LENTEN MESSAGE
FROM FATHER JON CHALMERS
Dear Prince of Peace family,
Lent is a journey. It is a walk to God and a walk with God; reflecting, in some ways, the exodus experience of Israel through the desert and to the promised land. Thankfully, our Lent is only 40 days rather than 40 years, but it remains a pilgrimage from slavery and sin to liberation. It is a time for us to be focused on our continual conversion to Christ.
I am grateful for the thousands of people who chose to begin their Lent by joining us all at Prince of Peace for Ash Wednesday. In that Mass, the Church commends the practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving; all of which contribute to helping us rely more on God and less on our own desires and devices.
We are now halfway through our Lenten journey and Prince of Peace has numerous opportunities for engaging with your faith in the Lenten Season and I highlight only a few for your consideration:
Stations of the Cross: Join Deacon Rick and Deacon Gary for the Stations of the Cross each Friday at 6pm in the Church.
Fish Fry & Bingo: Each Friday in Lent at 6pm the Knights of Columbus prepare an awe-inspiring amount of fish, french-fries, hush puppies, and other great food in Deasy Hall ahead of bingo.
Penance & Reconciliation: In addition to our normal opportunities for Confession, we will have three Penance Services with Individual Confessions. Each service will have multiple priests from around our community who are generously helping us all.
School & community: Wednesday, March 13 at 9am
Parish: Wednesday, March 20 at noon & 6:30pm
Charity & Service: I want to highlight both the Backpack Program that provides weekend food to students in several Birmingham schools and Food for Our Journey that continues awesome service to the homeless community throughout Birmingham. Both are worthy of our support, our time, and our prayers.
May God bless you all with a holy and productive Lent!
In Christ,
Fr. Jon Chalmers