Liturgy

For those preparing for baptism this Easter, Lent is the final period of preparation. After the Rite of Election, those who were catechumens are now known as the Elect, and part of our duty as the local Catholic community is to pray for them! Whether you have Elect within your parish or not, we invite all of you to include these people in your prayers this week as they look forward to being formally welcomed into the Church. On the third, fourth, and fifth Sundays in Lent they will celebrate “the scrutinies”, which are rituals that date back to the early days of the Church and are linked to the Gospel read for Mass, and take place after the Homily.

On Sunday at 10:30am we celebrated the Rite of Election at the Cathedral with all of the catechumens from across the diocese. This is the final step of preparation for those who are preparing to be baptized this Easter season as they gather at the Cathedral and are greeted by Archbishop Dunn before having their names inscribed into their parishes Book of the Elect. It was a joy to celebrate this with the parishioners from the Cathedral and we are happy to report that this year we have 30 catechumens, which is the most people that we have had for over twenty years. Please pray for all of the Elect as they embark on this final spiritual preparations for their baptisms this Lent.

As we enter into the first full week of the Lenten season we are reminded that this is a season that calls us to intentional actions that bring about renewal in our faith.  How will you go about doing that for these 40 days?  Maybe you’ve giving up some treats or are making more time for prayer, or perhaps you’ve decided to give to a cause with your time or finance.  This is just a friendly reminder that you are not living this Lent alone.  All the Christian faithful are on this journey with you.  On a more local level, your parish is a place to find support and encouragement in your Lenten activities.  This year parishes have been encouraged to host Lenten Small Group sessions. Small groups of 8 to 12 people would gather to pray together, reflect on and learn about our faith, and feed their spiritual life.  Find out what small group initiative (s) your parish is doing this Lent and take part! 

On December 8, 2023 during the celebrations for our Archdiocesan Feast Day, Archbishop Dunn announced that we would host a Eucharistic Congress in our diocese.  The planning for the event has begun in earnest and more information will be available shortly.  In the meantime we invite the people and parishes of the Archdiocese to save the date for the Eucharistic Congress: October 18-20, 2024.

What is a Eucharistic Congress? A Eucharistic Congress is time where a large number of Catholics gather to worship Our Lord in the Eucharist

We may be expecting snowstorm today, but that does not stop that fact that tomorrow we begin the season of Lent. Tomororw, Ash Wednesday signifies for Christians around the world begining of Lent, our  40 day seaon to deepen our relationship with God. During this season the Church universal are invited to live out Lent by increasing our prayer, almsgiving, and fasting. How do we do that?