Bishop Ray’s Blog
Finding Meaning in Each Day
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My Prayer List – it keeps growing!
Read more: My Prayer List – it keeps growing!It happens very frequently. Sometimes before Mass but most often after Mass. People approach me with prayer requests – mostly for their family members who are seriously ill, undergoing surgery, or awaiting a diagnosis after a test. I’m humbled that they ask me to do this for them. I always ask for the first name of the person who needs prayer and people readily offer the name. I immediately make a mental note to include that person on my list of people who have been on the list for a long time or those who are recently added. …
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Family Reunion – We do it every two years!
Read more: Family Reunion – We do it every two years!Sarra Family Reunion 2024 It all started with my niece, Kathryn, asking about relatives whose names she had heard but whom she never met. She had an idea: why don’t we bring the family together for a reunion of some sort? 2012 seemed like a good time to begin. I had just been named an Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of Brooklyn, so we had something special to celebrate! New York was chosen as the site, and we picked a date. Over 25 family members registered to attend. We had the opening dinner in a restaurant in Manhattan…
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The experience of building a new Church – once in a lifetime!
Read more: The experience of building a new Church – once in a lifetime!Very few pastors get the experience of building a Church. The phrase is not entirely accurate – construction companies build the Churches. Pastors are the spiritual leaders of parishes – some of whom witness the construction. When I arrived at Our Lady of the Snows Church in Floral Park, Queens, on June 30, 1999, a question many people kept asking me was: do you think we can ever have a “real Church”? I didn’t quite know how to answer them. Certainly, I was not sent to the parish with a mission to “build” a new Church. After thought…
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A New Venture … Let me begin here
Read more: A New Venture … Let me begin hereAfter writing a few short articles for The Tablet, the official publication for the Brooklyn Diocese, several friends have encouraged me to keep writing! I have reflected on their suggestions and have decided to put pen to paper to try to share my thoughts… and my heart… with those willing to listen. I can embark on this new venture because I have more time in my retirement years for writing and reading and praying than I had when I was engaged in active ministry. My life is now filled with many pastoral opportunities and yet there is more time for…
Bishop Ray's Blog 