March 5, 2023 2nd Sunday of Lent To My Spiritual Family of Holy Redeemer and St. Anthony, On a Mission for Lent: Many of us have loved ones, friends, or colleagues who have the unfortunate talent of depressing and discouraging everyone they encounter. These unhappy folks complain constantly, look negatively at every situation, and generally spread darkness and gloom wherever they go. People like this are not easy to be around. Often, we purposely avoid them. Maybe this Lent, though, we can take another tack: we can sacrificially love them! How do we do this? By smiling. By cheerfully greeting them. By speaking a word of joy to them. St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta taught that peace begins with a smile. Let’s try that! Might our smile be rebuffed? It might. May our words of kindness be thrown back into our face? Yes, that’s possible. Yet as Christians, we must make the effort to radiate the light of Christ and to spread the Good News of the gospel. That’s our task. During this Lenten season, Deacon Ray is dismissing us from Mass with the words: “Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord!” He’s reminding us that we are to be Christ to everyone we encounter. That includes our gloomy and negative friends. We certainly announce the Gospel with our words, but also with our love. Your smile or mine has the power to change a person’s life. By God’s grace, we can bring the light and joy of Christ to everyone around us! Parish Prayer Teams: Allow me to mention again our intention to make prayer available after each of our weekend Masses. Remember that we desire to be a parish that prays, loves, and serves the poor. People request prayers all the time from myself and the deacons. This is good. We truly love to bring your intentions before the Lord. But it is extremely important that you are also praying with and for each other in very practical and tangible ways. This is the purpose of the 2-member prayer teams. Beginning the weekend of March 18-19 (with – please God - the grace of the Lenten Mission still radiating in our hearts), a small number of teams (1 to 3 per Mass) will be available in the chapel at Holy Redeemer and near the baptismal font at St. Anthony to pray with and for you. This is not an encounter meant to be awkward or off-putting. This prayerful encounter is meant to be warm and supportive. Jesus himself said: “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst of them (Mt 18:20).” If you are struggling with a health issue and wish prayer, you simply approach the prayer team and ask for their intercession. If your family wishes to praise God for a blessing received, you can go to the prayer team and allow them to share in your joy. Pretty simple, right? Yet prayer can move mountains. We are still looking for volunteers to be Prayer Team members. Please let us know if you might be called to do this. Thank you! Catholic Services Appeal: As of the bulletin printing deadline, 150 parishioners have pledged $104,090.00 toward our 2023 CSA drive. We have also already received $55,550.00 in pledge payments. Incredible! Amazing! Really . . . I’m running out of adjectives to describe your generosity! Preliminary work for our parish project, the renewal of the Holy Redeemer baptismal area, has already begun. Hopefully, hammer and chisel work will begin this summer. Thank you so much for your kindness! And yes, if you still wish to make a pledge, you can certainly do that. God bless you all! 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