Dear Friends,
February 8 marks the International Day of Prayer and Awareness Against Human Trafficking. On this day we are reminded that God brings every person into existence, made in His image and likeness to know, love, and serve Him. Our shared Source of creation and purpose connects every one of us fraternally. Every person is a child of God made for holiness and eternal salvation.
Unspeakable actions against people, individually and collectively, occur every day in every part of the world. We are blessed to live in a small town where horrific actions are few and far between. While we give thanks for the safety of our family and friends, with particular gratitude to public safety officers, we must work diligently to be aware of and to respond to every act against life.
When Pope Saint John Paul II exhorted the world to embrace a Culture of Life, he underscored that every life has inherent value from the moment of natural conception to the moment of natural death.
The foremost way to advance a Culture of Life is for each of us to become saints. Sanctifying our own lives comes from discerning and doing God’s will for us in relationship with Him and with all of His beloved.
Give witness to the sanctity of life every day at every opportunity within our families, our neighborhoods, and beyond. Accept the hardships which come with reaching out boldly in filial love. They will bring immeasurable joy!
In less than 2 weeks we will enter the Holy Season of Lent –– a 40-day season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends at sundown on Holy Thursday.
Accordingly, until February 10/11, you are all welcomed to bring blessed palms to the church to be burned. This year we will have the third annual, diocesan-wide collection for retired clergy at all Ash Wednesday Masses. Thank you for your generosity!
In Christ,
Fr. Jim