Pastor’s Letter: March 19, 2023

Pastor’s Letter: March 19, 2023

17 Mar 2023 | Posted by: chadmin

The March 19 bulletin is available online.

Dear friend,

On this 4^th Sunday of Lent, the RCIA class receives the 2^nd Scrutiny.  Over the 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th Sundays of Lent ,the Church celebrates the 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd Scrutinies with those who will join the Church at Easter. These Scrutinies date back to the early days of the Church. We celebrate the Scrutinies at the 9am Mass. If you listen to the prayers, they coincide with the Gospel Reading for each of the Sundays. Last week, we read the Woman at the Well Gospel story from John’s Gospel. The candidates received the Creed, professed the Creed with us formally at Mass for the first time, and received a blessing as they thirst for the living waters of Baptism and life in Jesus Christ. This week we read John’s Gospel story of the Man Born Blind. Like last week’s Gospel, the story is filled with deep significance as we all try to see more clearly our path to Heaven. The process of joining the Church as an adult is how the Church developed the Lenten Season. Lent was originally a retreat for those joining the Church that became an annual call to repentance and conversion for all Christians. If you pray the Scrutinies with the RCIA class, you will note the Church names the spiritual works of repentance, forgiveness, and casting away evil that we are all invited to do each year. Each year I see the transformation that happens in the candidates as they choose to join the Church. The Scrutinies acknowledge the inner transformation and grace that is not readily apparent to all. God is constantly at work in all of our hearts. The Scrutinies are a public naming of the spiritual conversion we know is going on inside the hearts of all those joining the Church. Please join me in praying for these candidates for Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist. May we all be inspired this Lenten Season to seek the new Life in Jesus Christ come Easter.

You should have received a mailing from the church office about the Annual Diocesan Appeal. As you know, the ADA is the ordinary income of the Diocese. The ADA funds the Diocesan salaries and the ministry that the Diocese runs for the parishes. With the increase in ministry that Bishop Lou hopes the Diocese will do for the parishes, this fundraiser is even more important. As opposed to the process in most Dioceses, where the churches are directly taxed on their ordinary income, the Diocese of Peoria runs an annual appeal, as extraordinary income, so as to not directly tax the Sunday collection. This year the Diocese tried to lighten the load on the parishes by running the appeal themselves and not doing an in-pew solicitation. As with any changes, there can be bumps in the communication and implementation. It appears without the in-pew solicitation we failed to receive donations from some who were used to making their ADA commitment at Sunday Mass. While this process might change a bit for next year, we need to do our best to reach our goal this year. Any monies we fail to raise as extraordinary income, toward our goal, each church pays from the Sunday collection. We sent a mailing to all parish households in order to encourage participation. If you have already donated, thank you! If you have yet to make a donation this year, please consider helping us reach the goal. Have a great week.

God bless,

Father David