Lent Begins Ash Wednesday - February 22nd!

SEASON OF LENT – REGULATIONS FOR FAST & ABSTINENCE:
Ash Wednesday & Good Friday are days of Fast and Abstinence.  Fasting means (1 full meal and 2 smaller ones.)  Anyone between 18 & 59 are obliged to fast. Anyone with a medical condition in which fasting may be harmful is NOT obliged to fast but may do some act of kindness or work of charity instead.  Abstinence means (not eating meat.) This regulation begins at the age of 14.  The Fridays of Lent are days of abstinence. -  Diocese of Pittsburgh

ASH WEDNESDAY – LITURGICAL SERVICES:
We will have a short ash distribution service & communion at 7:00 am in Holy Name Church.  Mass with ashes at 12 noon in Holy Name Church. An ash distribution service & communion at 6:00 pm in St. Joseph Church.  For the sick: Anyone wishing to take ashes to a sick relative can do so by bringing a small envelope and picking them up after the service or Mass.

ASH WEDNESDAY – FISH FRY:

• Menu – we will be serving baked and fried fish sandwiches and dinners and shrimp.  Dinners include:  French fries or haluski with cole slaw.  A la carte items include: pierogies, homemade macaroni & cheese (made by parishioners), homemade vegetarian vegetable soup (made by our guest chefs), baked goods will be sold (those donating baked goods are asked to bring them to the hall.)
• You’re Invited  -  Because of the environmental and mechanical issues surrounding the mold issue in St. Joseph Hall, there will be no fish fry there this year.  Christ the Light of the World Parish will have a fish fry on Ash Wednesday and would like to personally invite the workers from St. Joseph to join them.  If anyone from either parish would like to participate in this way call Sonny Wiatrowski (412-303-5106) or Larry Lesko (412-297-1732.)
• Guest Chefs – This year, we are offering a “hearty homemade vegetarian vegetable soup” as an eat-in or take-home item. It is entitled, “Out of this world heavenly soup.” The guest chefs who volunteered to make the soup are Fr. Dennis and Ray Judy.  Take home portions are $5.00 a quart.  Call the rectory to place your order.  A limited amount of soup will be sold.  It will be sold and served in 12 oz. portions during the fish fry, as an eat-in item also.

PIEROGIES – ALL LENT LONG:  Gosia’s pierogies will be available at the Fish Fry as well as all during Lent.  Just stop by Holy Name Rectory to pick up as many as you need.  We will be selling potato/cheese and sweet cabbage.  They are selling for $6.00 a dozen.   They are available starting today.

There is One More Thing I Ask...

In his excellent and timely book entitled, “Celebration of Discipline” Quaker author, educator and theologian Richard Foster suggests that Jesus’ challenges can be met by a deliberate decision to “de-accumulate” and “simplify.” Rather than yield to a “pack rat” mentality and style of living that buys in bulk so as never to know need and hoard an excess of unnecessary goods, so as to be more than prepared for the proverbial rainy day. The “one more thing I ask” we might be called to do is divest and disperse our material wealth so as to be wholly dedicated to God and other.

Foster suggests the following principles:  1) Buy things for their usefulness rather than their status.  2) Develop a habit of giving things away.  If I haven’t used it in six months, someone probably needs it more than me.  3) Refuse to be propagandized by modern gadgetry.  4) Learn to enjoy things without owning them.  5) Develop a healthy skepticism concerning all “buy now, pay later schemes.” This may mean cutting up credit cards and living within one’s means. Given that our society is entrenched in materialism, Jesus’ challenge to simplify may seem like an impossible feat.  Jesus who looks at us with love suggests, “With God all things are possible”…For there is one more thing I ask……………

To my child...

Just for the morning, I am going to smile when I see your face and laugh when I feel like crying.  Just for this morning, I will let you choose what you want to wear, and smile and say how perfect it is.  Just for this morning, I am going to step over the laundry, and pick you up and take you to the park and play.  Just for this morning, I will leave the dishes in the sink, and let you teach me how to put that puzzle of yours together. Just for this afternoon, I will turn off the phone and the computer and sit with you in the backyard and blow bubbles.  Just for this afternoon, I will not yell once, not even grumble when you scream and whine for the ice cream truck, and I will buy you one if it comes by.  Just for this afternoon, I won’t worry about what you are going to be when you grow up, or second guess every decision I have made where you are concerned.  Just for this afternoon, I will let you help me bake cookies, and I won’t stand over you trying to fix them.  Just for this afternoon, I will take you to McDonald’s and buy us both a happy meal.  Just for this evening, I will hold you in my arms and tell you a story about how you were born and how much I love you.  Just for this evening, I will let you splash in the tub and not get angry. Just for this evening, I will let you stay up late while we sit on the porch and count the stars.  Just for this evening, when I run my fingers through your hair as you pray, I will simply be grateful that God has given me the greatest gift ever given.

I will think about mothers and fathers who are searching for their missing children; the mothers and fathers who are visiting their children’s graves instead of their bedrooms; and the mothers and fathers who are in hospital rooms watching their children suffer and screaming inside that they can’t handle anymore. And when I kiss you goodnight, I will hold you a little tighter, a little longer.  It is then, that I will thank God for you and ask him for nothing, except one more day.

Make It a Labor of Love

The things we create have energy.  A meal we cook.  A task we perform, no matter how big or small.  What we do contains our energy and the attitude we put into it.  Have you ever cooked a meal when you felt angry, disrupted or hurried? Have you noticed the difference when you cooked that meal in a loving frame of mind? Merely doing the job isn’t always enough.  We need to do the job with our best energy, our most positive emotional and mental attitude.

Take time before you begin a task to become conscious of the energy you want to put into it, the energy you want that task to have and reflect to yourself and others.  Make conscious, deliberate choices.  The larger the task, the more time you may want to spend developing your ideas about it.  On particularly significant projects, you may want to spend time visualizing and writing down your ideas, so you can focus that energy into your work.  Experiment with this idea. See how it comes to life as you do your daily tasks.  See how much better the people around you feel when you do your task in love.  See how much more joy and pleasure work brings you.

There is honor in all work, in all tasks, but take it one step further.  Make what you do a labor of love.  Then your work will truly touch and change the world in the way you desire.  The work you do, whatever your chosen field, will be a work that heals.  

Melodie Beattie

A Child's 10 Commandments to Parents!

1. My hands are small; please don’t expect perfection whenever I make a bed, draw a picture or throw a ball. My legs are short; please slow down so that I can keep up with you.  2. My eyes have not seen the world as yours have; please let me explore safely.  Don’t restrict me unnecessarily. 3. Housework will always be there.  I’m only little for a short time, please take time, explain things to me about this wonderful world and do so willingly.  4. My feelings are tender; please be sensitive to my needs.  Don’t nag me all day long.  (You wouldn’t want to be nagged for your inquisitiveness.) Treat me as you would want to be treated.  5. I am a special gift from God; please treasure me as God intended you to do, holding me accountable for my actions, giving me guidelines to live by and disciplining me in a loving manner.  6. I need your encouragement to grow.  Please go easy on the criticism; remember you can criticize the things I do without criticizing me. 7. Please give me freedom to make decisions concerning myself.  Permit me to fail, so that I can learn from my mistakes.  Then someday I’ll be prepared to make the kinds of decisions that life requires of me.  8. Please don’t do things over for me.  Somehow that makes me feel that my efforts didn’t quite measure up to your expectations.  I know it’s hard, but please don’t try to compare me to my brother or sister.  9. Please don’t be afraid to leave for a weekend together.  Kids need vacations from parents, just as parents need vacations from kids.  Besides, it’s a great way to show us kids that your marriage is very special.  10.  Please take me to church regularly, setting a good example for me to follow.  I enjoy learning more about God.  Author Unknown