He saved us and called us to a holy life, not according to our works but according to his own design.
Don’t you just wish you could make yourself a better person? If you work hard enough, we are told we can achieve anything. Yet despite our best efforts, we fall short of many goals. Accepting our limitations is an important part of a healthy mental and emotional life, but so is the desire to improve. We have the ability to improve our lives in many ways, and so each day we seek to be better than the previous. How does that impact our pursuit of holiness? Are my Lenten practices of prayer, fasting and almsgiving going to make me holier? If not, why bother? Our spiritual exercises are not about us making ourselves holy, rather they are about contriteness of heart and an effort to be in His presence. It is being in the presence of the Lord that he himself purifies and sanctifies us.
Roughly 150,000 adults join the Catholic Church each year at Easter, not to mention others who become Catholic during the year. New members bring life and vitality to any parish. Last Sunday, many dioceses, including our own, celebrated the Rite of Election with those who are preparing for baptism at the Easter Vigil. In our parish, the religious education program, school community and baptism program have been busily preparing our children for the sacraments throughout the year, and through our own OCIA program, four adults are being prepared to be fully initiated into the church at our Easter Vigil. A few others will be received into the church from other Christian faiths, and some baptized Catholics will receive the Sacrament of Confirmation.
As most newly baptized will tell you, they became a member of the Church because someone was an example of Christian life to them. We are each renewed in our faith during these days of Lent, not simply for ourselves but so we may attract others to Christ. Our Lenten journey will lead us to the resurrection of the Lord, and we do not keep that vision secret. Let us pray that throughout these Lenten days, others will see our own transformation in holiness so that they may come to desire a life in Christ.
WELCOME FR. ROGER – We are excited to welcome home Fr. Roger Lopez, OFM who will lead us on a three-day Lenten Retreat to begin the season of Lent. Fr. Roger is preaching at all masses next weekend, inviting us to either morning mass or an evening presentation, Monday to Wednesday, focusing on the theme To Thirst–To See To Live. The evening presentations will begin at 7:00 pm.On Monday evening, the presentation will be in the context of Mass. On Tuesday, he will give his talk within a penance service with individual confessions available. On Wednesday, he will conclude the talk within a Holy Hour of Eucharistic Adoration. Please note: On Monday, the Miraculous Medal Novena will be prayed privately. A video invitation from Fr. Roger can be found on our website, social media, and at tinyurl.com/SROL-26Retreat.
CATHOLIC FAITH NETWORK TELETHON – I encourage you to join me in supporting this weekend’s telethon in support of the evangelizing work of our diocesan television network -beginning on Saturday, February 28 from 2:00 pm and continuing through Monday, March 2 at 8:30 am. The telethon can be viewed on Optimum, channel 29/137; Verizon FiOS TV channel 296; and Spectrum, channel 162/471 and streaming on Amazon Fire TV, Samsung Smart TV, Roku, Android TV, and Apple TV. Joining the many guests and performers will be students from Saint Rose of Lima School. Your financial and viewing support makes a difference in helping the church and our faith to be present in a multimedia world as well as connecting us with the faithful around the nation and world. You can make your secure donation at https://www.catholicfaithnetwork.org/donate.
Peace!
