Lent
Dear sisters & brothers in Christ,
I pray that you are blessed and doing well. Personally, I can’t believe it is already time to begin Lent. This past year has been so bizarre, at times it flew by and at other times it seemed to be frozen as if tomorrow would never come. Most of you will find this Lent to be even more strange since we will not be doing a Fish Fry. Your children can tell their grand-children that they were here the year that St. Alphonsus didn’t have a Fish Fry.
We have, however, been making plans for other activities. When the pandemic hit last year, we were just about to start our mission. It was going to be the very first time this “Jesus Mission” was going to be done. We are going to give it another go. Our plans are to do it the week of March 22nd, just before Palm Sunday and Holy Week. Fr. Tom Santa and Fr. Paul Coury will be our preachers.
Prior to the mission, Fr. Tom will be presenting a series on The History of The Church. Also in the works is a series on The Gospel of Mark, as well as, other online material that you can watch when your schedule permits. Of course we have also made available to every parishioner all of the online content of “Formed.org.” We are always looking for good ideas, and so, if you have an idea or a request please send us an email. We are providing copies of the Day-Break Reflection booklets like we did during Advent. If you are remaining at home and would like a copy mailed to you please contact the office.
We will be doing our usual Stations of The Cross, but we are moving them to Noon on Wednesdays in hopes that more people will be able to attend. They will of course be live-streamed, as well as, opened to the public. One other difference this year is that we are looking for lay people to lead them. One of the things that Fr. Chung and I have been working on as part of a Province wide effort, is the promotion of more lay leadership in our parishes, especially in these types of ministries. Br. Leo or I will lead the first one of them and then there will be a sign up sheet in the rear of church. If you would like to do so, just sign-up and talk with Fr. Chung, Carol or myself and we will answer any questions you might have and get you set up.
The Sacrament of Reconciliation has become a Lenten tradition to many Catholics. Besides our usual availability by appointment, we will be offering The Sacrament on March 18th along with the rest of the diocese. We will also be celebrating the Sacrament 30 minutes before each night of the mission.
While the rosary is not necessarily a Lenten activity, each Lent we are asked to increase our life of prayer, sacrifice and good works. As I mentioned earlier, we are beginning a “Rosary Pledge.” Essentially, we are asking parishioners to make a pledge to pray the rosary once a week for the next year. The rosary is a hallmark of Catholic prayer. While the actual prayers of the rosary are the first prayers most of us Catholics learned as children, the meditative aspect of the rosary allows us to meditate on the greatest mysteries of our faith. Many people never leave home without their rosary, and some of the holiest people I have know prayed the rosary daily.
Part of that pledge is also a request to pray for our “Parish Weekly Intention,” which will be included in our Sunday Prayers of the Faithful, be published in the bulletin, posted online, and sent out via email to those who request it. Of course you don’t have to pray the rosary to pray for this intention, since our hope is that each and every parishioner will pray for the weekly intention, but the rosary is a great spiritual exercise to make a part of your own personal prayer life.
Along with Fr. Chung, the rest of our Redemptorist community, and your parish staff, I hope that you have a holy Lent. May it lead you, by a deeper spiritual journey, to an ever stronger relationship with your Lord. May you remain in His Light and feel the continued presence of The Spirit each and every day.
In the Redeemer, Fr. Rick