St. Mark's News & Events for February 10, 2008

Greetings as we begin another week!

As we begin the season of Lent, I always find it difficult to
think about what I need to sacrifice this year and many times
it’s something innocuous that really doesn’t change my
behavior in the long run or make me think more about what
this season really means to my faith. Giving up coffee, peanut
butter cups, or other similar things is fine for the short run,
but does it really matter much when my faith is tested by
a negative experience? Thus, this year I’ve decided to do
something a little different that would not only benefit my
own faith experience, but for others too. I’ll let you know
how I’m doing as we progress through this great season.
Last weekend 21 women experienced the Christ Renews His
Parish (CHRP) retreat right here at St.Mark parish. Like the
men before them, they heard stories of other women’s walk
of faith and how they have deepened their own relationship
with Jesus Christ. The men seem like they are on fire already
and the women will be on fire as well when they come off the
weekend. I can’t wait to see how much this parish will grow
in faith in the coming years due to this wonderful experience!
If you haven’t been to a CHRP retreat or it has been many
years since you’ve been to one, I hope you will sign up for the
next weekend coming this summer. You will not only meet
some great people, but your faith will grow exponentially.
By now you have also experienced your first Mass with the
schedule change and the new seating arrangement. Again, we
are testing this seating style through Lent and Easter to see if
this is something we would like to think about in the new
Church. Please let me know what you think after the Easter
season so we can get a good idea about how our future
Church will look.

Lastly, we will be having our Lenten Parish Retreat on
Monday, February 11th and Wednesday, February 13 from
7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. The mission is for adults and children
of all ages so bring the kids and grow as a family in faith
during this Lenten season.

Well, that is all for now. Continue to enjoy the gift that God
has given us in each other

Peace, Fr. David