Dear Fellow Parishioners, “Change my heart oh Lord, make it ever true, change my heart oh Lord, may I be like you!” During this Lenten Season that has been our response to hearing God’s Word, and I am hoping we have been praying it with sincerity and with the desire to become increasingly one with the heart of Jesus. We all have been making our own individual journey this Lent, along with the communal journey we make with our Catholic Community of Sacred Heart and the shared journey we make with the Universal Church. In my personal journey I have been reading Kevin O’Brien, SJ’s book Seeing with the Heart. I chose to read that as I pray to see where the Holy Sprit is leading us as a parish in the years ahead. What is the vision God has for the Catholic Community of Sacred Heart as we head toward the future. I have written three pages of reflection and am now “sleeping on it” to get a clear focus and vision of where the Spirit is pushing us. I realize that the Spirit always calls us to move forward and sometimes we want to go back to the past which we glorify, rather than trusting that God “makes all things new!” (Revelation 21:5) Seeing the future with my heart challenges me to totally trust in where the Spirit leads. Unfortunately, sometimes I think I know better. When will I smarten up? This journey will go well into the Easter Season. Thirteen of us (wow, the Last Supper number!) are on the Alpha journey on Monday evenings. ALPHA is a series of interactive sessions to help us explore the basics of our Christian faith and develop a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and bond as a faith community. Each session looks at a different question around faith sharing with a light meal, followed by a video and small group discussion. For me personally, I am coming to know the hearts and spiritual dimensions of those on the journey. I feel in some senses that I am on the El Comino journey. A great adventure as we navigate the faith journey together. Nothing changes my heart more than Holy Week. I look forward to unpacking the gems of scripture found in the last days of Jesus’ gift of love through his gifts of Eucharist as we commemorate the Last Supper on Holy Thursday. Then the passion and death events of Good Friday. The quietness of Holy Saturday culminates in the Celebration of the Easter Vigil as we walk from darkness into the magnificent light of Christ.
My prayer for all of us is that we can shout, “My heart is ready oh Lord, my heart is ready!”
Fr. Bill