Fr. Mike's Message - 03/07/2021

Last week I included the letter from Msgr. Jack about his newly diagnosed cancer.  Let’s continue to keep him in our thoughts and prayers.

Happy 3rd Sunday of Lent!  Time is going by quickly and it won’t be long until Easter comes.  I hope and pray that these days of Lent have been a time of blessing for you and your family.  Let’s pray for each other as we make our way through Lent so that our Easter celebration will be rich and meaningful and give us hope in the midst of our everyday living.

How are you doing with your prayer time during Lent?  Are you utilizing FORMED.org or the Little Black Books for growth in faith and reflection?  Are you spending a few extra minutes a day in prayer, whether it’s reading the Scripture readings ( https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading), reciting a Rosary, spending time in Adoration on Tuesdays, attending Mass sometime during the week in addition to the weekend (either virtually or in person), quietly praying for a few minutes early in the morning or before bedtime, praying with your children, etc.  Let’s not let this time so rich for prayer and reflection pass us by without taking advantage of it.

An additional opportunity this year will be a Novena to honor St. Joseph. Pope Francis declared 2021 the Year of St. Joseph and has called on parishes throughout the world to honor St. Joseph. Our parish will be doing that by praying a special Novena in honor of St. Joseph that will begin this Wednesday, March 10th, and continue thru Thursday, March 18th, the day before the Feast of St. Joseph.  We will offer a special Novena prayer after Mass on each of those days.  What a tremendous opportunity for us to pray through the intercession of St. Joseph for our intercessions and to reflect on and learn from St. Joseph’s example as a man of faith and trust!  

Don’t forget: On Sundays of Lent at 5:30 p.m., Fr. Tony and I are hosting Evening Prayer and Chat with the Priests on Facebook Live ( www.facebook.com/borgiaparish). We’d love for you to join us.  Spread the word and invite family members, neighbors, and friends to join us.  We pray a little, talk about some significant topics related to faith, and laugh a lot.  I think you’ll enjoy it.

Recently the City of Washington relaxed its mask mandate.  Though I wish we could do the same, we are still requiring the use of masks throughout Mass while here in Church.  This mandate comes from the Archdiocese of St. Louis, and I am really grateful for your cooperation.  Keep wearing those masks, sanitizing hands, and maintaining a safe distance from others so we can prevent as much as possible the spread of Covid.  Fr. Tony and I, as you probably know, visit the hospital regularly and we are still seeing folks who are extremely ill due to complications from Covid.  So let’s do our best to protect one another.  Thanks for your help and cooperation with this.

Please continue to pray for our RCIA candidates and catechumens as they prepare for the Sacraments of Initiation at Easter.  This is a great group and we are blessed by their enthusiasm and excitement to become members of our Catholic Church and Parish family.  The plan is that they will receive the Sacraments at the Easter Vigil on April 3rd beginning at 8:00 p.m.  All are welcome!

Have a great week.  Blessings on your Lenten journey.

Fr. Mike Boehm