On this Fifth Sunday of Lent we hear the gospel story of Lazarus, a close friend of Jesus, being raised from the dead, and we also hear of the questions that Lazarus’s sisters, Martha and Mary, have to face in the midst of their brother’s death. These questions, for many folks, will be the obstacles to faith which the Sunday scrutinies speak—especially this fifth Sunday.

Lenten Penance Service Wednesday March 22 at 7 p.m., our parish will host a Lenten Penance Service for all Catholics wishing to confess their sins for the coming Easter celebrations. There will be three (3) priests available, Fr. Michael Whyte, Fr. John Gancarz, and Fr. John Melnick. We will have a brief prayer service followed by individual confessions throughout the Church.

This Sunday, the third in Lent, we hear the story of the Samaritan women at the well, where Jesus asks her for a drink of water. In and of itself, this act of a Jewish man asking a Samaritan woman for a drink of water is beyond all the cultural norms of the day. In fact, it is beyond what was normal in Greco-Roman times. It was after all, Plato whose philosophy said that women were inferior to men in all aspects—physically, intellectually, spiritually, and morally—they had no autonomy

On March 16th, Thursday, our Youth Ministry team will head out on their Boston Mission Trip where they will interact with God’s children who are in need of food, shelter, dignity and human compassion. One of the things the missionaries will do is to pray in thanksgiving for all of us, our parish, for your generosity in supporting them on this trip and in all their Christian endeavors throughout the year.

In the Season of Lent we are called to recognize the needs of others and to respond with a generous “Yes,” making Justice happen in particular situations. As we come to Mass each Sunday and gaze upon Christ being made real in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, we also see the “backdrop” of the Beatitudes on the wall, THE blueprint of our Christian lives, summed up in one word, “Action.” We are each called to “do something.”