St. Pius X has hosted Thursday group for 40 years

       While in Texas with her husband as he was receiving care for a serious illness, a member of St. Pius X Church’s weekly prayer group admitted she often would be at her “wit’s end” despite having a rich prayer life and the support of her children.

      Lifting her out of her spiritual funk was wisdom gleaned from a book of daily devotions: Yes, it is difficult to pray when you’re feeling empty, but instead of being ashamed of your despondency, view your emptiness as the “optimal condition” for being refilled with Christ’s peace.
       The unflinching presence of God, especially amid life’s toughest struggles, is one of the graces examined every week by members of the St. Pius X Thursday Morning Prayer group, which has met faithfully for 40 years.

‘Anchored’ in prayer
       “I just don’t know what people do who do not pray,” said the woman, noting that the group continues to be her “anchor” in both good times and in her husband’s current time of ill health.
      “Every morning I would get up and pray, and this is what saved me,” she told them. “I just don’t know how I would make it without Scripture and prayer and you all backing me up with your support.”
       Currently numbering about 20 members, the group meets inside the Lake Vista church for a 10 a.m. rosary, followed by songs of praise, faith-sharing, scriptural reflection, intercessions and a culminating Mass, celebrated a resident or visiting priest.

Sessions unfold on their own
       Led by Jerry Hornberger, Joal Kuebel and Suzanne Lagarde, the group’s reflections flow like a conversation among close friends, with members sharing their hurts, fears and joys, flipping through dog-eared Bibles to locate words of inspiration, and spontaneously entering into prayer. There is no set theme assigned to the two-hour gatherings in the church’s front pews, just a willingness among participants to be open to the Holy Spirit’s guidance in viewing their experiences through the lens of God’s plan.
       After sharing a couple of her own trials, Lagarde read a quote she had recently stumbled upon in the Book of St. Peter: “So be truly glad! There is wonderful joy ahead, even though the going is rough for a while down here” (Peter 1:6).
       “Lord, you know us so well,” Lagarde said, smiling at the apostle’s take on earthly life. “You never promised that we wouldn’t have problems, but you did promise that you would be there with us, with your strength and your comfort, because you know how scared we get!”
       One woman said that while a recent shot in her arthritic toe had been painful, it was tiny compared to Christ’s monumental suffering on the cross.
       “Do we really care about (Christ’s ultimate sacrifice)?” she asked in her follow-up prayer. “Help us to care, Lord. Help us to be in awe of that great love!”

Miracles abound
       Members have seen many miracles, both large and small, over their four decades of prayer together.
A 14-year member of the group, fighting a terminal illness, told her prayer partners about a spiritual healing that had occurred at the end of their previous gathering. The celebrant of that morning’s Mass, a recently ordained priest, had approached the woman with an extraordinary request: would she be willing to offer up a portion of her sufferings on behalf of his priesthood?
       “I was very honored that he would ask me to do such a thing,” she said. “That was his way to ask for prayers, and I have, every day (since), remembered him in my prayers and my sufferings.
       “Once you come you just want to keep coming – it’s contagious,” she added. “We’re like sisters. We keep things confidential within the group, so we know we can trust one another. When you leave here you feel joy and peace, no matter what’s going on in your life.”

First meeting in 1972
       The prayer group, which grew out of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal of New Orleans, is an offshoot of a group that still meets at St. Angela Merici Parish in Metairie. Founding members Lorraine Levine, Gracie Thomas and the late Marian Phillips prayed and fasted for a year before discerning a call to launch a group at St. Pius X, holding their first meeting on the first Sunday of Advent in 1972. A group as large as 80 strong met at Phillips’ home for nearly two years before relocating to the more spacious church.
        One early celebrant of the group’s weekly Masses was the late Jesuit Father Johannes Hofinger. Kuebel said he would always give a teaching, including a whole year of talks on the 800th anniversary of St. Francis of Assisi’s birth. The priest also passed on his love for Psalm 103.
       “When things go awry, I think, ‘Oh, Father Hofinger, I’ve gotta pray Psalm 103,’” Kuebel said. “He always told us, no matter what happens, bless the Lord, because he pardons our sins, he heals all of our ills, and he’s with us. Of all the people who made the term ‘Emmanuel’ present to me – God is with us – it’s Father Hofinger.”
       Dedicated to the protection of the Blessed Mother, the prayer sessions begin with a Rosary for Life using the Luminous Mysteries. Jesus’ mother figures prominently in the group’s prayer and reflection time, so much so that Kuebel now considers Mary’s “yes” to be “the secret to life.”
       “If I’ve learned nothing else from this prayer group it’s ‘Lord, I have to follow your will for me, through every crisis,’” Kuebel said. “Being open to that has taken me 40 years, and I’m still working on it!"
      The prayer group meets at St. Pius X Church, 6666 Spanish Fort Blvd., every Thursday at 10 a.m. Men and women from any church parish are welcome.
      Beth Donze can be reached at bdonze@clarionherald.org.