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 Dear
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Happy Third Sunday of Lent! These are awesome days as we
begin our annual Lenten Parish Mission with Fr. Stan Fortuna. We
welcome Fr. Stan to our Parish this weekend. It is an honor for us
to get to share this time with him. It’s going to be a fantastic
week! Our high school folks got a preview of Fr. Stan’s outstanding
witness last weekend at Destination Jesus. This week, we all get to
be challenged by this wonderful priest.
I’d like to start out this week with some notes of thanks.
First of all, thanks to every one who worked on, supported, and
attended Fr. Stan’s concert this past Wednesday night at the Jazz
Kitchen. Deacon Steve and Melissa Miller, our OLMC friend, Kayser
Swidan, Deb Grisham, Kim Zachery, Jane Hitch, Mary Bellows, Karla
Cockman, the folks at the Jazz Kitchen, and so many others have
worked for months now getting ready for last week’s concert and this
week’s Lenten Mission. On behalf of our entire Parish family, THANK
YOU for your efforts. The Ladies Candlelight Dinner was also this
past Thursday evening. It is one of the very few events here at St.
Maria Goretti that I do not attend, but I heard it was a wonderful
evening last Thursday. I’d like to thank Sara Gallagher and the
gals from Christ Renews His Parish Women’s Team #14, Laura Madden
and the ladies from the Altar Rosary Society, and every one who
helped make the Candlelight Dinner a success. Thank You! And
finally, thanks also go to the hundreds of people who volunteered
last weekend at Destination Jesus. Whether you took a shift in the
middle of the night here at St. Maria Goretti with the boys or you
made breakfast at 5:00 AM last Saturday for nine hundred teenagers,
it took an army of people to make that weekend happen, and most of
them came from St. Maria Goretti. The list of those who helped and
provided leadership last weekend would fill up this letter, so I
won’t start naming names. But you know who you are, and from the
bottom of my heart, and on behalf of our big “kids”, THANK YOU to
each of you. Destination Jesus continues to make a big difference
in the lives of our young people. My thanks go to all who work so
hard every year to make sure that the good work continues. May God
bless all of us as we work together in so many different ways to
make Jesus’ Kingdom a reality right in front of our eyes!
I’m hearing and reading a lot more lately about retreats. It
seems that more and more people in the Church are realizing what
extraordinary opportunities we have in making a retreat. For the
vast majority of us, we don’t get to go away to a beautiful retreat
center, and have our own, personal retreat director, helping us to
listen to God in our lives. Retreats are expensive. It’s extremely
hard to find the time in our busy schedules to make a retreat. And
how do you find a good one? I’ve been on retreats that have been
really, really good. And I have been on retreats that have been
really, really, bad. Sometimes, I just want someone to find me a
good retreat that I can get something out of it. My friends, all
of this is exactly why we are having another Parish Lenten Mission
starting tomorrow night. Each evening this week, we are giving God
the chance to work in all of our lives at our Parish Mission with
Fr. Stan. You don’t have to go away or take time off work, or go
halfway across the country. You don’t have to spend a bunch of
money. You don’t have to find a good retreat, because we’ve already
found one for all of us. All you have to do is come and join us
this week, Monday through Thursday, at 7:00 PM in the main
Sanctuary. There are many other things that you
could
do in the evenings this week. But we need you to come and join us
for our Lenten Mission. Turn off the TV. Shut down the computer.
Get home from work a little earlier. Find a babysitter. And come
and join your brothers and sisters for this wonderful week. Every
one of us could make excuses for why we can’t be here this week.
Don’t do it. Don’t try and tell God why you couldn’t give Him four
nights, for an hour and a half a night, to invest in your Faith. We
ALL need to be here. Make the time. Invite a friend or neighbor or
family member. This is one of the best parts of Lent. Come and
join us.
Please remember that going to the Sacrament of Reconciliation
is another important part of Lent. If you haven’t been to
Confession yet this Lent, you may want to start thinking about it.
Our Lenten Penance Service is on Tuesday evening, March 4th
at 7:00 PM. Check out the list of Deanery Penance Services listed
elsewhere in this Bulletin. Have a great week!
In Christ,
Fr. Kevin
If you want to avoid suspicion, do not stoop to tie your shoe in a
melon patch.
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