There is a beautiful section from the book of the Prophet Jeremiah that we hear in today’s  first reading. The Lord says: “I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah… I will place my law within them and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God and they shall be my people… I will forgive their evildoing and remember their sin no more.”

God takes the initiative again and moves close to the chosen people with this promise. God asks us to receive this promise, to be grateful for it and live as those blessed by God. We see in today’s Gospel how Jesus will live this out to the point of giving his life for us. These readings are filled with much for your thought this week. Use some of your quiet time to allow them to touch your heart.

This week we begin the 13 Tuesdays in preparation for the Feast of St. Anthony on June 13th. This is a long Franciscan tradition and an opportunity to thank this saint for the many, many favors that he has granted to people over the years. I’m sure that you have your own stories of how he has been your friend over the years.

On Friday is our Communal Reconciliation Service at 7 PM. This is the perfect time before Holy Week to pause and pray with our sisters and brothers for forgiveness and for peace and for taking so many things for granted. There will be a number of confessors available for those who would like to go to confession during the service.

-Fr. Andrew Reitz, O.F.M

“Economy, as the very word indicates, should be the art of achieving a fitting management of our common home, which is the world as a whole. Each meaningful economic decision made in one part of the world has repercussions everywhere else; consequently, no government can act without regard for shared responsibility. Indeed, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find local solutions for enormous global problems which overwhelm local politics with difficulties to resolve. If we really want to achieve a healthy world economy, what is needed at this juncture of history is a more efficient way of interacting which, with due regard for the sovereignty of each nation, ensures the economic well-being of all countries, not just a few.”

“…The church has made an option for the poor which is understood as a ‘special form of primacy in the exercise of Christian charity, to which the whole tradition of the church bears witness.’

This option – as Benedict XVI has taught – ‘is implicit in our Christian faith in a God who became poor for us, so as to enrich us with his poverty.’ This is why I want a church which is poor and for the poor. They have much to teach us. Not only do that share in the ‘sensus dei’, but in their difficulties they know the suffering Christ. We need to let ourselves be evangelized by them. The new evangelization is an invitation to acknowledge the saving power at work in their lives and to put them in the center of the church’s pilgrim way. We are called to  find Christ in them, to lend our voice to their causes, but also to be their friends, to listen to them, to speak for them and to embrace the mysterious wisdom which God wishes to share with us through them.”

On this Third Sunday of Lent, St. Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians says: “For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.” When we hear the word “foolish” we generally think of something as being a little crazy. When St. Paul uses the word, it makes us stop and ask the question, what is “real” wisdom and where does it come? Its author is none other than God, the Creator. Sometimes the real “fools” are those who think that they know everything and are really lacking in true wisdom, knowledge and experience. This is an interesting quote from St. Paul – stop and think it over.

This Sunday, our Elect experience the  first of three Scrutinies during the 5:00 Mass. These are rites that are meant to heal weaknesses and to strengthen the calling of these individuals as they move toward baptism and full participation in the life of the church. They can also be effective in the lives of all those who are participating in the Mass at which they are celebrated. Our prayers continue to accompany both the elect as well as those who are the candidates. Soon, we will be “one” at the Eucharistic table.

-Fr. Andrew Reitz, O.F.M.

“…The church has made an option for the poor which is understood as a ‘special form of primacy in the exercise of Christian charity, to which the whole tradition of the church bears witness.’

This option – as Benedict XVI has taught – ‘is implicit in our Christian faith in a God who became poor for us, so as to enrich us with his poverty.’ This is why I want a church which is poor and for the poor. They have much to teach us. Not only do that share in the ‘sensus dei’, but in their difficulties they know the suffering Christ. We need to let ourselves be evangelized by them. The new evangelization is an invitation to acknowledge the saving power at work in their lives and to put them in the center of the church’s pilgrim way. We are called to find Christ in them, to lend our voice to their causes, but also to be their friends, to listen to them, to speak for them and to embrace the mysterious wisdom which God wishes to share with us through them.”