The Second Sunday in Lent

Thoughts from Fr. Bill…….

Dear friends, we celebrate the Transfiguration twice a year:
August 6 and the Second Sunday of Lent. It is at the Transfiguration
that the voice of God is heard, saying of Jesus,
“This is my chosen Son; listen to him. As we continue on our
way through this season of Lent, our attention should be drawn
more and more to the voice of Jesus. What is he saying to
you? What are you doing to listen to him? Let us pray for a
heart more open to hearing what Jesus has to say to each of us.

I mistakenly wrote in last week’s bulletin that Pope Benedict
would resign on Thursday. As he prepares to resign this
Thursday we offer this prayer: God, our Loving Father, we ask
Your blessing on Pope Benedict XVI upon the occasion of his
resignation. Thank You for his years of dedicated leadership
in which he faithfully administered the mysteries of Your forgiveness
and love. Thank You, too, for the outstanding pastoral
care he has so lovingly offered us as our Holy Father.
May your Holy Spirit continue to guide him as he now walks a
new path. Gracious God, bless the future of Your Holy
Church as it now moves forward to choose a new Pope, a new
spiritual leader for Your Catholic people. We pray for the
Cardinals as they gather for their conclave to select the new
successor to Saint Peter. With the inspiration of the Holy
Spirit, may they choose a worthy steward of Your faith to meet
the challenges of today’s world. We ask all these things in Jesus’
name. Amen.

This past week you should have received the DLA letter from
me. As stated last weekend in my homily before we begin
work on the church bells or rectory window replacement, we
will be completing security projects here at the Church. That
work began this past week. I ask you to please return your
DLA pledge/gift as soon as possible. Thank you for your extreme
generosity.

As we pray this week’s Psalm Response, The Lord is my
light and my salvation, let us remember to look to the Lord
for light and hope.

LET’S GO PENS!

Fr. Bill
Peace

Trying to live a full life in the service of the Lord,
failing frequently and falling on the mercy of God each time….

The First Sunday in Lent

Thoughts from Fr. Bill…….

Dear friends, our Lenten season has begun. We have washed the
ashes from our foreheads and now prepare to go into the desert with
Jesus. Let us make the coming 40 days truly a time to reform our
lives and resolve to resist temptation, so that when Easter comes we
may be fortified to continue our new way of life into the Easter season
and beyond. Happy Lent!

This Friday February 22nd is the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter the
Apostle. This feast commemorates a particular “chair”: that of Saint
Peter and the authority Jesus gave him to be the primary leader of
the early church. Peter was martyred in Rome, and so the
“see” (sedes – “place to sit”) of Peter became the Holy See, the seat
of the pope as the first among bishops and the leader of the Roman
Catholic Church. As you may have heard this past week, our Holy
Father, Pope Benedict XVI will resign from the Papacy this Thursday
February 28, 2013. He is the first Pope to resign in over 700
years. And so we pray: Lord, be with us-members of our faithful-as
we go through this unprecedented time in our generation. Renew us
in your Holy Spirit and guide your Church in these coming days;
send forth your Holy Spirit and continue to guide and inspire our
Holy Father Benedict XVI during these final days of his papacy. Be
with the College of Cardinals for the next conclave and fill them
with your grace. We pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.

This First Sunday of Lent is the day for the Rite of Election of catechumens
who will be baptized at Easter and the Call to Continuing
to Conversion of baptized but uncatechized adults – called candidates
– who will complete their initiation at Easter. I invite you to
pray for our candidates: Nyla Barlow, Geone Barlow, Crystal
Colinear, Sebastian Colinear, Christianna Deaner, Christopher
Deaner, Abigal Farlow, Zachary Farlow, Enrico Mucci, Helen
Mucci and Janine Peterson. This Sunday many of them will gather
with others from the Diocese of Greensburg at the Blessed Sacrament
Cathedral. They will all be received into the Church at the
Easter Vigil on March 30.

During this first week of Lent, our psalm response, Be with me,
Lord, when I am in trouble, reminds us to call upon God to be our
help.

LET’S GO PENS!

Fr. Bill
Peace

Trying to live a full life in the service of the Lord,
failing frequently and falling on the mercy of God each time….

The Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Thoughts from Fr. Bill…….

Dear friends, HERE COMES LENT! It may be heard to believe,
but Lent starts this week. It is early this year, since Easter falls on
March 31. The reading’s today provide useful material for Lent. In
the first reading, Isaiah calls himself “a man of unclean lips living
among a people of unclean lips.” St. Paul calls himself the least of
the apostles and not fit to be called an apostle. In a similar fashion,
Saint Peter tells the Lord to depart from him, because he is “a sinful
man.” As we feast these last days before Lent let us pray that as we
taste the fullness of what we have today, we will experience a hunger
of God’s love. Have a blessed Lent!

A special THANKS to the few and mighty who prepared our 3rd
Annual Parish Appreciation Tailgate party last Sunday. We had a
very nice crowd who enjoyed food and fellowship. God bless ALL
who share their Time, Talent and Treasure with Holy Cross Church!
Monday February 11 is the Feast of our Lady of Lourdes, and two
things come to mind: First, millions of Catholics organize and make
the pilgrimage to the southwest region of France to visit the sanctuary
where many believe that the spring water from the grotto can
heal those who touch and drink it. Second is the 1943 Hollywood
motion picture The Song of Bernadette, which captures Saint Bernadette’s
humble visions of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1858. In 1992
Pope John Paul II instituted the World Day of the Sick to coincide
with this feast day. Pray for or help the sick today with the hope and
resilience of Saint Bernadette.

Happy Chinese New Year, 4711

This Thursday is Saint Valentine’s Day which is also my beloved
Mother’s 89th Birthday. Happy Birthday MOM ….while St.
Valentine’s Day provides revenue for card shops, jewelers and florists,
it’s intended to celebrate the Christian values of thoughtfulness
and tender care. And it enlivens a long winter!

Our Psalm Response this week: In the sight of the angels, I will
sing your praises, O Lord, helps us to remember that we are meant
to live with God in the joy of heaven.

LET’S GO PENS!

Fr. Bill
Peace

Trying to live a full life in the service of the Lord,
failing frequently and falling on the mercy of God each time….

The Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Thoughts from Fr. Bill…….

Dear friends, welcome to February 2013! A short but very exciting
month. February comes from the word purification. The ancient
roman calendar had ten months, March through December
(December means “tenth month.”) There was no January and no
February. These months were left off the calendar. Strange as it
seems, people didn’t feel the need to keep track of the days during
winter. For the Romans, this late winter period before March became
a “season” of purification and renewal, almost like Lent.

When the Romans began using a 12-month calendar, the old names
for the months continued to be used. The month before March was
names for the time of purification…..let us enjoy this time of Mardi
Gras before the season of purification, Lent, begins on February 13.
The first Sunday of February was designated in 1989 by Father
James Goode OFM as National Day of Prayer for the African
American Family. This gives us an opportunity to give thanks for
our families, and to entrust every family to the loving care of Jesus.
Father Goode composed this beautiful prayer: may we be proud of
our history and never forget those who paid the price for our liberation…
bless our parents, guardians, and grandparents relatives and
friends…give a healing anointing to those less fortunate, especially
the motherless, the fatherless, the broken, the sick, and the lonely…

This Sunday we come together from Noon-2PM for our 3rd annual
Parish Appreciation Tailgate Party. This is my opportunity to say
Thank You to all of you for sharing your Time, Talent and Treasure
with Holy Cross Church. In particular I want to thank so many of
you who nominated the following for the Father Straub Service
Award: Margie Altschaffl, Gerald Andrews, Phil Ball, Trudy Beistel,
The Greg Forsythe Family, Georgie Gamberoni, William Gasper
(posthumously), Carol Kalich, Rose McCaskie, Robert Raimondo,
Mike Repasky, Carol Sostarich, Dawn Tedrow, John Zombar. The
pastoral and financial council choose Margie Altschaffl as the
awardee. One of the nomination forms said “Margie is a kind and
friendly person who is very reliable, always present, a true example
of someone who gives of her time and talent.” Congratulations to
Margie and we are all extremely grateful for your service to Holy
Cross Church!

Our Psalm Response this week: I will sing of your salvation, reminds
us of the song our lives are meant to be!

LET’S GO PENS!

 Fr. Bill