Message from our Pastor
March 14, 2025
Friday of the First Week in Lent
O God, who have commanded us
to listen to your beloved Son,
be pleased, we pray,
to nourish us inwardly by your word,
that, with spiritual sight made pure,
we may rejoice to behold your glory.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in unity
of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever.
Amen.
Collect for the Mass on the Second Sunday in Lent
What is the purpose of following Jesus? Where will it lead to? The Gospel answers these questions in the event known as the Transfiguration of the Lord, which we hear proclaimed at Mass on the Second Sunday of Lent.
Specifically, this Sunday it will be from Luke 9:28-36. In the presence of Peter, James and John for a few moments Jesus is revealed in the fullness of His divinity. A voice from a cloud cries out, “This is my chosen Son; listen to him”.
Having begun our Lenten observance on Ash Wednesday we are now nearly ten days into the 40 Days of Lent. Our 40 days of prayer, fasting, penance and charity are modeled the 40 days of Jesus in the desert, which we heard at Mass last Sunday.
Through our Lenten observance, regardless of the form it takes, is to be a means to conform our lives closer to that of our Savior Jesus Christ. His life living in us is to transform our life to His. Lent is to be a time of testing and purifying ourselves to be open to this transforming grace.
This is expressed most profoundly in the gift of the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. As St. Augustine put it, the ordinary food and drink we consume is transformed into us as we adsorb them into our bodies. In contrast, in receiving, in a state of grace, the Sacred Body and Precious Blood of Christ in the Eucharist, we are transformed into what we consume.
As disciples, we are to become “divinized”, Christ-like in our words, worship and deeds. Lent is calling us back to the basics of a life in Christ. This is why we seek to follow Jesus with greater intention during Lent.
Where does this lead? The Transfiguration of Jesus is a foreshadowing of the glorification of Jesus in the Resurrection. Upon the mountaintop the glorified Jesus reveals to us the promise of discipleship in this life and in the eternal life of heaven.
Lenten Speaker Series: Our Universal Call to Holiness
The first of our Lenten Speaker Series will take place on Wednesday, March 19. Our guest speaker will be Fr. Sean Donovan, the pastor of St. Peter & St. Paul Parish in Tulsa. His topic will be, “Christ’s Lay Faithful: The Universal Call to Holiness According to Our State in Life”. We will start with a potluck dinner at 6:00pm in McGuire Hall. Fr. Donovan’s presentation will begin at 6:30pm. All are welcome.
Our Parish
Deacon Richard (Dick) Berberet is scheduled today for a surgical procedure on his shoulder. He will then have several weeks of recovery before he can return to serve on the altar for Sunday Mass, lead adoration, visit the sick, etc. Please keep him and his wife Pat in your prayers for a speedy recovery.
Thank you for the outstanding turnout to last Friday’s Stations of the Cross and Lenten Dinner. On Fridays of Lent, we offer the devotion of the Stations of the Cross in the church starting at 6:00pm. A meatless meal is served immediately afterwards in McGuire Hall. All are welcome. I encourage every household in the parish to commit to participating in at least one of the Stations of the Cross this Lent.
Representatives from Calvary Cemetery will be in the church commons after all our Masses this weekend. They will be available to answer questions about planning a Catholic funeral and burial.
On the Sundays of Lent, most of the sung Mass responses are offered in Latin. There are cards in the pews to assist you in doing so. During the month of March, we will be using incense at our 9:00am Sunday Mass.
Audio recordings of the homily at our 9:00am Sunday Masses are now available on our parish’s Facebook page and YouTube channel.
Please continue to personally invite to Sunday Mass those you know who are not active in the Catholic faith, as well as those who have no church home. All are welcome.
That Man Is You (TMIY) is one of our parish’s men’s ministries. The group meets on Wednesdays in Room 101 from 6:00am to 7:15am. All the men of the parish are invited to attend.
Lenten Confession Times
Our Lenten Reconciliation Service will be on Tuesday, March 25. Several priests will be available for individual confessions from 5:00pm to 7:00pm. During Lent we will have our usual weekday and weekend confession schedule. There will also be expanded confession times during Holy Week.
Flocknote
Flocknote is a convenient way to stay connected to many events, devotions and groups at our parish by way of text and email. To keep in touch using Flocknote you can either text THISWEEK to 84576 or go online here to register.
Prayer Vigil
On Thursday, March 20, Wendell Grissom is to be executed at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester for the 2005 Blaine County murder of Amber Matthews. In peaceful opposition to the death penalty, a prayer vigil will begin near the front gate of the prison at 9:00am that day. Prayers will be offered for Matthews, Grissom, their families and the correction officers taking part in the execution. Those wishing to participate in this vigil are welcome to contact the parish office. Those not able to go to McAlester are welcome to pray in the St. Scholastica Chapel that morning with this intention.
Conferences and Retreats
There are several conference and retreat opportunities this Lent. They include,
Oklahoma Catholic Women’s Conference, “Talithakoum, Women Arise”: Saturday, March 29, in Oklahoma City. Online registration here.
TeenMEN, Father & Son Retreat: Saturday, March 29, the Church of Saint Benedict, 8:00am to 4:00pm. Suggested ages 10-14. Contact Megan Allen by email for more information.
St. Benedict ACTS Retreats: Women’s Retreat is Thursday, April 3 to Sunday, April 6, and Men’s Retreat is Thursday, April 10 to Sunday, April 13. Registration is available in the church commons or register online here.
God bless and keep you safe.
Fr. Bryan