A Letter from Fr. Paul - April 2, 2017

In a few days we will finish our One Percent Challenge. These last readings (days 22 to 30) begin with the Last Judgment, reminding us what is important (When I was hungry…) They then lead us through the end of Jesus’ life to His Resurrection and Ascension, preparing us to celebrate these events in the weeks to come.

I hope it has been profitable for you and that you will continue this important way of building a relationship with Christ. In our parish newsletter, The Invitation, which you will receive this week, I will give some suggestions for how to continue daily reflection on the Word of God. Please look for it. If you are not receiving e-mails from the parish with the bulletin and the newsletter, please go to our website and sign up.

Thank you to Silas Henderson who continues to share his time and talent with us in adult formation. The Ephesians class was well received. His next presentation will be a five-week session on the Sacraments to be held on Tuesday evenings between April 25 and May 23. All are welcome! More information is in the bulletin. This is a last call for nominations for one trustee position and three pastoral council positions. Nominations will close after the 10:15 Mass this coming Sunday, April 9. Participation so far has been disappointing. Please prayerfully consider nominating yourself or someone else to serve in parish leadership.

Padre Diego of our sister parish Santa María shared two pieces of information with me recently: on Monday of Holy Week they will have a living Way of the Cross for migrants from 3 am to 6 am and on Easter Monday they will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the diocese. I shared with them about the One Percent Challenge and promised that we will continue to remember them in prayer, as they do for us.

This weekend we have the last of three special (and lengthy) Gospels that are crucial in the process of preparing those who are entering the Church for their baptism on Holy Saturday evening. Two weeks ago in the story of the Samaritan woman at the well, we learned that Jesus is the source of living water, the living water that gives us new life in baptism. In the story of the cure of the blind man that we heard last weekend, we were reminded that baptism removes sin and thus enables us to recognize the presence of God in the people and world around us. And our Gospel story this weekend about Lazarus being raised from the dead shows the power of God over death and the promise of eternal life that we receive in baptism.
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For those of us who have already been baptized, Lent is a period of preparation for renewal of our baptismal promises, which we will do on Holy Saturday as we bless the water of the baptismal font. Jesus IS the font of living water, He helps us to see clearly, and He leads us to eternal life!

I invite us to enter fully into these last days of Lent and the celebrations of Holy Week, preparing ourselves to renew our baptismal promises, as we celebrate the death and resurrection of our Savior. And let us support each other in prayer.

-- Paul James Portland, SDS