February 5, 2023 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time To My Spiritual Family of Holy Redeemer and St. Anthony, Tithing Our Blessings: The parish tithe this February will go to support the compassionate work done by Hospice of Warren County. End-of-life palliative care ensures that a dying person completes their earthly course in a manner which speaks to the dignity of every human life. Pain management, comfort, and companionship all work to this purpose for the dying person and their family. The folks at Hospice of Warren County provide this care with such professionalism and love. I am pleased that we are able to assist them with our financial support. Prayer Teams: We talk often about being a parish that strives to pray, to love, and to serve the poor. Although each leg of this triad is essential, there is something particularly foundational about prayer. Beyond personal intercessory prayer and liturgical prayer, I want to see us more intentionally praying with and for each other. To that end, and beginning the weekend following our Lenten Mission, we will have “prayer teams” available after each of the Saturday/Sunday Masses. The purpose of these teams will be simple but profound – to pray with and for anyone desiring prayer. Ideally, we will have several teams of two persons each who will be available after Mass in the church. Someone (or a couple or a family) in need of prayer will simply approach the prayer team and make a request. For example, “I’ve really had a tough week, would you just lift me up to the Lord?” Or maybe, “My mother was diagnosed with cancer, can we pray for her healing.” Then – together – prayer will take place. I’ll discuss this more in the weeks ahead, but for now, we want to identify the teams and offer some training. To that end, please contact the parish office to volunteer. Husband & wife teams are particularly welcome. Thank you and God bless you for your willingness to soak our parish in prayer! Notes on Eucharistic Revival (Part IV): Each October, our diocese (and the Catholic Church throughout the nation, I believe), gathers data on parish weekend Mass attendance. This is commonly referred to as the “October Count.” The 2022 numbers were recently released. Here are our parish count figures for the past several years (keeping in mind that we have 2 Masses at Holy Redeemer Church and 1 at St. Anthony Church): 2014 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 Holy Redeemer 475 384 342 COVID 271 335 St. Anthony 128 98 128 COVID 66 67 The fact that we have recovered a bit since the pandemic is a cause for joy. Nonetheless, the downward trend in Mass attendance is clear. Throughout the Diocese of Erie, weekend Mass attendance is down 45% since 2014. That’s incredibly sad! My heart definitely hurts for each and every person who no longer worships with us. I long to see all of you at Mass every week. We need God so very badly! This is why our bishops have asked for the Eucharistic Revival. Pray hard and don’t lose heart. Never be afraid to invite family and friends to return to the sacraments. Our Church, the Mass, and the Eucharist are gifts from God with an eternal and infinite value! Please, storm heaven for a revival! Mary, Mother of the Holy Redeemer – Pray for us! Our Lady of Guadalupe – Pray for us! St. Anthony – Pray for us! St. Joseph – Pray for us! Fr. Steve