The Spiritual Work of Mercy that sums up all others is praying for the living and the dead. These ministries try to respond to that call. We pray for others not because we intend to change God’s heart or to somehow convince God to share some of God’s grace. We believe in a God who is mercy, unconditional love and complete self-gift . A God who holds nothing back from us, who cares about us and is always with us. So, why do we pray for others? We pray for others for a number of reasons: 1) because it changes our hearts, it breaks our selfishness as we think of others, it makes us more like Jesus, it moves us to concrete acts of solidarity with others; 2) because we believe that we are all members of the Body of Christ and of the Communion of Saints, and as such live in profound solidarity with one another (living and dead), and our prayers and actions affect the other members of the Body, of the communion; 3) Because we know that God’s modus operandi, the way God works is through incarnation, this is through human beings, through us, so when we pray for someone else, we are giving a body to God’s profound desire to love and care for that person. When we pray for someone else, we mediate God’s grace for them. God wants to give each one of us everything, all graces and all love, but we need to bridge those graces into this world through our prayer. If we do not pray, then God’s desire to love us, bless us, is le without a channel, without mediation. We do not pray for others because God is stingy with God’s grace; we pray for others because our mediation is necessary so that God can shower them with God’s grace and love. Among all the prayers we can offer for someone, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the most sublime, for we join our prayers and intentions to the very act of Christ’s sacrifice of mediation before the Father. We have three great ways in which we can join our prayers for us and for others, living and dead, to this supreme act of prayer, mediation and sacrifice that Jesus offers: 1) We can have the Mass (Sundays and weekdays) celebrated for a particular intention, 2) We can have the candle that burns next to the Blessed Sacrament burn for a whole week for a prayer intention or a person, and 3) We can offer the bread and wine for an entire week for a particular intention. Let us not be remiss in our duty to pray for the living and the dead. Let us be generous in bridging the innumerable graces of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for others and for ourselves by using these three ways that our parishes offer to join our intentions to the Eucharist. 

Mass Intentions

We can have the Mass offered for a particular intention or for someone living or dead. A small $10 donation is suggested. To have a Mass said for your intention please contact the parish offices to schedule it. These intentions appear every week on page four of the bulletin.

Sanctuary Candles
 

Every Catholic church in the world has a sanctuary candle that burns 24/7 before the tabernacle where the Blessed Sacrament is reserved, to indicate and honor the presence of Christ. This is one of the most comforting symbols in Catholicism, a sign that Christ is truly Emmanuel, “God among us.” We know that no matter where we are, we can enter a Catholic Church and we will find the sanctuary candle that reminds us that the heart of Christ is always burning with love for us. We can always come and be with Him who is truly present in the Most Holy Eucharist reserved in the Tabernacle. We are never alone! This candle also represents our unceasing prayers offered before our beloved Lord. We offer all in our parishes the opportunity to honor Jesus in the Eucharist and to offer their prayers and petitions unceasingly before the tabernacle by offering a one-week sanctuary candle for their intentions. If you would like to have the sanctuary candle in any of our churches or chapels burn for a week for your intentions, or for a deceased or living relative, please contact our office to have your intentions scheduled. The intentions for the different Sanctuary Lamps are be listed each week in the bulletin. A donation of $12 dollars (the cost of the candle) will be requested for each intention. Intentions are accepted for the sanctuary candles in All Saints Church, Holy Cross Church, Saint Anthony Church, and the Egan Chapel at Saint Anthony. 

Offering of the Altar Bread and Wine
 

You can have the Altar Bread and Wine offered for an entire week at one of our churches for your intentions. To schedule your intention please contact the parish office. These intentions appear every week on page four of the bulletin.

Prayer for Our Sick and Shut-Ins
 

Prayer intentions for our sick and shut-ins from all N.E.T. Catholic Parishes, are submitted to Annette White (via email [email protected] or phone (607) 533-0145, by the person itself or their next of kin to be included in the bulletin. We do not accept requests from third parties for confidentiality reasons. Many members of the parish will pray for these intentions that are published in the bulletin every week. If you want to pray for these intentions, check the bottom of page four in our bulletin. If you want your intention included please contact Annette White.

Prayer Chains

Both Holy Cross and Saint Anthony parishes have a group of people that dedicate time to pray for others and for intentions that are brought to their attention.