Monday, March 19, 2018

A Word from Your Pastor March 18


The Fifth Sunday of Lent indicates that we are moving right along in our journey toward Easter.  We have experienced many exciting steps along the way.  Last weekend, Alpha’s “Day Away” retreat was very moving for all who were present.  The call to seeing as Christ sees was heard by all and hearts opened to the Spirit of Jesus, Who is always at work among us.  This weekend, we hear the call to Life.  Jesus, Who Is the Resurrection and the Life offers us the invitation to live this life and the next to the full.  Faith frees us to live not according to the standards of the world, but according to God’s plan for us.

This year, I was invited to join the Focolare community for a retreat as the members from the east regions of the United States and Canada gather at Mariapolis Luminosa in Hyde Park, New York.  This is a gathering of all the various members, including men and women focolarini and families and priests who are associated with the movement.  I am pleased to be able to participate with them as a kind of reunion with the folks who hosted my sabbatical last fall.  I will also be part of the usual priests’ retreat after Easter.

God has chosen to share His own inner Life with us, the Life of the Trinity, Father, Son and Spirit Who Live in Unity at the very heart of Reality.  My prayer this weekend is that we may all grow in the Unity that comes from God so that the world may come to know Jesus, Who is the Way, the Truth and the Life.

Thanks to all who are filling in for me while I am away, especially Msgr. George Schlegel and the Dominican Father Stephen Dominic Hayes, “the other Father Hayes” in the Diocese of Columbus.  Blessings to you all.  May you experience ever more profoundly the invitation to the Abundant Life offered to us by Jesus Christ.

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