, through the cross, to the joy of the resurrection.
Amen.

Welcome to our Spiritual Growth section. We hope that the resources offered on this page will allow you to grow in your life of prayer. Here you can find links to the reading of the day, lives of the saints, daily reflections, catholic answers and much more....

LIVE THE LITURGY - INSPIRATION FOR THE WEEK OF May 9th

God is love. These three simple words deserve a great deal of attention. They have the power to transform our relationship with God from something that is static and distant to one that is personal and real. We all know the power of love and how important it is to completing all of the human and divine circuits of our lives. But we do not often consider the awesome fact that it is given to us as a gift and is not simply part and parcel of the human package. God is the author of love and love itself. When we truly love another human being, it is really God being God in and through us. The love to which we are called and the love of which the Gospel speaks is a selfless love that seeks the wellbeing of not only our significant others but of all of our brothers and sisters. This love, which is of God, is a love that will endure all things and bring immeasurable joy when experienced.  It is the most sincere form of friendship.

May 2nd Anyone familiar with gardening knows that proper and timely pruning is essential. The health of the plant depends upon it. An unpruned tree can quickly produce suckers that zap many of the essential nutrients from its body. Pruning requires patience and vision. Studies reveal that plants often respond defensively to being pruned, displaying reactions that are similar to hurt or discomfort. Pruning is not easy but necessary. A hard lesson for us to learn is that we also need to be pruned. We become far healthier when we allow God to stretch, refine, and form us into the best version of ourselves. The fruit that then comes from our vines will be more abundant, nutritious, and robust. Left to our own devices we can easily find ourselves running amuck and spiraling out of control. Without a proper vision and trust in the Master Pruner, we will never find the contentment we desperately desire. Nor will the work of the Gospel stand a chance of succeeding.

April 18 When the greeting “Peace be with you” is sincerely offered to a person, it can resonate very deep within, bringing comfort and reassurance. When someone possesses the power to bring peace, it brings us to a place of safety and fills us with joy. The resurrected Christ has this power. God can open our minds so that we can more fully understand the meaning of Sacred Scripture and God’s compassionate, loving, tender, and untiring embrace constantly present and offered to people throughout history. Without the anchor of truth that only God can provide, we can easily become startled and terrified at the sight of what life brings us. Being open to God’s offer of peace, we can turn away from old habits and short-sighted vision and experience the gladness and joy of God’s gift. Only then can what is wounded and broken be mended and reconciliation achieved. We are the resurrection witnesses called to proclaim the Good News.

April 11th
Alleluia! Forgiveness has risen from the grave! What a wonderful joy fills us today as we ponder the inexhaustible mercy of God. When experienced, we are moved to do all in our power to avoid sin and embrace the loving presence of our risen God. God stands ever ready to receive us and wants nothing more than for us to come home. How reluctant we are to believe this truth! We want proof, tangible evidence and absolute assurance that what we have been told is true. Jesus has risen from the dead and brings us peace. It is the gift of wholeness and holiness that is breathed upon us by God’s life-giving and healing mercy. May the rays of love that flow from the heart of Christ pierce ours!

April 4th
Alleluia! Christ is risen! About today’s feast, St. Augustine writes: “And he departed from our sight that we might return to our hearts and find him there. For he left us, and behold, he is here.” Christ’s resurrected presence lives not only in the highest heaven but in the fragile human heart. Christ’s life inspires us and moves us to see a future for every human being and discover our true purpose and meaning. Every human being has a desire to live, and this cry can be heard within. There is a longing for a connection with Someone greater than ourselves that gives an import to our existence that we cannot supply. Today, our deepest questions find answers.


March 28th
What an ironic twist of events! Jesus is hailed with palm branches as he comes down a street one minute and faces agonizing suffering and death on a cross the next. Does any of this make any sense? They shouted, “hosanna to our King,” out of one side of their mouths and, “crucify him,” out of the other. At first glance it seems like such hypocrisy. Yet, when we step back there may be more truth to the story than we care to admit. We struggle with Jesus. We hail him in our churches but struggle to figure out what to do with him on our streets. We are fine when we hear pious renderings of his messages and preaching but wince when it gets to the part about changing the way we conduct business and becoming more sensitive to the disadvantaged, poor and marginalized. We invoke God’s name when we want victory and keep silence when it comes to global solidarity. We talk out of both sides of our mouths too, looking only to what works or suits us at the time and leaving the rest. There exists in each one of us a person who hails our King with hosannas and a person who is all too willing to choose Jesus over Barabbas for the cross. Something to think about this Holy Week!

March 14th
God’s messengers always seem to get mocked. They speak a truth that some folks do not want to hear. While on the one hand we admire them, we also are quite happy keeping them at a distance. After all, they are not referring to me but someone else, aren’t they? We often wrongly conclude that because we may be more avant-garde, contemporary, politically sensitive, and untraditional, we are somehow more in the light than others. People tend to prefer darkness more than light, even the most spiritually sensitive among us. The light always carries with it the richness of God’s mercy and compassion which see beyond ideologies and concepts to relationships that cultivate life, earthly and eternal. Every hand of compassion and mercy extended to a human being must always point back to God. The call always involves ordering our lives in accord with our truth and essence of being. As God never forgets us, we must never forget God. Now is the time to take stock of our infidelity and return to the light, even though it is difficult to look at.

March 7th
With our world in such constant turmoil and conflict, it makes such good sense to return to the simple directives given in the Ten Commandments. God’s unassuming guidelines provide the perfect recipe for ordering our relationships with God, others, and even ourselves. But yet, we are so quick to glance beyond them and even remove them from public view because we foolishly believe we can create something better. Arrogance runs far deeper in the members of our society than we can ever imagine. Lent is a perfect time to call ourselves back to our foundations and the basic relationships that comprise our lives. It is also a time to remember that Jesus is the true sign of God’s presence. Everything he says and does, including his suffering and death, is a sign of the God who sent him. The anger we witness when Jesus exhorts those in the temple to stop making his Father’s house a marketplace can equally be seen in his anger and frustration over humanity’s constant mission to turn God’s creation into a secular world. We have a lot of work to do for sure. 

Live Stream Opportunities For Prayer

As a reminder, none of these are open to the public.

Christ the King Catholic Church in Madisonville – Fr. Carl McCarthy leads the Rosary              nightly at 6 PM:  https://www.facebook.com/ctkmadisonville/

St. Michael in Sebree Adoration Mon-Fri 8:30am:  https://www.facebook.com/smsebree/

Sts. Joseph & Paul in Owensboro Wednesdays at 12 PM Noon- Stations of the Cross:  https://www.facebook.com/stjpcc/

St. Agnes in Uniontown leads the Rosary daily at 3 PM. Stations of the Cross on Fridays at 5 PM:  https://www.facebook.com/St-Agnes-Roman-Catholic-Church-370425936471392/

St. Paul/St. Elizabeth Parishes, Grayson County leads Stations of the Cross on Fridays at 5:30 PM; Liturgy of the Hours Monday through Saturday at 10 AM and Sundays at 6 PM; and  Divine Mercy Novena at 3 PM every day from Good Friday through Divine Mercy Sunday (April 19):
https://www.facebook.com/stpaulcatholicchurchleitchfieldky

Holy Spirit in Bowling Green leads the Rosary Monday through Friday at 3PM:
https://www.facebook.com/HSCCBG/

St. Mary Magdalene in Sorgho: Live musical offering Sundays at 11AM:
https://www.facebook.com/MaryMagdaleneKy/