“If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Rm 10,9  

Dear parishioners, 

These stunning words from this Sunday’s second reading leave me with a simple prayer: Dear God, you know that faith isn’t just a matter of will, but also and especially a matter of grace; so grant me, grant us all, the grace to believe with a clear and abiding faith that Jesus is Lord, the grace to believe with a firm and abiding faith that you have raised him from the dead, that we might be saved. There is little else to say, is there? 

In parish news, 

First of all, please pray for our six adult catechumens who this Sunday will be with Archbishop Miller at Holy Rosary Cathedral to receive the Rite of Election, where they will literally sign up for baptism at Easter. A high point in their journey toward baptism and confirmation.  

The next big item on our parish agenda is the parish Lenten mission, which will take place Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, March 14-16. It will consist, each day, of a talk given twice in the day, once in the morning immediately after the 8:00 am mass, and once in the evening, immediately after a special 7:00 pm mass that we will celebrate because of the mission. The talks will be given by Clay Imoo on Monday and Wednesday, and by Sr. John Mary Sullivan on Tuesday. The talks will dwell on being effective witnesses to our Christian faith, the nuclear family as a domestic church, and parenting, and child-like faith. Since the same talk is given morning and night, you can attend at whichever time works best for you. Please note also that the evening mass and talks will be live streamed, so you can take in the mission from the comfort of home. Clay will be present at the 9:30 and 11:15 masses next Sunday, March 13, to present the mission in person, and a video presentation will be projected after all masses on the same Sunday. Please note finally that because the talks begin immediately after mass, we will not be offering confessions after mass on those three days. 

An update on our Synod: Only six people have  signed up for conversation circles, so the only circles that will take place are those that will happen in the context of the regular gatherings of some of our parish ministries, such as Mission Ablaze, Acts, and Bible Study. In this way, we’ll be able to contribute to the Archdiocese’s contribution to the world synod which will take place in Rome in fall, 2023. We will keep the pre-registration page up one more week, just in case a few other people are inspired to join in a conversation. 

For those of you who feel strongly about praying for seminarians, there is a very beautiful Lenten calendar that has been prepared, with a photo of all the seminarians of the archdiocese, one for each day of Lent! Also on the calendar is a prayer that can be prayed for each seminarian, one at a time, day by day. Limited numbers of these calendars are available after all masses at the exits as you leave the church this Sunday. 

We woefully underestimated the demand for the Lenten booklets which we made available last Sunday, but have placed an order for extra copies. As soon as they arrive, they will be made available. For this Sunday, we still have a few copies of the black booklet that you can pick up at the exits as you leave. 

There will be religious articles for sale in the foyer this Sunday after the 11:15 and 3:00 pm masses and next Sunday, March 13th, Michael,  the man who comes every year to sell religious articles from the Holy Land will be here at all masses, so bring some extra cash or a credit card! 

Thanks for reading this every week, and thanks to those who make this available to you week after week. I’m thinking of Iven, Lucas, and Lorna. Have a great week, keep safe, God bless. 

Fr. Guy