Friday, March 18, 2011

Lenten Mision Mar 22-24, Tues thru Thurs - March 20 2011

St. Luke’s sponsors and promotes a myriad of activities to deepen spirituality. Perhaps the most important initiative of all is the Lenten mission. I just want to invite each of you personally to come and hear Tom Kendzia speak this coming Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evening at 7 p.m. You will not be disappointed. Weekly worship is the source and summit of all we do here at St. Luke’s. Good liturgy builds faster, while poorly celebrated liturgy weakens it. As Catholics we believe Christ is really present in the word, in the bread and wine, and in the assembly. Come and deepen your worship life during the Lenten season.

Fr. Bob Hawkins

From the sacred to the profane March 13, 2011

The Vatican Council stated that the liturgy is the source summit of our Catholic life. One way we live out our faith is through our conscious, active, and attentive participation. Jesus once said, “Whenever two or three gather in my name I am in your midst.” This Lent we are devoting our Mission to developing a more lively and spirited liturgy here at St. Luke’s. Tom Kendzia noted composer, recording artist, author, and music minister at Christ the King will be our presenter. I am very confident that those who participate will be uplifted on their Lenten journey.

Many people are involved in our liturgical celebrations. We have 39 lectors, 63 Extraordinary Ministers, 40 involved in our choir and contemporary group, 15 greeters. The mission will enhance their ministries. However, everyone involved in the assembly is encouraged to participate. When I arrived at St. Luke’s the priest was introduced as the celebrant. Now you notice the priest is introduced as the presider. After all we are all celebrants of the Mass and we need a presider (the priest) to lead and hopefully inspire us to pray. I look forward to seeing many of you as we gather on March 22nd, 23rd, and 24th.
Thank you,
Fr. Bob Hawkins

P.S. From the sacred to the profane: This weekend we have the building and maintenance collection. One item where we are way over on the expense side is snow removal. While our service provider is excellent it has been expensive to clean up after all these storms. Any extra dollar or two into this week’s collection would be greatly appreciated.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Lent 2011, Parish visitation, Jamaican Mission - Mar 6, 2011

With Easter being so late this year, there has been a bit of a lull lately in the parish. But this quiet period will soon give way to a flurry of activity. As you know a new translation of the Mass will commence on the first Sunday of Advent. With this in mind, liturgy seems to be a good topic to explore during this year’s Lenten Mission (March 22-24). Tom Kendzia from Christ the King will be our speaker. He has composed many hymns and has been music director in Kingston for over 25 years. This mission will be especially geared toward our lectors, Eucharistic Ministers, greeters and choir members. However, this mission will benefit all who make up the worshipping community here at St. Luke’s.

Another area in the planning stages is a day of visitation (evangelization) on May 14th. Parishioners will be asked to attend the 9 a.m. Saturday Mass and then go out to visit members of the parish. We look to update our census records, elicit feedback about the parish, and listen to the concerns of the people. To accomplish this noble goal we will need hundreds of volunteers. This approach has been taken by several parishes with a good result.

I would like to welcome back our teen missionaries from Blessed Assurance. I am sure you have all benefitted from your time of service. A big thank you to Dave Renner who organized our adult witnessing weekend. I found the faith sharing testimonies and the video very moving. Please pray that all of our endeavors will be blessed by the Lord.

Fr. Bob Hawkins