Dear Parishioners,

                Our season of Lent has begun and from the looks of it, we have begun well. Attendance at Masses during the weekdays is up considerably, both our 7am and 12:10pm Masses. More parishioners and families are coming to the Student’s Masses on Wednesday and Friday and that is a good thing! The kids love to see their families in Church, joining them in prayer and celebrating the Eucharist as a St. Rosalie family.

                Lent is about person prayer and at the same time it is about community prayer as well. It is a reflection on our lives as individuals and as a community of the faithful of God. The prophets speak to the ‘People of God’ (and themselves) and share a common call to repentance in the name of the loving God who has created in His image and likeness.

                I will share a bit with you at Masses about my recent trip to the Dominican Republic. Needless to say it is a country that is developing slowly and is in need of a lot of infrastructure and financial support. At the same time they are doing everything they can to raise funds and collect clothes and food to send to the neighbors who share their small island. Everywhere there are boxes for donations and in public places containers for monetary donations. It is amazing that a country that could use more financial assistance are helping those who are in dire need of basic items.

                Our Salesians in the Dominican Republic have become the clearing house for so many things—food, clothing, water purifying machines and simple tablets given to thousands to help make sure their drinking water is safe to drink.  I can tell you for certain that the funds raised here and those given to me to share have been used by the Salesians to help the people of Haiti in many simple ways. All of their administrative costs, travel and accommodations, are all being taken care of by the Salesian province of New Rochelle as a way of making sure every dollar given will go to the poor and those in need.

                Again I say that I am most grateful to you all for your generous prayers and your financial donations that have made the relief efforts in the country of Haiti possible. You are a part of the Salesian family and as such should take great pride in knowing that your prayers and support are making a difference to the people of Haiti.

                Let us also pray for the people now of Chile who have been devastated recently. It gives us the opportunity to reflect on how good God is to us and despite all of our hardships, there are people who are suffering worse than we are in so many ways.

                A reminder that the Ladies Club/Altar Society Day of Recollection is next Saturday, call the office for details. Pray for our Confirmation students who this week receive the “Gift of the Spirit’ by our Archbishop at Confirmation. 

Prayers and blessings…

Fr. Jon Parks, sdb, Pastor

Following the WORD OF GOD

  As God intervened to save the chosen people from slavery in Egypt, so in Jesus, God is intervening again to save the people from slavery to sin. This is the link between today’s first reading and the gospel selection.

  In the second reading St. Paul says that we must remain steadfast in our faith. We cannot become over-confident even though we are the recipients of God’s favor and grace. Temptations come to all but scripture says that God will not let us be tempted beyond our strength to resist. If we seek God’s help, He will give us a way out so that we may endure it.

  The gospel reading is about repentance and reform. In the time of Jesus, popular thought associated disaster with punishment for sins. It was easy to think that terrible disasters came because guilty people deserved it. Jesus gave examples and said the victims of disaster were not guiltier than anyone else and that without reform all would come to a bad end. Then He gave a parable in which an owner asked for a barren fig tree to be cut down, but the vinedresser asked for one more year to submit the tree to proper tending so that it would bear fruit. Jesus is like that with us, giving us another chance to amend our lives before we are doomed for not bearing spiritual fruit. Let us use this Lenten season as our special invitation to accept God’s gift of mercy and forgiveness.