Mission Helpers of the Sacred Heart

06/06/2026

We seldom notice how each day is a holy place
Where the eucharist of the ordinary happens,
Transforming our broken fragments
Into an eternal continuity that keeps us.
Somewhere in us a dignity presides
That is more gracious than the smallness
That fuels us with fear and force,
A dignity that trusts the form a day takes.
So at the end of this day, we give thanks
For being betrothed to the unknown
And for the secret work
Through which the mind of the day
And wisdom of the soul become one.

-John O'Donohue
Excerpt from the blessing, 'The Inner History of a Day,' found in the books: Benedictus (Europe) / To Bless the Space Between Us (US)

Ballyvaughan, County Clare, Ireland
Photo: © Ann Cahill

05/25/2026

In the quiet sanctuaries of our own hearts,
let each of us name and call on the One whose power over us
is great and gentle, firm and forgiving, holy and healing ...

You who created us,
who sustain us,
who call us to live in peace,
hear our prayer this day.

Hear our prayer for all who have died,
whose hearts and hopes are known to you alone ...

Hear our prayer for those who put the welfare of others
ahead of their own
and give us hearts as generous as theirs ...

Hear our prayer for those who gave their lives
in the service of others,
and accept the gift of their sacrifice ...

Help us to shape and make a world
where we will lay down the arms of war
and turn our swords into ploughshares
for a harvest of justice and peace ...

Comfort those who grieve the loss of their loved ones
and let your healing be the hope in our hearts...

Hear our prayer this day
and in your mercy answer us
in the name of all that is holy.

The peace of God be with you.

-Rev. Austin Fleming



Image: Canva

05/24/2026

On this Pentecost Sunday, may the Holy Spirit fill our hearts with peace, wisdom, and renewed faith. As the flames of Pentecost remind us of God’s presence, may we be inspired to overcome all that divides God's people, and to seek understanding and reconciliation.

“Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful and kindle in them the fire of Your love.” ❤️🕊️

05/14/2026

On this Feast of the Ascension, poet Jan Richardson reflects on how Jesus' blessing and leaving are bound together and on the endurance of love. A message that resonates for us, also, on so many levels.

On this Ascension Day, I am struck all over again by how, in Luke’s account of the Ascension, he tells us that as Jesus is leaving the disciples—and the earthly life (and death, and life) he has known with them—he blesses them. With this last gesture, this final word, Jesus acknowledges that blessing and leaving are deeply bound together, and that love somehow endures within every aching distance that happens in this life.

This is a wondrous and difficult grace.

Jesus is not trying to sugarcoat his leaving. He is not giving his beloved disciples a blessing as a consolation prize for having come through these wild years with him, only to see him go. Instead, with this blessing, Jesus shows that the substance of grief is also the substance of love. They are made of the same stuff. If we can stay with both the grief and the love, the love will become more clear, and more clarifying. In time, it will show us the way to go.

BLESSING THE DISTANCE

It is a mystery to me
how as the distance
between us grows,
the larger this blessing
becomes,

as if the shape of it
depends on absence,
as if it finds its form
not by what
it can cling to
but by the space
that arcs
between us.

As this blessing
makes its way,
first it will cease
to measure itself
by time.

Then it will release
how attached it has become
to this place
where we have lived,
where we have learned
to know one another
in proximity and
presence.

Next this blessing
will abandon
the patterns
in which it moved,
the habits that helped it
recognize itself,
the familiar pathways
it traced.

Finally this blessing
will touch its fingers
to your brow,
your eyes,
your mouth;
it will hold
your beloved face
in both its hands,

and then
it will let you go;
it will loose you
into your life;
it will leave
each hindering thing

until all that breathes
between us
is blessing
and all that beats
between us
is grace.

—Jan Richardson
from Circle of Grace: A Book of Blessings for the Seasons
janrichardson.com/books

Image: "Ascension II"
© Jan Richardson
janrichardsonimages.com

(Blessing & image inspired by Luke 24:44-53.)

05/10/2026

Happy Mother's Day from the Mission Helpers

04/21/2026

Our 2026 Oyster and Bull Roast was held on Saturday, April 18th under sunny skies on a beautiful day at Casa Mia’s in Parkton. Guests enjoyed all the delectable food choices and beverages and had great fun with the raffles and games.

Thanks to our co-chairs Sally Souris Snell and Todd DePew , the Mission Advancement Guild and Mission Advancement Director Gina Clark for their leadership with the event.

We are also very grateful to the event sponsors whose generosity made this event possible in support of the mission and ministries of the Mission Helpers.

We hope to see you next year!

PLATINUM SPONSOR:

Sally Souris Snell
Chip DiPaula
In Memory of Laura Lee Rettman-Rew

GOLD SPONSOR:

Lee Von Paris

BRONZE SPONSOR:

Lee Rock
Lynn & Al Hilditch
Luz-Zenaida Collazo
In Memory of Laura Lee Rettman-Rew, from Rich & Pat
Mitchell-Wiedefeld Funeral Home, Inc.

04/07/2026

ONLY A FEW SEATS LEFT!

Act now to join in on the fun on April 18. Click link below to purchase tickets and/or to sponsor the event.

https://missionhelpers.org/oyster-and-bull-roast-2026

Thanks to our sponsors to date:

Platinum Sponsor:
• Sally Souris Snell
• Chip DiPaula
• In Memory of Laura Lee Rettman-Rew

Gold Sponsor:
• Lee Von Paris

Bronze Sponsor:
• Lee Rock
• Luz-Zenaida Collazo
• Mitchell Weidefeld Funeral Home, Inc.
• In Memory of Laura Lee Rettman-Rew from Rich & Pat

04/05/2026

Allelulia! He is risen!

The word "hope" holds all the promise of Easter. Hope is expectation, optimism and faith. It is the promise of Easter, of resurrection, rebirth, and renewal.

“…May the witness of believers be a leaven of authentic hope, a harbinger of new heavens and a new earth where men and women will dwell in justice and harmony, in joyful expectation of the fulfilment of the Lord’s promises."

“…For all of us, this is an opportunity to be renewed in hope. God’s word helps us find reasons for that hope.” - Pope Francis

Easter is the opportunity for all of us to renew our hope in the future. Thank you for walking into that future with us!!

Wishing a joyous Easter to all of our dear friends in the risen Lord.

04/04/2026

Holy Saturday/Barely Believing

The longest day,
Waiting
For resurrection,
Death already having come.
The in-between, the meantime
That hanging onto a string
Time
Barely believing
That emptiness is not
All there is,
That the bitter, burnt taste of
Defeat, and the great chasm
Of fear
Will not reside forever
In our bones.
Barely believing
That the rock will open itself
And produce sweet water,
That the broken strings will
Knit themselves into
New melodies,
That the betrayed child's eyes
Will again reflect
Trust,
Enough at least to grow a garden.
Barely believing in the
Waiting itself,
Not knowing yet that
Resurrection doesn't just
Come. It has to be
Birthed.

-Mary Anne Perron

04/02/2026

Jesus our brother,
once you knelt sleepless
in the darkness of a garden
alone
and wept and prayed,
sweating, bleeding,
with the pain of powerlessness
with the strain of waiting.
An angel offered you strength -
but it was a bitter cup.
We pray for all
who wake tonight
waiting, agonising,
anxious and afraid,
while others sleep:
for those who sweat
and bleed, and weep alone.
If it is not possible
for their cup to be taken away -
then may they know your presence
kneeling at their side.
-Jan Sutch Pickard