March 5th

Dear Friends,

How is your Lent going? Forty days can seem like a long time, but by this second weekend of Lent we have 11 days under our belts already.

Almsgiving is one of the three pillars of Lent, along with prayer and fasting. The kids in school are participating in “Operation Rice Bowl,” which is a family almsgiving project whereby money saved by eating more simply is put into the “rice bowl” to be collected at the end of Lent and donated to Catholic Relief Services. The name of this is a reminder that for much of the world’s population, rice is the primary source of calories. It may be augmented by beans and sometimes a little meat and vegetable. However, hunger and poor nutrition continue to be realities for too many people in many parts of the world.

Catholic Relief Services is the official relief and development agency of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Through CRS Rice Bowl, faith communities in dioceses throughout the United States put their faith into action through prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Lenten alms donated through CRS Rice Bowl support the work of CRS in more than 100 different countries each year. Twenty-five percent of donations to CRS Rice Bowl stay in the local diocese, supporting hunger and poverty alleviation efforts. Since its inception in 1975, CRS Rice Bowl has raised more than $320 million.
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In this week’s bulletin is a two-page examination of conscience that you can use to prepare for your Lenten confession. We have extra confession times scheduled, and parishioners are always welcome to contact me to set up a private appointment for confession is the times we offer will not work for you. In addition, there are many confession opportunities at our neighboring parishes, especially at St. Mary of Perpetual Help.


May your week reflect the encounter with Christ
we experienced at Mass today!