Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

       Welcome to our celebration of the Fourth Sunday of Lent.  Today is Laetare Sunday.  We are now more than halfway through our season of Lent.  The word Laetare comes from the first words of the introit, the opening antiphon of today’s Mass, which says: “Laetare, Jerusalem”, or “Rejoice with Jerusalem” from Isaiah 66:10.   This halfway point and respite in the penitential season is marked by this day of rejoicing.  There is a joyful note at this point in Lent because of the ancient practice of “handing over” the Apostle’s Creed to the Catechumens and Candidates for full-membership in the Church, the last and decisive step for those preparing for Baptism and Confirmation.  Today at our 10:00 AM Mass, we will be celebrating the second Scrutiny with our Elect and Candidates.  Let us pray for all of our brothers and sisters preparing for the Easter Sacraments.  Next weekend, our RCIA folks will be on retreat at St. Meinrad.

        I wanted to write a little bit about service this week.  In a couple of weeks now, we’ll gather together on Holy Thursday and hear once again the story of how Jesus, our Lord and Master, at the end of the Last Supper, got down on His hands and knees and washed the feet of His Apostles.  It is a terribly moving story.  Not only do we hear the story, but also following the homily on Holy Thursday, the washing of the Apostle’s feet gets reenacted as our priest wash the feet of twelve representatives from our community.  It is one of my favorite parts of the Holy Thursday Mass.  The Washing of the Feet both in the Gospel and in the reenactment is meant to remind all of us, that we are ALL called to serve.  To really live out our Faith, we’ve got to get our hands dirty.  How are YOU helping out?  I think that the question is more valid now during Lent, than at any other time of the year.  We SHOULD all be serving.   How are you helping out?  The devil’s favorite deception when it comes to serving others, is to get us to believe that we are TOO busy to do anything else or help anybody else.  EVERYBODY can help out a little more, no matter how busy you are.  We make time for what we want to make time for in our life.  We need to want to help out more.

       How can YOU help out?  This weekend, the Spring Fling folks are back after Communion asking for more help with this year’s event.  This is a monster of a project and is our biggest undertaking of the year as a Parish.  So many are already helping out, and yet more help is needed.  Can’t you find some time to help them out?  Many hands make light work.  Too often, we as Church kill some of our best volunteers, all because we ask a few people to do massive amounts of work for all of us, that we should all be helping with!  How about helping out in the Shepherd’s Gate Food Pantry or on the HELP committee?  What about helping out in Sports Ministry or the two youth groups?  The Altar Rosary Society and the Holy Name Society are constantly looking for more people to help out, and both of these groups are dedicated to service and community building.  The Altar Rosary Society and the Holy Name Society should have hundreds of names on their rosters, who are always willing to help out when they can.  How about joining a Basic Christian Community (B.C.C.) or the Bible Study, or the landscaping committee?  The possibilities today are endless.

       The important thing is that each one of us finds OUR place.  This community needs everybody.  We need your gifts, your talents, your ideas, and your abilities.  Perhaps losing our associate pastor in January, has brought that home to us again.  We have never been a parish where a few people did everything.  From the beginning, we’ve needed everybody helping out with everything.  We wanted more as a Parish family, and from the earliest days of St. Maria Goretti, we all worked together to get it.  Find your ministry.  How can you help out?  How can you serve?

       We are coming off a wonderful Parish Lenten Mission with Fr. Stan Fortuna.  I give thanks to God for all the good that happened this past week.  May Fr. Stan’s message continue to inspire and motivate all of us to a deeper love.  I do thank everyone who worked so hard to make last week’s Mission a great one, and thanks to every one who made the time to attend the Lenten Mission.  Hopefully, you got as much out of these past few days as I did.   We’ve got the Men’s Christ Renews His Parish weekend AND the Cursillo Men’s Weekend both going on this weekend.  Please keep the guys in your prayers!

In Christ,

Fr. Kevin

Choose a job that you love and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.