Parish Bulletin

Dear Parishioners,
We begin our season of Lent this Wednesday. Lent is starting early
this year. To give a simple explanation as to why Easter is celebrated
on a different date each year, the first Sunday after the first
full moon of spring is Easter Sunday. With the first full moon of
spring being on March 21st this year, Easter is then on March 23rd,
the first Sunday after the full moon. It is one of the earliest Easter
that is celebrated.

Lent is a season for repentance. It is a time of spiritual house cleaning. This is a time to look at our relationship with Jesus. What do we need to do to grow deeper in our relationship with Him? For some it may be addressing a sinful behavior and for others it may be engaging in activities that help us to grow. I would suggest that you spend some time in quiet prayer and ask Jesus what it might be that He is asking of you to do. Lent is a season for us to seriously care for our spiritual relationship. May what we do see us rise on Easter to a new level of relationship with Jesus.

This Lent we will hold a parish mission from Sunday, March 2nd to Tuesday, March 4th. Our guest will be internationally known speaker, Ralph Martin. Ralph is the host of the TV program, “The Choices We Face.” You can see this program on his web site: www.renewalministries.net. It is also on EWTN on Friday morning at 6:30 a.m. Ralph has traveled the world preaching a call to holiness and personal relationship with Jesus. He has written many books, the latest, “The Fulfillment of All Desire”, which is a guidebook for the journey to God based on the wisdom of the saints. He is currently Director of Graduate Programs in the evangelization at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in the Archdiocese of Detroit. Please plan to attend the mission if you are able, for we are blessed to have Ralph be with us.

The Scripture is the Word of God. For many Catholics, we are weak in the reading and understanding Scripture. St. Jerome said that ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ. The Bible is a necessity in growing in our relationship with Jesus. Very simply, Scripture is Jesus speaking to us. There is a program called Scripture from Scratch. It presents contemporary Catholic biblical scholarship in a clear, easy to follow and welcoming manner. It is a program both for those with little or no knowledge of the Bible and for those who have some experience with it. This program will be on Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m. in the hall. It will be an eight week course. We will begin on Tuesday, February 12th.

Just a reminder, that LIFT will be here on Monday, February 4th at 7 p.m. It is a young adult group that offers praise and worship with teaching. You are encouraged to come and experience this form of prayer.
For you snowbirds who are reading this on the web, we have added wooden borders to the back wall.
It is something simple and everyone loves it (taking the positive outlook).
May Jesus continue to shepherd you in all of your needs.
God love you,
Fr. Ron