Dear Friends,
     Like the people of the Old Testament, you and I can complain to God about a number of things that happen in our lives, especially now with this insidious disease that has brought about the death of so many people and has caused  many others to experience  untold pain and suffering.   We don’t know when this will end and of course being human, that’s upsetting and frightening.
     As Catholic Christians, we know we need not fear.  As the Lord heard the cries of His people in the Old Testament, He hears us as well.  He never abandons us: He is always with us and with Him, we will conquer and overcome.  We need to hold fast to our faith.  
     One of the great Saints of our Church, St Teresa of Avila, said this,
"Let nothing disturb you, let nothing frighten you. All things pass. God does not change. Patience achieves everything. Whoever has God lacks nothing; God alone suffices.”  Put her quote on your refrigerator door or the mirror in your bathroom and pray it often.
     On this 31st of March in 1940, two people, Frank and Jean Lauri, my parents, exchanged wedding vows to one another before their God.  Please remember them in your prayers today.
God Bless and Stay well,
Father John

     In the Scriptures, especially during the Lenten season, there are always stories about the people of both the Old and the New Testaments vacillating between believing and not believing in God. I guess that’s the story of mankind: holding fast to their faith at one point and then giving up a bit at other times.  
     In the book of Numbers, Moses is asked by God to put a bronze serpent on a pole and those who looked at it, were saved.  That image prefigured Christ being nailed to a cross and of course, we know that all those who put their faith in Jesus as their Lord and Savior and follow His ways, will be saved.
     As human beings, we are all blemished; at times, our faith is very strong and at other times,  we falter a bit.  Lent is the perfect time to regroup and allow the Lord to touch those parts of us that need tending to.  Let’s pray for the strength to trust the Lord wholeheartedly that He will help us through this life- protect us, guide us and direct us toward Him and Him alone.