SPEAKER_00: Good morning.
SPEAKER_00: Last week I went on a very late Christmas break.
SPEAKER_00: We have had so much going on over the past couple of months.
SPEAKER_00: You know, and I'll review with you some of the things that we've been doing over the past two months.
SPEAKER_00: Remember at the end of December, we were trying to hire a new receptionist, which we did.
SPEAKER_00: We have Inez, she's wonderful.
SPEAKER_00: We were trying to hire a new music director.
SPEAKER_00: You know, we were so sad that Paul had to leave us, and finally we found a new, but not new music director, an old music director who had been here to take his place.
SPEAKER_00: And then we celebrated the beautiful celebration of Christmas.
SPEAKER_00: And you remember we had the beautiful nativity scene that we put on the outside of the church to celebrate the birth of our Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And then in the beginning of the year, we launched this new evangelization initiative called Alpha.
SPEAKER_00: And we were so surprised that over 300 people came to the launch and they were still coming.
SPEAKER_00: You know, apparently we must be doing something right if people are still coming, right?
SPEAKER_00: And it's that program is almost coming to a close now, 11 weeks of that.
SPEAKER_00: And then we had um we had Ash Wednesday that just happened, well, is it two weeks ago?
SPEAKER_00: And all of our services and our masses were filled, every single one of them.
SPEAKER_00: And then we launched our PSA campaign, and I shared the vision about investing in the next generation for our children and in our teens and our young adults.
SPEAKER_00: And we did a leadership summit for all of our leaders.
SPEAKER_00: Do I keep going or do I just stop there?
SPEAKER_00: I mean, we just we just had so many things over the past uh couple of months.
SPEAKER_00: I was like, when do I get to take a break?
SPEAKER_00: And so finally last uh week had a chance to be able to step away a little bit.
SPEAKER_00: And I got to go to, I don't know if you have heard, of uh Prince of Peace Abbey in Oceanside.
SPEAKER_00: It's the uh Benedictine monks uh in Oceanside, and uh you know they're kind of a semi-contemplative order.
SPEAKER_00: And so last week I had the opportunity to just pray with the monks, you know, eat with the monks.
SPEAKER_00: You know, when you eat with the I had a privilege, they don't normally let you know people come in and eat with the monks, but they allowed me to come and eat with the monks.
SPEAKER_00: And during the meals, you know, they don't they don't talk to each other.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if it's because they don't like each other or no, but they they they eat meals in in common, but they have a reading.
SPEAKER_00: So they have somebody that climbs up this staircase and they do they do a reading and they read from the scriptures, they read a spiritual book or something like that.
SPEAKER_00: And so I got to share meals with the monks, pray with the monks and be in nature and just receive from the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And it was such a beautiful uh experience.
SPEAKER_00: If you have never been to that abbey, Prince of Peace Abbey in Oceanside, definitely recommend.
SPEAKER_00: Actually, Father Amon recommended it to me, so uh that's props to him for for that.
SPEAKER_00: Well, during this week, a theme came up for me, and I don't know if this theme has come up for you during Lent.
SPEAKER_00: It came up during the scripture readings that I heard.
SPEAKER_00: It came up during the preachings when the priests were preaching the homily.
SPEAKER_00: It came up as I was reading my Liturgy of the Hours book as I was praying.
SPEAKER_00: This theme kept coming up over and over and over again for me.
SPEAKER_00: Do you want to guess what that theme was?
SPEAKER_00: What do you think the theme that came up for me during this past week was?
SPEAKER_00: Any guesses?
SPEAKER_00: Mercy?
SPEAKER_00: That's pretty close.
SPEAKER_00: The theme of forgiveness.
SPEAKER_00: It kept coming up over and over and over again.
SPEAKER_00: So, Lord, are you trying to tell me something?
SPEAKER_00: You know, do it is there some are there are people in my life that that I need to forgive, to let go, you know, of a grudge or resentment or something like that.
SPEAKER_00: It kept coming up, and I had to pray on it and discern it.
SPEAKER_00: Who, Lord, do you want me to forgive in my life?
SPEAKER_00: I wonder if for some of us here in our congregation, the theme of forgiveness has come up for you during this Lenten season.
SPEAKER_00: Has that theme come up for anybody?
SPEAKER_00: You don't have to raise your hand, but has that theme?
SPEAKER_00: Okay, some people raising their hand anyway.
SPEAKER_00: It's okay.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe that theme has come up for you during this Lenten season.
SPEAKER_00: The theme of forgiveness.
SPEAKER_00: Yesterday we had a beautiful penance service.
SPEAKER_00: Um, we had 15 priests here last night to hear confessions, and we heard confessions until a bit close to 9 p.m.
SPEAKER_00: last night.
SPEAKER_00: The theme of forgiveness, the theme of mercy.
SPEAKER_00: When I look at our readings for today, I wonder.
SPEAKER_00: Joseph, you remember the story of Joseph at the end?
SPEAKER_00: What did he do for his brothers?
SPEAKER_00: He forgave them.
SPEAKER_00: Even after his brothers tried to kill him, right?
SPEAKER_00: Sell him.
SPEAKER_00: He forgave.
SPEAKER_00: And in the gospel, who is Jesus referring to when he's he's sharing this parable?
SPEAKER_00: Who is the son?
SPEAKER_00: It's himself, right?
SPEAKER_00: The son that the landowner sent to the tenants and they killed.
SPEAKER_00: And do you remember the words that Jesus said at near the end of his life, you know, approaching the crucifixion?
SPEAKER_00: He's praying to the Father.
SPEAKER_00: And he says, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.
SPEAKER_00: Forgive them.
SPEAKER_00: And today is First Friday, isn't it?
SPEAKER_00: Today's a First Friday.
SPEAKER_00: It's a day when we remember the passion and the death and the crucifixion of Jesus and how we're meant to imitate him on the cross.
SPEAKER_00: You know, on Fridays we abstain, right?
SPEAKER_00: We we uh we have the practice of we don't eat uh meat on Fridays, and that's a way of uniting ourselves in a very small way with the suffering of Jesus on the cross.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so I just want to leave you with this reflection.
SPEAKER_00: Is there somebody in your life that the Lord may be inviting you to forgive today?
SPEAKER_00: Is there a resentment or hurt or a grudge that the Lord may be inviting you to give to Him today?
SPEAKER_00: I invite us to reflect on that during the course of this Mass and to ask the Lord for the grace, Lord, help me to forgive just as you have forgiven me.