Greetings from Fr. Dave

Into Lent we go! I pray it will be fruitful for each one of us.

Our homily series this Lent will center on personal prayer. Being Christian is centered on the relationship that is offered to us by Jesus, a relationship that is all about friendship, intimacy, and ongoing growth.
 
This first weekend of Lent, Fr. Hans will be talking about our “form prayers”, prayers like the Our Father and the Hail Mary that we can so easily rattle off without engaging our heart, or even our mind. Next weekend I will be speaking about ways we can offer each day to the Lord — our activities, our joys, our sufferings, our intentions, and our willingness to be at use for God’s Kingdom.
 
Throughout the season I invite you to use the Little Black Book as a daily devotional. Additional copies are available this weekend if you didn’t already pick one up. See also the list of possible Lenten practices and activities inside this bulletin (page 4).
 

Each week in the bulletin I will be including a simple Lenten Challenge for you to consider. Don’t feel you need to add this on top of what you have already decided but if you are “slacking off” and need a prompt, here you go:

Lenten Challenge: For this first week of Lent, commit each day to passing on a compliment to at least one person. Make it personal and heartfelt. It’s amazing how much a simple compliment can make someone’s day.

 

Thanks to all who have made your annual contribution to the Archdiocesan Catholic Appeal. As I explained, this is part of our being Catholic and covers the expenses of the ministries in our diocese that are beyond the scope of our own parish — training our seminarians, outreach to prisons and college campus ministry, retired clergy, and the services provided by the Pastoral Center. Please do what you can to help us meet our $130,000 goal. Additional pledge envelopes are available in the entry of the church.
 

Archbishop Sample will be here on Friday, March 6 ^th at 4:00pm in our Fireside Room for a Town Hall meeting. He is making the rounds of the Archdiocese and having these events in each vicariate simply to be more visible to all of us and to hear concerns and comments. It will be an informal gathering. He will also be here for our school Mass on Wednesday at 2:15pm if you wish to come for that.
 

This weekend, funeral services were held for Perlita Nolasco. May her soul and all the souls of the faithful departed, rest in peace.