Bible Study for Sexagesima
  • 2/27 – Proverbs 2 – With whom will I walk and whose path will I follow as I journey through life? Prayer starter: Gracious God, origin of all wisdom, open my ears to hear your voice, open my eyes to see your presence, and open my heart for you to dwell there. Help me to walk with you throughout this day.
  • 2/28 – Proverbs 3 – What does “life” mean to me? Who gave life to me? How do I live wisely? Prayer starter: Precious Lord, help me to remain ever faithful to my commitment to you. Help me to find that peace which only you can give.
  • 3/1 – Proverbs 4-5 – When was the last time I had a heart-to-heart talk with God? Prayer starter: Create in me a new heart, O Lord, so as to be open to your activity in my life. May I feel and know your presence in every beat of my heart.
  • 3/2 – Proverbs 6-7 – Whose advice and warnings do I listen to as I pilgrimage through life? Prayer starter: O God, you who always provide me with good advice and healthy warnings, help me to heed them. Help me to develop a healthy custody of my eyes, tongue, and heart.
  • 3/3 – Proverbs 8 – Do I discover Lady Wisdom when I play? Does she bring me good life? Prayer starter: God you who gave us Lady Wisdom, help us to receive the blessings you gave her. Help us realize that she is a bridge to you.
  • 3/4 – Proverbs 9 – At Whose table do I dine? With whom do I share meals? Is it life giving? Prayer starter: Nurturing God, you prepare food for us and feed us daily. May we always realize that your food is food for life of the spirit and may we learn to share it generously.
  • 3/5 – Proverbs 10 – Do I make wise choices in the words I pick to speak to others? Do my choices reveal who I am? Prayer starter: God, help me to speak your words and to have them ever on the tip of my tongue. Help me to remember that what I say reveals both you and me to everyone.

Bible Study for Septuagesima
  • 2/20 – 2 Corinthians 6 – Is there something among the old and familiar that prevents me from giving and receiving love the way I want to? Why? Prayer starter: Come, Lord Jesus, and take possession of my heart.
  • 2/21 – 2 Corinthians 7-8 – Where in my life do I feel stuck in a hopeless situation? Can I find any evidence to the contrary? Prayer starter: O God of new beginnings, stop me from writing a premature ending.
  • 2/22 – 2 Corinthians 9 – Have I, in the words of Jerry Herman, “grown a little Ieaner, a little colder, grown a little sadder, grown a little older”? Prayer starter: Create in me a generous heat, O Lord.
  • 2/23 – 2 Corinthians 10 – How much of my respect for others is based on reputation? How much is based on the good they actually do? Prayer starter: Help me stay connected, Lord Jesus, to the source of all truth.
  • 2/24 – 2 Corinthians 11 – How well have I been weeding my personal wheat field? Prayer starter: Lord of the harvest, help me to feed and nurture the seeds of truth you have planted in my life.
  • 2/25 – 2 Corinthians 13-14 – Whose work am I doing? God’s or mine? Prayer starter: Loving Jesus, may I come to trust in your grace first and my works second.
  • 2/26 – Proverbs 1 – Who are the wise people in my life and how do they relate to God? Prayer starter: O God of Wisdom, let me see you in your wise design of every good thing. O God of Wonder, help me to be awestruck in your presence.

Bible Study for Ordinary Week 6
  • 2/13 – 1 Corinthians 15:35-58 – How do I imagine eternal life? Prayer starter: Thank you, Lord Jesus, for bringing me into the eternal life of God.
  • 2/14 – 1 Corinthians 16 – How well do we as a Church discern and nurture vocations to ministry? Prayer starter: Fill my heart, O Holy Spirit, with the love and the courage and the wisdom I need to take my rightful place within the Church.
  • 2/15 – 2 Corinthians 1 – How often is my experience of God one of Consolation? Prayer starter: Thank you, loving Father and Mother, for the gift of the Spirit that sustains me and helps me to become whole.
  • 2/16 – 2 Corinthians 2 – Who are the people in my life through whom I encounter love and truth time and time again? Prayer starter: Drench me, O Spirit, in the fragrance of your holiness.
  • 2/17 – 2 Corinthians 3 – What is the message I am communicating to the world? Prayer starter: Create in me a clean heart, O Lord. Fill the pages and chapters of my life with reflections of your glory.
  • 2/18 – 2 Corinthians 4:1-15 – What are you most afraid of? Why? Prayer starter: O Master potter, transform the brittle parts of my nature into the suppleness of fresh clay.
  • 2/19 – 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 and 2 Corinthians 5:1-21 – When was the last time I was awestruck? Why? Prayer starter: Thank you, O loving Father and Mother, for the wonders you will show me today. Help me to be attentive to them.

Thanks for your donations to the NUC Music Scholarship Program

The Music Scholarship Program will indeed be able to present financial help to its applicants once again this year with the help of your worthy donations. All across our Church, helpful church-people have offered their donations, which will turn into a blessed music ministry in our Church.

It was gratifying for this pastor, when asked to stand as a former recipient of a Scholarship at the Music Workshop in 2009, Hannah stood as well – a proud moment indeed.

This year the Scholarships will be announced at the Music Workshop to be held in our Diocese, hosted by Holy Mother of Sorrows parish in Dupont, PA.

The Deadline to apply for any Scholarships is April 1st. Applications for any of these awards may be received from the Music Scholarship Administrator: Mrs. Cathy Bilinski, 4051 Washington Crescent, Troy, MI 48085

Just to add a thankful, happy, yet tearful note: Yesterday, February 5th, the Chair of Music at the Savonarola Theological Seminary for over 30 years, Åš+P Michael Augustine, was buried in Scranton, PA. No doubt he will be directing the heavenly chorus, as he had the Cathedral Choir and the Scranton Circle of the United Choirs for many years. Åš+P Mr. Augustine was a brilliant teacher and a mentor to Father Stan who served as Father’s music instructor during his seminary matriculation.

Bible Study for Ordinary Week 5
  • 2/6 – 1 Corinthians 10:1-33 and 1 Corinthians 11:1-16 – What does it mean to be part of a real community? Prayer starter: Come, Holy Spirit, transform our Church into a more perfect community.
  • 2/7 – 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 and 1 Corinthians 12:1-3 – Am I living the faith that I am celebrating? Prayer starter: Come, Lord Jesus, transform my hypocrisy into integrity.
  • 2/8 – 1 Corinthians 12:4-30 – What is my rightful place in the body of Christ? Prayer starter: Help me, Lord Jesus, to encourage my brothers and sisters to develop and make use of their gifts as passionately as I seek to develop and use my own.
  • 2/9 – 1 Corinthians 12:31 and 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 – Which of these qualities of love do I most embody? Which one seems somewhat lacking? Prayer starter: Open my heart, Lord Jesus, to the joys hopes, anxieties, and needs of the world around me.
  • 2/10 – 1 Corinthians 14 – How well do I balance the personal and communal dimensions of prayer in my life? Prayer starter: Transform my prayer, O Spirit of God, from a mirror that reflects myself to a window that opens to the eternal Mystery.
  • 2/11 – 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 – How have I encountered the risen Christ? Prayer starter: Lord of the Dance, catch me up in your arms and teach me to boogie.
  • 2/12 – 1 Corinthians 15:12-34 – Do I really grasp the sacredness of my body? Do I treat it that way? Prayer starter: “Praise to you, Lord God, for I am wonderfully, beautifully made.”