Dear friends of Fr. Benedict,

From Trinity Retreat

Wednesday July 14, 2004

We are unable to post a message tonight. I did post E-mail's. I hope to have Fr. Benedict's message up tomorrow.

In the mean time please continue to pray.

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Dear Father Benedict, Thank you for all of the work that you and your helpers put into the web site messages. I'm sure that it has been a major task but one that has given much inspiration to all who read it. And to think it started out to give us a bit of news on your medical condition. I will be happy with which ever direction you choose to go with this site and hope that it will continue for a long time. I can well imagine that resuming many of your other responsibilities is going to make keeping up with these daily messages unreasonable. It will be wonderful to hear from any of your colleagues who will share their thoughts with us. There are other helpful sites that share stories about the saint of the day or the readings of the day. Your site seems much more personal and individualized because of the timeliness of your teaching. One recommendation that several people have mentioned that I would find interesting are instructional thoughts on such issues as the Holy Eucharist, Papal encyclicals or methods of prayer and spirituality. A few have been mentioned that I know absolutely nothing about. May God bless you and your fellow friars and all of your undertakings for His Church. - Anne, Wheaton, Illinois

Oh Father Benedict - Thank you, thank you, thank YOU for your daily instructions on the abuses at Mass and in Church. THIS is SO NEEDED. Our dear Parish Priest is doing the same thing, starting with attire at Mass (so far, sadly, not many are paying attention to him) Yes, Yes, keep it up. . I joined your Oratory of Divine Love (At least, I got a "thank you", and of course they ARE BUSY). I wish I could help out, I'd volunteer in a second. think the Lord is teaching me "patience" through MY handicaps. I get frustrated, then I think of YOU and say "o.k. Lord, YOUR will be done." Then I get frustrated again, then TRY to get humble. Oh well, it's a never ending battle eh? But this is where our guardian angel helps us. Thank you again and again. AND a BIG THANK YOU to Grassroots and the Oratory of Divine Love. Prayer DOES WORK, as we all know - Little OLD me in Iowa. - Hugeback, Des Moines, Iowa

Fr. Groeschel: I have been reading all your messages and have prayed for you and watched your healing progress. Thanks be to God, you have come a long way and hopefully you will recover fully, God willing.

I appreciated your comments regarding being quiet in church. I would like to know how to deal with 2 people who attend daily Mass. They are "leaders" meaning they help set up for Mass often and one claims to have been a member since the early 60's. Many of us like to come to church a half hour early only to be disrupted by these who use this time to catch up on the latest happenings. I would be willing to bet that most attendees are annoyed by this constant talk, talk, talk. It is difficult to focus and get ready for Mass. This has been going on for several years. Do you have a suggestion? Several people have asked them to please not talk or to step outside or even to use the telephone when at home and they ignore everyone. Please anyone who has a suggestion, may we hear it? God Bless us all. - Antoinette, Covina, , California

Dear Fr. Groeschel, I just read the book, "The Miracle Detective," in which the author discusses at the end of the book a discussion that he had with you regarding Medjugorje. I think that you will probably be getting lots of mail regarding your comments (by the way, I'm reading Poulain at the moment). I only want to say that I went there in 1999 as a Protestant & saw Fr. Slavko...the loving man who had such an ardor for the Eucharist caused me to love it as well. Now I am a Catholic. Sincerely, - Jeanette, Portland, Oregon

Father G, you should do the daily comment feature. If you don't have anything to say or are not inspired, just say "no comment today, but I'm thinking about it" - Joe, Beverly hills, Michigan

Dear Fr. Groeschel, Your recovery so far is a wonderful example of the power of prayer. Your comments regarding dress at Mass goes even farther...in our parish the extraordinary eucharistic ministers are garbed in a white robe, but the lectors are not. Some of the lectors have been dressing this summer as if going to a barbeque right after Mass. As a lector I know how important it is to have the proper demeanor and dress while reading God's word. I don't think the pastors address this problem...and if the parishioners see such casual appearance by the lay ministers, then why should they do otherwise? I'm so glad to see this column continuing...if only to give us an opportunity to be part of the Church at large. So many times our parishes are isolated and we think our problems are specific to ourselves. Thank you, and Grassroots for allowing us to know others in this one, holy Church of ours. - Cathy, Chambersburg, Penn.

Dear Fr. Ben You have been in our hearts and prayers since your accident. We(my wife Dolores and I) are followers of you and have several of your videotapes. I admire you for your truth and directness (also your NY accent). We were born in Bklyn, raised in Queens raised our family in Huntington, LI. and now live in No Carolina after living for 12 years in northern Maine. May our God continue to bless you and strengthen you. We need many more Priests like you. In Christ's Love, Dolores & Lew. - Lewis, Clayton, North Carolina

We just want to let you know that you've inspired us all and we are praying for your speedy recovery. We've missed you a lot. May God continue to bless and keep you. - Beverly, Penfield, Penn.

Send your greetings to Fr. Benedict

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