“Brothers and sisters: Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” Phil. 4:6-9

If you didn’t know, this time next week, I, along with 41 others, will be leaving for a 10-day pilgrimage to the Holy Land, where we will walk where Jesus walked and pray where Jesus prayed.  The picture below is one of my favorite places to pray in the world—Eremos Cave—where Jesus prayed and overlooked the Sea of Galilee.  You can see my fellow brother priests in this photo (see if you can find Fr. Mark Ott).  We journeyed to the Holy Land in 2017.  I hope to go back to the cave when we visit Capernaum.

While there are so many beautiful places to visit in the world, at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter so much where you pray as much as how deeply you are engaged in relating the matters of your heart to the Father.  We are called to make our requests known to God.  We need to let God know of these requests that come from the core of our being.  God wants us to give Him these needs so that we can receive the “peace of God that surpasses all understanding…”  Isn’t that what we long for daily anyway?

I think a wonderful way to make your requests known to God and to receive the peace of God is by praying the Rosary.  On October 7, the Church celebrates Our Lady of the Rosary.  Mary promises peace to the world if we simply just stop and pray the Rosary with her.  One practice I like to engage in while praying the Rosary is before I pray each decade, I think of a request I need to let God know—perhaps a person who is struggling or an issue or a decision I am trying to make—whatever it is, each decade is an opportunity to entrust each ‘request’ to God.  We need to entrust our lives to God.  Give the Rosary a chance to be that vehicle that will help you entrust all things to His everlasting providence.

Peace and blessings,
Fr. Jeremy

P.S. Please make your requests known to me and I will be happy to take them on pilgrimage with me and offer them to the Father for you, frmerzweiler@stfparish.com.