The Healing Journey

January 5, 2026

The following is an excerpt from a homily delivered by Deacon Ronald Gurr of St. Paul VI Parish in Hamden.

My father, when I was young, used to pray the rosary before bed. And it wasn’t until I was about to be ordained that he sent me a letter. He never sent me a letter before, but he wrote to me and said, “You know, the reason I prayed the rosary is because my dad died when I was six months old. I didn’t know how to be a father. I prayed diligently only so that I could become a good father.” And I used to join him at bedside occasionally if I was up that late.

And he taught me how to pray. Mom took us to church. Dad taught us how to pray. And of course, by the time we went through second grade and a whole year worth of prep for Holy Communion in Catholic school, we knew all the prayers — the Act of Contrition, the Glory Be, the Our Father, the Creed, the Morning Offering, the Act of Hope, the Act Charity. We knew them all. But those are formal prayers. We can pray any way we want to, provided we’ve got contact with God.

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