Pastoral Messages from Fr. Rick 3/26/23
Senior Activity Center – Please see the flyers in the gathering space to discover the many activities offered to seniors in our area.
Share the Fun: Remember that we are a ‘Hospitality Parish’ with a major outreach to our many visitors. Please sign up to help host our Sunday morning Coffee and Muffin gathering. Sign up list is in the gathering space.
Next week is Palm Sunday
Holy Week Schedule:
Monday through Wednesday: Mass 8:00 AM
Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord’s Supper: 7:00PM
Adoration until 10:00 PM
Good Friday:
Stations of the Cross: 3:00 PM
Passion of the Lord with Communion: 7:00 pm
Holy Saturday: Adoration 12:00 noon to 3:00 PM
Easter Sunday Mass of the Resurrection: 8:00 AM & 10:00 AM
Next Week: Annual Collection for Support of the Holy Land
Command Decision: Annually the Carmelite Sisters in Holladay, UT request the mailing lists of the parishes to solicit support for their annual fair. I done it! Since they do not affiliate with any particular parish this is their biggest source of funding for the year…along with homemade candy, altar hosts and some gift shop items. This one-time solicitation has to be approved annually so you will not be pummeled with an ongoing barrage of requests. Thank you as always for your ongoing generosity.
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Homily Reflection: Ez 37:12-14; 130:1-8; Rom 8:8-11; Jn 11:1-45
The readings today speak not only to individual awakenings but also community and national awakenings. The prophet, Ezekiel, in the first reading is speaking to a nation coming out of exile in the Babylonian desert after the destruction of Jerusalem. They have lost everything and now have the opportunity to rebuild, but they must be sure to follow the path that God has laid out for them. God has addressed their interior and exterior needs. A new sense of hope is as essential as the physical building. Their identity as a Chosen and Holy people is renewed. Their vision and purpose is restored.
We can think of many aspects of our individual, community and national predicaments. How is God present in all this? And what blessings have we already received? What ‘new’ truth might God be wanting to teach us as He lets us linger in the grave or the desert?
What is holding us in a premature grave? What is binding us? Do we have people in our lives who will help us call on Jesus and trust in His mercy and love? Why do you suppose getting help from Jesus often seems to take so long? How will we share our new life with others who may be just bystanders or sceptics?
Answering these questions can provide the core of our witness to family, friends and others as believers and disciples.