Timothy Cardinal Dolan is my archbishop, an as such he is entitled to my respect and obedience. There have only been a couple of times where I have publicly disagreed with him and written of it. It is not bishop-bashing, but rather the strongly worded disagreement of a faithful and respectful son of the Church. As such, critique must always be balanced by prayer for the Cardinal’s intentions. This novena is that prayer. Please join each night after 8PM EST as we pray for Cardinal Dolan’s intentions. We begin…
O holy Priest of Ars, your life was filled with humility. You wore an old cassock. You ate meager meals. You realized that before the throne of God, you were one of His creatures made to glorify God and praise Him in all things. You said that the first virtue is humility; the second, humility; and the third, humility. You counseled people to remain humble, remain simple and the more one is so, the more good he will do. Your simplicity of soul and your uncluttered way of life led you to sanctity.
O humble St. John Vianney, when Cardinal Dolan forgets he is totally dependent on God for everything, intercede for him with Almighty God, to allow him to see that without His Creator nothing is possible and that he must rely on God for everything. He is his Creator, who keeps him in existence at every moment. Obtain for Cardinal Dolan the grace of humility. May his life exemplify your humility and simplicity, a life uncluttered, a life totally dependent on God.
Novena Prayer: O holy Priest of Ars, St. John Marie Vianney, you loved God and served Him faithfully as His Priest. Now you see God face to face in heaven. You never despaired but persevered in your faith until you died. Remember now the dangers, fears and anxieties that surround Cardinal Dolan and intercede for him in all his needs and troubles especially console him in his most difficult moments, grant him serenity in the midst of crisis, and protect him from evil. O St. John Vianney, I have confidence in your intercession.
Pray for Cardinal Dolan in a special way during this novena.
Amen.
Coming Home 
Dr Nadal, you are the voice of reason in all this chaos around the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Thank you for the novena.
God bless you.
What difference does it make to line LGBT up for a parade on St. Patrick’s Day versus having them on the same planet all the time? Jesus said that wheat and weeds will grow together until the harvest. We are not the harvesters either. We need to allow God to be God and not interfere with God’s workings. We always identify ourselves with the “wheat” and the saved and the holy and the faithful. We have to watch holding ourselves above others and holding everyone else in contempt.
My prayer is the novena for the Bishop helps a bigot to understand Jesus.