Welcome back to this powerful season of Lent, a time of ongoing conversion or “turning back” to the God who is the source of all life and blessings, and to the Savior who showed the depth of his love for us through his own suffering, death, and resurrection. Jesus invites us to walk this path of sacrificial love together, as his disciples. Disciples are learners, apprentices who model their life vocation according to the model of the master artisan. As disciples we are “doers” even though we are still learning, growing, and perfecting our craft of lovingly serving God and our neighbor.
Last weekend when Cardinal Seán visited our collaborative to celebrate Mass with members of both parishes, two things had a powerful impact on me. The first was
the fact that
Deacon Ken Oles was feeling well enough to vest and return to the sanctuary with us for this special occasion, and Cardinal Seán paid tribute to him by celebrating the fact
this year marks the 40th anniversary of Deacon Ken’s ordination! The sustained applause and standing ovation spoke volumes about how this man of God lovingly and faithfully served the people of our parishes in so many ways over four decades! How many lives have been touched by his preaching, the countless children he baptized, his example and leadership in prayer, and the pastoral support he gave to our parishioners, priests and deacons alike! I told the cardinal about how, when St. Martha and St. Mary formally became a collaborative, Deacon Ken who had already started helping with ministry at St. Martha Parish, voluntarily requested to be assigned officially to St. Martha Parish in addition to St. Mary Parish. So many people have continued to reminisce about past experiences of his ministry and his relationship with them and their family. Parishioners often inquire about how he is coping with his serious illness, and want me to assure him they continue to pray for him. This experience at last week’s celebration made it very special and powerful from the start!
The other powerful thing for me at that Mass was how Cardinal Seán preached about
Jesus commanding us to “love one another as I have loved you” (John 15:12). He said it’s hard enough to love our enemies (as we heard in the previous week’s gospel), but this command is even deeper. How does Jesus love us? We celebrate this kind of love every Christmas as we ponder God giving us the most precious gift he has to give - the gift of himself in his Son. We are inspired by the depth of Jesus love every time we prayerfully gaze upon a crucifix showing he loved us unto death. We are called to give sacrificial love to one another, as Jesus has done for us.
Please be sure to take with you today an
Abundant Hope “baby bottle” (at St. Martha) or a
Catholic Relief “rice bowl” (at St. Mary) to collect change and the money we save with our Lenten sacrifices. Also take a copy of
our new PWC newsletter “Catholic Community News,” which is also being sent by email to all parishioners who registered their email with the parish (if you didn’t receive the newsletter by email, please email your parish office to add your address to our list).
LaSalette Shrine has many activities planned this Lent also; some are promoted in flyers by our church doors. And
keep checking our website and bulletins for other Lenten activities as we add them to the calendar.