From the Pastor – March 1, 2020

The desert is a vast, dry and arid place of mystery and encountering God. It is not a place one wants to be withoutfood or water. Yet, this is where the devil brought Jesus to tempt and challenge him. But, true to himself and hisFather, Jesus maintained his dignity and resisted the tempter’s invitations.And so, we are in another Lent. It is a time of repentance and conversion, of ridding ourselves of all that preventsus from improving our relationship with God. We are so used to “giving up” that we forget that Lent is a time ofreflection, trying to discover ways to listen more intently to God. Yes, Lent is a time of sacrifice, which issupposed to improve our relationship with the intimate relationship of Father and Son. The problem with “givingup” is that after Lent, we resume our lives as if nothing has changed. But our lives are supposed to change, basedon improving our relationship with God. Our words, attitudes and actions are meant to be better because we havemade the time to listen to God. Then we are prepared to celebrate the Great Feast and Season of Easter withheart, mind, spirit and body renewed.Lent is the desert time, a unique opportunity to allow God to touch us differently than previously. Lent is likelooking into the mirror to see what it is about ourselves that we would like to change or improve. Life is aboutgrowth and change, and Lent affords us the opportunity to accomplish that. Instead of doom and gloom, Lentshould be a time of enthusiasm and hope because we are attempting to improve our lives and our relationshipwith God and each other. That is always a good thing, and so Lent becomes a positive time in our lives and thelife of the church. Yes, we are imperfect sinners who have been saved by the death and resurrection of Christ, butwe are basically good people who may say and do things that hurt others. Well, this is the time to make thenecessary changes we need so that we can move on in our lives and celebrate the wonder that Jesus is for us.I am happy to announce that we have hired a new Music Ministry Director. He is DAN PALKO. Many of youmay know him from his time here previously. He will begin his ministry here next weekend, as he fulfills hisresponsibilities in his present parish. I look forward to working with him and he is looking forward to workingwith the adult and children’s choirs. WELCOME, DAN!!!  HAPPY LENT!!~ Fr. Joe