Monday-February 27th
Readings: 1 Pt 1:3-9 - Mk 10:17-27

Tuesday-February 28th
Readings: 1 Pt 1:10-16 - Mk 10:28-31

Wednesday-March 1st
Readings: Jl 2:12-18 - 2 Cor 5:20--6:2 - Mk 6:1-6,16-18

Thursday-March 2nd
Readings: Dt 30:15-20 - Lk 9:22-25

Friday-March 3rd
Readings: Is 58:1-9a - Mt 9:14-15

Saturday-March 4th
Readings: Is 58:9b-14 - Lk 5:27-32

Mother Teresa has told us that we all need to find God and that He cannot be found in noise and restlessness. “God is the friend of silence. In the silence of our hearts, He will speak to us if we stop talking and give Him a chance. If we listen, if we are quiet. David in his Psalms sings: Be still and know that I am God.”

The Grownup’s Annual Soup Supper and General Meeting will be held in Hennessy Hall on Wednesday, March 8th, at 6 pm. The meeting will follow the supper. We will have a guest speaker.

It’s been a long time, since our parish has had a mission. We have one planned for March 13-15 with two representatives of Catholic Relief Services, Joseph Hastings from Seattle and Thomas Awiapo from Uganda. Their sharing on the scriptures and our everyday lives will definitely help us enter into the Lenten season. They will speak at the Masses the weekend before, so you’ll have an opportunity to meet them. The actual parish mission Monday through Wednesday will consist of presentations after the 8:30 am Mass and evening presentations at 7:30 pm in the church. (They will also be speaking to the confirmation classes and the students at St. Robert’s School, as well as at some of the high schools in the area.) Please put the dates on your calendar, so that you have an opportunity to be inspired by these two good men!

Also, we’re looking for hospitality – a place to stay for Thomas – preferably nearby, from Saturday evening through Wednesday evening. If someone has a mother-in-law apartment or similar arrangement to offer for those nights, please contact Sister Sheral at 589-2800.

If you are a Eucharistic Minister and were not able to make either of the two gatherings this past week, there will be another opportunity this Sunday, February 26, at 10:30 am in Mary’s Chapel.

Spiritual Reading will be available at St. Robert’s after the Masses on Sundays. Please take a few minutes either before or after Mass and check out a book or two that interest you. You may keep the books until you have them read. We have some books on the Library cart but we have many more in the Library/Reconciliation room.

As the food and wine of this feast give nourishment and strength to our bodies and spirits, so may we, during this coming season of Lent, give strength and support to each other and to all who accompany us on this pilgrimage of prayer from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday.

As this Lenten roadway causes us to reflect upon the death of our Lord, may we also remember his victory in his resurrection from the dead.

May this dinner on the eve of the day of ashes be a joyful foretaste of the rebirth and new life that is the promise of the feast of the Resurrection.

Don't miss attending this year's Dinner Dance.
Seating lis limited.

Difficult as it is to believe, Ash Wednesday is this week! Masses are at 6:30 am, 8:30 am, 10:30 am (school Mass, but you’re welcome as well) and 6 pm. As we are signed with ashes, we’ll hear the words: “Turn away from sin and be faithful to the gospel.” We are invited this Lent to let God change our hearts and to do whatever penance will help the Holy Spirit to accomplish that. It’s time to leave behind the practices of our childhood (if we haven’t already) and look more deeply at our lives. What distracts me from living the way Jesus taught and lived? That is what I should “give up” and forget about chocolate or whatever I’ve usually given up! Ask the Holy Spirit to let you know what will be a helpful practice during these forty days of Lent. Sometimes, we are so out of touch with our spiritual journey, we don’t even know what we need. If you can make it to either the 6:30 am or the 8:30 am Mass even a day or two a week, the readings are wonderful and they and receiving the Lord will begin your day on a whole different note. If you work downtown in the City, see if there is a noon Mass nearby.

Remember the virtues we learned about years ago? Am I impatient? Then try during the long wait in line at the grocery store to be patient and pray for those in front of you. Do I constantly have to have the tv on? Turn it off except for shows you honestly care about and read or write or do something creative. Some time each day, unless you have little ones, listen to the invitation of the quiet to go inside and talk to and listen to the wisdom of the One who made you. If you have little ones (even not so little ones), marvel at them while they’re sleeping or playing and remember Jesus’ words, “Unless you become like little children, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt 18. 4) If I tend to be crabby or negative, try thanking God for the gift of life each morning and again each evening for the particular gifts of the day: beautiful weather, a call from a friend, a good medical report. If I’m angry, try breathing deeply and asking for the virtue of understanding, so I may see the other and myself differently. No one can tell you what you need to do or not do to make this a good Lent in preparation for the celebration of Easter joy and renewal, but I’ll make some suggestions these coming weeks. The Spirit will let you know if you only ask. The closing prayer for the sacrament of Confirmation says simply:

God our Father, complete the work you have begun and keep the gifts of your Holy Spirit active in the hearts of your people. Make [us] ready to live this gospel and eager to do your will. May [we] never be ashamed to proclaim to all the world Christ crucified, living and reigning forever and ever. Amen.