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February 13, 2018
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
Every year at the beginning of the Lenten season, the scriptures take us to the desert. In Mark’s gospel account, we witness Jesus desert journey of forty days. Driven by the Spirit, Jesus goes to the desert and discerns his ministry. Marks’ gospel paints a portrait of Jesus in the desert overcoming temptation and remerging to preach the gospel. We share our time in the desert during the Lenten season. As we are a witness to Jesus, we have his strength to the temptations in life because we are not alone in our fight.
First, I want to thank everyone for making our Mardi Gras Bash a success. Special thanks to Our Parish Administrator, Mrs. Gloria Alvarado; our Director of Faith Formation Mrs. Pamela Johnson; Faith Formation Assistant, Jessica Casados; The young people from the 2018 Confirmation class; Coordinator of Youth Ministry, Steven Sotelo, The Men of the Knights of Columbus, and a special thanks to the team of volunteers who helped make our celebration special. Thank you.
As we approach the second anniversary of the start of our Building Faith, Family and Future Capital Campaign Capital Campaign, I send out my sincere thanks to all who made a pledge. I truly appreciate your generosity and support.
With the season of lent, we welcome our Friday Fish Fry sponsored by our Knights of Columbus. Those of you who have attended in the past know that this dinner is not to be missed. Every Friday during Lent, from 5-7:30 p.m., the K of Cs will be serving a a delicious fish dinner in the Parish Hall. The K of Cs serve a lot of dinners a night, and the line moves quickly so come early and bring your family and friends. You can also get your meal to go if you’d like. Be sure and thank the Knights for their hard work on the dinners. It’s a great testament to stewardship in action, so thank you brother Knights!
Also following the Lent Fish dinners, every Friday we will have Stations of the Cross in the church beginning at 7:00 p.m. I hope many of you will want to spend 30-45 minutes on Friday nights with this popular Lenten devotion. It’s a great way to spend a Friday evening and come for dinner and stay for Stations.
My Job as Pastor is to encourage you to enter a deeper relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Today, for the beginning of Lent until Easter, I will encourage you to use FORMED.org in which we have provided the password to every parishioner.
There are two studies on FORMED.org for Lent, that I am challenging everyone to be a part of:
The first study is called: Forgiven: The Transforming Power of Confession. This series explores the grace and healing offered in Confession and shows how this sacrament of mercy reveals the depth and bounty of God’s love. By looking at God’s revelation of his mercy in Scripture and making a step-by-step examination of the Rite itself, Forgiven communicates God’s invitation to each one of us to come experience his indescribable love in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
The next offering is: A Lent to Remember, a Lenten encounter with Mercy. This series explores the ways God reaches out to each of us with his mercy. Through Christ’s suffering on the cross in the Paschal Mystery and his perpetual reception of his people in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, God makes his love, his very self, present to us in the world. By reflecting on the Paschal Mystery and making a step-by-step examination of the Rite of Confession, A Lent to Remember communicates God’s invitation to each one of us to come experience his indescribable love this Lent.
Next, STHY will have our annual Lenten Penance Service on Thursday February 22nd at 7:00 pm in the Church. We will have multiple priest confessors available for the Sacrament of Reconciliation that night. I encourage you to come and experience this most powerful and healing sacrament. Especially if you haven’t been to confession in a long time, now would be an ideal time to come and be reconciled to God and the Church. It would be a great way to end the Lenten Season and get yourself in the right frame of mind for Easter.
Finally, the boiler that supplies the heat to the Church, Religious Education building and the Church offices no longer works and can no longer be repaired. We have had a 40 plus year run with the boiler and we are currently working on options for its replacement. We will keep you informed.
God Bless,
Fr. Reginald Samuels