Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Evangelization

What is evangelization? Despite the images that the word conjures, evangelization is primarily the sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with those around us. It is not of forcing conversions, telling how ‘awful’ other faith traditions are, or of even door-to-door visits. It is taking the Great Commission of Matthew 28:19 (“Go, make disciples…”) seriously. We seek to do so when we comfort a grieving friend, give food to the hungry, teach, or provide care to the wounded; when all of it is done in Jesus’ name. It seeks to help the person encounter Jesus Christ. It seeks to remind others of God’s love for them, and our desire that they know and love God.

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Pastor's Notes for Feb. 26

Dear Parishioners,
Last weekend, I announced a project of praying for those that do not attend Mass on a regular basis. THis weekend, I will write it down, now that most already have heard it. We are inviting you to pray for those that you might be aware of who do not practice the faith by name. We have a little half sheet for that. If you wish, please put it in the white boxes in the sanctuaries of our Churches, and we will pray for these people with you. As part of this effort, we have published bookmarks - we have plenty so take as many as you desire or can use. Eventually, we hope that you will gently invite them back to Mass.
Shortly, we be announcing another project's formal beginning. For a number of years, Lighthouse Media has provided parishes with CDs on various topics of the Catholic faith. We decided that this would be a good thing to do. We will have a number of topics available on hand in our gathering areas. (If there is a particular topic you want, just ask Mike McKeown or me). Each cd has a suggested offering of $2, but note it is only suggested. Once you listen to it, you are welcome to keep it or pass it on to someone who might need to hear it.
Finally, I started a blog for this effort, in addition to several other reasons. I will post the Mass schedule, in addition to other items (such as the bulletin insert regarding the HHS mandate) there. We are developing question/answers for the local papers, and these will be posted there as well. Check it out often at http://lotwafc.blogspot.com (note it is the acronym for the Light of the World Area Faith Community) followed by blogspot.com.
In Christ,
Fr. Todd

Monday, February 20, 2012

Catholic Cartoon Blog: Ash Wednesday

I thought I might try a new mode of imposition of ashes… What do you think?
From the Catholic Cartoon Blog: Ash Wednesday.
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Health and Human Services Mandate Information

The Diocese of New Ulm requested that this Memo and bulletin insert (Thanks to the Archdiocese of Chicago for hosting this publication!) be published this last weekend. Unfortunately, we published the bulletin Thursday morning before the Update came.
Also, I encourage you to follow the discussion of the issue of Conscience by our Bishops.
See this official response to the claims of the Government regarding this infringement of religious rights!
See this, too, for a nice background on the issues themselves.

Welcome To the new Blog for the Area faith Community

In our effort to participate in the New Evangelization, we have started this blog to help keep you informed of our efforts, post articles of interest, and other points of information.  Please check back often, or sign up for automatic delivery through Feedburner!