Bulletins

February 23, 2014

Download the Bulletin as a PDF

There are seven days to our centennial Mardi Gras! The food will be great. The music is going to be fantastic. Since it won't be outdoors our neighbors won't have the advantage of smelling and hearing it so please be sure to invite them well in advance.

Along those lines it is worth pointing out that while some people will respond to an invitation to pray with us, lots of people will respond to an invitation to eat with us! Certainly at Easter and Christmas times there are plenty of neighbors who would be grateful if we provided them with a bulletin mentioning our Mass times. Depending on the topic, quite a few people would appreciate being notified of a lecture or discussion series that it taking place. But almost everyone with a heartbeat is going to thank you for mentioning the date(s) of the next St. John party.

Speaking of which, remember what that wise brother told me when I went off to college: "Avoid people who use the word "party" as a verb". The ten words of the Decalogue are not to be surpassed in wisdom. The next most helpful ten words may very well be that last-minute grammar lesson. Since Lent is almost upon us we do well to remember that our penance cannot consist just in avoiding sin. We should be doing that anyway. Consider adopting a penitential practice that will succeed in making you more prayerful, more faithful, more charitable, more generous, more merciful. Maybe Lent could be the time that you practice a good habit that you want to keep doing even after Lent is over?

Perhaps it would help to review the Fruits of the Holy Spirit and read them like an Examination of Conscience:

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self- control" (Galatians 5,22-23a).

These should be characteristics of every Christian. To the degree that they are not, it might indicate that the work of the Holy Spirit is being impeded in one way or another. A fruit indicates that a living thing is healthy.

So let's try to include as many people as possible in our enjoying some of the good things that come from God's bounty and then in forgoing even some good things of this world for the sake of seeking out the eternal things of heaven.

Laissez les bons temps rouler!

God bless you.

Fr. Christopher J. Pollard