Lent and Easter 2011

Dear Members of the St. Kevin's Parish Community,

Our greetings to you in this sacred season!

As we continue to journey through these forty days of Lent, we value this opportunity to communicate with you and to share with you news of the ongoing pilgrimage of the Parish Community of St. Kevin.

Being Catholic in Challenging Times

March and April 2011, or we can say Lent 2011, has become a very perplexing time, not only to be Catholic but simply to live in our world today. Let us look for a moment at the impact different global situations are having on life right here in Welland:

• The earthquakes in Japan and New Zealand: how devastating; how sudden; how quickly human life is lost or changed so dramatically; how they question nuclear power.

• The revolutions in the Arab world: Egypt, Tunisia, Bahrain and the struggle in Libya. How all of this has shaken the global economy; how the price of gas has jumped. How the revolutions–the risks to win democracy–challenge us as to how we value, safeguard and express the democracy we possess here in Canada without the risks and costs of revolution.

• Global uncertainty causes world food prices to rise. This is not good news for Food Banks and Harvest Kitchens or for the budgets of those living on social assistance.

• The closing of the Henniges plant in Welland; how this is another blow to an already suffering local economy.

• The increased numbers using local food banks, requesting St. Vincent de Paul visits and coming to Harvest Kitchen suppers: a sign of hardship for the most vulnerable in these very challenging times.

• Upcoming federal and provincial elections bringing out the nastiness of organizers in attack ads and deceptive campaigning.

Such is our local context this Lent 2011. Events in one part of the world have dramatic impact on life right here in Welland and that impact is not always positive. We can be left with a sense of fear; our own personal and family security can be diminished; and we are given to wonder if there will ever be a time when we can return to "normal".

But we must remember: this is Lent! Easter Sunday comes April 24! Lent is God's gift to the Christian community, a 40-day period of time for us to allow God to prod us and get inside our minds and hearts so that we will find a deeper faith and new reasons to hope. That really is the Lent-Easter project the Catholic Christian community must work at: to find new reasons to hope, to build a culture of hope. And the starting point in building the culture of hope is this fundamental Christian principle: God loves us and God wants us to be his love in our time and in our place. As a wise person once said: God calls us to be in the middle of things as things are, not as we would like them to be! The Parish Community of St. Kevin is the workplace, the engine room, and the spiritual home that helps us all construct the culture of hope.

St. Kevin's, the Spiritual Home for Close to 10,000 Catholics

Home is the glue that binds members of a family together. Experience tells us that some families are very close, other families less so, but no matter, any member of a family who has been away or grown distant always has the right to go home and to be welcomed with the warmest hospitality possible. It is the same way with one's spiritual home.

That is what we are here at the parish; we are a spiritual home. It is here, in our sacred space and in our community that a person is baptized and receives the other sacraments of initiation, Confirmation and First Communion. It is here that new families begin with the blessing of marriage, the gift of new hope. And at the end of life, it is here that we bid farewell to loved ones with our prayer and express our faith in eternal life-our faith that for the believer in Jesus, life at death is only changed, not ended. This indeed becomes hope for loved ones suffering from grief and the assurance that a person's own earthly pilgrimage leads ultimately to the community of the Holy Trinity and the communion of saints.

For us Holy Cross priests here at St. Kevin's, (Father Norm, Father Vijay and Father Jim), it has been our experience that many find St. Kevin's to be a very warm and welcoming spiritual home. The needs of the members of the parish are remembered daily at our 8:00 a.m. Eucharist. The doors of the church are open throughout the day for believers to spend some quiet time with the Lord. The hospitality extended to the elderly, the sick and shut-ins and to the materially poor and needy is both gracious and generous. All of this is essential to being a spiritual home, the sacred place one can always return to and be welcomed. And all of this, of course, is due to the person of Jesus present in the Eucharist and in his Word and to the living and joyful faith of the parish community, a community confident in its mission to be Christ, God's love, for others. Our wish and our hope regarding ministry in the parish is that every person coming to St. Kevin's for Sunday Mass or daily prayer or to participate in a wedding or a funeral or for a pastoral visit might leave the church with renewed hope and purpose.

Reflecting on Share Lent

Almsgiving is at the heart of living Lent. The Parish's annual Share Lent collection is a powerful symbol of hope and becomes the most important expression of almsgiving that we have over the course of each year. This year's Share Lent will be a real challenge for us at St. Kevin's. Misery in the world remains, most recently in Japan and especially in Haiti, where people continue to die of sickness and an entire country has to be rebuilt.

And this is where Development and Peace continues to serve and help. That is why Share Lent must be important for all of us. You will find the Share Lent envelope in this mailing. Please use it and be as generous as you can. We must work hard to overcome donor fatigue. You will also find a printout of an interview with Cardinal Turcotte of Montreal. Cardinal Turcotte explores how even in Jesus' time globalization was a factor: there was deprivation and there was wealth, and Jesus made it so clear that we must recognize that the goods of the earth were meant for everyone and that we will be judged on how we share . . . or neglect to share. Share Lent becomes hope for the poor. As usual, the Share Lent collection will take place Palm Sunday weekend–April 16 - 17. From those who are given much, much will be expected!

Making Ready for Easter

You will find with this letter the complete schedule for the last days of Lent, Holy Week and Easter here at St. Kevin's. The times for liturgy and prayer are clearly indicated, but we would like to underscore four important liturgical moments.

• Tuesday April 12 at 7:30 p.m. – Reflection: On the Language of the Cross. This reflection concludes our Four Tuesdays in Lent program. The Cross becomes more and more central in our prayer as we approach the mysteries of Holy Week. [Note: the reflection immediately follows our Lent weekday 7:00 p.m. Mass]

• Monday of Holy Week – April 18 at 7:30 p.m. Our communal celebration of the Sacrament of Penance. The 40 days of Lent call us to turn away from sin and believe the Good news. The Sacrament of Penance is a very rich moment of conversion and of encountering again the mercy and forgiveness of the Lord. Several priests will join us to help with confession.

• Holy Thursday - April 21 at 7:30 p.m. The Celebration of the Lord's Supper.
  We invite everyone in the Parish to this beautiful liturgy.
  Our tradition here at St. Kevin's is to encourage everyone who serves our parish in any kind of ministry to be present as we give a new mandate for service. It makes good sense to do this commissioning in the Holy Thursday liturgy that highlights how Jesus taught us to serve through the washing of feet. The washing of feet is the model for all ministry.

• Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday Evening - April 23 at 8:00 p.m. The Easter Vigil is the highpoint of all feasts and liturgies throughout the year. It is our great hope that more parishioners will join us. If you can, direct your pilgrimage through these final days, of Lent to the Easter Vigil, this holiest of evenings.

In conclusion . . .

We conclude our conversation with you by extending our joyful greetings to all of you as we look forward to celebrating the power and the glory of the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Because of our faith in the Lord Jesus, we are the most blessed of people. What greater hope do we need? This is a faith we are compelled to share with others, including those who have been journeying with us in our RCIA program and who will profess their faith or assume full membership in the church at the Easter Vigil. Please pray for these sisters and brothers as we approach Easter. There is a Coptic icon which depicts Jesus with his arm around a disciple. The disciple is each of us, and the arm of Jesus symbolizes both friendship and encouragement: Jesus the friend is with each of us always; Jesus encourages each of his friends to continue to do his work today.

May you and your family and loved ones enjoy renewed faith and much peace this coming Easter season.

Yours in the peace of Christ,

Father Jim Mulligan, CSC Father Norm Bordage, CSC Father Vijay Amirtharaj, CSC