Peace be with you!

This week the parish website was updated to include a couple of new things! First, this weekly letter has been added to the Blog tab as well as at the bottom of the home page. Our weekly Faith Enrichment Email will still go out, but it will now also be available for everyone on the parish website. The second addition to the website is the Saint of the Day. Each day the Saint of the Day will automatically update to reflect that day's saint. This is a great way for us to learn a little more about the great role models we have in the faith! You can find the Saint of the Day in the Blog tab or on the homepage.

As we approach Lent, the Church gives us readings that help prepare the way for Ash Wednesday. This weekend's readings share with us the need to rely on God. They share with us the reality that we cannot go through this life alone. Because of the sin of Adam and Eve, we live in a broken world. We live in a world that is good, but it is a world that is fallen. However, just like Adam and Eve, we aren't alone. God chases after us and longs for us to be in communion with Him. The parable of the Lost Sheep from Luke 15 provides a great visual of the length God will go to to bring us back.

The parable reads:

What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it? And when he does find it, he sets it on his shoulders with great joy and, upon his arrival home, he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you, in just the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance.

How amazing is that? God has no hesitation to leave behind everyone else to chase us down. The question is why does He come after us? It's because we're His! When He created humanity, He created us in His image and after His likeness. God doesn't hesitate to leave the ninety-nine and chase after the one because we are His children. Whenever we forget this truth and stray from the path, He acts. It may not be immediately and it may not be grand, but God is searching for us and cannot wait to bring us home.

This week in our prayer let us open our hearts to the Lord. Let us invite God into the areas of our lives that are most difficult and allow Him to carry us home.