Brother and Sisters in Christ,

In each of our lives we encounter suffering – suffering in our marriages, our families, and our struggles at work. There may be days when you think suffering and bad things just seem to follow you and your family and the question “Why” is always there – why do we suffer? Moreover, if God is all-powerful and if God is all-loving doesn’t he have the power and the will to end our suffering?

The fact is that the majority of our suffering in life is due to the wounds we inflict on ourselves or those that are inflicted on us by others due to the power of evil in the world and God does not will this and He has the power to heal of these wounds and to end our suffering. One of the ways He does this is through the Sacrament of Reconciliation – one of the two Sacraments of Healing.

We will be exploring this topic during this year’s Lenten Mission on April 8, 9, and 10. The entire community will meet together in the church for a period of prayer and worship then we will break out into groups for talks presented by Fr. Francisco in Spanish and Fr. Christopher in English. We will conclude each evening by coming together for a closing prayer.

The Lenten Penance service will follow the mission on Friday, April 11; however, this year’s penance service will be slightly different. Rather than a penance “service”, a number of priests (including visiting priests from other parishes) will be available from 6:00 PM until 10:00 PM for confession. This will allow you to spend as much time in the sacrament as you feel necessary.

We hope everyone will take this opportunity to come together as a community to pray, worship, and allow God to heal the wounds in your life through the Sacrament of Reconciliation.