Hello Everyone….
This weekend we have two priests celebrating Mass with us. Father Aaron presided over the 4pm Mass and Father Kevin will preside over the 7:30am, 9am and 11am Masses today. A big thank you to both Father Aaron and Father Kevin for joining us on such short notice.
Father Maria has had a reaction to his covid vaccine and is not feeling well. He asks for continued prayers as he recovers.
This week we celebrate the second Sunday in Lent. It is also Transfiguration Sunday. As we continue on our Lenten journey my hope is that you all are finding it fruitful and find yourselves praying more, fasting more and giving of your time, talent and treasure more.
We will have a Lenten Penance Service with general absolution on Wednesday at 5:30pm. General Absolution is not the norm and it is usually not allowed at all by the Bishops. However…due to Covid…the Bishops are allowing for general absolution. Personally…I am very uncomfortable with general absolution. So…I want to encourage all of you go to the Sacrament of Reconciliation even if you do go to the Penance Service. Father Maria will be available after the service to hear confessions. But…he also offers confessions on Tuesdays from 4:30 to 4:45pm, Wednesdays from 8:15 to 8:45am, Saturdays from 9 to 10am and 3 to 3:30pm, and Sundays at 10:40am at St John the Baptist. Please take advantage of these times to get reconciled and experience God’s mercy.
We are excited to announce that the parish now offers a quick, easy, and automated way for you to offer your gifts and tithe! There’s no more remembering your checkbook or cash each week. Simply go to www.stfrancismerrill.org/online-giving on any device to get started. You can make one-time donations or even set up a convenient recurring gift that can be managed from your own donor account. It’s easy, quick, and convenient.
Our Genesis to Jesus study continues on Saturday mornings. We have about 25 people attending. This past Saturday we looked at Genesis and the creation stories. If you are interested in coming…you are more than welcome to join us. We begin at 9am and are done around 10am.
Our Fish Fry went well again on Friday. The numbers seem to be down a little but we are still doing very well. I want to thank all the volunteers who continue to help out with the Fish Fry. Believe me…there are many of you to thank. But I want to particularly thank Bill Hanson. He has been doing a lot of the behind the scenes stuff that most people don’t want to do. Including coming in on Saturday mornings to do more of the deep cleaning that needs to be done. If you get a chance…please thank Bill for the work and the time he is putting in. (By the way…he probably will not be happy with me for putting this in my email).
Just a quick reminder that even though the numbers seem to be going down…we continue to not allow visitors in the school. This unfortunately includes the school kid’s parents and caregivers. We continue to do this in an ongoing effort to keep the kids safe. We will reevaluate this policy on April 1st. We do continue to encourage mask wearing at Mass and in the school and in the office area. Thank you for your efforts to keep covid out of our school and church.
Just a reminder that we are offering Stations of the Cross this Lent. You are free to join us on Friday mornings at 8:45am with the school children and 6pm on Fridays. “You can order your Fish Fry go to Stations of the Cross and your Fish Fry will be ready when you are done.” This is a great Lenten devotion…please join us.
We had our first Youth Night on Wednesday night. Thank you to Kay Berg for organizing this event. We had 33 youth attend the Youth Night. Isaiah Rell and Haley Arndt gave talks, and we had adoration in addition to fun and fellowship. We hope to do this on a monthly basis. All middle and high school kids are welcome to join us.
St John the Baptist is looking for money counters to count the collection after the 11am Mass on a rotating basis. It takes about 10 to 15 minutes. If you are able to so this please contact Linda in the Parish Office.
Our school’s annual Cash Raffle continues. You can win $1000, $500, $200, $100, or $50. Tickets are available in the back of church, in the parish office, as well as at the registers at the Fish Fry. All proceeds support the school.
St. Francis of Assisi tried three times to go and evangelize the Holy Land at the time of the Crusades. He went…out of a desire for martyrdom and out of burning love for God.
In his first attempt, his ship was blown off course and landed on the coast of modern-day Croatia.
His second attempt was overland. He got as far as Spain when “God withstood him to his face, striking him with illness, and called him back from the journey which he had begun.”
His third attempt in 1219, he made it as far as Egypt, where he met the Sultan of the Saracens. He went to the sultan’s battle camp, and the sultan was so impressed with him that he offered him various gifts. But Francis showed no interest in wealth.
Francis didn’t receive martyrdom, and didn’t manage to evangelize the Muslim’s either. But, due to the respect the sultan had for him and his respectful way of dealing with the Muslims, the Pope in 1342 established and confirmed the Franciscans mission in the Holy Land.
Currently, close to 300 friar’s work at about 50 sanctuaries in the Holy Land. It is because of the Franciscans that we are able to pilgrimage to the Holy Land and see the wonderful sites that we are all familiar with in the Bible. Including the Church of the Transfiguration located at the very spot where the Transfiguration took place.
It’s not easy getting to a mountaintop. In our Gospel today…Jesus took his disciples up a high mountain. Prayer is one of the three pillars of Lenten observance. The battle for quality prayer is often a battle for silence. Everyone acknowledges the utility of “quiet time,” but, for prayer, this is just the first step. Exterior silence must foster interior silence. We have to quiet down on the inside too.
Find a quiet place this week, like the Adoration Chapel, a monastery, a convent, or a shrine, and set aside some real quiet time so that Our Lord can reveal himself to you more profoundly. Consider doing a retreat or a daily mediation for Lent.
