Finishing Up The Year of Mercy-A Talk By Msgr.P. Vaccari

I have been privileged to be a part of my parish Year of Mercy Committee. Under the direction of Fr. Jude Dioka, Parochial Vicar of our parish, we have planned many events, which helped our parishioners as well as others. I previously blogged about our visit to the St. Pius X Residence for elderly priests on Long Island, where we brought dinner and had prayer and  fellowship with them. That was a great evening.
Last evening we invited a speaker, Msgr. Peter Vaccari, the Rector of St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers, NY to give a talk and take part in Eucharistic Adoration with us. As usual, Msgr. Peter gave an excellent talk, he is a gifted speaker and a great intellect. Besides all that he is a genuinely good priest, and a great rector.
He gave us many good insights into the Queen of Mercy, Mary our Mother. He spoke of her as the new "Ark of the Covenant." He spoke about the tenderness of Mary and Jesus and how Mary can accompany us on our faith journey at each moment. We should be open to the maternal embrace and tenderness of Mary. Through Mary and with Mary's help we can find our joy, our life and our peace in Christ.
He spoke about Pope Francis and how he says we need to be cheerful, knowing we are gifted and blessed and  vessels of mercy, like Mary. Like Mary we need to be filled with peace, joy and enthusiasm. We must turn our gaze to Mary, she intercedes for us. Through Mary and with Mary's help we can find the peace of Christ in our lives.
Msgr. Vaccari spoke about the importance of Eucharistic Adoration, which occurs at the Seminary in Yonkers on Thursday evenings from 7:00-10:00 PM and on other nights as well. He also spoke about the power of the Rosary. How important it is to say it regularly as it's such a powerful prayer as St. John Paul II often wrote and said. The Rosary marks the rhythm of life.
Though it was raining outside, it was a good evening. Msgr. Vaccari is such an inspiring speaker. I told him it's time they made him a Bishop!! He laughed. He's very gifted intellectually and spiritually (and remains down-to-earth) and that's what the Church needs now, (in my humble opinion).
NJA