Don’t Be Afraid...Come to the Mission

We can all have times when, like the woman at the well in today’s Gospel, we can feel uncomfortable approaching other people. While she came to the well in the midday heat to avoid others, by God’s providence she ended up encountering someone there who changed her life. She was surprised, a bit perplexed, and humbled by her conversation with Jesus, but something about Him kept her from walking away. This unlikely candidate became a disciple of Jesus, and her story helped others to come to the Lord also!

“Don’t be afraid to draw near to Jesus” is also the theme of our Plainville-Wrentham Collaborative’s Lenten Mission this Monday through Wednesday, 7pm in St. Martha church. A mission in the local church is a series of days dedicated to spiritual renewal - both per-sonally and in our faith communities. This mission will be an opportunity for us to be open to an encounter with Jesus that is authentic to the challenges in our lives while also inspiring with the grace of Christ and the Holy Spirit he shares with us. All other evening events in our parishes are cancelled during this time to allow as many of us as possible to participate in all three evenings. Whether or not you can attend the whole mission, try to bring a friend and come to as many nights as you can! If you can bring a Bible, that will help you to follow along with some parts of the talks. A number of Bibles and other spiritual books will be available for purchase as well.

Our mission is led this year by Sister Regina Dick, FSP, a religious sister of the Daughters of St. Paul. She is a friend of Fr. Lambert and me and she is an experienced presenter of parish missions and other spiritual programs. Sr. Regina has been a professed Pauline sister for over 25 years, having entered the Daughters of St. Paul because she wanted to share in their mission to communicate God’s word using all the means of so-cial communication. In a recent article Sr. Regina wrote, “As I served in the Pauline Book center in Dedham, I recognized my greatest satisfaction was accom-panying the people who had come to us, seeking meaningful ways to celebrate or experience life's biggest moments: whether adapting to a difficult medical diagnosis, welcoming new life into a family, celebrating the sacraments and liturgical seasons, or grieving the loss of a loved one. Through people's stories, I recognized the common human connection with Jesus's paschal mystery.”

As we use our journey through Lent and the chal-lenges in our nation and our world to help us grow in trusting God, may this mission be just the grace we need for the weeks ahead leading up to the renewal of our Baptism vows at Easter!