Dear Folks,

It is already Palm Sunday… I can hardly believe it, and I am ready to shave this beard come Easter!I know that many folks say, “keep the beard!” But as the weather warms up, I find having a beard to be miserable! By the end of Lent, it has become the penance that I joke about it being on Ash Wednesday! When Jesus rises from the dead, so will my face!

This week, I give you the words of our Holy Father Pope Francis at a Vatican Penance service:

The Sacrament of Reconciliation, in fact, allows us with confidence to draw near to the Father, in order to be certain of His pardon. He really is “rich in mercy” and extends His mercy with abundance over those who turn to Him with a sincere heart…To be touched with tenderness by His hand and shaped by His grace allows us, therefore, to approach the priest without fear for our sins, but with the certainty of being welcomed by him in the name of God, and understood notwithstanding our miseries. Coming out of the confessional, we will feel God’s strength, which restores life and returns the enthusiasm of faith.

Good words to hopefully strengthen your hearts as you make plans to prepare your soul for Holy Week.

Please remember that almost all of our Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday celebrations will be at the Fredericksburg Convention Center. Its name is new, but it is the same place we have been for many Easters. I am proud of the work that staff does so that it is beautifully set up so that we can reverently worship the Lord!

pax,

Father John Mosimann