1st Sunday of Lent - Temptation

02-22-2015Pastor's LetterFr. Don Kline

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

On this 1st Sunday of Lent, we are reminded that we are in a spiritual battle. We see this battle in today's Gospel as we hear about the devil leading Our Lord out into the desert to tempt Him. The devil is no match for Our Lord because Jesus is All Powerful, Almighty, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. We, on the other hand, are not always able to resist temptation.

The devil tempts us to turn away from Jesus. I think about my own prayer life and when I try to speak with Our Lord. The devil will do almost anything to distract a person while praying. Mass is the greatest prayer of the Church and so the enemy will especially attack your efforts to pray at Mass. Even getting ready for Mass can be a big ordeal for some families. Do you think that these distractions or setbacks are just a coincidence? The answer is, of course, no. The devil is always tempting us to not speak to Jesus, especially at Mass.

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Lent 2015

02-15-2015Pastor's LetterFr. Don Kline

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Lent begins this Ash Wednesday. It is a season of fasting, self-denial, almsgiving, and prayer. The season of Lent begins with a symbol of repentance: placing ashes on our foreheads to remind us of the brevity of our lives and our need for a Savior. We have four Masses scheduled that day to allow you to get the season off on the right foot. The Mass schedule for Ash Wednesday, February 18th is: 7:00am, 8:30am, 5:00pm in English and 7:00pm in Spanish.

The season of Lent invites us to surrender something important - be it TV or sweets or meat, or snacking or negative attitudes or less than noble habits. All of these sacrifices are meant to bring us to a greater connection to the awesome love of Jesus Christ and the ultimate sacrifice that He offered for us and for our salvation. He died for us so that death may no longer have power over us.

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The Vocation and Mission of the Family

02-08-2015Pastor's LetterFr. Don Kline

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Did you know that your family has a vocation, a calling from God? Pope Francis has called for a synod in Philadelphia focusing on the family. The goal is to show the importance of family and to strengthen the family bond. In a world that often devalues and even manages to undermine the family unit, our Holy Father recognizes the need to give thanks to the Lord for the generosity and faithfulness of so many Christian families.

As the bishops have said: "Within the family are joys and trials, deep love and relationships which, at times, can be wounded. The family is truly the "school of humanity" (Gaudium et Spes, 52), which is much needed today. Despite the many signs of crisis in the family institution in various areas of the "global village", the desire to marry and form a family remains vibrant, especially among young people, and serves as the basis of the need of the Church, an expert in humanity and faithful to her mission to proclaim untiringly and with profound conviction the "Gospel of the Family", entrusted to her together with the revelation of God's love in Jesus Christ and ceaselessly taught by the Fathers, the masters of spirituality and the Church's Magisterium."

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St. Joan of Arc Respect Life

02-01-2015Pastor's LetterFr. Don Kline

Sundays at SJA
3rd Sunday of the month – 4:00pm – Weidner Hall – Free Admission

Feb 15
Lee Ann Able - Adoption: Can We Do Better?
A life affirming choice, but many of us are unsure how we truly feel and think about it.
(See Lee Ann's bio on page 4.)

Mar 15
Nik Nikas - What Every Catholic Should Know About End of Life
Issues surrounding our ability to have a natural and holy death.

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