Tuesday, March 25, 2014

A Word from Your Pastor - March 23

Dear Parishioners:

We all have desires and longings for something that is more than what is right in front of us.  There is a movement in our hearts that draws us out of ourselves and points to something greater.   Even our choice to fall into sin points to the simple fact of our dissatisfaction with what we can achieve by our own efforts.  The Gospel is the answer to our longing.  Cooperation with God’s grace at work in us through Faith will at once give us a concrete “taste” of something more and dispose us to be ready for God’s gifts as they are bestowed upon us.

The Samaritan Woman meets Jesus at a well in the heat of the day.  Where do we find Him?  Are we open to His questions and to the invitation He offers us to drink with Him?  He wants to drink of our Faith.  He wants to fill our hearts with Living Water, water that flows and never quenches our thirst until we are in the fullness of the Kingdom.

We are approaching the “High Holy Days” of our Catholic Faith.  Now is the time to make plans and to prepare ourselves to enter into the wonderful feasts we will soon celebrate.  Make plans, first of all, to be at the Easter Vigil.  All are invited to be renewed by this most sacred of liturgies.  In preparation, plan to approach the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  Our Parish Lenten Penance Service will be held April 3rd.

This week, the People of the Passion will be a powerful reminder of what Jesus our Lord has done for us.  You won’t want to miss it.

How are you doing with almsgiving this Lent?  Here are some invitations for you to consider:  In addition to attending to our prayer and fasting, we are called to be generous in our contribution of ourselves to God and others.  In our culture, it is a question of money and our attachment to material things.  Test your attachments by giving up something (fasting) and balancing that by giving away what you have “saved” by your giving it up.  Drop the money you would have spent on coffee in the Catholic Relief Service Collection or give it to St. Vincent De Paul. 

Look at your use of time.  Add five minutes to the time you give to your spouse or your children when you first see them after returning home from work.  Let someone else control the remote for your television (if you haven’t given that up already!).  Choose an active charitable organization and offer your time – to a soup kitchen, to St. Vincent De Paul, or to Habitat for Humanity. 

Reach beyond your family and its needs.  Look up your Alma Mater and send a donation to assist a family with tuition.  Adopt a student in your own parish school and lighten the load for someone you know anonymously.  Increase your stewardship contribution to your parish. 
 
Remember:  The Lord loves a cheerful giver.  He also accepteth from a grouch.

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