Opening Prayer:

Father,
God of all compassion, Father of all goodness,
To heal the wounds our sins and selfishness bring upon us
You bid us to turn to fasting, prayer and sharing with our brothers.
We acknowledge our sinfulness, our guilt is ever before us:
When our weakness causes discouragement, let your compassion fill us with hope and lead us through a Lent of repentance to the beauty of Easter joy. Grant this through Christ our Lord.

Catechism Quote of the Week:

“The Holy Spirit-God’s Gift”

CCC 733: “”God is Love” and love is his first gift, containing all others. “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

CCC 734: “Because we are dead or at least wounded through sin, the first effect of the gift of love is the forgiveness of our sins. the communion of the Holy Spirit in the Church restores to the baptized the divine likeness lost through sin.”

CCC 735: “He, then, gives us the “pledge” or “first fruits” of our inheritance: the very life of the Holy Trinity, which is to love as “God (has) loved us.” This love (the “charity” of 1 Cor 13) is the source of the new life in Christ, made possible because we have received “power” from the Holy Spirit.”

CCC 736: “By this power of the Spirit, God’s children can bear much fruit. He who has grafted us onto the true vine will make us bear “the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” “We live by the Spirit”; the more we renounce ourselves, the more we “walk by the Spirit.” Through the Holy Spirit we are restored to paradise, led back to the Kingdom of heaven, and adopted as children, given confidence to call God “Father” and to share in Christ’s grace, called children of light and given a share in eternal glory.”

“Christ the Way that leads to Faith“

CCC 2609: “Once committed to conversion, the heart learns to pray in faith. Faith is a filial adherence to God beyond what we feel and understand. It is possible because the beloved Son gives us access to the Father. He can ask us to “seek” and to “knock,” since he himself is the door and the way.”

Catechism of the Catholic Church, Numbers 733-736; 2609.

Lenten Activities:

Stations of the Cross:
Tuesday:
5:30pm Stations of the Cross at St. Gabriel
6:00pm Mass at St. Gabriel
Wednesday:
1:00pm Ascension Lenten Program at St. Catherine
5:30pm Stations of the Cross at St. Catherine
6:00pm Mass at St. Catherine
6:30pm Ascension Lenten Program at St. Anne
Thursday:
4:30pm Stations of the Cross at St. Raphael
5:00pm Mass at St. Raphael
Friday:
5:00pm Stations of the Cross at St. Anne
5:30 – 7:30pm Fish Fry at St. Anne Hall

Benediction and Evening Prayer:
Sunday evenings from 5:00 – 5:30pm
Mar. 12 at St. Anne
Apr. 2 at St. Gabriel

Lenten Companion Study Program:
Wednesday’s throughout Lent
1:00-2:00pm at St. Catherine
6:30-7:30pm at St. Anne (Maria Hall)

Lenten Penance Service:
March 19 – For St. Catherine and St. Gabriel
at 2:00-3:00pm at St. Catherine
March 26 – For St. Anne and St. Raphael
at 12:00-1:00pm at St. Anne

Catholic Relief Services Special Collection: March 18/19

Next week our parish will take up The Catholic Relief Services Collection. Funds from this collection provide food to the hungry, support displaced refugees, and bring Christ’s love and mercy to vulnerable people here and abroad. Next week, please give generously to the collection and reveal Christ’s love to those most in need. Learn more about the collection at www.usccb.org/catholic-relief and give online at https://support.crs.org/donate/.

Dispensation from the Abstinence for Friday, March 17 ~ Feast of St. Patrick

The Bishop has granted Catholics who are 14 years of age or older who are residents of the Diocese of Gaylord Dispensation for St. Patrick’s Day on March 17, 2023. Those who choose to benefit from the dispensation are never- the- less expected to perform another suitable penance on the day before or the day after St. Patrick’s Day.