Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church

Dear Folks,

Today is Laetare Sunday, the midpoint of Lent. The name comes from the first word of the entrance antiphon: Laetare Jerusalem — “Rejoice, O Jerusalem.”

This Sunday is one of the favorites of children and adults who like to tease the priest. If I had a dime for every time someone said, “You look pretty in pink,” we would never have to do a capital campaign! Some priests respond with, “It is rose, not pink!” My usual line is, “I’d wear polka dots if Jesus told me to!” Some would argue that my detachment from concern over my appearance goes too far! Haha!

But all silliness aside, the priests wear rose vestments today — the color of spring blossoms and the sunrise. In the middle of a penitential season, the Church gives us a moment to breathe and remember why we are doing all this.

Lent is not meant to be forty days of misery. It is forty days of preparation for joy.

Here are two ways to visualize this:

1. If you are driving across the country, sometimes you crest a hill and suddenly see the distant skyline of the city you are heading toward. You’re not there yet—but seeing it reminds you why you started the journey in the first place.
2. If you are up before the crack of dawn, in the darkest portion of the night, when the first rays of the sun begin to appear on the horizon, they are rose-colored. I don’t remember much from reading the Iliad, except that Homer frequently spoke of the “rosy-fingered dawn.”

That’s Laetare Sunday. When our penances feel heavy and we cannot see through the darkness, the rosy-fingered dawn of the Resurrection peeks over the horizon to remind us why we have taken up our crosses.

The penances, sacrifices, fasting, and prayer are not the goal themselves. They are meant to clear space in our hearts so that we can receive the victory of Christ more deeply. The Cross is real—but so is the Resurrection—and the Church never lets us forget where the road is leading.

So if Lent has been going well for you, keep going.
If Lent has not been going well for you… this is a perfect day to start again.

Pax,

Father John Mosimann

The Bulletin Editor was accidentally sent a typo by the office on the Easter schedule.  The Easter Vigil is at 8pm on Saturday April 4.

Dear Folks,

Frank Sheed’s Theology and Sanity opens with a discussion of the will and the intellect. Salvation depends upon the will. We are saved or condemned according to what we love. If we love God, we receive God. If we love self in preference to God, we receive the self, apart from God.

But Sheed warns that even when our wills are pointed toward God, our minds may still be shaped by the world:

“When we look at the universe, we see pretty well what other people see, plus certain extra features taught us by our religion. For the most part, the same influences that form other people’s minds form ours—the same habits of thought, inclinations, bodily senses, indolences—worked upon by the same newspapers, periodicals, best- sellers, films, radio programs. So that we have not so much Catholic minds as worldly minds with Catholic patches. Intellectually, we wear our Catholicism like a badge on the lapel of the same kind of suit that everyone else is wearing.”

Do we really think differently, or do we simply act differently when it’s convenient? Is Friday the beginning of the weekend, or the day you

remember the Lord’s Passion? Is Sunday just family dinner, or truly the Lord’s Day of Sabbath rest and re-creation?

These reveal what we truly value in our hearts and minds:

How we spend money.

What we celebrate.

What we doom-scroll.

What we rearrange our schedules for.

What we dress up for.

This is why I sometimes resist the steady encroachment of secular themes attached to months and days—quiet

efforts to shape hearts and minds apart from God. We are not called to have “worldly minds with Catholic

patches. ” We are called to have Catholic minds and Catholic hearts—through and through.

Jesus, meek and humble of heart,

make my heart and mind like unto thine.

Pax et bonum,

Father John Mosimann

Dear Folks,

Great news, Wow news, Older news, Hints of news, and thankful news!

Great news: pews were installed in our adoration chapel this week! Take a peek! We are awaiting the arrival of the reredos and a few more sacred furnishings to be able to get her operational!!!

Wow news: this week I sent to the Bishop, and his staff, the contract for the stained glass windows in the adoration chapel! What is wow about that?

The response to the memorials for stained glasswas soooo strong… that ve more windows wereadded in November, and all of the windows are 98% memorialized!!! There are only a few ’shares’ of the final window unclaimed for memorials. Please call the office if you are interested!

Older news: also sent to the Bishop, and his staff, information on the rectory renovation. This is the last major outstanding project from the original scope of our capital campaign, and I want to lay the plans before him with the contract bid and see if we can move forward with this project.

Hints of news: our fundraising and construction have been so successful, that I have discussed an additional scope with the parish council and nance council. So far, they like the idea, and I will also be presenting this idea to the Bishop for consideration! I believe that you will be very happy with the idea to improve our property here at the church, which we will announce when we are able.

Thankful news: anks to Fr. Jack Riley who packed the church for three nights and heard many, many hours of confessions! Keep him in your prayers. I am very grateful for the generosity, enthusiasm, fidelity, and scholarship that Fr. Riley shared with us this week.

Please join me in thanking the Lord for the graces received through the ministry of Fr. Riley.

Great things happening at St. Mary’s!

pax,

Fr. John Mosimann