Lenten Journey

Dear sisters & brothers in Christ,

I pray that you are blessed and well. While I consider myself lucky, all things considered, I am happy to have my dental surgery healing and whatever happened last Sunday to be over and done. It is very odd that I have these ailments come out of nowhere, and most of the time they are around a major holiday. Three times I ended up in the hospital, and this time my dental surgeon told me to pack a bag and be ready. Nevertheless, I have had good doctors and family, confreres, and friends to support me. So, I want to once again thank all of you who prayed for my recovery... If you were praying for a different outcome, sorry to disappoint. ;-)

While we all acknowledge that Einstein was a genius, and most of us haven’t any hope of fully understanding his math, I don’t think it takes a genius to understand that time is relative! Just ask any child the week before Christmas and they will tell you how much time has slowed down. Then just ask any liturgist, who is trying to wrap up Christmas and Epiphany, how long it is until Lent? We have all experienced how time can at least seem to speed up and slow down. I can’t believe that Lent, and of course Fish Fries, are just a couple weeks away.

Once again, we face a Lenten Journey that will have to maneuver the dangers and restrictions of a world-wide pandemic. As most of you know, as per the bishop’s instructions, we have designated the area directly in front of our OMPH Shrine as our mandatory masks & social-distancing area. If you find that this is not enough space, please let me know and we will try to adjust. Hopefully, this might encourage those of you who have been on the fence about returning. Of course, for those of you not yet ready to return physically, we will continue to livestream our Masses. We will also be streaming The Stations of The Cross during Lent.

Our plan is to go ahead with Fish Fry, but as drive-through only. We will have the Leonard/Lafayette parking lot set up just like we did shortly after Covid first struck. Some of our usual volunteers are still not ready to return and some have other health issues that put them in a high-risk category. If you can help, we can always use volunteers. Call the office or see the bulletin for more information.

In the Redeemer, Fr. Rick

NOTE: Every few weeks I would like to add some gifts and/or talents that we are looking for so that we can address a special need.

Current Needed Skills:
Graphic Artist - Design a logo/brand for the parish 
Photographer - Take pictures at various parish events for use on the web, Redemptorist Newsletter, publicity, and our archives