These last weeks of Lent & Holy Week are a busy time of the year. As we draw to the end of the Lenten season & enter into the holiest days of the Church year there is a lot of planning and preparation to be done, there are details that need to be figured out, homilies to be written, and questions to be answered.

This week we celebrate the Solemnity of St. Joseph, the husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Patron Saint of the Universal Church. Normally we celebrate St. Joseph on March 19th, but since that is a Sunday this year and St. Joseph is so central to our faith, the celebration of his feast is transferred to Monday the 20th.

Sometime’s it’s tempting and easy to give into spiritual discouragement. Whether that be in failing in our Lenten commitments or any other challenge that might arise on our spiritual journeys. The spiritual journey isn’t always the proverbial “walk in the park.” Sometimes we find ourselves struggling with the same sin over and over and over again and, despite what seems like our best efforts, we haven’t been able to rid ourselves of it yet.

How long does it take you to get ready? Most of us have a routine before we go out, especially first thing in the morning. We may brush our teeth, comb our hair, and change our clothes to make ourselves presentable. From the time we get out of bed until the time we walk out the door, we undergo a transfiguration of sorts. We don’t want just anyone to see us before we transfigure.

Conversion is a reality, I think, that while we know we need to undergo, many of us would rather do it on our terms. It’s much easier to change how we want to change, when we want to change, and to change what we want to change.

“Repent & Believe in the Gospel.” This coming Wednesday we will hear those words proclaimed again as we enter into our annual Lenten observance. As we enter into these days of prayer, fasting, & almsgiving, I wanted to share with you some of the opportunities we have at the parish to help us draw more close to God & embrace His invitation to renew our lives in & with Him:

  Hi there, everyone! Hope that you’re having a great week! I am away this weekend & throughout the upcoming week spending some time refreshing & relaxing with friends while Angel is refreshing & relaxing at “Hotel Grandma” (she says it’s a 10 star hotel & I agree).

What would you do if you won the Mega Millions Jackpot? At one point in the past weeks, the Mega Millions jackpot was a total of 1.35 BILLION dollars before someone won it in Maine. That is, to put it lightly, a LOT of money. I’m sure that many of us could think of a lot of things that we could do with 1.35 Billion...

Do you hear what I hear? Yes, I know those are the words of a Christmas song, but even though our Christmas season has concluded, I think that those words are words that you and I are invited to reflect upon today. Do you hear what I hear?

As our Christmas season draws to close I wanted to take another opportunity to wish everyone a Merry Christmas! As we conclude these Christmas days, I wanted to take the opportunity in today’s column to say thank you! It’s something that while I always feel it, I don’t always remember to say it, so again, thank you!

Merry Christmas! On behalf of myself & our entire parish staff please know of our prayers during this holy time of year! A special welcome too to anyone who might be visiting us on these holy days as well as all those who are returning home to celebrate. We are glad that you are here!

Throughout the season of Advent we often sing the familiar hymn, “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.” It’s a very haunting & very familiar melody, but how many of us are aware of where the words of the song find their origins?

Last month, I took some time for my annual retreat. While many times I like to do group retreats with other priests, for this particular retreat, I packed up my car & headed down to southern Ohio & a cabin in the woods in Hocking Hills for a solo retreat.

As we enter into the season of Advent & begin a new Church year we are invited & encouraged to pay attention for the new ways that God comes among us. As we draw closer to our celebration of Christmas when we celebrate the historical coming of Jesus into our world, we start the Advent season by focusing on Jesus’ coming at the end of time.

In one of my columns last month, I talked about some of  the insights that I had gleaned at our Priests’ Convocation that we had at the beginning of the month.  Over time I hope to share with you some of those insights with you.  This week I want to share some insights that I gained about splitting my time each week between both parish offices.

In just a few weeks we will begin the season of Advent, entering into a new liturgical year. The season of Advent invites us to prepare the way for the coming of Jesus into our lives. One of the ways that we can do that, one of the ways that we can prepare ourselves to recognize the ways that Christ comes among us is by taking time in silence & prayer.

The beginning of October found me gathering with 200+ brother Priests of the Diocese out in Huron at Sawmill Creek Resort for our biannual Priests’ Convocation. I remember when I was in the seminary that the week of the Priests’ Convocation was somewhat a week of vacation with all of our Priest professors being away.

One of the great forms of prayer in our Church is intercessory prayer. So many of us have people & causes that we pray for on a regular, sometimes even daily basis. We pray for people who are sick, people who have died, we pray for peace, we pray for the unemployed, just to name a few. There are many ways and forms that we could ask our Lord’s intercession, one of those ways that we are very familiar with is through the offering of Masses.

As we enter into the month of October, I wanted to look at some upcoming events you might be interested in marking on your calendar.

Over the next few weeks we will be rolling out a new opportunity for you to be able to do everything from share your thoughts & suggestions, to getting information about various ministries & ways to be involved around the parish, (for when someone new visits us) to begin the process of joining our parish family. These boxes will be found, starting with the first weekend of October, October 1st & 2nd, at the doors of the Church.