On this, the Third Sunday of Lent, we hear the Gospel of Jesus as he encounters a Samaritan woman at a well. It is an interesting dialogue in addition to the fact that Jesus, a Jew, is talking in public to a woman who is a Samaritan. This is also interesting because he is talking with her at a time of the day when women normally do not go to the well for water; they go in the morning. After the conversation, she returns to the village and tells about her encounter with “this man.” This causes many to come to believe in Jesus. Nothing can stop Jesus from fulfilling his mission from bringing good news to the various kinds of people that he encounters in the places where he travels. Nothing can stop him.

What about us as we continue the mission of Jesus?

We recently had a situation in our Adult Education building that made it necessary to make an unexpected decision. Several of the large windows in the building began to show their age by becoming dislodged from their casings. Some even fell out. Although we could fix them temporarily, it would only be a matter of time when something else might happen. Therefore, we decided to replace all 33 windows in the building since they had all been installed at the same time years ago. New windows are currently being installed, thanks to the promptness of the window company. Of course, this is an unexpected expense. The total cost is $33,000. We have some emergency funds available, but we could use help in paying for this expense. A few extra dollars in the collection or an outright gift (online is a possibility) would be greatly appreciated. These old buildings have served us well over the years, but they need our constant attention. Thank you for helping us with this situation.

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