Pastor’s Desk 3.13.22

……from your Pastor’s Desk

Transfiguration

This week we have the wonderful gospel of the Transfiguration of Jesus. For one brief moment, his disciples are allowed to see what lies ahead for all who follow his way.

We begin our own ‘transfiguration’ while still on earth, not so much achieving ‘glorified body’, but transforming our heart, our spirit, our soul into the Lord’s.

This is done by acts of charity and mercy, and also by spending time in conversation with God, in what we call prayer, in its many forms.

We may find that as soon as we set aside time for prayer, we can easily be distracted one way or another. So, this week’s exercise is:

Take a pad of paper and pen, or pencil, and write down any distractions that interrupt prayer. Maybe it’s a phone call you need to make, or an errand you have to run, or a document or item in the house you need to find. If it interrupts your prayer time, write it down and …deal with it later.

I suggest doing this each day of the week. Be prepared to have a running list. You might be surprised how long that list may be! But check the time each day to do it. Keep the list handy…and then pray.

SCRIPTURE FOR THIS EXERCISE: The Beatitudes are found in the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 5, verse 1 and following.

Take one of these each day and pray for guidance as to what God is teaching you about your life specifically that day with the particular Beatitude.

May this be a week of ‘spiritual transformation’ for you!

God Bless You,

Father Ron

Almsgiving for Holy Spirit Parish

Hello Friends,

After much vetting and in great appreciation of your suggestions, we have decided to go with Catholic Relief Service who are in conjunctions with Caritas, both Catholic groups.

C.R.S. and Caritas partners on the ground are preparing across Ukraine and in bordering countries, ready to provide safe shelter, hot meals, hygiene supplies, transport to safe areas, counseling support and more.

The situation there is rapidly unfolding, and we could not do this work without your help. When you donate, you provide immediate assistance for your Ukrainian sisters and brothers affected by this crisis. Your prayers and support will make so much difference.

We will have a special collection next weekend, March 19th and 20th – specifically for aid to Ukraine, not just Catholic relief service ‘In general’, which will actually be the following week as a pre-designated once a year collection. I ask that if you can only give to one, please consider next weekends.

God bless your generosity and concern.

Father Ron