Pastor's Letter Feb. 19: Lenten Alms Giving - Malawi Fund

Dear Parishioners,

As I mentioned last month, more than four years ago my parish in Edmonds developed a sister parish relationship with a parish in Malawi, Africa. We sponsored two mission trips, one of which I participated. It allowed us to get to know the people and culture of Malawi. Now that I am here I would like to continue this relationship with the people in Malawi but in a different way.

Hannah, an employee of mine, helped organize the sister parish project, and has decided to become a teacher at a girl’s high school in Malawi. This is a Catholic boarding school named Our Lady of Lourdes. I visited this school while I was in Malawi and got to know the nuns who run the school. It provides an excellent education for girls.

Many girls who would be qualified to attend cannot afford it. Hannah asked if our parishes may be interested in sponsoring the girls so they could attend. To sponsor one girl for one year’s tuition, which includes room and board, school supplies and uniform, costs $300. My plan is to have this as an all-parish Lenten Alms Giving effort and set a goal for ten girls to attend this school, which would be $3,000 total. Envelopes (labeled with Malawi Fund) will be provided at each parish during the time of Lent that parishioners are encouraged to use to make a monetary donation. We will be creating a bulletin board with pictures of the students we are supporting and our progress throughout Lent.

Please join us for Ash Wednesday Mass either at 8:30 am or 5:30 pm at St. Mary's on Wednesday, Feb. 22. After the 5:30 pm Mass there will be a simple dinner since it is a fast and abstinence day. During the dinner I will give a presentation on my mission trip to Malawi, Africa in order to help us better understand their faith and culture as brothers and sisters in Christ.

The Meaning of the Mass - I would also like to give a plug for Faith Night during Lent. We will begin a seven-week series of reflections on the meaning of the Mass. Each week, we will take a different part of the Mass and examine it closely so that we can correctly understand what the Church intends by the various prayers, gestures, symbols, and actions. By correctly understanding the Mass, we can enter more deeply and intentionally into the experience of God that we celebrate. It's easy to presume that we know what it means to be Catholic and Christian. That presumption can lead us down the wrong path to a misunderstanding of the Mass which can cause us to be frustrated, disengaged, bored, and miss out on the life transforming experience God wants to offer us.

Make this study of the Mass something you do for Lent. If perhaps it is difficult for you to get out in the evening we may be able to arrange a ride, please call the office. Also, during Lent I will offer a suggestion in my weekly letter focusing a ways to pray more with the mass and how to get more out of the Liturgy.