Posted on March 14, 2022 View all Pastor's Letter
Dear brothers and sisters,
We are celebrating the Second Sunday of Lent; Jesus invites us to climb with Him the Mountain of Tabor, a different place than last Sunday. It is a high mountain, a place where there is light, where God manifests Himself. The mountain symbolizes the challenges that the Christian life poses to us; the pains, fatigues, fears, and everything in life that makes us lose joy. But, for a Christian, those challenges and difficulties must be walked hand in hand with God. They are always rewarded with something as great as the crown of holiness. Lent is always an invitation to fight hard for our transfiguration, even if this implies pain by denying ourselves.
On another note, on Thursday, March 17th, the parish staff will have a Lenten morning retreat. It will be a morning of reflection and confessions. As a staff it is also necessary to have moments of prayer and meditation; for this reason, the office will be closed in the morning and will open at 1:30pm. I hope for your understanding and prayers.
Also, I would like to remind you that Saturday, March 19th, is the Solemnity of Saint Joseph, the adoptive father of our Lord, and it is also a very special day for the religious sisters of our parish, who celebrate their patron saint. Therefore, I ask you to raise a special prayer that day for the congregation and more vocations from the Poor Sisters of Saint Joseph, especially for Mother Maria, Sister Delfina, Sister Fermina, Sister Ursula, and Sister Adelina, whom we all love and appreciate. We will have the Holy Mass at 8:00 am, and then after the mass, we will have a small gathering in Hannan Hall. You are all invited.
In the same way, I want to thank all those who have already signed up for the new online donation platform. Last weekend many had the opportunity to learn more about this new platform. I ask all of you to have confidence. I have decided to make this change for the benefit of the entire parish. We needed to update the database system and other programs used for development and administrative purposes to strengthen the parish work, so I decided to switch to something more favorable for all of us. The new program includes:
- Better data software.
- A mobile app many already have.
- A new online donations platform (Pushpay).
All parishioners who donate through Faith Direct must switch to the new platform, Pushpay by Friday, April 1st. Call us at the office and we will gladly guide you through the process.
Finally, I remind you that every Friday, we will have the Stations of the Cross in English at 5:30pm and in Spanish at 7:30pm. We also have the days of confessions that everyone already knows, and during Lent, we will also hear confessions on Wednesdays at 6:30pm. I invite you all to come make a good confession.
Have a blessed week, and remember that you are in my prayers.
Fr. Alex
