Welcome Stacey Simpson – Last Saturday, March 10, 2012 at the 5pm mass, we formally welcomed Mrs. Stacey Simpson into the Catholic Church. For as long as I’ve been here, I always thought Mrs.
Simpson as a Catholic because she would attend mass faithfully with her husband Wilt and son Matthew. However, one day Sr. Catherine shared with me that Stacey was interested to become Catholic. She was a Methodist. After receiving instructions with Sr. Catherine, we formally welcomed her. I requested delegation from the Archbishop to celebrate Confirmation with her last Saturday, because even though she wasn’t Catholic yet, but she has been a youth minister with our Junior High school students. They had an activity last Saturday and attended the evening mass. It seemed fitting to welcome her then with the youth supporting her. She chose as her Confirmation name, Priscilla, who was a missionary in the New Testament and worked closely with St. Paul in many of his missionary journeys. She felt herself also a missionary as she works to share the faith with our youth. Welcome Stacey! We’re blessed to finally have you as an official member of our parish community.
Theology of the Body – The past few Wednesday nights at 6pm, we’ve been having our Lenten Soup Suppers followed by our Lenten Spiritual Reflection. Pope John Paul II’s reflection on the meaning of our lives, led to his Theology of the Body. How we discover who we are and what we’re called to be, the Pope wrote, can be discovered through our body and our sexuality. The topics presented the past few weeks have been rich and insightful. Our bodies, our sexuality have a deeper meaning and are the means by which we discover our vocation. For many of us, sex has not been a major conversation at home. Much of what we’ve learned has been negative. However, Pope John Paul II presents our sexuality in a beautiful and healthy way, as a means by which we can learn to relate with one another positively. The welfare of nations rest in the health of our communities. The health of our communities, rely on the health of families. And Pope John Paul taught that the health of families, depend on the health of our sexual relationships. So come on the Wednesdays of Lent at 6pm to the Church’s Lower Hall, not only for Soup supper but also for spiritual nourishment. The Spiritual reflection begins at 7pm and you will be intrigued.
Parish Reconciliation Service – The Sacrament of Reconciliation can be a beautiful encounter with the Lord who does not wish to see the sinner suffer but to be set free. It is an encounter with the Lord, who desires to show us His love and mercy. Our Parish Reconciliation Service will be on Wednesday, March 28 at 7pm. As in the past, this will be celebrated within our regular Wednesday night Holy Hour. The Blessed Sacrament will be exposed, a reading from scripture will be used to help us reflect and examine our conscience, before we proceed to individual confessions. We will have 4 priests available that evening. We will conclude with Benediction at about 8pm. Hope you will be able to join us then, to prepare your hearts for the celebration of Holy Week and Easter.
Fr. Dan
