News - February 2023

We talk about the three traditional pillars of Lent: Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving. Let’s look at how those last two can work together for our Lenten preparation. If “fasting” means “doing without” and “almsgiving” means stewardship, then our opportunities for a fruitful Lent become clearer...

QAS Youth Ministry will collect empty pill bottle containers for "Matthew 25" Ministries in Ohio. This organization works to keep pill bottles out of landfills by recycling or donating them to third-world countries where they can be reused. 

Afghan Newcomers & Turkey Earthquake Relief Efforts - A big thanks to the Men’s Club for assisting in the move of the Afghan newcomers to Peterson Park. Not only was a moving truck provided by Dave Hollander, but many Men’s Club volunteers helped to move the family of eight and their belongings to a new home...

We have begun our Lenten journey in earnest, with all the good intentions of embracing the disciplines of fasting, prayer, and almsgiving. We may have renewed some tried and tested resolutions, such as giving up chocolate, booze, or caffeine or being critical of or gossiping about others. We may have resolved to attend Mass through the forty days of Lent or on the Sundays of Lent. Or we may have decided to pray together each day through the season as a family...

Parishioners are invited to reflect on where they are on their journey of discipleship, and in turn will enable parish leadership to make data-driven decisions to help parishioners grow in their faith. The survey starts Ash Wednesday, February 22, 2023 and ends March 31, 2023. Options to complete the survey are the online link (preferred) or paper copies that will be available in the church vestibule. Responses are anonymous and confidential. Only the results will be shared. Thank you! REMINDER...the survey goes live Ash Wednesday, February 22

The Lenten season begins this week, our preparation for the celebration of Easter. It is a time for us Christians to embrace the “three pillars of Lent,” prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, in a focused way. For some it is a time of healing, an opportunity to repair their spiritual brokenness. For others it is simply a good time to cultivate their spiritual lives in a more disciplined manner.

We begin the season of Lent this Wednesday by marking ourselves with ashes. We set aside forty days to voluntarily give up some legitimate enjoyments so as to prepare for Easter. The forty days of Lent are rooted in certain biblical narratives that were a time of preparation for an encounter with the divine. Moses spent forty days and forty nights fasting as God wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant – the Ten Commandments. Elijah traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached the mountain of God. Jesus fasted and prayed in the desert for forty days and forty nights before he began his public ministry.

The ‘Sermon on the Mount’ is what we have been hearing at Mass these past couple of Sundays and we will continue to hear parts of it until the Sunday before Lent. The sentence in this week’s gospel, “unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven” is quite challenging. Jesus was talking about getting into the kingdom of heaven.  It sounds more like focusing on life after death than life now here on earth...

As the memory of our COVID ordeal continues to recede; as we continue to maintain our Sunday giving in sometimes difficult times; as we focus on the need to replenish our parish endowments for the funds spent on our unexpected expenses for repairs in recent years to the basilica; and as we look ahead to our one single parish-wide annual fundraiser, the United Parish Program (UPP) on May 12, it challenges our generous spirit to think about fitting in one more request for support, the Archdiocesan Annual Catholic Appeal.

A year ago, around this time, we, along with St Mary of the Woods parish, were engaged in the Renew My Church process. The Archdiocese had to take a closer look at the viability of parishes and vitality within the parish community. While the diocese set benchmarks to assess a parish's viability, the efforts to sustain its life and growth would be ongoing. With both parishes meeting the criteria for viability, we experienced no structural change. We embarked on the "Building a New Reality" task guided by the mission imperatives to "Make Disciples – Build Community – Inspire Witness."