Pastor Notes
February 19, 2012
As Ash Wednesday, 2012 approaches, our parish community is poised to continue our process of spiritual awakening. Through this holy Season we wish to reach every family, and invite every family member, to join on a very special spiritual journey together through the Lenten and Easter seasons that culminates in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Pentecost. If we are to spread “the spirituality of Pentecost” as our late Holy Father has encouraged us, it will begin with the spirit of Lent which is a spirit of prayer, fasting and almsgiving; a spirit of repentance and conversion. It is this dying to sin, selfish habits, apathy and inaction, that paves the way for the new life of Easter and Pentecost. The Life in the Spirit seminars during the Easter season are designed to help release in us the grace of Pentecost by prayer for the Baptism in the Holy Spirit.
With the work and prayer that lead to the Lenten season, we are confident that the Lord will touch the hearts of all of our parish community—active and inactive alike. We ask you to come on board with us and “launch out into the deep” (Lk 5:4) where so many souls are waiting for an invitation to come to Christ. There is no work that you will ever do that is greater than leading a soul back from death to life.
As Jesus did not enter the desert before receiving the anointing of the Holy Spirit in the Baptism in the Jordan, so must we invoke the anointing of the same Holy Spirit to empower us to complete our Lenten journey. During this time of grace we are called upon to help us take stock of our own spiritual journey and become a blessing to others on our way. So please join us on this special Lenten journey. We also ask you to pray and fast that all of our efforts will be blessed and bear fruit one hundred fold. Let us all continue to work together in building our parish in what Pope John Paul II envisioned, and our Parish Vision Statement describes as, “a school of prayer.”
This weekend we welcome Father Cliff Ermatinger, well known author and preacher from the Midwest, who will lead our Lenten Mission. Our Lenten Penance Service will take place on Tuesday, 28th, as part of the Mission. So please join us and invite someone who at this time needs the gentle touch of Christ…
May the Lent/Easter/Pentecost seasons be truly blessed and grace-filled opportunities for all of us here at St. Veronica, as we continue our pilgrim journey to our Father’s House.
Have a prayerful and blessed Lenten Season!!!
