LENTEN PARISH MISSION MARCH 25–28

Beginning on our Parish Feast Day of the Annunciation, March 25, we welcome back Father Richard Gielow of the Congregation of Mission, who last visited in 2017. Father Gielow will be living here at the rectory. I have prepared a list of days and times Father Gielow would be available for a visit or a meeting. Simply call the rectory to make an appointment. Father Gielow will preach the weekend Sunday Masses on March 25/26. The Lenten MISSION schedule is as follows:

• Sunday evening, 3/26, 7 to 8 p.m.—Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, Special Preaching, and Benediction
• Monday evening 3/27, 7 p.m. Lenten Mass followed by the opportunity to receive the Sacrament of the Anointing
• Tuesday evening 3/28, 7 p.m. Lenten Mass followed by the opportunity to receive God’s loving Forgiveness and Mercy.

FORGIVENESS AND MERCY

Looking back on the first week of Lent, the Evangelist, St. Matthew, shares the Words of Jesus, “If you forgive others their transgressions, your Heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.”

Lent reminds us that mercy is at the heart of the Gospel message and the essential importance that forgiveness plays in our lives. I need, we need, to acknowledge that Forgiveness is God’s nature. Jesus is clear that He did not come to call the righteous, but to call sinners to repentance. The mercy of God the Father, who welcomes sinners with open arms and propels us to conversion, is a gift to everyone seeking it and is meant to be shared with others.

If I, if you, have been forgiven by God for your sins, God calls us to forgive others for theirs. Forgiveness is not only in God’s nature, but it is required of those who have received it. We can ask God for help when we find it difficult to understand what it means to forgive or how to do it. May we never forget that forgiving others is necessary for our own healing and freedom.