March 5, 2023

Dear Parishioners,

Peter generally gets a bad rap in the Gospel accounts, especially in the season of Lent. No such things will ever happen to you... get behind me Satan. I will die with you… you will deny me three times. No one will arrest you… sheathe your sword!

The Transfiguration is not, in my mind, one of those lowlights. True, Jesus doesn't respond to Peter's comment, "I will make three tents," but he also doesn't rebuke him. There is a desire in Peter to savor the glorious moment; to remain atop Tabor. How many of us, with a beautiful experience, race on to the next thing? Instead of looking at the beautiful sunset, we pull out the camera to take a picture of it. Instead of savoring the bite of delicious food, we scarf it down and shovel the next bite into our mouth (that’s me). The invitation is to enjoy what is before us. We can learn from Peter in this regard.

Peter also says something many of us struggle to say: "It is good that we are here." How many of us feel cursed in our job, in our marriage, in our body, in our city, in our life? We are not happy and we wish we weren't here. But it is not true. We are blessed. We should be here. Even though we may not instinctively feel it, if we pray what Peter said, we will see God's blessing in our lives. The darkness in our minds will break through like that radiance from the Lord atop Tabor broke through sleepy eyes of the apostles.

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We continue this Monday with our Lenten Monday Evenings of Prayer, starting with Eucharistic Adoration in the church at 6pm. I will give the talk on prayer at 7pm. We will also have Stations of the Cross on Friday at 7pm. And, a reminder, the booklet of daily reflections for Lent can be found inside the bulletin here as well as on our website (the image below is for Friday of the Second Week of Lent).

Also on Mondays, as a reminder, is the That Man is You men’s group. It’s not too late to join the group. If you’re looking for a group of guys to pray with and share your life experiences, you might consider stopping by the Kinane Center at 7:30pm on Monday.

Same goes for the women’s Wednesday evening group, Walking with Purpose, as well as the SPC Bible Study, which meets Wednesday evenings and Thursday mornings in Duffin Hall. The Bible study is an excellent opportunity to share your faith and learn more Scripture.

Religious Education will have Stations of the Cross this Tuesday for their classes. On Saturday there will also be the First Communion Retreat and Mass for the second graders. I want to recognize once again Anna Mae Parkhill and her team for the wonderful job they did with 8th Confirmation several weeks back, and First Reconciliation. They worked very hard to make these beautiful occasions, and they’re doing the same for First Communion.

The SPC School “Roundball Tournament” starts this Monday. Good luck players and student-coaches.

Yours in Christ,