Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

News and Notes:  Save the following dates:  Monday through Wednesday evenings February 15-17 (7PM each night) at OLA when Fr. Paul Soper and Sr. Patricia Boyle will be leading us in a Lenten Mission focusing on the theme of God’s Mercy; Wednesday, February 17 (at 10AM) also at OLA when Dr. Aldona Lingertat from St. John’s Seminary Theological Institute for the New Evangelization will speak on the “Pope Francis Effect.” Dr. Lingertat is the current Director of the Master of Arts in Ministry program at St. John’s and a long–time colleague of mine in promoting faith formation for the laity in the Archdiocese of Boston.  She traveled with Pope Francis when the Holy Father visited Cuba just prior to his pastoral visit to the United States last September, and will offer a beautiful slide presentation of the Pope’s pilgrimage to our part of the world; and finally Sunday afternoon, February 21 (2PM), when our Collaborative music ministry will present a winter concert entitled “From Darkness into Light.” 

During this Extraordinary Jubilee year of Mercy, Pope Francis is urging the faithful to reflect on and practice the corporal and spiritual works of mercy.  Our Pope writes: “Jesus introduces us to these works of mercy in his preaching so that we know whether or not we are living as his disciples.  Let us rediscover these corporal works of mercy: to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, welcome the stranger, heal the sick, visit the imprisoned, and bury the dead.  And let us not forget the spiritual works of mercy: to counsel the doubtful, instruct the ignorant, admonish sinners, comfort the afflicted, forgive offenses, bear patiently with those who do us ill, and pray for the living and the dead.”  Let’s spend these Lenten days praying for God’s mercy and extending his mercy to one another..blessings to all of you in the week ahead!