PRAYER TO ST. GREGORY THE GREAT
“For this reason, I kneel before the Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named” (Ephesians 3: 14-15).
“There is something in a name”; this common phrase reminds us that names, in most cases, have meanings, and are not just mere labels. This is more so with God. God called Abram and gave him a new name, Abraham (Genesis 17: 5). He gave Jacob a new name, Israel (Genesis 32: 28). He pronounced the name of John the Baptist before he was conceived (Luke 1: 13). The angel Gabriel announced that the child to be born by Mary shall be called Jesus (Luke 1: 31). The Lord Jesus chose Simon, the son of Jonah, and gave him the name Peter (John 1: 42). All these point to the fact that names and naming have a special significance and that there is a connection between people’s names and the mission that God has for them in life.
“St Gregory the Great Parish” is our faith-family name, and like other family names, it came to us from God. It is the name by which God knows us. Through this name we connect with God in some special ways. This name has something to say about our mission as a parish.
Our faith in “the communion of saints” affirms that the members of Christ’s body on earth, in heaven, and in purgatory have fellowship in Christ through the Holy Spirit. Prayer is the most ordinary and effective way by which our communion with the saints is expressed and experienced.
Through prayer, we can, individually and collectively, relate more closely with St. Gregory the Great and seek his support.
Prayer
O God, who made Pope
Gregory the Great to count among
your saints, mercifully grant that through
his intercession and the example of his life,
we who honor him as our Patron,
may become a loving community of faith,
filled with every heavenly blessing,
where nobody is a stranger,
and at last be united with him in heaven.
Through Christ, our Lord. Amen
St Gregory the Great. Pray for us.
-Fr. Bona