“Come, and You Will See…”

Jesus knows that some things we can’t understand unless we experience them. He wants his disciples – all of us – to come to know him, not just to know about him. As he invited his first disciples to spend time with him, he also calls us to get to know him – the person Jesus Christ, who is both God and man. This short period of Ordinary Time before Lent is focused on his call for us to be disciples, companions of Jesus. Then our Lenten journey will be more than doing things or fasting from things, but deepening that relationship with Christ in his sacrificial love for us. Our collaborative’s new evening program Discovering Christ is particularly geared to helping people getting to know Jesus more, no matter how much or how little we know him now.

Part of knowing Jesus is spending time in prayer – at church, in our homes, and in our hearts. Prayer, in any of its forms, is essential to building our trust in God and opening our lives to his grace and blessings. This is why we have asked you to pray for our Deacon Ken Oles, as he mounts his battle with mesothelioma, and for our former pastor Fr. Chip Hines, as he recovers from complications with multiple foot surgeries. Our prayers mean something – for those who pray as well as those for whom we pray. Without prayer, we are not as open to God’s influence in our lives, or to the grace and strength he offers to help us through the challenges we face along the way. Jesus was no stranger to challenges, and as his disciples we need to be prepared to deal with them too. One of our new goals for the next few years is to focus on prayer of discernment – seeking God’s help with important decisions we make. LaSalette in Attleboro is offering a day of reflection about this on February 4 (see bulletin article) – having some parishioners attend this would help us to get started on this important goal!

I especially want to ask you to pray for our Lenten experience in St. Martha and St. Mary Parishes this year. In addition to our new Discovering Christ program, Fr. Bill has recruited another wonderful speaker for our Lenten Mission, and there will be several other opportunities to journey with the Lord this Lent – in our homes, our parishes, and beyond.
We posted a wonderful prayer on our website to help us pray that all of these initiatives will be guided by the Holy Spirit and strengthen our parishes and each of our relationship with the Lord. Please consider praying that (or any) prayer regularly – even daily – for all the people who may benefit from these experiences.

We posted a wonderful prayer on our website to help us pray that all of these initiatives will be guided by the Holy Spirit and strengthen our parishes and each of our relationship with the Lord. Please consider praying that (or any) prayer regularly – even daily – for all the people who may benefit from these experiences.

I want to close with a practical announcement. The officials of the Archdiocese have heard and responded to concerns from parishioners and parish leaders about the growing number of “special collections” that are asked of our people. They have decided to combine several of those collections, and we were able to make the changes in time for the New Year. In appreciation for the fact that fewer collections will be going outside of our parishes, I encourage you to review which charities benefit from each collection as it is published ahead of time (online and in the bulletin). For myself, I will try to increase my giving when there are many charities combined in one collection, but how we each respond to special collections is a decision we each need to make for ourselves. We can all be grateful that the archdiocese simplified something…!
 

!